Wayne Tarken

Excellent suggestion Martie. Storytelling is key. Real life situations. Many of our experiences during Covid-19 are ripe for storytelling. We use the Cynefin Framework with our graduate students and clients. The four quadrants are great for decision-making and know what to do when there is no obvious answer. In a complex situation, you probe then sense then respond as a way to work through this challenge. You learn by just doing and figure it out along the way Many of our participants are linear thinkers so concepts like complexity are hard for them to grasp. Don't expect them to master it in a 3 hour webinar. But how they reacted to the pandemic could be a great learning experience around complexity

Relatively simply. Keep track of how you fill your upcoming job openings. If the trend to fill internally is increasing, your program is doing fine. If it is not, you have more work to do to improve it

First step is to understand why and where the discomfort is coming from. This requires you to create a safe place and space for conversations or else the person will not respond. The issue is that other people may feel the same way but are not willing to volunteer that. Listen to their concerns without objection. Acknowledge them then ask how they would approach the issue of lack of diversity. Get them involved in co-creating a solution. Many people fear that diversity is a zero-sum game and resent the implications of what that means. Demonstrate and prove otherwise and make them part of the solution

The question suggests that your client has not been involved from the start. In agile ways of working, first, the client is involved from the beginning and the strategy is set in partnership with them. Second, you have frequent regular check-ins with them ensure you are still aligned with their goals since much can change from the beginning to further points along the way. Should not be any disagreements if you have followed this process.

In this rapidly changing complex world you don't solve problems you iterate them until the right solution emerges. Put it another way, you should fall in love with the problem not the solution. The experiences and learning along the way it what is so important. This iteration process requires a larger group of people with unique perspectives who provide the knowledge and insights that helps move the group in the direction of the answers. Creating a safe place and space for conversation promotes collaboration and sharing so people feel free to actively participate in the conversations. Without collaboration and teamwork, you may solve the wrong problem with the wrong answer

Remember, it's an evolution not a revolution. Things will happen slowly until new patterns of jobs will emerge. As Nadia Gil has commented, the goal is to keep learning and follow the evolution of the marketplace, discovering those patterns of future skills that will emerge. From the technical side, agile ways of working will clearly lead the technology application so stay well versed on the latest tools