For its first Learning Expedition, SEgroup offers a one day event organised in cooperation with Petra Richard from Gedankengang. She is a management consultant on new dimensions of creativity such as spiritual, emotional and social intelligence. Key note speakers next to Petra Richard are Anselm Bilgri, former prior of abbey Andechs and Professor Wolfgang Walkowiak, Neurobiologist, University of Cologne. This event will be held in German.

For further information and registration please contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

>> Programme

Systemic Excellence Group Office Berlin announces Consulting 21, an explorative discourse study on the future of consulting. Managers, consultants and experts will be challenged to explore the value consulting may create in regard of social responsibility. If you are interested in participating to the study, please sign up before 15. March 2010 at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

>> Call for Participation

A Socialize your Knowledge Workshop was conducted on January 11 for an organisation which develops young leaders through education in a community near Guatemala City. “Los Patojos”, the young ones in Guatemalan Spanish, is a project providing after-school teaching and lunch for children, and developing a cooperative of mothers, youth programme and clinique. The project started in September 2006 and is to date taking care of more than 130 children from 5 to 18 years of age. The results of the workshop conducted under the keyword "motivation", were three presentations: the young ones, integral development and financial stability. On January 14, a follow-up workshop was held to adress specific topics.

SEgroup will present a paper on „Balancing Social and Cultural Complexity“and qualified for the Asian Pacific Research on Project Management Conference to be held at Monash University in Melbourne, 25 and 26 February 2010.

The Paper written by Dr.Louis Klein summarises the first findings of the CCCPM Research Project the SEgroup is conducting together with the Humboldt Viadrina School of Governance.

SEgroup participated to the “PRME/CBS International Conference on Responsible Management Education: Sustainable Leadership in the era of Climate Change” held on 23-24 November in Copenhagen. The outcome of the conference was a Call to Action for Management Education. Daniela Beck presented results of a study conducted at the Asia Research Center of University of St. Gallen, investigating on new learning forms which foster the competence streams of creativity, interdiciplinarity, imagination and innovation. These are seen crucial in the challenge to designing desired future in an era of climate change.

SocialDesignSite has created a community platform on Ning. This platform was created in response to the valuable feedback of our participating projects. Through this platform, the project seeks to offer a convenient and lively communication environment, enhance connections between the members of the community and provide opportunities for sharing, participation and collaboration. This is the place to share any kind of information, network, provide content, engage in discussions, join and create groups.

SocialDesignSite will be presented at the exhibition DREAM FOR A CAUSE - Social Design between Utopia and Reality from November 4 until December 12 2009 in Vienna. The event will also be the occasion to run a SoYouKnow workshop facilitated by Suk-Han Tang and Glória Costa on November 12, 2009 inviting participants to reflect on social design and focussing on the practical issues for a successful social design project. For more information concerning the exhibition and to access the full program, please visit this link.

What are you ready for?

The SEgroup presents its latest approach: the Organisational Readiness Check (ORC). Combining a set of in-house tools, methods and instruments, the approach evaluates and improves your organisation by posing three basics but essential questions for sustaining change: What can you do now? What can you do next? Will this be enough? Designed to be fully adaptable, the ORC is about tapping and unleashing all resources of your organisation to its full potential, guiding you through the sustainable change you are ready for.

>> Approach

On November 13, 2009 SEgroup will conduct the Innovate Change workshop in Berlin. The newly created format is characterised by creativity and playfulness with hands-on case studies, PowerPoint karaoke, and subgroup work. Participants will have the opportunity to experience change management from an entirely new perspective. Lateral thinkers, innovative change agents, and non-orthodox managers who are looking for an alternative approach to the topic are very much welcome to participate. This one day event will be conducted in German.

SocialDesignSite  is proud to announce that it has conducted two first SoYouKnow events. The first SoYouKnow took place on October 9, 2009 at the Young Crew Workshop in Berlin for young professionals and students in the field of project management. It lasted for three hours and received warm acceptance of the participants. The second SoYouKnow workshop was conducted on October 16, 2009 in Witzenhausen at the “Global Thinking – Local Responsibility” conference for the students of food business. The event was again welcomed by the audience.

SoYouKnow, standing for Socialize Your Knowledge, is an interactive and playful workshop format. During the event the participants have the opportunity to share knowledge, communicate on the topic of soft skills in project management and network with each other. The friendly atmosphere of SoYouKnow creates not only meaningful knowledge exchange, but also ground for dynamic and enjoyable learning. SocialDesignSite team will continue working on the SoYouKnow format. The next workshop will follow on November 13, 2009 in Vienna.

The editors of JPoX proudly announce the publication of a new video interview. Dirk Hillbrecht is the former chairman of the German Pirate Party, one of the youngest parties within the German political system. It specifically addresses Web 2.0 topics like data privacy and surveillance. In this interview Hillbrecht explains possible benefits of new technologies for the political process, as well as the digital divide within both the population at large and the political system and its actors specifically. He states that the Pirate Party can fulfill an essential role in voicing concerns and hinting at possibilities regarding the inclusion of new technologies in the political realm. We strongly recommend this video interview to anyone interested in the implications of new technologies and Web 2.0 for the political process, as well as the new possibilities these technologies bring about.

>> www.JPoX.eu

SEgroup is proud to announce the publication of the Next Practice NGO study. The study was realised in cooperation with the Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance. Its aim was to help NGOs to reflect on their organisational capacity and to prepare themselves for the future. In 2008/2009, 31 leaders of NGOs were interviewed on how they are developing their organisations' capacity. The findings of these interviews are summarised in the study.

The results of the study were deepened in a discussion with some of the study participants during a workshop, which took place in June 2009 and was funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. A conference in autumn 2010 is planned as a next step to further foster the discourse on the future of the organisation of NGOs and to allow participants to share their experience and knowledge.

>> Management Summary (English, PDF)

>> The Study (German, PDF)

The JPoX team attended the Government 2.0 Camp, which took place on August 28, 2009 in Berlin. The event, held in the barcamp format, focused on the issues of Web 2.0 with regard to its usage by the government and in the public sphere. All sessions of the Barcamp, proposed and conducted by the participants themselves, aimed to reveal how transparency, participation and collaboration can be fostered by the modern states and their citizen. Three members of JPoX team – Jan Lachenmayer, Florian Popp and Stefan Rupp – offered a session presenting Journal on Political Excellence and debating the concept of next democracy. The participants discussed how JPoX can contribute to the development of next democracy through expert knowledge, political dialogue and networking.

SEgroup participated in the exhibition "Paradise Lost Or Lost In Paradise?", which took place on August 6, 2009 in the IFA Gallery in Berlin. The exhibition was ogranised by Sommerinstitut - an open network of young activists in the fields of economy and culture.

An interactive presentation, conducted by Jan Lachenmayer, explored the issue of the economic development of Dubai in times of boom and crisis. It seeked to show what contradictions, opportunities and challenges Dubai is facing at the moment. Participants were offered not only to learn about Jan's research on Dubai, but also to engage in vivid discussion in the form of World cafe.

SEgroup will carry out two events for the Young Crew Workshop 2009. Both of them will take place on October 9, 2009 in Berlin. This event is organised by the young fraction of the German Project Management Association, young project managers working voluntarily to disseminate knowledge and best practices in the field.

The first event presented by SEgroup is a workshop focusing on moderation and facilitation skills as important competences for project managers. Participants will be offered to learn and try out different techniques and approaches to direct more efficient meetings.

The second event, called "SoYouKnow", is conducted under the motto “Socialize your knowledge”. It is presented by the SocialDesignSite. This interactive knowledge sharing workshop allows its participants to determine its content themselves with the help of creative tools. The aim of "SoYouKnow" is to foster sharing of common knowledge and to allow for fruitful peer-to-peer communication. For more information, please visit www.youngcrew.de.

SEgroup participated in the SOIC 2009, the 5th Conference on Social and Organisational Informatics and Cybernetics (in the context of the Multi-Conference IMSCI). The conference took place from the July 10th – 13th, 2009, in Orlando, Florida, USA. The focus of the conference was on the social, societal and organisational problems in the information age, which are interrelated and need to be solved jointly by the means of multidisciplinary projects, interdisciplinary communications and transdisciplinary concepts and methodologies.

Fabian Hoffmann attended the conference as a speaker and chairman of a session in which he presented a paper on “Cross-Cultural Complex Project Management – Value Awareness in Virtual Project Teams”. His paper reflects on the impact of values in virtual project teams and, related to this, presents a research approach to explore the practice of values management.

The conference took place from July 12 – 17, 2009 in the University of Queensland. SEgroup was represented by Dr. Louis Klein, who held a presentation on social and cultural complexity in project management. He elaborated on the idea of ecology of paradigm and contributed to the conference’s aim to debate how to make liveable, sustainable systems unremarkable.

SEgroup presents an approach in-use now available in paper form. Explorative Culture Analysis, short ECA, is an approach to support decision-making and initiative-planning. With its explorative character based on the concept of micro anthropology it has a distinct advantage in comparison to traditional approaches in science, management and consulting. It is about gathering real life information and knowledge through generative interviews. The aim is to open up and tap into a field of collective intelligence and knowledge-making. The interviewees tell their story and their unique perspective, thereby providing access to their distinctive knowledge and expertise on the specific field of interest. The power of this approach has been proven in particular through our research efforts in Dubai (see Library).

>> Approach

SEgroup is proud to present a new paper, titled “Competitive Social Design – The Social Question of the Next Society”. The paper was completed by Dr. Louis Klein and presents the reflection on the new society, which is emerging under the influence of modern computer technologies. The idea behind this publication is to address the fundamental questions of the future through utilizing the opportunities of design-centered thinking. As the paper suggests, competitive social design can potentially become an appropriate response to the challenges of the new society.

>>  Paper

SEgroup participated in the 23rd International Project Management Association (IPMA) World Congress 2009 in Helsinki, Finland from 15 - 17 June. "It's time to refresh" was the official title of the conference and it focused on next practices, bringing together technical, behavioral and contextual competencies of project managers.

Dr. Louis Klein presented a paper on social and cultural complexity based on the findings by the Cross-Cultural Complex Project Management team. Currently established as a Graduate School Project, the CCCPM is gaining more international recognition. This fact can be verified by the enrollment of a new member during the congress, Suraj Dahal, president of the Project Management Association of Nepal. The world is in search of a way to balance social and technical competencies in complex project management, and the SEgroup is already one step ahead.

The editors of JPoX proudly announce the publication of a new video interview. Dr. John Hulsman is an Alfred von Oppenheim Scholar in Residence at the German Council for Foreign Relations in Berlin. In his interview, Hulsman examines democracy, party politics, and the political systems of Germany and the United States. For Hulsman, democracy is about changing people's opinions - something that top-ranking politicians in Germany do not have the heart to do - as he had come to find out during his uncounted, off-the-record conversations with them.

We strongly recommend this video interview for any player in the political field. It also provides interesting insights for politically interested citizens.

>> www.JPoX.eu

On June 4th and 5th, SEgroup organised and facilitated a workshop with a group of representatives of important German NGOs, which have participated in the “Next Practice NGO-Study”. The objective was to discuss the findings of the study and define the next steps to improve the organisational performance of NGOs. A vital outcome of the workshop was the preparation of a conference that will take place in 2010. The participants agreed on the main topic for the conference: “The Professionalism of NGOs”. SEgroup realised the workshop in cooperation with the Humboldt Viadrina School of Governance (HVSG) and with financial support of the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMU).

SEgroup is proud to present a new paper on cross-cultural project management. The paper was written by Jan Lachenmayer and is based on his three months research endeavour in Dubai. The paper, titled "Dubai: How to Build the Babylonian Tower Properly?" deals with cross-culture, complexity and the management of projects.

This paper presents the findings of several interviews through which he distilled and developed a general framework for mapping culture. This paper has generated very positive feedback, specifically in Dubai.

Integrating system thinking and design thinking, SEgroup attended the Design Organisation Media (DOM) Research Lab conference in Linz from 14 -17 May 2009. The aim of the conference was to explore how design - here not understood as a way of form shaping but as a way of creative thinking different from analysis - may add value in solving complex business problems. Speakers from Nike, Shell, ARUP, and Innovation Research amongst many others from the field of consulting, academia and research gathered to discuss the topic. 

The central hypothesis of the conference was that humanity in general and businesses specifically are currently facing complex problems which cannot be solved solely by analytical thinking anymore. Current problems have to be solved creatively inducing innovative products, services and processes. Thus design thinking is a creative approach towards innovative solution finding. The combination of design and business thinking leads to sustainability and enable cultural cohesion.

JPoX's intention is to foster a discourse on the improvement of political systems. Creating this discourse, we need your participation, your visits on the JPoX website, your comments and suggestions. We did not expect there would be thousands of people watching the interview with Albrecht Müller, eventually even causing our server to break down for some hours. In this case, the technical difficulties only highlighted the tremendous potential of the project. Of course the interview is online again at the JPoX website.

>> www.JPoX.eu

In March, the editors of the Journal on Political Excellence had the extraordinary chance to interview Stephen Aldrige, the acting director of the British Prime Minister's Strategy Unit of the Cabinet Office. Speaking from an insider's perspective, he provides insights into the work proceedings of political counsel in the United Kingdom. Regarding the project-based and long-term oriented work of the Strategy Unit, Aldridge's remarks are highly relevant in terms of Organisational and Political Excellence. The interview is now online at the JPoX website.

>> www.JPoX.eu

SEgroup is proud to present the final version of their knowledge project titled Alpha Change. Cultural change is increasingly recognised as a vital success factor for sustainable change. Alpha Change is a holistic approach, which allows sustainable cultural change as it generates awareness for cultural dimensions and relates specific measures to initiate cultural change in all dimensions.

For the initiation of successful cultural change the three aspects of cultural change namely; understanding change, understanding culture and understanding cultural change management have to be considered carefully. The approach is based on the framework of the cultural triangle, allowing a holistic observation of the dimensions that sharpen organisational culture: the values, the observable practices and the organisation's institutions. Alpha Change operationalises the cultural triangle and integrates the dimensions into cultural change management.

SEgroup has completed a new paper, titled "Next High Performance Organisation - Towards Organisational Integrity". In this paper we argue that High Performance Organisation (HPO) remains a myth and is hard to observe in reality. Nonetheless, aiming for the quality of an HPO pays off, as the underlying ideas can substantially contribute to foster a healthy development and increase performance.

The concept of HPO is based on the balance of strategy focus and operational excellence. Both of these concepts are brought to practice in a variety of organisational areas, outlined in 19 presented factors. The major challenge for striving towards an ideal HPO is the establishment of a political / cultural framework. This framework enables to win people over for any kind of co-creation, creativity practice, contribution and commitment. That is our answer to the question of how to bring an HPO into practice. We call it Next HPO.

SEgroup proudly welcomes Elke Umbach. Elke recently joined the group as a consortial partner. Elke has a degree in Sociology (Dipl. Soziologin). She has established herself as an organisational consultant, executive coach and passionate trainer since 1996. In her career she assists and supports processes of organisational transformation, cultural change, strategic planning and execution, team development and simultaneous change through large group processes. In human resource development processes, she conducts talent management programs. Elke has extensive experience in the automotive, IT and banking industries.

In February 2009, SEgroup launched a new knowledge project titled "Innovate Change". The project idea is structured around reinventing our approach to change management to a more creative and playful manner. Ordinary change management can be characterised in the opposite way. We have identified models, methods and instruments of change management and are currently bringing them together in an appealing way.

In a pilot workshop, which we shall host during the course of this year, further elaborations on this idea will take place in the presence of friends, clients and an interested public.

SocialDesignSite constructed a vision of co-creating a synergy effect of world changers. We have opened a dialogue on this topic to expand the project to its full potential and to establish the site as a self-sustaining network, functioning as a bank of knowledge on Social Design.

The Journal on Political Excellence, our project in the field Political Excellence proudly presents a new video interview online. Hermann Scheer, member of the German Bundestag (SPD) and laureate of the Right Livelihood Award was asked about his perspective on the German political system and democracy in general. Scheer observes an almost hermetically closed system that causes a decrease in identification resulting in a lack of democratic participation. He proposes to refresh the political system by using referenda, a responsible and independent media and most importantly political structures that allow for the discussion of the very basics - a proposal directly connected to where JPoX's endeavour kicks off.

>> www.JPoX.eu

Reflection in Action (RiA) develops leadership qualities beyond that of which are offered by the conventional tools and methods. Reflection in Action (RiA) is the platform for the first cooperation project between the SEgroup and consulting.art & friends. This partnership will support organisations and individuals dealing with uncertainties and provide them with sustainable solutions.

These leadership reflections will be in the form of workshops to be held in 2009. In subsequent lectures we shall offer performativ talks in different settings - arts, nature, and retreats - to get in touch with one's own leadership capabilities.

SEgroup is currently in the process of completing one of its knowledge projects, the Next Practice NGO study. The study will be completed during the next couple of weeks. The next step is inviting all our interview partners who participated in the study for a workshop. This workshop will be held in cooperation with the Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance. The objectives of the workshop are to discuss the results of the study and the meaning thereof to the NGO community. We want to explore the possibilities for developing and increasing the organisational performance of NGOs.

The workshop will take place on the 4th and 5th of June 2009, at the the Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance in Berlin. Financial support is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

SEgroup has recently launched a new research project titled Cross Cultural Complex Project Management (CCCPM). One of the project members, Jan Lachenmayer proposed a research project that explores the mechanisms and future of Singapore's society.

The opportunity originated for a new cooperation partner, The Online Citizen (TOC), to join Jan on his research endeavour. Established in 2006, the TOC is based in Singapore and aims to tell the stories about Singapore and Singaporeans that are not being told in the mainstream press.

Jan has engaged in further talks with the TOC and he received positive feedback regarding the initiative and the future of this project. The project is due to start during the course of this year, and further cooperations are yet to come.

On the 19-20th of February, Dr. Louis Klein and Suk-Han Tang of SEgroup held a workshop in support of the Chongming Eco-Community Project in Shanghai. Initiated by Studio TAO (www.tektao.com.cn) the project has the objective to revitalize rural villages in China by improving the quality of lifestyle through the environment, communication, local business structures as well as the public and domestic infrastructures.

SEgroup facilitated the generating of new knowledge and ideas on the Chongming project, fostering discussions amongst the participants and providing training on social systems theory and tools on exploring social systems. Steering the workshop to correspond with the initiative of the Chongming Project, participants were ask to brainstorm and present definitions of what a village is and can be. To develop the project's strategy in taking it to the next level the perspectives of business, government and consumerism in addition to the village residents were emphasized and considered. The Stakeholders analysis and their interests in the Project will serve as a framework for future study.

The successful workshop proved SEgroup to be an effective and leading think tank on an international level. This project will continue to support the rural communities in fostering everyday sustainability by establishing links to an urban and rural network of social and economic exchange. You can learn more about the Chongming Eco-Community Project here: www.chongmingtao.blogspot.com

SEgroup has completed a new paper, focusing on leadership for the 21st century, Leadership 21.

In this paper, we highlight the value and value-added of entrepreneurship as a supplement to the ongoing discourse on leadership and management. Using the St. Gallen Management Model as point of reference, we argue that leadership and management should not be conceived as counterparts that leaders have to chose from in fulfilling their tasks, but as a tandem that can fruitfully be completed by the incorporation of entrepreneurship as the essential third function of leadership. Being a leader, a manager, and an entrepreneur and thus balancing these three functions makes for a complete and more resilient leadership personality.

SEgroup has released a paper on "The Next 11" on the website. According to research of Goldman-Sachs, the "Next 11" are the "next emerging markets" following the BRIC countries. The group's contribution to the recent discourse on the "next emerging markets" focuses on the relevance of co-operation and co-creation. It sheds light on the Next 11 countries in terms of business and management practices, culture, politics, as well as economy and technology.

SEgroup, in collaboration with the European University of Viadrina Frankfurt/Oder (EUV) and the Humboldt Viadrina School of Governance Berlin (HVSG) have initiated a new research on Cross Cultural Complex Project Management (CCCPM). This project aims to bring together the different cultures of the world focussing on the design of a global society and its proceedings.

To allow the world, our stakeholders and the interested public to join us in experiencing our endeavour, we have launched a website displaying the visions and research in the field of cross cultural complex project management. Everybody interested in learning more on this exciting challenge can observe our work here. We invite you to explore our vision and research.

SEgroup is glad to present the key findings of one of the two studies, based on three months research, conducted by Jan Lachenmayer in Dubai. "Lens on Dubai's Society: Fragile or Postmodern?" analyses the issue whether Dubai's extraordinary economic development is accompanied by a comparable social development. Jan identified several socio-cultural frictions and predominant paradigms, all of which have a major impact on Dubai's future pathways.

Furthermore, by building scenarios, it was possible to formulate alternative options for development, with the objective of building a sustainable society.

Master in Business Administration (Dipl. Kauffrau)
Daniela Beck joined SEgroup as consortial partner founding the office in Munich in 2008.

Her professional career compromises over ten years of international corporate experience in the logistics and consumer product industries. As research associate and Ph.D. candidate at the Asia Research Center of the University of St. Gallen she is exploring teams in Indonesia. Her theoretical lens is complexity theory and theory of learning in its application to Social Entrepreneurship.

The United Nations Global Compact invited for the Global Forum for Responsible Management Education, held in the UN Headquarters in New York. Fostering the discussion and sharpening the "Principles for Responsible Management Education" (PRME), the forum discussed adequate, innovative forms of learning where we substantially contributed with a presentation on experience-based learning.

Core international business education institutions were present to discuss the future role of business in society in the light of sustainability needs. UN Secretary-General H.E. Ban Ki-Moon acknowledged the necessity for implementing sustainability and social responsibility in the business world. Find more at: www.unprme.org/global-forum

The 2008 IPMA world conference was held in Rome, Italy from the 9th - 11th of November. The IPMA is a non-profit and world leading project management organisation. The title of the conference was Project Management to run; elaborating on the question ‘where is project management running to...?'. Interest in project management is growing. The 22nd IPMA WC was probably the congress with the highest participation of top managers from industry and universities.

‘Projects as difference' is a paper written by Markus Koerner and Dr Louis Klein and was presented at the 22nd IPMA world conference. This paper explores the possibilities to improve project management practice in reference to social systems thinking.

SEgroup is conducting an explorative study in Dubai. Jan Lachenmayer will be a visiting scholar, focusing on the topic "Cross-Cultural Complex Project Management in Dubai". He will interview leading managers and experts in the field, figuring out how they create and manage their realities. His observations will be documented in a therefore established blog. The blog Dubai-CCCP.blogspot.com invites readers to reflect and comment on the provided observations. Jan is hosted by the Gulf research Center in Dubai, with support of the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations.

SEgroup continued cultural exploration while scouting Asia visiting Hong-Kong, Shanghai, Indonesia, Dubai and Singapore. We observed and gathered some deeper insights on urban planning, cross-culturality and complexity and people's attitude towards change.

The SocialDesignSite organized the First International Social Action Film Festival (ISAFF) in cooperation with Betterplace.org and HVSG. This was the chance to discover movies on human rights, conflicts and social entrepreneurship in Berlin. This one-day festival was a pilot event for all venues to be launched in US, Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, and Africa in February 2009: www.isaff.org

SEgroup decided to transfer our Reflection in Action approach and focus it on Leadership Excellence. This brings forward the idea of opening a broad range of experience based reflection to work on personal mastery thus improving leadership skills.

This year's highlight was undoubtedly the summer hike in the Pyrenees, from Aragon through Catalonia to Andorra. It had been a substantial two weeks mountain trek providing room for all kinds of reflection exercises.

On August 1st, Fabian Hoffmann has joined SEgroup as a further consortial partner. Prior, he completed a six-month traineeship. His expertise as a consultant is in the project management of organisational development processes.

As a researcher, his ambition is grounded on the field of corporate culture, vision and values. Moreover, he is team member of the research group conducting SEgroup's Next Practice NGO study. SEgroup sincerely welcomes Fabian in the circle of the consortial partners and is appreciating the upcoming collaboration and co-creation.

SocialDesignSite participated at Changing the Change conference held in Torino and presented a paper exploring the systemic conditions for sustainable change. We met people from all over the world, received some very encouraging feedback and giving us some inspiration and directions to pushing the project forward. Answers to uncertainty of design community probably lie in systemic thinking, co-creation and social design.

With three papers and one video interview, the Journal on Political Excellence continues. Scientists with a background in development studies, international relations, and systems theory provided their perspective on what Political Excellence could be. Sophisticated and hands-on contributions are always welcome.

On July 1st, Florian Popp has joined the ranks of SEgroup consortial partners, after a previous eight-months stint as a trainee. His expertise is in "Grounded Leadership, a new approach on leadership practice and theory, as well as in systemic coaching and counselling in general. Also, he is deeply involved with SEgroup's Next Practice NGO study, as well as a newly joined editor of JPoX - Journal on Political Excellence. SEgroup sincerely welcomes Florian as a consortial partner and is looking forward to future collaboration.

Dr Louis Klein of SEgroup, in collaboration with Markus Koerner, Managing Director of AGORA Associates GmbH in Faellanden, Switzerland, submitted a paper for the 22nd International Project Management Association (IPMA) world conference in Rome. The paper, Projects as difference - towards a next practice of complex project management, was accepted and will be presented during the conference in November.

The paper explores the possibilities to improve project management practice in reference to social systems thinking, based on the theory of Niklas Luhmann. The aim is to share theoretical insights for improving the practical performance of project management in the context of international development aid. The final version of this paper is available here.

What is the future of project management and what are the PM standards in 2020? In the search of an answer the German Project Management Association invited scientists and practitioners for a two days research workshop to Karlsruhe. From SEgroup Louis Klein was invited as an expert for social systems. As it turned out in the course of the very vivid discussions, it is the social side of project management that promises the greatest room for further development and improvement. Further cooperation especially in the realms of cross-cultural complex project management was appointed. >> www.Gpm-ipma.de

For this first international conference held in New York, Louis Klein and Suk-Han Tang presented the SocialDesignSite project through a movie. It was the occasion to test the project among the scientific community, and exchange vivid discussions on the role of organisations, governments and individuals in our social world, and tentatively defining "social entrepreneurship". The event undeniably sharpened our understanding of the on-going transformation of our social world and positive feedback we received comforted us in our work approach.

There is a lot we can learn from the Barack Obama campaign. And with the Pennsylvania primaries heating up, it was the right time to go there and explore the phenomenon on site, in the headquarter, the local steering committees and with the volunteers out in the streets. It is amazing what momentum the combination of a strong purpose, a small set of fairly simple guiding principles and allowing for local autonomy can create. There is a lot to learn especially for organisations. And with regard to all kinds of organisational or political resignation we have lost the chance to say "we can not".>> BarackObama.com

This year the 18th Standing Conference for Management & Organization Inquiry took place end of March in Philadelphia. SEgroup ventured to set our developments in "Systemic Inquiry" to a critical test. The SCMOI is rooted in post-modern narrative and critical theory,which is quite a contrast to our reference to systems theory and constructivism.However, the encounter was of mutual benefit, and the scientific feedback to our work was very appreciative and rewarding. "Systemic Inquiry" will be a little sharper now. >> SCMOI.org

SocialDesignSite is invited to participate in the 4th PRaDSA Workshop: "Designing for the 21st Century: Using Web 2.0 Technologies (and Social Networking Tools) for Social Action"- 11/12th March, London. Our ambition as a Think Tank is to put social design impact evaluation on the agenda of the leading discourses in society, and for this purpose, SocialDesignSite will run a twenty minutes mixed-media presentation exploring the idea of social design and sharing the best practices through a selection of projects. >>Designing for the 21st Century

The 51st Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences "Integrated Systems Sciences: Systems Thinking, Modelling and Practice" was held 5-10 August 2007 at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan. SEgroup had the chance to present our research on Organisational Excellence highlighting the role of art and design in any kind of excellence process. We received some good feedback. However, the integration issue for the systems sciences is from our perspective the post-modern twist which would allow the linkage of different conceptualisations of social systems and offer a bridge to Luhmanns System Theory.

Excellence replaces consulting, for more than one good reason. Completing the transition towards the independent think tank for leading practice called for a new name. The daily quest for excellence in all our work, not only in consulting, named itself, as did systemic consulting in former days. We did not completely say good-by to consulting. On the contrary consulting is still the central activity to support organisations and people in becoming excellent. We ourselves do not claim excellence as an attribute, we claim it as a calling to pursue excellence in all our work and in the results we like to deliver. >> History

SEgroup is proud to present the SocialDesignSite exhibition at DESIGNMAI 2007. We will open our offices to the public and present movies and billboards representing projects from all over the world. The week-long exhibition will cap off beautifully with an open-space discussion on social design issues. >> DESIGNMAI

SEgroup just launched SocialDesignSite, an online portal which aims to foster a discourse on social design. Consisting of an ever-growing number of worldwide social design projects, the site allows people from all over the globe to discuss and explore possibilities of change. With a strong and appealing claim - "We cannot not change the world" - it will hopefully grow and generate a large public interest. >>SocialDesignSite.com