Testing, Consulting and Co-Creating a Shared Vision: Peter Senge's Model

 Image taken from Link- https://pin.it/2rARWplxe

In my previous blog, I discussed the initial stages of Peter Senge's model for building a shared vision: telling and selling. These stages involve communicating the vision to others and persuading them to embrace it. In this blog, I'll delve into the subsequent stages: testing, consulting, and co-creating.

Testing

Before engaging stakeholders in a more collaborative process, it's essential to test the vision to ensure it's feasible, practical, and aligned with the organization's goals. This stage, known as testing, involves letting employees experiment with the vision, put it to use, and assess the outcomes. By gathering feedback and insights from these experiments, leaders can identify potential challenges, refine the vision, and build a stronger foundation for future implementation.

For example, imagine a company that is considering a new work-from-home policy. In the testing stage, the leadership team might pilot the policy with a select group of employees to assess its impact on productivity, employee satisfaction, and overall company culture. By gathering feedback from this pilot program, the leadership team can identify any issues or concerns, make necessary adjustments, and refine the policy before implementing it on a larger scale.

It is one thing to sell and convince, but testing stage means the leaders are setting mechanisms for feedback after the employees put the vision to action.

Consulting

Once the vision has been tested and refined, the next step is to engage stakeholders in a more collaborative process. This stage, known as consulting, involves actively seeking input, feedback, and ideas from others. By actively listening and valuing their perspectives, leaders can build trust, create a sense of ownership, and refine the vision to ensure it resonates with everyone involved. This means that the leader is acknowledging that they may not have all the answers and it would be great to hear the views of the employees to set up a coherent vision. 

In my experience, this stage for the entire organisation's vision has been far-fetched. But for a team's vision, I have seen leaders involve their team members, know more about their hands on experience on implementation of the vision.  

Co-Creating

The final stage in Senge's model is co-creating, where the vision is no longer seen as a top-down directive but rather as a collaborative effort. In this stage, stakeholders work together to shape and refine the vision, taking ownership of its implementation. This collaborative approach fosters a sense of shared purpose and commitment, making it more likely that the vision will be realized.

Ive not yet seen an organisation truly fall in the bracket of co-creating a vision for the organisation.

In conclusion, Peter Senge's model for building a shared vision provides a valuable framework for leaders who want to inspire and motivate their teams. By effectively navigating the stages of telling, selling, testing, consulting, and co-creating, leaders can create a powerful and enduring vision that unites their organization and drives collective action.

I also got an excellent article on co-creation for collaboration by Forbes for you to take a look- https://pin.it/2rARWplxe

This article talks about co creating with customers, the products of the company. It is not about the vision but it is more about the strategy of the organisation and this also would be somewhere a larger shared vision which we can look at.