ABOUT LORI
I spent 20 years working within large business organizations before moving into full-time consulting in 2009. Six years ago, I was part of a grassroots group of employees that fostered major changes in our large organization. Beyond the results we achieved, something amazing happened to those of us working most closely. We became capable of:
- Making individual decisions and taking individual actions that were in sync with each other (we’d learn after the fact).
- Knowing each others’ minds and communicating each others’ ideas often without speaking and even when we didn’t agree.
- Adapting, making smart decisions, and taking action—as a group—more quickly than other teams, groups, and individuals around us.
- Speaking to anyone on behalf of our group, then on behalf of other groups we were closely connected to, and then on behalf of our division as a whole.
The experience fundamentally changed how I saw myself, improved my ability to imagine possibilities, and made me more aware of the potential that exists within all of us. I’ve conducted extensive case study research of self-organizing work groups in organizations since then. Today I believe that there are no limits to the potential of people and organizations willing to embrace the self-organizing work groups within them.
I study, write, speak, and consult for one purpose—to foster the emergence of self-organizing work groups in organizations. These groups can create space for people at work to be themselves, try new things, make mistakes, be their messy selves, and confront and examine their fears. They are a way for tired, burned out individuals to generate energy and renew themselves and their work. They can amplify the natural creativity, flexibility, awareness, and resilience of individuals. These groups can demonstrate to themselves and nearby others that collective work can be effective, rewarding, and fun. They can create organizational leaders and demonstrate how amazing we are, and can be, together.
"I just wanted to take a minute to recognize Lori's incredible work and passion around this project…. Throughout it all, Lori has moved the…process and product forward, incorporating lessons learned from each event and improving both the process and the product. Not only has she done a great job with the internal teams, she really shines in front of the customers…that attend sessions. Lori\’s energy, passion, and intelligence really shine in those meetings. It is not always easy getting 5-6 industry experts to agree...and Lori makes it seem effortless."
- Maura Dunne Cannon, Project Manager, Microsoft
