The Professional Clinical Doctorate:
The taught Phases of Adizes methodology
Phase IV- VI

NOTE:  Also see information regarding AGS regular on-site sessions In Santa Barbara, including live seminars.

 Phase IV - VI of the Adizes methodology require on-site classes, with corresponding labs and internships.

 In some cases "Primers" for underlying Phases will be required in addition to the key Phase work.

The Diagnosis Specialization requires Phase I, II, III only.
The Design Specialization requires Phase I,II, III, and V. Requires Phase IV and VI Primers.
The Teleology Specialization requires Phase IV, VIII, IX, and XI; and requires Phase I, II, III, V and VI Primers.

 Course descriptions for the on-site classes and primers, online labs, and internships:

For the Lecturer's Program, and Phase I, II, and III, click here
For Phase IV, V, and VI, see below
For Phase VIII, IX, and XI, click here

Primer Phase IV - This overview provides a conceptual foundation of what it means to facilitate the push-pull process that keeps the organization changing. Students learn the principles of conducting sessions that will bring all participants to agreement on a clear, concise statement of the mission of the organization which will be understood and owned by the group. In this phase the organization's real value-added and competitive advantage are identified, building a sense of vision or mission for achieving a common direction and common goals and that have the support and commitment of the managerial team.

Learning Objectives:

1. Students learn fundamental techniques of the "push-pull process" that keeps an organization changing.
2. Participants learn the theoretical underpinnings for, and are given examples of, organization therapy sessions that bring people to agreement on a clear, concise statement of the mission of the organization.
3. By learning the concepts behind Phase IV work, students will be able to recognize an organization's need to identify their own common, shared sense of vision and mission, and define their competitive advantage in the marketplace of products and services

Phase IV - Mission Definition/Synerscope (2 units)

This course instructs participants to be facilitators of the push-pull process that keeps the organization changing. Participants learn how to conduct sessions that will bring all participants to agreement on a clear, concise statement of the mission of the organization which will be understood and owned by the group. In this phase the organization's real value-added and competitive advantage are identified, building a sense of vision or mission for achieving a common direction and common goals and that have the support and commitment of the managerial team.

 The course content includes:

- Defining an organization's competitive advantage
- Building an organizational vision or mission
- How to develop a mission statement
- How to identify the organizational purpose of existence, what value is it adding to the system to which it belongs
- How to scan the environment correctly
- How to account for values of the organization that support or retard change
- How to change values that need to change
- How to correct problems by converting them into opportunities
- How to identify the "core" of an organization and bring the organization back to             focus on its core of existence
- The value and dangers of visualizations
- How to differentiate between mission and goals
- When to stop the process of planning and why
- How to resist organizational pressures to prolong planning and thus avoid action
- Define the mission of an organization as a team process
- Define the business an organization is in
- Determine the company's goals -- where it is going (as opposed to individual department visions)
- Determine the needs served by the business, as well as those that can and should be served
- Determine business capabilities in relation to those of competitors
- Determine the future environment and its likely effects on the business
- Determine the values of the company as a hindering or facilitating factor for adapting to change
- Determine the future opportunities and threats facing the firm

Learning Objectives:

1. Students learn fundamental techniques of the "push-pull process" that keeps an organization changing.
2. Participants learn how to conduct organization therapy sessions that bring people to agreement on a clear, concise statement of the mission of the organization.
3. Students learn how to guide an organization to identify their own common, shared sense of vision and mission.
4. Students learn how to guide an organization to define its own value-added, competitive advantage in the marketplace of products and services.

Phase IV Internship (4 units)

The internship is a divided into three parts.  The pre-internship (part A) is intended to give students the opportunity to observe live client sessions related to each phase in which they are enrolled prior to attending the on-site training. Following the on-site program, students are expected to assist in performing that phase on a client (part B) and then lead the facilitation of a phase with a client under supervision (part C).

Conducting Phase IV (Mission) on an actual client generally takes approximately 4 days depending on the number of participants and the size and complexity of the organization. Students spend a minimum of 4 days in Part A of the internship and a minimum of 8 days in Parts B & C.

Learning Objectives:

1. Students increase their competence in using the Adizes methodology for managing group process in conducting a mission session.
2. Students increase their capabilities in utilizing the Adizes methodology to write agreed upon mission, purposes and goals.
3. Students are introduced to the delicate art of timing and rhythm in working with a management team.

Phase IV – Supervised On-line Lab (2 units)

Here, special attention is given to client and facilitator's interaction as participants share their experiences. When to "push", when to ease; how to push without being "overpushed" back; when to be silent and let the silence do the work; when to move fast and when to slow down; how to hear what is not being said; and understand what is being said by interpreting styles correctly. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Students acquire increased ability to forge a company's mission via group process.
2. Students will share their experiences across cultures, company size, and stage of organizational lifecycle to mutually enhance each class member's body of knowledge.
3. Students will share their successes, "failures" and questions that arise in the process of observing and/or facilitating the course material in a client setting in order to learn from the experiences of others and shorten their own learning curve.

Primer Phase V – Structure (1 unit)

Students receive an overview on the design of an organization structure which minimizes destructive conflict and creates an environment in which conflict is constructive. They will also learn the principles that govern correct organizational structures so that they are both controllable and flexible.

Students will not be facilitating the design of a structure for organizational transformation, but will learn the theoretical underpinnings of designing structures which support the mission, matches the organization's technology, and responds to the environment with goals of producing vitality, entrepreneurship and growth, and mission.

Learning Objectives:

1. Students learn the theory of how to structure an organization in light of its mission, functions and required individual responsibilities.
2. Students learn the theory of how to structure an organization which clarifies accountability to function.
3. Students learn how to overcome organizational colonialism via organization design.
4. Students learn methods to give line functions more control so that staff recognizes its legitimate role.  

Phase V - Organization Design  & Structure (2 units)

In light of the mission (Phase IV), Phase V focuses on organizational structure. This 2 unit course instructs students to facilitate the design of a structure that supports the mission, matches well with the organization's technology and responds to the environment with a goal of producing vitality, entrepreneurship and growth. Participants learn to conduct an analysis of organizational functions and individual responsibilities to determine if they are appropriate for the company's new needs, and to facilitate the assignment of responsibilities and a clarification of accountability.

Course Content includes:

 - How to structure an organization in light of its mission
 - How to structure in light of organizational functions and individual responsibilities
 - Structure to clarify accountability
 - How to identify (EI) functions and the (PA) functions in order to separate them
 - How to overcome organizational colonialism
 - How to give the line more control so that staff recognizes its legitimate role

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will learn how to structure an organization in light of its mission, functions, and required individual responsibilities.
2. Students will learn how to structure an organization which clarifies accountability to function.
3. Students will learn how to identify (EI) and (PA) functions in an organization design.
4. Students will learn how to overcome organizational colonialism via organization design.
5. Students learn to give line functions more control so that staff recognizes its legitimate role.

Phase V Internship (8 units)

The internship is a divided into three parts.  The pre-internship (part A) is intended to give students the opportunity to observe live client sessions related to each phase in which they are enrolled prior to attending the on-site training. Following the on-site program, students are expected to assist in performing that phase on a client (part B) and then lead the facilitation of a phase with a client under supervision (part C).

This course provides students with the opportunity to observe the development of a company's overall restructuring. In part A of the internship, students spend a minimum of 8 days observing the process of re-creating a company's organizational structure. They spend a minimum of 16 days in Parts B & C of the internship experience.  Some of the key facilitation issues include:

 - How to handle multiple agendas correctly
 - How to avoid political pitfalls while participatively restructuring an organization
 - How to push without being overly pushed back
 - How to handle client's emotions when client becomes aggressive or hostile
 - How to maintain the flow of change
 - How to handle those who perceive themselves as losers in the organizational change
 - How to maneuver the political power structure, how to read it and avoid being sucked into it
 - How and when to finalize or not finalize a structure
 - How to appoint people into the structure (staffing decisions)

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will learn organization structuring through observation.
2. Students will learn to facilitate the structuring process.
3. Students will learn how to finalize a structure and bring closure to the process.

Phase V Online Supervised Lab (2 units)

Students work collaboratively on-line, sharing their experiences, in order to enhance their knowledge of how to facilitate the design of a structure for organizational transformation which supports the mission, matches the organization's technology, and responds to the environment with goals of producing vitality, entrepreneurship and growth, and mission.

Learning Objectives:

1. Students increase their competence in managing group process and conflict in designing an organizational structure.
2. Students increase their capabilities in defining organizational units, flow of authority and span of control.
3. Students will share their experiences across cultures, company size, and stage of organizational lifecycle to mutually enhance each class member's body of knowledge.
4. Students will share their successes, "failures" and questions that arise in the process of observing and/or facilitating the course material in a client setting in order to learn from the experiences of others and shorten their own learning curve.

Primer Phase VI – Accountability Systems (1 unit)

Students will learn and overview of the theory of how to design information systems that make the accountability in an organization transparent so that the responsibility can be monitored corrective action can be applied in a timely manner, and rewards can be distributed to reinforce desired behavior.

Students learn the critical points to examine in redesigning an organization's information systems so that they will fit the new structure and support the decision making process of the organization. They also learn the fundamentals of how to evaluate whether an organization is achieving its new Mission.

Learning Objectives:

1. Wind tunnel-test an organization's structure and to define and clarify responsibilities within and between units.
2. Match these new responsibilities with appropriate levels of authority.
3. Enhance the information systems so they document individual accountability for very dollar in and out of the organization, and other key indicators.        
4. Develop the adequate transfer prices in an organization so that staff recognizes its  legitimate role.      
5. Watch profit and loss, cost accounting, general ledger and accountability systems.

Phase VI - Responsive Accountability Systems (2 units)

Students learn to lead top management to redesign their information systems so they will fit the new structure and support the decision making process of the organization as well as lead management to identify whether or not it is achieving the new Mission. This is a process in which the facilitator must be able to encourage openness, sharing and cooperation of information rather than the use of information as a source of power. 

Learning Objectives:

Students will learn to:

1. Wind tunnel test of the new structure (Phase V) and to define and clarify responsibilities within and between units.
2. Match these new responsibilities with appropriate levels of authority
3. Enhance the information systems so they document individual accountability for every dollar in and out of the organization, as well as other key indicators, in a manner that mirrors the new responsibilities in the new structure.
4. Learn how to develop the adequate transfer prices in an organization
5. Learn how to watch profit and loss, cost accounting, general ledger and accountability systems

Phase VI Internship  (7 units)

Students will learn how to design information systems that make the accountability in an organization transparent so that the responsibility can be monitored, corrective action can be applied in a timely manner, and rewards can be distributed to reinforce desired behavior.  The internship is a divided into three parts.  The pre-internship (part A) is intended to give students the opportunity to observe live client sessions related to each phase in which they are enrolled prior to attending the on-site training. Following the on-site program, students are expected to assist in performing that phase on a client (part B) and then lead the facilitation of a phase with a client under supervision (part C).

Phase VI is unique in that in addition to the complex group processes, a significant amount of time may be spent in preparing materials for the client or working individually with the organization's CFO and/or Management Information experts/programmers.

Part A of the internship experience requires a minimum of 6 days and Parts B & C require a minimum of 14 days.

Learning Objectives:

Students will learn to:

1. Match responsibilities with appropriate levels of authority
2. Define and clarify responsibilities within and between units
3. Document individual accountability for every dollar in and out of the organization
4. Encourage openness, sharing and cooperation of information
5. Develop a managerial information system (rather than an exclusive accounting information
system)

Phase VI Online Supervised Lab (2 units)

Students work collaboratively on-line, sharing their experiences, in order to enhance their ability to work with an organization's financial and accounting systems in order to appropriately match responsibility and authority as well as the ability to enhance the information systems so they document individual accountability for very dollar in and out of the organization, and other key indicators. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Students increase their competence in managing group process and conflict in designing an organizational structure.
2. Students increase their capabilities in defining organizational units, flow of authority and span of control.
3. Students will share their experiences across cultures, company size, and stage of organizational lifecycle to mutually enhance each class member's body of knowledge.
4. Students will share their successes, "failures" and questions that arise in the process of observing and/or facilitating the course material in a client setting in order to learn from the experiences of others and shorten their own learning curve.

Click here for Phase I - III             Click here for Phase VIII, IX, XI

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