John E. Jones

one another. One of the priests was much more interested in social action as a higher
priority than the other three. They decided that they were willing to support his priority
and also to learn from him in this area. As the ranked list was discussed, many issues
were clarified in the same manner.
In the process of negotiating their differences, they came to realize that they would
have to continue this kind of communication to develop their collaborative model. They,
therefore, decided to have frequent staff meetings at a specific time.
As a second phase of the above, the priests were asked to list what they considered
their training and talents in relationship to the first listings of what they were going to do
in their parish. As a second step they were asked to rank their talents. The first four
items looked like this:
18 ❘❚
Joe Frank Jack Tom
counseling liturgy teaching social action
preaching counseling preaching teaching
teaching teaching hospital counseling
hospital administration youth work preaching
These listings were placed on the board where all could see what they could
contribute to the team. They quickly saw the diversity of talent as an asset if they
cooperated with one another. It was pointed out that their diversity of talents and
interests would be a source of conflict between them when they began to negotiate their
budget or when they evaluated the use of their time and efforts. In relationship to the
first listing they saw how they could each be responsible for an area in collaboration
with the rest of the team. They noted a lack of interest in the necessary administration.
The facilitator pointed out the need for a better understanding of administration and
leadership training. This discussion led to a clearer understanding of the kind of
collaborative model out of which they would operate.
Establishing Goals and Priorities
Organizations tend to have no explicit agreement on the underlying priorities on which
they operate or very vague notions about what their priorities and goals are. The OD
consultant wants the organization to know clearly and explicitly what they are about so
they can plan effective programs. Many of the activities and techniques of VC
methodology are very effective in setting clear goals. For instance, as an indication of
what can be done within VC methodology, suppose that you have been working with a
middle-management group as outlined previously. The group has discovered that one of
their priorities is security. The next necessary phase is to check whether they all mean
the same thing by security or whether there are other, underlying values under the
umbrella called “security.” It is at this point that the VC facilitator must know how to
discover the underlying value beneath a priority. This can be compared to the “third ear”
in counseling or listening for feelings instead of content in the Rogerian sense. In the
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 3, 2nd Edition. Copyright ©1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer