A program to provoke and develop fresh perspectives.
Are you open to learn about Organisational Development
in a new way? A way that is inspired by nature?
Developed and hosted by Gian Paul Ganzoni, Organizational Development Strategist with The Outside, this 9-week online training will introduce you to the basics of learning from nature (Biomimicry), organisational development (OD lenses), and systems thinking, to build a bridge between and across these bodies of knowledge. Bring your practical challenges to learn and apply with others!
COURSE OVERVIEW
Each two-hour online module will contain a combination of:
Interactive content presentation/teaching and group discussion by Gian Paul together with one of his colleagues from The Outside (Tim Merry, Dr. Gabrielle Donnelly, and Tuesday Rivera).
Time in between the modules will be leveraged with up to 1.5 hours of homework which may include reading, reflection, observation or preparing the presentation of an organisational development challenge.
WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?
This is a program for leaders, facilitators and consultants working with Organisational Development challenges who wish to address them with fresh perspectives, inspired by Nature. This program is also for Biomimicry practitioners who wish to explore the opportunity to apply their knowledge in the space of Organisational Development.
This program combines selected concepts from Organizational Development, Biomimicry and Systems Thinking. We introduce concepts from these fields to provoke and provide fresh perspectives and inspiration.
You benefit most if you bring along at least one of the following:
Leadership experience with managerial responsibilities (5 yrs +)
Consulting experience in the field of Strategy Development or Organizational Development or Human Resources (5 yrs +)
Organizational Development experience (2 yrs +)
Some form of Biomimicry training (3 days +)
WHAT IS MY REQUIRED COMMITMENT?
We hope for a diverse community of practitioners who are willing to actively participate and share their professional experiences during the 5 online sessions of 2 hour each between October-December 2026. We expect curiosity and open minds, willingness to allow your views on Organizational Development to be inspired and shifted. We hope for tolerance and constructive feedback if the agenda needs to be shifted. We expect you to be able to free up between the sessions (max 1.5 hours) to come prepared and be fully present during the sessions.
QUICK OVERVIEW:
Session 1: Tuesday, October 13th, from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm EST
Session 2: Tuesday, October 27th, from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm EST
Session 3: Tuesday, November 10th, from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm EST
Session 4: Tuesday, November 24th, from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm EST
Session 5: Tuesday, December 8th, from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm EST
Cost: $TBC CAD
Location: Online via Zoom
(sessions are recorded and shared)
Organizational Development: The process of increasing organizational effectiveness and facilitating personal and organizational change.
Biomimicry: A practice that learns from and mimics the strategies used by organisms alive today.
IMAGE: Val Cluozza, Swiss National Park
Session Descriptions
Session 1: Introduction to Biomimicry - Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 11am-1pm ET
In our first session, Gian Paul and Tim Merry will introduce the basics of learning from Nature (Biomimicry) and overarching patterns from Nature (Life-Principles) which will serve as inspiration and benchmark.
Session 2: Introduction to Organisational Development Lenses - Tues, Oct 27, 2026, 11am-1pm ET
Three different Organisational Development Lenses (STAR Model, Wheel of Change for Organizations and the Operating System Canvas) will be introduced by Gian Paul. Then, together with Tuesday Rivera, we will discuss challenges (and underlying beliefs) enabling or impeding successful organisational development interventions.
Session 3: Introduction to Systems Thinking - Tues, Nov 10, 2026, 11am-1pm ET
Dr. Gabrielle Donnelly will join us to introduce the fundamentals of systems thinking and complexity theory. We will discuss how systems thinking and complexity theory could improve organisational development interventions.
Session 4: Organisational Development inspired by Nature - Tues, Nov 24, 2026, 11am-1pm ET
In this session, Gian Paul and Dr. Gabrielle Donnelly will revisit the Life-Principles we learned in Session 1 to discover how to apply them in the Organizational Development context. From there, we’ll explore an “Operating System” visualization that introduces an intervention to promote a holistic systems view approach.
Session 5: Applications - Tuesday, December 8, 2026, 11am-1pm ET
In our final session, participants will solidify their understanding of the Life-Principles or Operating System visualization through their application to use-cases presented by participants. Gian Paul and Tim Merry will provide feedback on the presentations.
WHAT IS OUR COMMITMENT?
As with all of The Outside trainings, you will be equipped with tools to inspire your Organisational Development challenges with inspirations from Nature. You will experience thought-provoking learning in different formats which will be fostered through group conversations and application on practical challenges.
All materials shared and developed during this course will be made available to you via a password-protected webpage. You will experience participatory methods and have the opportunity to explore and contribute to this fascinating new emerging field. Every session will be co-facilitated by Gian Paul and another Senior Leader from The Outside.
Participation is limited to 12 participants.
TESTIMONIALS FROM PAST PARTICIPANTS
“This training offered a great opportunity for deep discussion with people outside of my field of practice. These connections left me with new perspectives on the challenges and opportunities we are facing in public health. That, together with the content – which, by itself, was nontraditional content for a public health training—helped me open myself up to new possibilities in my work. I also left with resources I could reference again later as I encounter new opportunities, decisions, and challenges.”
“Before working with the Outside Team, I had never explored many of the principles that influence my personal and professional decisions. Through their guidance and frameworks such as ‘Life’s Principles’ and ‘The Star Model™’, I gained a deeper understanding of myself and a fresh perspective on leadership and collaboration. The experience not only changed how I think about key aspects of my life and work, but also connected me with an inspiring group of people from diverse backgrounds.”
“Attend this training to get exposed to new ways of thinking and working in the world! In the U.S. we don’t tend to develop organizations according to principles of natural systems. People should participate in this training if they’d like to gain perspective and insight from the natural world and if they’d like to think differently about the organizations and systems they work with. What’s possible if we open ourselves up to learning from the natural world?”