But Why?

January 25th, 2010

mountain_compress

Our daughter, now 3, is perfecting that most brilliant one word question - Why?; and in getting very practiced at responding, I realise how critical this question is to all of our work at Evolve and NoMadMeetings.

I just completed the dream tender, with a full quote, and had fun doing it! Why?  A rare gem. The organisation had defined the objective (Why) with a good understanding of their audience (Who) and had left the ‘How’ up to the respondent (the potential contractor). Sound simple? Yes! Like common sense? Yes! And like many things that we write about in Evolve Now, the simplest things can be the most powerful and least practiced (unless you are aged under 5 with the wisdom of asking the Why? question incessantly).

The ‘NoMad 5 Step Model for Effective at a Distance Communications’ has the Why at its heart – The reason Why you are having a meeting determines Who needs to be there which determines How you are best to plan and run it. We underpin this with powerful questions to help clients refine the Why and the Who. Many clients come to us with a ‘How‘ (for example, we want to do an online meeting using xyz as a platform). We spend deliberate and focused time stepping the client back from this, and through a series of coaching questions, help them refine the Why and the Who. Often the ’How‘ (approach) originally presented to us is changed, radically and often much simpler and less costly.

This simple Why, Who and How lends itself to many a story, quote and metaphor. And I can feel one coming on now….

During the 1990’s I toyed with the notion of being a ‘Mountaineer’. This led me to Mount Aconcagua, Argentina in 1997, a trip guided by adventurer and wild woolly mountain man, Jon Muir and the first women to scale the 7 big continental peaks, Brigit Muir.  4 weeks on the Mountain; one of those in a blizzard waiting for a window  to summit, crammed into two men tents, taking shifts to hold the tents down and out, against the 100km plus winds (did I mention the  minus 60 degree Celsius wind chill factor?), which threatened and ultimately did shred most tents.

“The peak of Aconcagua can be a sweet and complacent woman if the goddess of the sun (Febo) shines and the god of the wind (Eolo) sleeps, but when the furies of the gods of the wind are unleashed and the dragons of the clouds devour the sky, the peak turns into a terrifying and cold witch”. www.aconcagua.com

After day 5 of the ‘cold witch’ unleashing her fury, and five days and nights of pondering ‘Why’ I was there, I had the AHA moment. It was all about experiencing the mountain, as much a spiritual experience for me as a month in an ashram. Summiting was not only irrelevant, but felt increasingly ‘wrong’ as I contemplated local indigenous connections and perspectives of the Mountain (which were to leave her alone). I was the first in our party to head back down to base camp and with this decision I easily let go of the notion of summiting, without any conflict or disappointment. A rich and intense experience I had had (both Gods – Febo and Eolo). Through not summiting (or in conventional speak – failure) I had learnt so much.  When I walked off the plane at Sydney airport, my family looked ashen and greeted me with dropped jaws – I looked “mummified”. When excitedly sharing my photos, someone honestly remarked “Wow, looks like you spent a month in a quarry with some snow”. They were all relieved that my next Mountain, was to be on the Far South Coast of NSW and was less than at the lofty height of 600m.

Now that I more clearly understand my intention (the Why), I choose different mountains and different experiences, and on many occasions, with increasing (and overdue) sensitivity to indigenous connection to Mountains, I stay away from the summit. Now with some purposeful reflection on the Why before I set off on the journey, I find that I choose a more satisfying path. As my daughter tugs at my skirt and asks “Why” for the 10th time in less than one minute, I can trust that she is on the wise path, and let the rising impatience slide.

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EVOLVE NOW BOTTOM LINE: Focused and deliberate contemplation of the ‘Why’ can be time masterfully spent, for both you and your clients, yielding  the right approach (the How) and solution.If you are discussing and or have committed to an approach (How), pause, step back and check that you are clear on the Why and Who.

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Fun with Wordle and a Wish

December 21st, 2009


candle

“My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I’m Happy. I can’t figure it out. What am I doing right?”  – Snoopy, PeanutsSnoopy

While it may seem counterintuitive, I think Snoopy is on the money for the holiday season. At this time of year, I feel fortunate to luxuriate in aimless endless summer days of beach, books, laughter and fun. What is restorative for me is that there is NO agenda, purpose, expectation - just a pile of library books, which may or may not be opened, with beach towel at the ready.

I spent some time yesterday reflecting on the year past, and in particular the marketplaces that I have run, several at professional conferences. At each of these I asked a similar theme question based on the Solutions Focussed Approach,  to stimulate participant thinking about their ideal future (which could relate to work or play) and then identifying practical steps to move towards this. Interestingly, as I review the 1000’s of lines of data,  seven words were consistently identified irrespective of context (Click here to download the conference marketplace reports). They are:

Time, Open (ning) (ness), Create, Fun, Listen, Accept, Trust

What wonderful ingredients these words make for a Christmas/New Year recipe. Here is mine: In those seemingly endless summer days, I will TRUST and ACCEPT whatever is, enjoying the TIME to CREATE and be OPEN and deeply LISTEN and most of all have FUN with those I love.

I have been having fun with a type of Word Art lately. The image to the right is my Christmas wish for you, using Wordle, to create from as you wish.

Thank you, readers for being part of the Evolve and NoMad community and have a wonderful New Year.

Wicked Problems

November 18th, 2009

“Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.”  — Laurence J. Peter (cited in Conklin, 2008)


I always knew that there was a great reason for indecision! Having just returned from running a series of 6 marketplaces™ across Victoria, Australia, I am reflecting (as one does) on the diverse experiences and ‘highlight’ moments. While the format and theme of each marketplace was the same, the mixture of participants at each marketplace was as equally diverse as the six physical locations.  I have stepped into my office for a day, before I step out and head off to the International Association of Public Participation Conference in Perth. In this space, between steps, I look back and forward. ‘Wicked Problems’ is both the conference theme and of the marketplace that I will be running. I realise now, that ‘wicked problems’ is the bridge between past and coming experiences.

What is a Wicked Problem?

According to Wikipedia, a “Wicked problem” describes a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. Horst Rittel and Melvin M. Webber formally described the concept of wicked problems in a 1973 treatise, contrasting “wicked” problems with relatively “tame,” soluble problems in mathematics, chess, or puzzle solving.

Jeff Conklin (2008), identifies the following as defining characteristics of wicked problems:

  1. You don’t understand the problem until you have developed a solution: Indeed, there is no definitive statement of ‘The Problem.’ The problem is ill structured, an evolving set of interlocking issues and constraints.
  2. Wicked problems have no stopping rule: Since there is no definitive ‘The Problem’, there is also no definitive ‘The Solution.’
  3. Solutions to wicked problems are not right or wrong: They are simply ‘better,’ ‘worse,’ ‘good enough,’ or ‘not good enough.’
  4. Every wicked problem is essentially unique and novel .
  5. Every solution to a wicked problem  is a ‘one-shot operation.’
  6. Wicked problems have no given alternative solutions.

Reading this was an AHA! moment for me (probably a”DUH where have you been Carla” moment for many of you). Inherent in our work as facilitators and public participation practitioners, is a degree of ‘wickedness’. During the recent marketplace series, participants were asked if the marketplace approach “hit the spot” by placing a mark on a mock dart board (close to centre if their experience was 10/10, off the board if 0/10). The average rating was around 7 or 8, with a good number at 10/10. I did catch myself being drawn to the few lower scores (5/10), with a desire to somehow move them towards centre. While this desire for improvement is probably a good thing, reading about ‘Wicked Problems’ and its application to group work, reinforced for me that this variation in satisfaction is inherent, REAL and also probably a good thing! When I imagined applying the target evaluation concept to a concert-goer’s experience (my last concert was Bette Midler some years ago), I realised how ludicrous the notion was, that EVERYONE would have had a high (or similar) satisfaction level.

So, back to the ‘wicked problems’. Three approaches are suggested for tackling and taming them, they are Authoritative, Competitive and Collaborative. Surprise, Surprise – Collaborative could be a job description/intent for many of us:

These strategies aim to engage all stakeholders in order to find the best possible solution for all stakeholders. Typically these approaches involve meetings in which issues and ideas are discussed and a common, agreed approach is formulated. In his 1972 paper, Rittel hints at a collaborative approach; one which attempts, “…to make those people who are being affected into participants of the planning process . They are not merely asked but actively involved in the planning process

So armed with this I head off to Perth now, to run a marketplace exploring wicked problems and to learn from my peers about taming them. I look forward to sharing insights!

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EVOLVE NOW BOTTOM LINE: Exploring and accepting the ‘wicked’ nature of many ‘problems’ or projects that we work on, helps movement towards a solution that is generally ‘better’.

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Out of Time by Kenneth Slessor

August 31st, 2009

1
I saw Time flowing like a hundred yachts
That fly behind the daylight, foxed with air;
Or piercing, like the quince-bright, bitter slats
Of sun gone thrusting under Harbour’s hair.
So Time, the wave, enfolds me in its bed,
Or Time, the bony knife, it runs me through.
“Skulker, take heart,” I thought my own heart said.
“The flood, the blade go by – Time flows, not you!”

Vilely, continuously, stupidly,
Time takes me, drills me, drives through bone and vein,
So water bends the seaweeds in the sea,
The tide goes over, but the weeds remain.

Time, you must cry farewell, take up the track,
And leave this lovely moment at your back!

II

Time leaves the lovely moment at his back,
Eager to quench and ripen, kiss or kill;
To-morrow begs him, breathless for his lack,
Or beauty dead entreats him to be still.
His fate pursues him; he must open doors,
Or close them, for that pale and faceless host
Without a flag, whose agony implores
Birth to be flesh, or funeral, to be ghost.

Out of all reckoning, out of dark and light,
Over the edges of dead Nows and Heres,
Blindly and softly, as a mistress might,
He keeps appointments with a million years.

I and the moment laugh, and let him go,
Leaning against his golden undertow.

III

Leaning against the golden undertow,
Backward, I saw the birds begin to climb
with bodies hailstone-clear, and shadows flow,
Fixed in a sweet meniscus, out of Time,
Out of the torrent, like the fainter land
Lensed in a bubble’s ghostly camera,
The lighted beach, the sharp and china sand
Glitters and waters and peninsula -

The moment’s world it was; and I was part,
Fleshless and ageless, changeless and made free.
“Fool, would you leave this country?” cried my heart,
But I was taken by the suck of sea.

The gulls go down, the body dies and rots,
And Time flows past them like a hundred yachts.

The Language of Time, the Language of LIfe

August 31st, 2009

In this month’s Leading Light session with Dr Anne Russell and Dr Linda Berens, we explored personality types, temperaments and interaction styles. To what end? Linda says it perfectly: “self-knowledge and self-leadership”. I had an “AHA!” moment when Anne said: “it is about giving language to discover and explore differences, making interactions with others easier.” YES! Aren’t things so much easier to understand when we have the right words, the right language. For now, I wish to share with you my language of ‘time-management’, or even ‘life management’,  put simply  – getting the most out of the precious time we have.

Time is what we want most, but… what we use worst. William Penn
One cannot manage too many affairs: like pumpkins in the water, one pops up while you try to hold down the other. Chinese Proverb

“OUCH!” These quotes are close to the bone for me. I have a crazy pumpkin dunking tendency (only 2 pumpkins – what a luxury!).  While I have tried many a fancy diary and online self management system, two things work brilliantly for me:

1. “Out to Sea”

Once a week my NoMad colleague Nigel Russell goes sailing. It is fixed, non-negotiable, time out. It took me some training to get used to the idea. Now I like it. I like and respect that he values himself enough to prioritise this time. At the beginning of the year, I decided to spend more time with my daughter, who is rapidly approaching three! I decreed Tuesday mornings as ‘our time’. For the first few months, this worked for about every 2 out of 3 Tuesdays. What I was doing was making it ‘our time’ as long as no other formal meeting or engagement came up. What I wasn’t doing was making up for that ’lost’ time on another day. Therefore, I was allowing something else to nudge in as priority one. I was also giving permission to other people to manage ‘my’ time.

Now every Tuesday morning, between 9am and 1pm,  if you try to get a hold of me, ‘I am out to sea’. This meansat I am ‘out of range’: no mobile, no computer – just ‘one pumpkin’. I have found this way of expressing my time and use of it invaluable for myself and working with others.

2. “She has rocks in her head”
Well perhaps not literally, but I do have rocks sitting in a jar on my desk. Time is like an empty wardrobe or storage space. If empty, it will fill. Increase the space, more ’stuff’ will appear.  Mark out some time in your diary, and it is full before you have even contemplated how to use it. I have a very clear and colourful picture in front of me that depicts and gives language to my priorities – how I like to be in the world and what I wish to contribute. This has been developed through many years of self reflection. To ground this, I picked out 7 rocks of varying size, to represent my 7 key priorities – family, personal and work related. Each one is written on a rock. Highest priority, gets the largest rock and so on. When I am asked to do something that is not represented on these rocks I ask: “Which rock will I take out to fit this one in” OR “Which rock will I chip away at, to make the other one fit”. This gives me a very tangible and sensory language to understand the impacts of my decisions on priorities and time. I have also used post it notes (of varying sizes) as puzzle pieces to achieve the same purpose.

One of my favourite poems is that by Australian poet Kenneth Slessor “Out of time”. It fascinates me as much today as it did when first read some 25 years ago. It is a language for time, and while it needs to be read in its entirety, here is a taster:

“Leaning against the golden undertow,

Backward, I saw the birds begin to climb

with bodies hailstone-clear, and shadows flow,

Fixed in a sweet meniscus, out of Time”…..

What do you do to make sure that your priority one is just that when it comes to your use of time? Share your thoughts at the Evolve Blog.
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EVOLVE NOW BOTTOM LINE: Finding your own language to express your priorities and time can make your priorities clearer, more grounded and respected by yourself and others.

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“To Risk” by William Arthur Ward

July 30th, 2009

My partner introduced me to this lovely poem 15 years ago, glad we took the risks that we did……..

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out to another is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.

Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.

Only a person who risks is free.
The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
And the realist adjusts the sails.

Sailing through waves of FEAR

July 30th, 2009

greenpeace-vegaWith the recent adventure of my NoMad colleague, Nigel Russell,  sailing across the Tasman (in a leaky boat), we have both spent some time reflecting on fear,  the value of it as an emotion, and its all pervasiveness. Fear plays a role in all that we do at both Evolve and NoMadMeetings and is an oft’ expressed emotion by our clients. Here are some examples:

  • Undertaking an Intentional Living Program: “I am frightened of the changes that I will have to make in my life if I uncover my true intentions”
  • An online meeting: “What if the technology goes Kaput!”
  • A meeting marketplace™: “It is different to the usual way of doing things, what if it fails and I have stuck my neck out?”

I was so impressed by the way in which Nigel approached his sailing trip, which mirrored how I have found him to be with everything. His fear was palatable. He stepped through that fear by acknowledging the emotion (the story), assessing the facts (the risks) and then developing sensible contingencies to ameliorate the risks.

Both Nigel and I love exploration and adventure. With more maturity and experience, we also love taking risks in a way that builds on this, treating our fears as valid, and separating fact from story by looking at what we can do to reduce risk and things just plain ‘going wrong’.  It is this experience that we share through both Evolve and NoMadMeetings. I am pleased to bring you below, a special feature from Nigel outlining the risks and fears of ocean sailing and how that relates to online meetings……

I knew that there MUST be a connection between sailing across the Tasman and the techniques needed to communicate masterfully with people at a distance.   Surely!

The yacht trip was a labour of love to take the Greenpeace global campaign yacht Vega (boarded by the French in Moruroa Atoll, where the French Government conducted its nuclear testing programme) back home to New Zealand.  She was berthed at Port Albert, Victorian gateway to the Bass Strait.  She had not been sailed in earnest for years, and the goal was to bring her back to where she was hewn out of a large kauri log on a beach in NZ, 60 years ago.

The barriers to getting her (and us) back safely were huge.  There is risk in ocean sailing anyway, but the safety issues for Vega crossing the Tasman seemed almost impossible to overcome.  The story has a happy ending.. I and the other 3 people on board arrived intact with the beautiful Vega in Auckland to a fanfare of media and friends and family.

The happy ending only occurred because of some basic principles.. and it is these principles that I found also resonated with the way that we (NoMadMeetings) prepare organisations for THEIR journey to effective at-a-distance communications (webinars, phone and online conferencing, meetings etc). Here are some principles and observations of an ocean sailor and NoMad facilitator:

  • The bigger the obstacles, the bigger the purpose needs to be.
  • While preparation and safety is everything, no risk means that we would not have left the dock.
  • It can be very lonely in the middle of an ocean.  Be prepared to draw deeply on your self confidence and the experience of others who have been there before.
  • It is not until you ARE in a gale that you LOVE that you spent time in preparation.  On cold wet windy nights we were grateful for all that time up the top of the mast making sure that the electrics were OK and the mast head pulleys working.
  • I think that I and others would think of adrenalin as being part of this trip.  Interestingly, there was almost none.. sort of dull until I reflected on an interview with a high performance pilot.  He said that as soon as he had adrenalin, he would know that he was under performing and in fact putting the plane and passengers at risk.  This made sense.  Adrenalin comes from our “flight and fight” brain.  So boring old preparation and planning leads to boring old predictable performance.  A boring old pilot taking us on a boring flight – safely and predictably.
  • Contingencies are a waste of time, except when you need them!  When we arrived at Auckland Customs we had lots of food left over, the expensive emergency life raft was intact, our water was hardly used, we had plenty of fuel, the flares were plentiful, the first aid kit unopened, the ocean buoyancy vests remained in their packs.  BUT if we had an emergency…..

One of my favourite moments of the trip was sailing at night, standing alone beside the mizzen mast, the waves rushing past, the stars swaying in the sky and this 14 tons of yacht just pushing through the water totally focused on getting home – whether I was there or not.  A yacht with a purpose cannot be denied!!  Funnily I have a similar feeling when I am facilitating an online event where the participants are … creating a bow wave from their sheer enjoyment and engagement, and there is a momentum in the online event which is felt by everyone.  Amazing virtual meetings can be a rush – and there is no chance of being dumped on by a wave or even losing a life.

Nigel Russell and Carla Rogers will be revealing the key tips and tricks about risk, fear,  online meetings and ocean sailing at the Australian Facilitators’ Network Annual Conference in Nelson in November 2009.

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EVOLVE NOW BOTTOM LINE: Only a person who risks is free. Feel and acknowledge the emotion (the story), assess the risks (the facts), adjust the sails and soar through the waves of fear to next level.

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What we can learn from Laurel and Hardy to make life easier

June 30th, 2009

In Australia, our financial year ends today. For small business, this time of year can be as much a reference point for new directions, business plans and strategies as the traditional January 1. The last day of the financial year finds me reflecting on the massive changes that have occurred for many of us, and what these changes demand. My experience has been of both contraction and expansion. The contraction:  fewer and smaller contracts and seeking contracts rather than being sought. The expansion: being smarter about how I do this and offering even more value for each dollar, working more collaboratively, innovatively and being introduced to different types of clients.
One of the most effective things that I have done to take the struggle out of work and attract the right clients, is doing more work (or co-facilitation) with colleagues who I have some affinity with. In fact, most of my work over the past year has been in partnership.  Last week, Evolve had two terrific Leading Lights, Dr. Marie Martin and Dr. Anna Alderson, who shared their extensive knowledge and body of work on co-facilitation.   We began the session with the question: name a memorable duo and one reason why they came to mind. A number of participants identified Laurel and Hardy, for many reasons, including their synergy and frivolity. Anna (who also nominated Laurel and Hardy) and Marie walked their talk – they were relaxed, engaging, and their ‘magic’, ease and synergy with each other was palatable. The key messages that I distilled from this session, about co-facilitating and for that matter working with another person, were: (these are extracted from the interview and Marie’s excellent article Working at the Edge of Chaos – Living With The Complexity Of Co-Facilitation ):
“Co-facilitators expect the best, pull from trust, work into the future, think we not me, are prepared for points of discomfort, have a learning focus and provide nourishing feedback. In doing these things, co-facilitators remain ‘on the edge’, creating ‘magic’, anticipating possibilities and creating opportunities rather than falling into chaos or rigidity” (Marie Martin).

Pull from trust: Tolerance, awareness, being open to ideas, advice, suggestions and challenges require trust. Behaving predictably, communicating thoughtfully, supporting each other and trying to make each other ‘look good’ build trust. Co-facilitators cannot afford to wait for trust to develop. They need to begin from a premise of trust, to “pull from trust”.
Think we not me: Co-facilitators generate a novel and creative space for themselves and their co-facilitator, in which they both ‘look good’. Co-facilitators share a vision for themselves and the group, share responsibility for the event, processes and outcomes and share the space in which they work.
Expect points of discomfort: The differences between co-facilitators, which may also include differences in timing, intervention, intelligences, learning styles, and needs for recognition, can be interpreted as opportunities for creativity and novelty.
Have a learning focus: This involves the powerful role of mistakes. A learning focus accepts that there will be mistakes, tensions and disagreements but prevents co-facilitators from being trapped by them.
Give nourishing feedback: Feedback can also be developmental, particularly when it is ‘rich’, providing explicit information about behaviour or ideas that enable people to learn.
An audio recording of this session and two comprehensive articles are available to all Evolve Club members.
In our work through NoMadMeetings, consistently we hear back from participants about how they enjoy the way in which Nigel and I work together: “I really enjoyed observing the overt and covert interaction between Carla and Nigel – and appreciating how this contributes to the seamless running of a meeting”. In reflecting on this, I think that the above themes as indentified by Marie are the most critical elements in what makes Nigel and my co-facilitation work. For example, Nigel and I began co-facilitating courses, from locations 6 hours apart and having only ever met for less than one day face to face. Trust was everything as was expecting the best. We often share through our courses our  hilarious disasters and how much we have learnt from them, and supported each other through it.
Thinking of new ways of working, working with Nigel and also my Evolve colleague, Dr. Ann Murphy, has made my life and work that much easier. I feel nourished and supported and have  expanded the way that I think and who I know and work with (my clientele). Being aware of and applying the above principles have made it work. And back to Laurel and Hardy, can you imagine just Laurel or just Hardy, not near as much fun and frivolity!
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EVOLVE NOW BOTTOM LINE: Working with others can make life more fun, profitable and easier. If thinking about it, ask yourself and your colleague:  are you ready to expect the best, pull from trust, think we not me, prepared for points of discomfort, have a learning focus and to provide nourishing feedback.
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In awe of drumchronicity

June 14th, 2009

image12
Scene 1.
Rural Australia. Good old fashioned community hall. 40 chairs. 40 people – who are mostly strangers to each other, mostly grey haired and average age of about 65. Add to this 40 djembes (African drums).

Scene 2 (10 minutes later – YES only 10 minutes later) – duk…. ta …duk ta duk ta ta boom boom – 40 people drumming in rhythm as though one, as though they had been doing this forever.

This was my Saturday afternoon (my Saturday morning was a different kind of music – 3 year ols birthday party, 20 kids and a table of sugar)

Yes I am a great fan of drumming, often incorporating it into workshops and conferences that I  have facilitated and even into my own wedding (80 people on the beach at sunrise).

I love it, I adore it, for many reasons, which include:

1/ I have not know of any other way that can bring people into synchronicity so swiftly

2/ It is an immediate way channel into ones creativity

 3/ It is FUN, and breaks down artificial barriers

I suspect most forms of music are like this and asking myself how do I include it into every workshop? (appropriately). Your thoughts?

Why a Repeat is never a repeat, Why a….

June 11th, 2009

Through NoMad and Evolve, we regularly run virtual workshops with the same theme. We ‘overprepare for these to go with the flow’  – our facilitator guide running up to 17 pages in length for a 1 hour session. This guide often consists of a ‘menu’ of possible topics. Playing the role of the ‘host’ (which I love of course), I endeavour to understand the needs and preferences of each guest and ask for them to order from the menu. An interactive and fun way to design an agenda. My main experience of this is that, despite the same theme, no 2 sessions are ever the same!

Yesterday, I hosted two sessions – our monthly NoMad strategy session and Evolve’s virtual workshop on ‘Community Engagement’ (or Public Participation) – Getting it Right Today, I will talk a little more on the second session.

 The guests who arrived for this session were all delightfully experienced practitioners, which meant that we could take the discussion to a deeper level. The three major themes ordered or added to the menu were, Engaging the Community and Overcoming Apathy, Hearing from the voiceless, The role of power and especially those with power of knowledge (experts) and position

An invitation to a 3 minute brain bender

I invite you to continue and add to this rich discussion here (click on the comment link). As a prompt, here is an exercise that will only take 3 minutes! Grab a piece of paper and divide it into 3. Write one of the three headings in each box:

  1. Overcoming Apathy
  2. Hearing from the voiceless (e.g youth, lower literacy)
  3. Working with positions of power

 The question is: What is one bright idea to address each of these themes.

 Give yourself 120 seconds and then GO, just write, see what happens. And then please share anything that came up on this blog!