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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.”
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“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?
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[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.
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[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.
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[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
W. www.laics.net
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