Alister Scott's guest appearances

Alister Scott

The Game of Teams

Stuart Lancaster

Amy Edmondson

Paul Lawrence

Sarah Hill

John Hill

Marcia Reynolds

John Baldoni

David Clutterbuck

Adrian Gostick

Peter Cosgrove

Melissa Hughes

David Emerald

Jeff Turner

Joe Jacobi

David Dye

OwlTail

Introduction: Dr Alister Scott is all about making big change happen. He has dedicated his career to this pursuit. He is the Co-founder of The One Leadership Project with his colleague Neil Scotton. The One Leadership Project is a strategy and leadership firm that supports those making big change happen. Alister and Neil have co-authored a book called The Little Book of Making Big Change Happen. Alister is also Co-founder and Director of the Knowledge Bridge LTD and Chair of the Cuckmeres Community Solar Project. Alister is a certified Coach and holds a doctorate in Science and Technology.  Podcast Episode Summary This episode explores the impetus for Alister’s latest project, a passion to bring Compassion Practices to the world. His website Compassion Practices hosts 6 compassion practices and protocols for practicing compassion that anyone can download. In this episode we explore the meaning of compassion the principles that underpin the exercise of compassion practices and the impact of these practices on culture in organisations and on teams.  Points made over the episode  The Pandemic had only just begun and Alister felt compelled to write material to support teams get support in times of enormous stress. He wanted his offerings to be accessible and timely.  His colleague and friend Andrew Bradley contacted him about his writing to think about combining his work on Compassion with that of others to build out a website www.compassionpractices.net The six practices, essentially an ecosystem of practices are pragmatic with dedicated protocols that anyone can follow. The practices are basically informed by the work of Nancy Kline and Alister and Andy along with a few other colleagues have pared down her work to offer six distinct principles  Essentially if a person equips themselves with the six principles espoused they will not go far wrong in conversation  Compassion is the ability to be with another as they suffer. It is kindness in action. It is not sympathy. It means you are providing a space for someone to be with their suffering without feeling alone.  Teams all too easily become task focused and forget to commune or connect with each other.  Nancy Kline’s work is borne out of decades of research and writing to help people think better. She has written some brilliant books including Time to Think and More time to Think. By applying the principles housed in Nancy’s work people disrupt their habitual communication practices -Listening without interrupting for example when practiced can be transformative for relationship and on teams.  The principles described on the website include the following;   -Identify the question that matters  -Give each person time to think on their own  -Listen without interruption  -Appreciate from the heart  Appreciation and cultivating a culture of ERA (encouragement, recognition and appreciation) creates an environment where the experience of work is changed for the better  In order to practice the receipt of Appreciation you have to employ 3,As Acknowledge that the giver &amp; what they have shared is true for them too. Allow the appreciation in -especially for those who have been emotionally starved and finally accept it.  Our ability to be compassionate is often forgotten. Indicators such as Global Poverty, Our Environmental Crisis, War and conflict all point to the lack of compassion. Our inability to feel and that as human beings, being the dominant species of the world, we are experiencing the worst form of extinction since the dinosaurs  Our practice of shutting down feelings, of indulging adrenaline induced activities, action addiction and our fear of others perspectives all contribute to a narrow vision where we are not able to be kind. The Practice involves the following steps   Involve 2 people a host and facilitator  1st Round asking how are you arriving and name one thing that is going well outside of work? Name the question that matters such as “how are we doing as a team” Everyone prepares first alone and then speaks in a round going from left to right to provide some measure of predictability  Followed by Thinking pairs (with clear instruction) Finally a round where everyone reflects on their latest thinking and feeling on the same question    The mindset shift needed for teams to employ compassion practices is multifaceted. People need to matter. The idea of expert only where we do not ha`ve time for this sort of soft stuff.  We live in a society that indulges a conspiracy of silence about grief, failure and feelings that might be labelled as negative.  Alister shared the story of losing his wife five years ago and how few people, even his close friends could be with his grief.  The website is being officially launched on the 15th of September 2021 and people are invited to sign up on the website to access the practices and be involved in many facilitated community practices for professionals   Resources shared   www.compassionpractices.net Nancy Kline -Time to Think and More Time to Think  Francis Weller -The Wild Side of Sorrow  

Introduction: Dr Alister Scott is all about making big change happen. He has dedicated his career to this pursuit. He is the Co-founder of The One Leadership Project with his colleague Neil Scotton. The One Leadership Project is a strategy and leadership firm that supports those making big change happen. Alister and Neil have co-authored a book called The Little Book of Making Big Change Happen. Alister is also Co-founder and Director of the Knowledge Bridge LTD and Chair of the Cuckmeres Community Solar Project. Alister is a certified Coach and holds a doctorate in Science and Technology.  Podcast Episode Summary This episode explores the impetus for Alister’s latest project, a passion to bring Compassion Practices to the world. His website Compassion Practices hosts 6 compassion practices and protocols for practicing compassion that anyone can download. In this episode we explore the meaning of compassion the principles that underpin the exercise of compassion practices and the impact of these practices on culture in organisations and on teams.  Points made over the episode <ul> <li>The Pandemic had only just begun and Alister felt compelled to write material to support teams get support in times of enormous stress. He wanted his offerings to be accessible and timely. </li> <li>His colleague and friend Andrew Bradley contacted him about his writing to think about combining his work on Compassion with that of others to build out a website <a href="http://www.compassionpractices.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.compassionpractices.net</a></li> <li>The six practices, essentially an ecosystem of practices are pragmatic with dedicated protocols that anyone can follow. The practices are basically informed by the work of Nancy Kline and Alister and Andy along with a few other colleagues have pared down her work to offer six distinct principles </li> <li>Essentially if a person equips themselves with the six principles espoused they will not go far wrong in conversation </li> <li>Compassion is the ability to be with another as they suffer. It is kindness in action. It is not sympathy. It means you are providing a space for someone to be with their suffering without feeling alone. </li> <li>Teams all too easily become task focused and forget to commune or connect with each other. </li> <li>Nancy Kline’s work is borne out of decades of research and writing to help people think better. She has written some brilliant books including Time to Think and More time to Think. By applying the principles housed in Nancy’s work people disrupt their habitual communication practices -Listening without interrupting for example when practiced can be transformative for relationship and on teams. </li> <li>The principles described on the website include the following; </li> </ul> -Identify the question that matters  -Give each person time to think on their own  -Listen without interruption  -Appreciate from the heart <ul> <li>Appreciation and cultivating a culture of ERA (encouragement, recognition and appreciation) creates an environment where the experience of work is changed for the better </li> <li>In order to practice the receipt of Appreciation you have to employ 3,As Acknowledge that the giver &amp; what they have shared is true for them too. Allow the appreciation in -especially for those who have been emotionally starved and finally accept it. </li> <li>Our ability to be compassionate is often forgotten. Indicators such as Global Poverty, Our Environmental Crisis, War and conflict all point to the lack of compassion. Our inability to feel and that as human beings, being the dominant species of the world, we are experiencing the worst form of extinction since the dinosaurs </li> <li>Our practice of shutting down feelings, of indulging adrenaline induced activities, action addiction and our fear of others perspectives all contribute to a narrow vision where we are not able to be kind.</li> <li>The Practice involves the following steps</li> </ul> <ol> <li>Involve 2 people a host and facilitator </li> <li>1st Round asking how are you arriving and name one thing that is going well outside of work?</li> <li>Name the question that matters such as “how are we doing as a team”</li> <li>Everyone prepares first alone and then speaks in a round going from left to right to provide some measure of predictability </li> <li>Followed by Thinking pairs (with clear instruction)</li> <li>Finally a round where everyone reflects on their latest thinking and feeling on the same question </li> </ol> <ul> <li>The mindset shift needed for teams to employ compassion practices is multifaceted. People need to matter. The idea of expert only where we do not ha`ve time for this sort of soft stuff. </li> <li>We live in a society that indulges a conspiracy of silence about grief, failure and feelings that might be labelled as negative. </li> <li>Alister shared the story of losing his wife five years ago and how few people, even his close friends could be with his grief. </li> <li>The website is being officially launched on the 15th of September 2021 and people are invited to sign up on the website to access the practices and be involved in many facilitated community practices for professionals </li> </ul> Resources shared  <ul> <li><a href="http://www.compassionpractices.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.compassionpractices.net</a></li> <li>Nancy Kline -Time to Think and More Time to Think </li> <li>Francis Weller -The Wild Side of Sorrow </li> </ul>

Compassion and Compassion Practices with Alister Scott

Introduction: Dr Alister Scott is the co-founder along with Neil Scotton of a company called The One Leadership Project. The one Leadership Project is a strategy and Leadership firm that supports those making big change happen. Alister and Neil have also co-authored a book called “The Little Book of Making Big Change Happen” This is a book aimed at teams and leaders to inspire catalytic leadership. Alister is also Chair of Cuckmere Community Solar, is a certified coach and holds a Doctorate in Science and Technology policy. Podcast episode summary: This episode seeks to explore the subject of change and in particular organisational change as teams and organisations face into the  worlds new PAID reality (Pressurised, Attention-deficit, Information Overload ,Distracted) Alister shares how he and Neil help teams make big change happen. Alister shares many gems and useful concepts for Leaders and teams to practice.   Points made through the episode:  The Human race has to adapt we are growing exponentially and pretty soon we will be housing more than 9/10 billion people on the planet. How does the human race build its capacity to be in partnership with nature? Alister’s mission is to be useful in the realm of big change Teams are the unit of currency supporting organisations make big change happen. Organisations are being compressed by huge forces of change like technology change, social media, resource depletion, policy change, immigration, globalisation and they find themselves stuck in the middle between these forces for change and their clients and stakeholders wanting them to respond appropriately. Big change is upon us, change or be changed. In order to do that Leaders ‘need to be on the front foot, to think, be more purposeful and engaging to inspire and retain the best talent Important that teams create and live a shared purpose that is inspiring and beyond self. A purpose needs to be clear and the team needs to stay connected to its meaning and let it pull out of the team the required answers to questions, dilemmas conflict that inevitably occur Alister describes the model that he and Neil use working with teams in organisations wanting to make big change happen. The model comprises six dimensions for making big change and these include   Purpose-a clear shared, inspiring purpose Team- a cohesive, committed team with a range of capabilities Engagement- how well are you engaging your key stakeholders Culture-you need a culture that matches the scale of your inspiring purpose Results- you need to be clear about the results you want Inner Journey – you will go on an inner journey that matches your outer journey   Alister shared how in his work big change requires a big commitment of a team of approximately a year or longer. His program involves a diagnostic, 3/4 big team events plus ongoing individual coaching Teams are drowning in task; they are not taking the time to think together, and they are not aware of the degree to which they are not focused on team or on the individual. Alister described John Adair’s work sharing that teams need to pay attention to task, team and the individual in an evenly distributed fashion Alister introduced a valuable concept called ERA, Encouragement, Recognition and Appreciation. Leaders would do well if they build a solid foundation of ERA Alister shared some pertinent advice for listeners, especially leaders of teams wanting to change Embrace big change, best around big change is through Face up to the radical reality we are in Build leadership courage Notice your fear-based behaviours Aim as a leader to inspire and delight    Quotable quotes “Thinking something about someone and not sharing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it”   Resources: the following include the resources we alluded to over the course of our conversation    Scott, Alister. Scotton, Neil. (2017) The little book of making big change happen. Available on Amazon &amp; Kindle Kline, Nancy. More time to Think (2009) The One Leadership Project, enablingcatalysts.com Action Centred Leadership by John Adair 

Introduction: Dr Alister Scott is the co-founder along with Neil Scotton of a company called The One Leadership Project. The one Leadership Project is a strategy and Leadership firm that supports those making big change happen. Alister and Neil have also co-authored a book called “The Little Book of Making Big Change Happen” This is a book aimed at teams and leaders to inspire catalytic leadership. Alister is also Chair of Cuckmere Community Solar, is a certified coach and holds a Doctorate in Science and Technology policy. Podcast episode summary: This episode seeks to explore the subject of change and in particular organisational change as teams and organisations face into the  worlds new PAID reality (Pressurised, Attention-deficit, Information Overload ,Distracted) Alister shares how he and Neil help teams make big change happen. Alister shares many gems and useful concepts for Leaders and teams to practice. Points made through the episode: <ul> <li>The Human race has to adapt we are growing exponentially and pretty soon we will be housing more than 9/10 billion people on the planet.</li> <li>How does the human race build its capacity to be in partnership with nature?</li> <li>Alister’s mission is to be useful in the realm of big change</li> <li>Teams are the unit of currency supporting organisations make big change happen.</li> <li>Organisations are being compressed by huge forces of change like technology change, social media, resource depletion, policy change, immigration, globalisation and they find themselves stuck in the middle between these forces for change and their clients and stakeholders wanting them to respond appropriately.</li> <li>Big change is upon us, change or be changed. In order to do that Leaders ‘need to be on the front foot, to think, be more purposeful and engaging to inspire and retain the best talent</li> <li>Important that teams create and live a shared purpose that is inspiring and beyond self.</li> <li>A purpose needs to be clear and the team needs to stay connected to its meaning and let it pull out of the team the required answers to questions, dilemmas conflict that inevitably occur</li> <li>Alister describes the model that he and Neil use working with teams in organisations wanting to make big change happen.</li> <li>The model comprises six dimensions for making big change and these include</li> </ul> <ol> <li>Purpose-a clear shared, inspiring purpose</li> <li>Team- a cohesive, committed team with a range of capabilities</li> <li>Engagement- how well are you engaging your key stakeholders</li> <li>Culture-you need a culture that matches the scale of your inspiring purpose</li> <li>Results- you need to be clear about the results you want</li> <li>Inner Journey – you will go on an inner journey that matches your outer journey</li> </ol> <ul> <li>Alister shared how in his work big change requires a big commitment of a team of approximately a year or longer.</li> <li>His program involves a diagnostic, 3/4 big team events plus ongoing individual coaching</li> <li>Teams are drowning in task; they are not taking the time to think together, and they are not aware of the degree to which they are not focused on team or on the individual.</li> <li>Alister described John Adair’s work sharing that teams need to pay attention to task, team and the individual in an evenly distributed fashion</li> <li>Alister introduced a valuable concept called ERA, Encouragement, Recognition and Appreciation. Leaders would do well if they build a solid foundation of ERA</li> <li>Alister shared some pertinent advice for listeners, especially leaders of teams wanting to change</li> <li>Embrace big change, best around big change is through</li> <li>Face up to the radical reality we are in</li> <li>Build leadership courage</li> <li>Notice your fear-based behaviours</li> <li>Aim as a leader to inspire and delight</li> </ul> Quotable quotes “Thinking something about someone and not sharing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it” Resources: the following include the resources we alluded to over the course of our conversation <ol> <li>Scott, Alister. Scotton, Neil. (2017) The little book of making big change happen. Available on Amazon &amp; Kindle</li> <li>Kline, Nancy. More time to Think (2009)</li> <li>The One Leadership Project, <a href="http://www.enablingcatalysts.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">enablingcatalysts.com</a></li> <li>Action Centred Leadership by John Adair</li> </ol>

A Conversation with Dr Alister Scott

Janet Harvey

Neil Scotton

Introduction: Covid-19 struck like a thunderbolt and has thrown the world upside down. Many are still reeling as we grapple to right side for a new order. All of us have been forced to wake to a new reality, to pause and immediately assume a virtual reality for most of the population. Teams have been beset too. Episode Six is an invitation to look at how we re-emerge as a collective, what we chose to  embrace and reflect on what we can generatively create with grace and gratitude. Podcast episode summary: To answer these and several more questions I interviewed Janet Harvey, Neil Scotton and Alister Scott primarily because of their bold interest in sustainability, climate change and the business of big change. This episode was littered with big existential questions such as what is growth ?and how might we want to think about what it means to have a livelihood. In addition, the panel questioned how we have lived and suffered in the past and what could we do as a species to creatively destruct for the better of all.   Points made through the episode:  What is necessary? How do we let go some of the unconscious habits and get out of our comfort zone? We have lots of cognitive food about Growth mindset and yet we don’t do it. There exists an opportunity to come back to self, to know we are not alone, and that 7+billion people are experiencing the same conditions. We have everything available to us to re-imagine our relationship to life Our professional and personal lives have never been so merged. We have an opportunity to see our humaneness – and we cannot take anything for granted Undeniable our interconnectedness. Globalisation has demonstrated some real negatives Seems like mother nature has sent us to our rooms to think about the damage we have done to the planet. There is a positive to this “lock-down” we are now appreciating the slow, the simple the beauty in our connections and connectedness Important that we are mindful of the consequences of ignoring reality More permission now to notice what is not working and to say it. We will emerge so much stronger and resilient as teams. Teams are like an antibody. Huge capacity to bring forth disparate views to imagine and vision a new reality. Teams have unique advantage of not needing to know it all but as a collective to allow something to emerge -the collective is the engine. There is a falling away of old structures, constructs, egos and silos- crystal clear we are in a crisis and we need to contribute. The sense of shared purpose will embolden teams and organisations will find it hard to return to old ways. Not all leaders will be suitable for the new forms of teams that will emerge. There is a strong desire currently for purpose to sit above profit. Some assumptions will need to be busted. Growth for example is questionable the way we currently view growth at all costs. We don’t yet understand how to operate a Global Citizenry. In order to access a “One team” notion allow people to bring whole selves to work Make teams your focus. Our vision has formerly been too myopic- we will get back to planning and prioritising Heretically nothing has changed. There certainly exists more courage to name what is not working but essentially team life remains the same. We are so swept up in the drama that we need to allow people to pause and feel the grief, the Global Grief. Important not to assume that what I am feeling you are too. The Zen and Art of Motorcycling says “we grab a handful of sand from the vast plains of awareness around us and we call it reality” Growth can happen in many ways not least in terms of learning and developing as human species. The panel is hoping that we allow :  Creative destruction and cited Joseph Schumpeter We see the wisdom of giving space for reflection and thinking To build a culture of ERA (Encouragement, Recognition and Appreciation) to buld confidence against a very uncertain future The three G’s Generativity, Grace and Gratitude To know and respect that everyone matters. To know we are already enough.     Resources: the following include the resources I alluded to in this episode.  Janet Harvey: invitechange.com Neil Scotton and Alister Scott: enablingcatalysts.com Neil Scotton and Alister Scott: The little book of making big change happen. Joseph Schumpeter: The theory of economic development Otto Sharmer: www.presencing.org 

Introduction: Covid-19 struck like a thunderbolt and has thrown the world upside down. Many are still reeling as we grapple to right side for a new order. All of us have been forced to wake to a new reality, to pause and immediately assume a virtual reality for most of the population. Teams have been beset too. Episode Six is an invitation to look at how we re-emerge as a collective, what we chose to  embrace and reflect on what we can generatively create with grace and gratitude. Podcast episode summary: To answer these and several more questions I interviewed Janet Harvey, Neil Scotton and Alister Scott primarily because of their bold interest in sustainability, climate change and the business of big change. This episode was littered with big existential questions such as what is growth ?and how might we want to think about what it means to have a livelihood. In addition, the panel questioned how we have lived and suffered in the past and what could we do as a species to creatively destruct for the better of all. Points made through the episode: <ul> <li>What is necessary? How do we let go some of the unconscious habits and get out of our comfort zone? We have lots of cognitive food about Growth mindset and yet we don’t do it.</li> <li>There exists an opportunity to come back to self, to know we are not alone, and that 7+billion people are experiencing the same conditions. We have everything available to us to re-imagine our relationship to life</li> <li>Our professional and personal lives have never been so merged.</li> <li>We have an opportunity to see our humaneness – and we cannot take anything for granted</li> <li>Undeniable our interconnectedness. Globalisation has demonstrated some real negatives</li> <li>Seems like mother nature has sent us to our rooms to think about the damage we have done to the planet.</li> <li>There is a positive to this “lock-down” we are now appreciating the slow, the simple the beauty in our connections and connectedness</li> <li>Important that we are mindful of the consequences of ignoring reality</li> <li>More permission now to notice what is not working and to say it.</li> <li>We will emerge so much stronger and resilient as teams. Teams are like an antibody. Huge capacity to bring forth disparate views to imagine and vision a new reality. Teams have unique advantage of not needing to know it all but as a collective to allow something to emerge -the collective is the engine.</li> <li>There is a falling away of old structures, constructs, egos and silos- crystal clear we are in a crisis and we need to contribute. The sense of shared purpose will embolden teams and organisations will find it hard to return to old ways.</li> <li>Not all leaders will be suitable for the new forms of teams that will emerge.</li> <li>There is a strong desire currently for purpose to sit above profit.</li> <li>Some assumptions will need to be busted. Growth for example is questionable the way we currently view growth at all costs.</li> <li>We don’t yet understand how to operate a Global Citizenry.</li> <li>In order to access a “One team” notion allow people to bring whole selves to work</li> <li>Make teams your focus.</li> <li>Our vision has formerly been too myopic- we will get back to planning and prioritising</li> <li>Heretically nothing has changed. There certainly exists more courage to name what is not working but essentially team life remains the same. We are so swept up in the drama that we need to allow people to pause and feel the grief, the Global Grief.</li> <li>Important not to assume that what I am feeling you are too.</li> <li>The Zen and Art of Motorcycling says “we grab a handful of sand from the vast plains of awareness around us and we call it reality”</li> <li>Growth can happen in many ways not least in terms of learning and developing as human species.</li> <li>The panel is hoping that we allow : <ul> <li>Creative destruction and cited Joseph Schumpeter</li> <li>We see the wisdom of giving space for reflection and thinking</li> <li>To build a culture of ERA (Encouragement, Recognition and Appreciation) to buld confidence against a very uncertain future</li> <li>The three G’s Generativity, Grace and Gratitude</li> <li>To know and respect that everyone matters.</li> <li>To know we are already enough. </li> </ul> </li> </ul> Resources: the following include the resources I alluded to in this episode. <ul> <li>Janet Harvey: <a href="http://www.invitechange.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">invitechange.com</a></li> <li>Neil Scotton and Alister Scott: <a href="http://www.enablingcatalysts.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">enablingcatalysts.com</a></li> <li>Neil Scotton and Alister Scott: The little book of making big change happen.</li> <li>Joseph Schumpeter: The theory of economic development</li> <li>Otto Sharmer: <a href="http://www.presencing.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.presencing.org</a></li> </ul>

Creating the one team and considering the one planet with Janet Harvey, Neil Scotton and Alister Scott 