To enhance your desire and capacity to find the freedom to make a
difference in the changing world by developing your own practice of
Organisational Analysis This is achieved by:

• Building on your natural skills of working in organisations so that you become better equipped and energised to engage in leadership that involves taking risks
• Understanding more about engaging effectively with your contexts and environments in ways that access new resources and make new connections
• Learning to draw more fully on your own beliefs, spirituality and/or faith as resources for the integrity and authenticity of your work
• Exercising leadership and management in ways that give others freedom to develop initiatives which fit organisational and institutional purpose

Knowledge

Organisational behaviour

• A disciplined approach to understanding why organisations function in the ways that they do, including theoretical models such as open systems thinking and complex adaptive theory and recognition of how actual behaviour is shaped by each person's own model of the organisation-in-the-mind. (PLO1)
• How The Grubb Institute's concept of role (and the experience of being a person-in-role), and of what is involved in finding, making and taking roles in an organisation, liberates people's capacities in the service of purpose and how it relates to current thinking about leadership and management, and issues of authority and power. (PLO2)
• The ways in which the expectations, culture and interactions with the context impact on what happens in the organisation and on the resources available to it. (PLO3)

Psychodynamic thinking:

• What it means to be a person, as a dynamic nexus of relationships experienced in the here-and-now, including knowledge of key concepts of psychoanalytic thinking such as desire, splitting and projection, transference, attachment and regression to dependence as they relate to non-clinical settings. (PLO4)
• The nature of the unconscious processes which lie beneath the surface in individuals, groups and organisations, influencing the feelings, anxieties and thus behaviour, with implications for managing interactions across the boundaries between internal and external worlds. (PLO5)

Theological Thinking

• Knowledge that the various faith and spiritual traditions understand the relation to 'Source'/'Creation' differently, with implications for our connectedness to each other and the environment, and for an understanding of accountability. (PLO6)
• Knowledge of spiritually informed theories of personal and organisational transformation, including Scharmer's Theory U and Reed's Oscillation Theory. (PLO7)
• How the new sciences are influencing the understanding of human consciousness, behaviour and spirituality. (PLO8)

Systemic thinking:

• The concept of purpose, as used by The Grubb Institute, as a way of thinking holistically about why organisations and institutions are sustained within the pattern of interactions between all systems in the context. (PLO9)
• A holistic understanding of organisations, where the meaning of the interactions of the parts can be understood systemically in relation to the whole. (PLO10)

Thinking skills (= analytic skills)

• To analyse critically lived experience through the use of working hypotheses which explore the forces and factors affecting the person-in-role, from the four domains of experience (person, context, system, connectedness with 'Source'). (PLO11)
• To reflect and meditate on lived experience, drawing on the understandings developed in psychoanalytic and spiritual practice as a basis for discerning imaginative responses to current realities. (PLO12)

Practical skills (= skills for working in organisations)

• To identify and internalise the purpose of the organisation, to assess what actions serve that purpose in any situation, and to take decisions on that basis. (PLO13)
• To design and undertake interventions as an executive, leader, manager or consultant, taking into account the multiplicity of systems and subsystems. (PLO14)
• To act strategically in relation to context, remaining alert to the organisation's vision, the outcomes of its work and potential resources available. (PLO15)
• To provide effective leadership by communicating, through words and action, an understanding of purpose and vision to other people, mobilising their desires, capacities and commitment. (PLO16)

Skills for life and work (= generic skills)

• To work transparently and creatively with challenges, criticisms and conflict, being professionally accountable in role for one's actions and behaviour. (PLO17)
• To recognise and handle creatively the effect on working relations of conscious and unconscious forces, learning to live with anxiety, uncertainty and 'unknowing'. (PLO18)
• Sensitivity to faith, values and belief as sources of energy in one's own work and life, and that of others. (PLO19)

The typical duration of this Programme is 24-36 months, part-time. The Programme is designed to be flexible to accommodate any external factors such as business or other commitments.

The University year is divided into two semesters of roughly equal length. Students may register at the start of either semester. A typical participant will study one 60 credit Double Module over each teaching year (i.e. two semesters). Project work and the advanced independent research module may occur during the summer period.

This Programme consists of two Double Modules (each worth 60 credits) and an advanced independent research module and dissertation (worth 60 credits). It is possible to start the Programme in October or February. In 2008/9, the programme will only be offered beginning in October.

Double Module 1 focuses on the core concepts of the Transforming Experience Framework as a way of understanding the participant's own working experience of finding, making and taking their roles. It consists of:

• Role Consultations Typically a minimum of eight two hour sessions, focussing on finding, making and taking the participant's own working role, plus associated study and keeping a learning journal.
• Experiential Learning Conference Participation in the eight day Being Meaning Engaging residential conference.
• Seminars Participation in two Seminars (two days each) presenting and exploring the key concepts of the Transforming Experience Framework and their application.
• Workshops Participation in two Workshops (two days each) working to introduce the methods and develop the skills of Organisational Analysis in relation to the participants' experience.

Double Module 2 focuses on the application of the Transforming Experience Framework as a whole to enable organisational transformation. It consists of:

• Role Consultations and Project Work During the second Double Module the participant will identify, design and begin a major project in their working role, using their developing understanding of Organisational Analysis to bring about a transformation which will enable the organisation to achieve its purpose more effectively. This is supported through a further six Role Consultation sessions, focussed on the project which will provide the basis for the dissertation.
• Seminars Participation in three Seminars (two days each) with associated reading. The focus will be on the interaction of the different concepts and their application to particular organisational situations.
• Workshops Participation in three Workshops (two days each).

Dissertation

In order to obtain a Masters, you will need to obtain 180 credits at Level M. These credits wil include a 60 credit level M core module of advanced independent research. If you leave the programme after Double Module 1, having gained 60 credits at level M and completed your portfolio of work, you will be eligible for the Postgraduate Certificate. If you leave the programme after Double Module 2, having gained 120 credits at Level M overall and completed both portfolios of work, you will be eligible for the Postgraduate Diploma.

One of the principles underlying this Professional Development and Formation Programme is that of praxis, the integration of theory, values and practice. Thus the teaching and learning methods of the Programme constantly seek to enable participants to relate the concepts of the Transforming Experience Framework to their lived and felt experience -; and vice versa.

Role Consultations These one-to-one consultation sessions explore how the participant is making sense of and behaving in their current working situations, relating relevant concepts to the specific experiences. The sessions lead to transformed professional practice and guided independent reading on the concepts. They also provide an experience of an Organisational Analyst at work.

These sessions support the grounding of concepts in lived experience, particularly in relation to system and purpose (PLO1, PLO9, PLO10), context (PLO3, PLO15) and making and taking roles (PLO2, PLO11, PLO12, PLO14, PLO17, PLO18, PLO19).

Experiential Learning Conference The eight day residential Being Meaning Engaging
Conference is designed to develop a spirit of enquiry into the lived experience of organisational life in order to promote transformation. The object of study is the Conference itself as a temporary institution, with the interactions in different types of groups and the leadership and management being open to exploration in the here-and-now, as they develop.

The Conference and reflection on it contribute to learning about unconscious processes (PLO5, PLO18), how one functions as a person in an evolving situation (PLO4, PLO13, PLO16) and the relevance of faith, values and belief (PLO12, PLO19). 

Seminars These two-day Seminars present in an iterative way the key concepts that underpin the Transforming Experience Framework; that is to say the overall Framework is revisited in each Seminar and a selection of readings is suggested as preparation for the Seminar being attended. Each Seminar consists of presentations, discussions, exercises and time for reflection on the experience of taking the role of participants in the Programme.

There are five Seminars altogether, entitled Experience of Being a Connected Person, Experience of Living and Working Together, Experience in Organisations and Institutions, Lived Experience: Case Studies for Examination, and Freedom to Make a Difference: the Significance of Working to Purpose. Because of the way the Programme is designed, participants may take part in the Seminars in any order, choosing two to attend in the course of Double Module 1 and three in the course of Double Module 2.

The Seminars and the associated reading provide the principal input in relation to the knowledge learning outcomes (PLO1 -; PL10).   Workshops Each two-day Workshop provides opportunities to practice using the skills of Organisational Analysis through a variety of exercises and methodologies designed to develop skills in analysing current lived experience brought to the Workshop by participants and to develop the capacity for reflection.

The Workshops make an important contribution to the development of thinking and practical skills (PLO11 -; PLO16), and to deepening the understanding of key concepts about organisation, context and role (PLO1 -; PLO3) through working with them.

Advanced independent research project and dissertation The purpose of the project is to provide the opportunity to think through in depth the way the participant goes about making a difference in a working system, showing how they use Organisational Analysis skills, concepts, theories and methodologies in their practice. The dissertation also provides opportunities to show systematically how they mobilise the gifts, knowledge and experience of others whom they lead and for whose work they are responsible.

The project and dissertation put into practice the learning about finding, making and taking a role through Double Module 1 and bringing about organisational transformation through Double Module 2. These contribute to the further development and integration of the knowledge and skills of all learning outcomes within a deepened understanding of the Transforming Experience Framework and its application. In particular it provides an opportunity to demonstrate and develop skills for working in organisations (PLO13 -; PLO16) and generic skills (PLO17 -; PLO19) and use of thinking based on an understanding of new sciences and organisational transformation (PLO7, PLO8)

The Programme uses a range of assessment methods which seek to provide a way of assessing the participant's understanding of the concepts and their application of these in practice. These are different for Double Module 1 and Double Module 2 to reflect the development in the participant's praxis (= knowledge and application).

Double Module 1 Finding, Making and Taking One's Role The module is assessed through a portfolio of four written papers, to be submitted for assessment in May.

• Two concept papers The participant is required to submit two concept papers demonstrating in each their understanding and use of one of the core concepts of the Transforming Experience Framework (person, system, context, connectedness with Source and role). They will be expected to explore the concepts, drawing on the different disciplines of organisational behaviour, psychodynamic thinking, theological thinking and systemic thinking.
• 'Exploring Unconscious Processes' paper A paper demonstrating the participant's understanding of the significance of unconscious processes in systems and organisations. They would be expected to link this to the underpinning psychodynamic theories, their experience of the Experiential Learning Conference and their working situation.
• 'Finding, Making and Taking a Role' paper A fourth paper in which the participant gives an account of how they are finding, making and taking their roles in their working system(s) in practice, in the light of their understanding of Organisational Analysis, particularly in relation to work done through Role Consultations and the Workshops. The emphasis is on application and the linking of knowledge to their lived experience and practice (praxis).

Double Module 2 Organisational Transformation The module is assessed through a mixed portfolio of three different types of writing to be submitted for assessment in May and a presentation.

• Project Outline In preparation for the advanced independent research project on which they will base their dissertation, the participant will be expected to prepare a Project Outline setting out the rationale, aim, methodology, working hypotheses, anticipated outcomes and evaluation criteria for the project.
• Case Study The participant will be required to write a Case Study showing how they apply and integrate the core concepts or domains of the Transforming Experience Framework to a particular 'critical' situation they have had to handle.
• Presentation Each participant will be asked to make a 40 minute Presentation and lead a 20 minute discussion with staff and participants on a selected aspect of their working role. In this they will be expected to show their capacity to organise their material, develop an argument, hold their audience and engage in subsequent discussion of what they have put forward.
• Concept Paper Participants will be required to submit a concept paper on a theme such as 'Leadership' or 'Organisational Transformation', which necessitates drawing on a range of the concepts of the Framework and considering their inter-relationship. This will be expected to show a more complex and advanced level of thinking than the shorter concept papers in Double Module 1.

Module 3 Organisational Analysis in Practice

• Dissertation Each participant will be required to submit a 14,000 word dissertation critically evaluating the advanced independent research project that the participant has carried out in their working role, using Organisational Analysis skills and concepts to bring about organisational transformation in their own organisation or for a client organisation. (The award is not dependent on the research project being 'successful', but on the extent to which the participant provides a critical evaluation of what happened, including the project's impact and an analysis of the factors which contributed to whether or not it achieved the objectives set out in the Double Module 2 Project Outline.)