La Belle Lisette WEB

8/4/2019 La Belle Lisette WEB

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A tale of the LAICS Learning Journey:

The story of "La Belle Lisette" *

Time passed slowly on the flight to Milan. Lisette poked idly at her food. It was even more

rubbery than usual, and it was getting hard to tell what was what—that bouncy cake tasted

suspiciously of hamburger, while the coq au vin tasted of nothing at all. She sighed, pushing

the tray away. Just another sign of the fast-food, rat-race times. She prayed the upcoming

class wouldn’t be more of the same.

Things started looking up when Lisette arrived at the LAICS venue, a beautiful old

monastery far from the hustle bustle of the Milanese streets. The world had moved back in

time. Ancient stones with their own stories to tell . . . she hoped to hear a few.

Her cell phone wasn’t working—the monastery was out of range. At first she panicked—

could the office really function by itself? Yes, of course it could . . . couldn’t it? Maybe she

could turn this into some kind of educational retreat, a time to slow down and take some

‘deep dives’. Yes, maybe. She smiled and started to relax.

[Intentional diversity]

Those people sitting in the foyer—not your run-of-the-mill business types. The opposite,

really. Lots of different clothing styles. Colourful. She was happy about her bright green

shoes . . . just the place for them. Everyone was happily chatting away. She recognized a

few from their pictures on the LAICS website. But before she could say hello, someone

announced that everyone was to head over to the terrazza; apparently there was going tobe some kind of introduction. Quickly she got caught up in the flow.

She joined Bob from Birmingham and Sven from Stockholm—time for introductions. Digging

down into her purse, she pulled out the little vial . . . the vial she was sure everyone was

going to kill for. “Lisette Balligand, from Mo’real—you know, the other cosmetics company. I

guess I’m a strange mix—I used to be a biochemist but shifted over to marketing a couple

of years ago. Now I’m a kind of bridger. I help people talk to each other, especially the

engineers and the sales people. Now, this is what I brought from home—let’s see if you can

guess what it is.”



“Looks like skin cream to me,” said Bob. “Probably a lubricant,” said Sven. Bob nodded and

continued. “Makeup? Can’t be perfume—unless you think liver smells good. I give up. What

is it?”

“Ah, messieurs. You give up too easily. Let me give you a hint. How old am I?”

“Late twenties . . . 35 tops”

“Oh, you’re so very sweet. Flattery does get you somewhere in my business. No, I just

turned 54 . . . And not a word to the others. You see, this is the card we’ve got up our

sleeve—an anti-wrinkle cream that really works. Sort of. We haven’t run all the trials yet,

but . . . well, I just had to try it after talking with the development group. Unfortunately,

once it wears off you look older than before. Sacré Bleu! I’m hoping those guys are going to

solve it soon. Really soon. Bob. Sven. Your turn.”

It turned out that pin-striped Bob was from Morten Stanley (yes, the other banking

company). He was quite a deep thinker—Lisette never would have thought that automated

banking could raise such difficult social questions.

Sven was even more surprising. From his long whiskery sideburns and old clothes Lisette

thought he was some kind of factory floor worker. It turned out that he was the head of

Rollem, an old manufacturer of ball bearings. They were working on some bearings that

would be almost frictionless—wheels spinning forever. Electricity generation, automobiles,

joint-making—pretty much everything that was connected to something else—was about to

be revolutionized.

Together, Lisette’s little group made some portraiting posters of their discussion. As she,

Sven, and Bob walked around looking at the other posters in the ancient room, it was

obvious that this was a very unusual bunch and that there were lots of deep questions

present. The old stones were talking. They were waking up.

[Critical book sessions]

The next morning, Lisette arose feeling better than she had in a long time. Was it the food?

The company? The air? Everything together? Following breakfast, there was a ‘critical book’

session, where the class discussed Van de Ven’s book “The Innovation Journey”. She liked

that this wasn’t your usual ‘memory test’ session. Instead, she had to spot the weak points

in the book and talk about how to change them. The sparks were high . . . she was

discovering a whole new way of thinking about innovation now. What happens when

innovation becomes novation? When innovation turns into some kind of nova-making, star-

creation process?



[Journal learning]

After the wonderful lunch—even by French standards this was one to remember—there was

a journaling session. Apparently journaling was going to be a big part of the education. It

would be the basis for the various exams and provide background material for the projects

they would be working on. Which got her wondering. How could she write up her

experiences, thoughts, and intentions in a way that would help her as an innovative leader?

She decided she’d experiment with different formats; after all, experimenting seemed to be

the name of the game here.

[Serious play]

Dinner was a surprise—they were given some top quality ingredients and asked to make the

meal. Lisette usually followed recipes, but this time there weren’t any. Amazingly, dinner

turned out better than lunch. She could see how different people in the class worked, and

how some really strange combinations really worked well. “What a fine, funny bunch” she

thought. “That Swiss guy Pierre—such a joker. Wants to mix Sven’s bearings with the

cream—bearings that never age. Ha! I’m going to have to keep my eye on that one.”

[Guests]

After dinner there was a ‘guest star’ talk, where the fellow who’d sent up the first Danish

satellite talked about his hopes and fears around the massive, cheery fireplace. He was to

be the first of many guests and faculty who worked with the class—they usually gave small

talks but spent most of their time working directly with various class groups. That night

Lisette went to bed dreaming flying dreams.

[Learning community]

The rest of the module followed suit—discussing one another’s interests and issues,

engaging in critical readings and discussions of innovation theory and practice, formulating

new initiatives, and forming a learning community.



[Innovative project teams]

Lisette formed a project team with four others—Karina, a division leader from a small

pharmaceutical company, Patrick who headed up a software group in Dublin, Pia from a

large Danish media company, and Henrik, a senior design leader at one of the big German

car companies. She was excited by the group’s diversity—it looked like she was going to get

some really good ideas. The group’s brief was to find a project that would 1) reflect

innovation, complexity, and leadership, 2) connect to actual operations in their home

companies, 3) make a difference, and 4) be doable over the next six months.

Everyone in Lisette’s group felt strongly about their topic—developing cross-divisional

innovation. It was sticky issue in all of their organizations. The trick was going to be how to

stay innovative around the issue—how to use the issue to create interest and energy

instead of more headaches.

Another group in the class was going to work on an Innovation Game. Patrick suggested

that Lisette’s group do something similar: “Maybe we could make a “Cross Innovation

Game”. Lots of ways to play with the cross theme you know—X marks the spot, cross-

roads, being hammered to the cross, getting really cross.” Lisette was starting to feel a little

cross-eyed. Time for a bit of journaling?

[Assessment]

Time passed. Lisette had completed three of the modules now and it was assessment time.

She was happy it would be verbal rather than written—this way she could explain her points

more. Lisette met with two of the LAICS faculty and using her journal, discussed what she

had discovered, accomplished, learned, and contributed.

She got high marks for the various ways she’d brought her learning back to Mo’real. She’d

managed to orchestrate some effective cross-divisional projects that were giving some of

the company’s products a new twist and she was becoming known for her ability to startnew venture teams.

And then there was the cream. Sure, Pierre’s jokes about ageless bearings seemed stupid at

the time. But it turns out they weren’t. When you started thinking of bearings as ‘turning

away forever’ instead of ‘wearing away’, a whole new world opened up. Lisette started

asking “What do wrinkles ‘turn on’, and can these ‘turning points’ change themselves

somehow? Could wrinkling be ‘spun’ around? If skin is to ‘turn’, what must its turning look

like?” Some of the Mo’real chemists got excited by her questions and started quietly playing

with some answers. Maybe they could make the cream work after all . . . and now Sven

was wondering how to make his bearings self-regenerating.



[Class contribution and leadership]

Lisette’s group also got high marks for their class contributions, which included arranging a

session on cross-divisional innovation where the class not only got to learn more about the

pros and cons of different approaches, but got to play the “X game” that her group had

developed and tested. A highlight was when several of the other class members brought the

CEOs of their companies along to play—it looked like their little game wasn’t going to be so

little any more.

The second assessment point was on the project itself—how well did the project meet the

brief? Lisette’s group did quite well—they managed to develop an innovative solution to a

tough innovation problem and do it in a way that advanced their leadership skills. The X-

game was to become a regular in the LAICS tool-kit.

[Denouement]

In the years that followed, Lisette became an ‘X coach’, visiting and helping out the

subsequent classes and heading up one of Mo’real’s “Leading Ideas” Group. Sven, Bob, and

several of the others went on to form a series of joint ventures, all revolving around ‘Fresh

Looks’. When asked about their own youthful looks, they would smile knowingly at one

another and whisper, “We’re sworn to secrecy. But if you’re really keen to know, here’s a

clue: l. a. i. c. s. Say no more.”

* This story was written by David Barry, Professor & Study Leader on the Master Programme in Leadership and

Innovation in Complex Systems (www.laics.net) The characters, organisations and events in this story are entirely

fictional. No resemblance to any person or organisation, living or dead, is intended.

Master in Leadership and Innovation in Complex Systems (LAI CS)

Learning Lab Denmark Copenhagen Business SchoolThe Danish University of Education 3 Solbjerg Plads

164 Tuborgvej 2000 Frederiksberg

2400 Copenhagen NV Denmark

Denmark

T. +45 8888 9959

E. [email protected]

W. www.laics.net

080805

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La Belle Lisette WEB