I spent most of last week in Phoenix, facilitating several sessions with a group to help them co-create a substantial change in their organization. Instead of requesting the usual “motivational speech,” this company was savvy about what it really takes to bring help people deal with the challenges and optimize the opportunities that transformation always brings.

Here’s the takeaway: Engaging people in organizational change takes more than the pep talks and change-management techniques of the past. Increasingly, it takes interactive strategies – what I call creative collaboration. Whether you are designing a conference for several hundred people or planning your next staff meeting, high involvement will produce energy, engagement -- and results.