This Transformation Design watch comes from the guy the girls go crazy for, Jason Oke.
It’s about Oprah’s book club. Jason writes:
“The latest book being promoted and discussed in her famous book club is Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth” - a spiritual treatise on being conscious and present, quieting the chattering of the mind, and losing our association with the ego to become connected with the energy of the world around us. It’s heady, new-agey stuff, and as Tolle himself says in the book it will either change your life or you’ll find it a pretentious, aimless ramble (personally, I’m a fan of his stuff). As with most of Oprah’s previous book selections, it’s shot to the top of the best-seller lists for the past month.This is transformation design with an education arc. New subject + Textbook + class + teacher + students.
But what’s interesting is that Oprah’s taken a new turn with the book club and is hosting a series of 10 weekly webinars with Tolle to discuss, chapter by chapter, the contents of the book. They’re 4 weeks into it now, and each one has drawn as many as a million people live, from around the world, making them the largest webcasts in history. A further 1.5 million people a week have been downloading the webcasts afterwards on iTunes and from Oprah’s site.”
As, I’ve mentioned before, storytelling is the metaphor for Transformation Design. An example like this makes me wonder if there are “plots” to transformation design ideas. After all, plot means a plan to accomplish some purpose. The Oprah example would be an “education plot.”
6 comments:
Who are these crazy girls of which you speak? Do you have phone numbers?
You're killing me.
Could you please elaborate further how this transformation design? I seem to be missing the element that makes sure that the transformation is lasting/sustainable? Not to badmouth people, but we as a species are lazy. 10 weeks dicussing a book, means just that. 10 weeks discussing a book. 'to me it seems more a diet/new years resolution then a lifestyle change. if there was a build in control mechanism, would it not be more effective? I would love to hear your thoughts
One of slippery slopes we may fall into is the hubris that Transformation Design can COMMAND change. I don't think this is always the case. Sometimes it can command instant change (Ex: The Alarm clock example), sometimes it can only encourage change and empower people to create it (Ex: Oprah Example).
Command vs Encourage all comes down to the type of change you want to create. Waking up earlier is a superficial change, so the barriers to change are low. Spiritual change (How we think about the world and our role in it) is a deep, fundamental change, so the barriers are higher.
That said, superficial change can be accomplished in one swoop with one object/activity. But creating deep change requires multiple levels of objects/activity. I don't believe the Oprah classes change people spiritually. I believe the Oprah example represents one aspect of, what should/could be a transformation design program that encourages and enables people to create change.
Although this program may lack all the solutions to create a complete spiritual transformation (a change in values) in people, it’s service nevertheless pushes them towards a distinctive transformation.
And that is why I think it is transformation design.
In that case I need to go back to the drawing board with regards to the definition of TD, because encouragement is the basis of most current advertising. Switch from a to b, buy an upgrade..etc, based on emotional/knowlegde appeals.
I agree with the statement that this could qualify as a (sub)plot of a transformation...
But transformation design should be action orientated, in my view. Doing something different first, and getting praise, or knowlegde second, instead of getting knowlegde and encouragement up front and then doing something(perhaps).
In the perspective of being part of a program, like I said, it could qualify, but that is the slippery slope in my view. Soon the term TD can be haijacked, placed on anything and hack agencies will claim to do TD programs, but only keep doing traditional appeal advertising, withou this discipline having a chance to realize full potential.
On a different note, I quite the focus on superficial action-first- change, because working from the outside/in tends to generate great results (martial arts is one example that springs to mind)in other areas of life.
Perhaps a bit dogmatic thinking, or cynical commenting, but only because I care ;)
I mean I like the focus on superficial change, typo..
Good push back. Thanks for holding my feet to the fire.
You're probably right: encouragement isn't the best choice of words. Maybe the split isn't Command s Encourage. Maybe the split is Immediate vs. Gradual.
I also agree with you that TD should be action oriented first. So maybe you're right about Oprah's think not being TD. When I first thought about labeling it, I pictured workbooks, in-seminar activities and the guy offering mental tools for acting differently in your life. So in my initial impression of the seminar, there was activity - orchestrated by the teacher.
Like I said, good push back.
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