HackMD
- The image file may be corrupted
- The server hosting the image is unavailable
- The image path is incorrect
- The image format is not supported
Susan Basterfield | CV
Proof that 25 years working in multi-nationals is a reversible condition, today I undertake my portfolio of work from within the Enspiral collective of impact-oriented entrepreneurs, and serve as a Foundation Director.
Enspiral is a global network of entrepreneurs who utilize the principles of self-management to create systemic change via social impact entrepreneurialism. Born in New Zealand, today its 150 contributors span some 20 countries and have been practicing de-centralized open and participatory governance and decision making, collaborative funding, and non-hierarchical ways of working since 2010.
I earn my livelihood alongside my partners at Greaterthan
Our mission is to make self-management and participatory governance in organizations a new normal by spreading culture, knowledge and practices.
Our vision is for a world where workplaces are communities that provide agency, personal growth and meaning. We believe that this will contribute to a system where value exchange is in balance.
My passion is work that builds the capacity to build capacity. I’m a facilitator, coach, product designer and teacher - creating for the commons.
As a catalyst, convenor, and thinking partner, I help individuals, teams, and organisations experiment with new ways of working and being, to actualise the workplace of the future.
I believe that self-organising principles emancipate potential and create humane workplaces. And that awareness and discernment can unblock drains and move mountains.
What's Energising me in May May 2021
#spacemesh
Willful Blindness by Margaret Heffernan
Questions to check sociopathy
Empathy Edge podcast with Brent Lowe and me, hosted by Maria Ross
Greaterthan
Our world is facing increasingly complex and interconnected challenges.
To address them, we need to go beyond the organisational structures and cultures we inherited from the industrial age. Bold companies, brave communities, networks and individuals are already venturing into the unknown and showing us that radically new ways of organising are possible and sustainable.
Greaterthan trains, supports and advises leaders, teams and organizations at the forefront of decentralized, self-managed and participatory work. We use a variety of tools and practices to help these organizations face some of the biggest challenges related to power, money and governance.
Our mission is to make self-management and participatory governance in organizations a new normal by spreading culture, knowledge and practices.
Our vision is for a world where workplaces are communities that provide agency, personal growth and meaning. We believe that this will contribute to a system where value exchange is in balance.
Greaterthan Academy February 2017 - ongoing
Greaterthan Academy is a new type of learning experience. Like-minded, motivated individuals learn through live sessions, group and personal work. It couples the best of in-person education (live interaction, accountability, strong connections), with the best of online education (the ability to connect with like-minded leaders from all over the world). We are inspired by the learning experiences created by u.Lab and altMBA.
The Practical Self Management Intensive is a 5-week immersive experience that focuses on doing - co-creating projects with your cohort, and truly learning through practice.
https://academy.greaterthan.works/
Projects
The projects I choose are aligned around the common purpose of ending suffering in the workplace.
I understand and am liberated by the knowledge that the transition to a paradigm of work that enlivens our current reality (i.e. not one based on industrialised extraction) is a long-game - but with an extremely tight window.
I focus on thinking with leaders who are ready to do the hard work of transformation, co-creating customised participatory experiences for organisations and teams, and creating scaleable, replicable development scaffolds for those ready to explore.
Here's an overview of the projects that have been most important to me and why.
1-Year ++ June 2015 - ongoing
1-Year++ is code for my commitment to transformation. I choose not to enter into relationships with leaders or organisations who want a quick fix; one year minimum. There is no magic bullet, this is hard work - unlearning and re-learning (i.e. development) takes time and practice. Practice, practice, practice
Tautoko Services - New Zealand
Tergar Asia - Kathmandu
Bennington College- Vermont USA
Yash Pakka - Ayodhya, India
Careershifters - UK and distributed
ConsenSys - Decentralised Globally
Avivo - Perth, Western Australia
Fairground - New Zealand
Optimi - New Zealand
c. - South Korea
tribute.coop - France
- The image file may be corrupted
- The server hosting the image is unavailable
- The image path is incorrect
- The image format is not supported
> To create #TBFWPIN **the best fricken workplace in India**
Organisations from all industries: Manufacturing, Services Companies, Disability Services, Product Development, Accounting and beyond have visionary leaders, enspired from many sources, knowing that their legacy will not be how well they performed for their shareholders, but the difference they made by creating a workplace that enabled everyone to develop and flourish.
Lead Together: The Brave, Bold, Intentional Path to Scaling your Businesss Published 20 November 2020
"Business" no longer has to be considered a dirty word. This is 21st Century thinking, in which "scale" no longer means growing your business as big as possible, but - like any living thing - as vibrant and vital as it can manifest.
Douglas Rushkoff
- The image file may be corrupted
- The server hosting the image is unavailable
- The image path is incorrect
- The image format is not supported
Better Work Together: How the Power of Community can Transform your Business
This is not a book of theory. Stories and tools from the front lines of the future of working together. Co-Producing Author
- The image file may be corrupted
- The server hosting the image is unavailable
- The image path is incorrect
- The image format is not supported
https://www.betterworktogether.co
Reinventing Scale-Ups July 2016 - Beta 3.0 in 2019
In 2015, I was part of a community called Teal For Startups, whose intention was to make practical the ideas presented in Frederic Laloux's Reinventing Organisations.
That project floundered, but 3 of us decided to perservere. In 2016, we hosted a session at SXSW and invited leaders of 2 self-managing organisations to share their stories. The dearth of practical how-to advice available inspired us to write this book.
Reinventing Scale-Ups is now a burgening community of practitioners on their self-management journey. This book is my endeavour in providing tools and techniques to anyone interested in pursuing the ideas and ideals of less hierarchical organising.
Hybrid Sector Development Ongoing
The Practical Self-Management Intensive is a successful and proven design for devoloping the muscles of self-management.
The human services sector has shown itself to be leaders in self-organization, inspired by Buurtzorg in the Netherlands and Wellbeing Teams in the UK
The Hybrid program - "Rethinking Organizations" extends the 5-week intensive curriculum of the Practical Self-Management Intensive and spreads it over 5-7 months, enabling particpants to engage multiple iterative cycles of experiments as they assess their readiness and capacity for transformation.
Here is a link to our published outcomes: https://www.dropbox.com/s/icbpx3ib4jezi4u/WAIS_RethinkingOrganisation.pdf?dl=0
Enspiral October 2015 - Ongoing
If I believe my personal hypothesis that the future of work will be brought about through community and practice, I need to practice Every Day
I've served the Enspiral network in myriad roles - all self-selected and congruent with a fluid experiment in intentional co-creation.
- Catalyst CEO/COO equivalent April 2016 - April 2018
- Foundation Director October 2017 - Present (Minimum Viable Board)
- Ambassador Ongoing
- Member May 2016 - Present
Speaking & Workshops Ongoing
Keynotes
Future of Work, The Power of Community, etc.
- HR Leaders 2019 - Bratislava, Slovakia
- CRHA Congres 2018 - Montreal
- Agile Indonesia - Jakarta
- Noble Minds - Stockholm
- Futurefest - London
- University of Santiago - Chile
- Transformer - Montreal
- Futur-en-Seine - Paris
- Social Enterprise World Forum - Christchurch
- International Conference of NPO - South Korea
- Reinventing Organizations - Bulgaria
- Global Scrum Gathering - Bangalore
Podcast Appearances
- Douglas Rushkoff's Team Human
- Lisa Gill's Leadermorphosis
- Engendered with Gina Rembe-Stevens
- Sobol Sessions with Donnie Benjamin
- Thrive Loud with Lou Diamond
- My Quest for the Best with Bill Ringle
- Soulfront with Scott Riddell
- Enliven Podcast with Andrew Skotzko
- Dawna Jones' Insight to Action
- Kelly Vandever's Speaking Practically
Open Enspiral
Partial and full day overviews of the inner workings and foibles of a global entrepreneurs collective.
Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Switzerland, Denmark, France
Open Organising Masterclasses
Participatory Deep-Dives in the practices of self-management
- Bennington College, Vermont USA
- HR Leaders/Maxmann Bratislava
- Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel
- Kathmandu, Nepal
- OuishareFest Paris
- Santiago, Chile
- Seoul, South Korea
- Helsinki, Finland
- Agile People Sweden
Thinking Partner/Coach 2005 - continuing
I have committed relationships with a number of humans who value my brain and heart (and heart-brain!). Some of these relationships last for months, some decades. Current relationships include Dev Academy and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Convening (Virtual and Live) Ongoing
The Deliberately Developmental Practitioners Network
A global community enabling 1,000,000 workplaces to operate developmentally by 2030 - serving on the core team
Liberating Structures Studio (via Greaterthan Academy)
"Include and unleash everyone"
Liberating Structures make it easy for leaders of all levels to create conditions for people to work at the top of their intelligence and creativity. In this environment, people thrive and enjoy their work.
Life Before 1981 - 2014
BP New Zealand - Head of Commercial Fuels
Vodafone New Zealand/TelstraClear - Head of Enterprise and Government
180Degrees Alternative Ed High School - Head Teacher
Clarus Agile - General Manager
Gen-i/Telecom - Enterprise Solution Specialist
AJ Hackett International - Managing Director
Vistorm (Later EDS/HP) - Director of Development R&D +Leadership
IBM Tivoli - UK, Ireland, Benelux Channel Manager
Tektronix - Head of Sales UK and Nordic
MicroAge - Portfolio Manager
Pacific Mountain Computer Products - Aftermarket Champion
Formal Education
Seth Godin's altMBA 2015
This intensive experience changed everything i thought I knew about learning and development - and about my potential to co-create, connect, and write. It gave me the confidence and understanding that 25 years of senior leadership in multi-nationals was just the appetiser to my impact.
Founded in 2015 by bestselling author and entrepreneur Seth Godin, the altMBA is an intensive online workshop designed to help leaders level up. It challenges people to learn to see differently, to make better decisions and to engage and connect.
I was the recipent of the Perkins Award for best body of work in altMBA02
University of Canterbury 2009 - 2010
Post Graduate Diploma Secondary Teaching and Learning
Fulfilling the 'what do you want to be when you grow up' promise to become a High School History Teacher.
Triple Major/Accreditations:
- History
- Geography
- Outdoor Education
Cal State University Northridge 1981 - 1987
I thought I wanted to be a journalist
BA Communications - Radio, TV, Film
Post-Grad History
Evidence of insatiable learning
Professional Accreditations
Agile
- Certified Scrum Master
- Certified Agile Facilitator
Future of Work
- Integral Facilitation - Ten Directions
- Certified Holacracy Practitioner - HolacracyOne
- Certified Working Out Loud Facilitator
Teaching
- Certificate: Personal Training - NZ Institute of Sport
- Certificate: Improving Sports Performance - Aoraki
Psychometric Instruments
- Certified Myers Briggs Type Indicator
