Facilitator as disruptor

Back in July, after the World Open Space on Open Space gathering in San Francisco, I reported on one of the ‘new edges’ appearing in Open Space: the Joker/difficultator role of the facilitator. I can’t remember who said this but can still remember the feeling of ‘YES’ that I felt when it was raised. I now want to explore this a bit more.

Caveats: I went searching for info on the Joker archetype and found all sorts of stuff – lots of analysis of The Joker in the Batman movies, but not much useful about the archetype itself. And I’m too impatient to go and read Joseph Campbell again. I did find this from the site www.crystalinks.com (unverified, but interesting nonetheless). This post is not an academic article, just a few random thoughts. Nor do I want to get too ‘new age’. I’m sure there will be people out there who know a lot about this. Please, feel free to comment.

The trickster is … the wise-fool. It is he, through his creations that destroy, points out the flaws in carefully constructed societies of man. He rebels against authority, pokes fun at the overly serious, creates convoluted schemes, that may or may not work, plays with the Laws of the Universe and is sometimes his own worst enemy. He exists to question, to cause us to question not accept things blindly. He appears when a way of thinking becomes outmoded needs to be torn down built anew. He is the Destroyer of Worlds at the same time the savior of us all.

Trickster is a creator, a joker, a truth teller, a story teller, a transformer linked to the spiritual frequency changes humanity is experiencing at this time.

We seem most accessible to the synchronistic gifts of the Trickster when we ourselves are at or near boundaries or are experiencing transition states, periods of major life transitions seem to be occasioned by an abundance of meaningful coincidence. As an archetype, the Trickster, the boundary dweller, finds expression through human imagination and experience.

So as I continue to explore the role of facilitation in the world, I wonder if there’s something in this Joke/Trickster role. And then I remembered one of my favourite books – just hang on a sec while I go and get it. Here it is. It’s called The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler.

There’s a whole chapter in the book on The Trickster. Here’s a few quotes:

The Trickster archetype embodies the energies of mischief and desire for change. (pp 77)

Tricksters … cut big egos down to size, and bring heroes and audiences down to earth. They are the natural enemies of the status quo. (p 77)

Tricksters are often catalyst characters, who affect the lives of others but are unchanged themselves. (pp 79)

I like the descriptor ‘difficultator’. It appears initially to be opposite to ‘facilitator’ and the common definition of ‘making it easier’ or ‘enabler’. When I’m at my most effective as a facilitator, I think I exhibit many of the qualities of The Trickster – questioning, putting people off balance, challenging the status quo, taking risks, breaking the tension by making a joke (often at my own expense) and asking the ‘obvious’ or ‘dumb’ question. I can do this because I am an outsider – and because people are not sure what to expect, they might be a bit off-balance. A good position, I think, to explore alternatives and new directions, if that’s what they want to do.

I’d be interested in your thoughts – and experiences – of bringing the Joker/Trickster/disruptor role to your facilitation.

Thank You

Thank you for visiting, whether by purpose or any other means.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for your comments.
Thank you for being out there in the world.

Generosity

I’ve found myself referring to generosity a lot lately. Here and here. Patti Digh also talks about being generous here. Patti says: 

Chapter Four in Life is a Verb is about being generous. Not in terms of money, but in terms of opening the space for others to be who they are, about reaching out to them, about providing them the same level of specificity as you provide yourself. About allowing for their deeply textured humanity rather than seeing them as a “what” or a “category.”

My copy of Life is a Verb hasn’t arrived yet – despite checking my mail box every day with great anticipation, so I haven’t yet read that chapter. I’m looking forward to it. 

I think generosity is a key attribute for facilitators. It’s easy to make assumptions – and even necessary. Making and testing assumptions allows us to learn. And there’s the rub. A lot of the time we make assumptions about people without an opportunity to test them. Sometimes we don’t want to test our deeply held beliefs about other people either. Might make us have to consider some uncomfortable truths about ourselves. 

Facilitators try to give everyone a voice – using processes that provide a generous amount of space for all types. And the one skill that would make this so easy – mind reading – is not that easy to acquire (smile).

So the only tried and true way I’ve discovered to test assumptions is to be generous – by suspending judgement and allowing space for different needs I know will be in the group. 

The picture below is of my friends Lenny & BJ Diamond who epitomise generosity. They are both involved in the Global Facilitators Service Corps Disaster & Crisis Intervention training for facilitators. 

Steve Jobs on connecting dots, doing what you love and death – oh, and failure!

Steve Jobs makes this commencement speech at Stanford University. It’s not the best presentation, but the messages are good. He talks about connecting the dots – and this is only possible by looking back. You can’t know in advance that the dots will connect. So you need to keep looking for what you love – in life and in work. He says the only way to do great work is to do what you love. Sometimes you might discover what that is early. Or you might have to keep looking. Don’t settle. And follow your heart and intuition.

Hat tip to Geoff Brown and Howard Rheingold

Funny and insightful

While this is funny (and sadly quite scary) it also reminds me of some of the pre-prepared, non-answers we sometimes get when facilitating. True! People really do talk like this in real life. It’s useful to have a good ear for this sort of stuff and be prepared to challenge it – no matter who says it.

Hat tip to Lee Lefever
 

Buying in to the Open Space discussion

There’s a really cool discussion about Open Space circulating the blogosphere. It started here with Dave Pollard. Jack Martin Leith and Johnnie Moore waded in, and also Chris Corrigan. Dave will be at Chris’s Art of Hosting on Bowen Island by the time I get this posted – and I SO WISH I WAS THERE. There’s going to be some wonderful conversations if these posts are any indication.

I’m a bit wary of entering the fray with these excellent thinkers, but here goes. These my thoughts on some of the themes that have emerged.

Expectations of Open Space – or any other process for that matter

I’ve always been wary of any process that’s held up as THE one – including Open Space. The skill of the facilitator is in matching a process to a client’s expressed needs, the group, their expectations, the time available, the energy the group has – the actual facilitation is usually quite straightforward after juggling all those elements. And sometimes, Open Space will fit the bill. 

I’ve seen people frustrated, angry and bored with Open Space. Maybe they’d have the same reaction to any process. I don’t know. What I do know is that any process, including Open Space, works when people are generous – with themselves, and with each other. Generous to share what they know as well as what they don’t, their ideas, and their anxieties.

Dave suggested that Open Space works against the ‘maverick thinkers’. I wouldn’t know. If I care enough about my idea I’m going to tell whoever will listen. Maybe Open Space works against ‘obvious thinkers’ too. Maybe it allows all sorts of thinkers to be heard, but only if they choose to open their mouths. Open Space is not therapy. It’s not a cure for shyness, or aggression or anything else. It’s a fairly robust way (in my experience) of enabling people to have conversations. And sometimes those conversations are mediocre – sometimes they’re not. Should I intervene if the conversation is mediocre? How would I judge? I prefer to let people get on with it – which raises the question of why they need a facilitator at all. And that’s a whole other conversation that I’m not going into right now.

Objectivity of the facilitator

In another life I trained as a journalist. I suppose I was a failure at that because I simply couldn’t buy into the ‘objective journalist’ mantra. I believe I bring my experiences and biases and filters to every situation, including facilitating. I don’t believe in the ‘objective’ facilitator any more than I believe in the ‘objective’ journalist. Facilitators are making judgements and decisions constantly – some of them big, many small – and ALL are influenced by who we are, our beliefs, our values and our preferences. The very fact of a facilitator being in the room changes the dynamic – and that’s true in Open Space as well, even if it is less than in many other processes.

So why have a facilitator at all? (OK, I will buy in now) I reckon the best facilitators are those that are generalists and connectors – have a broad ranging knowledge base, are not experts in anything, and can see connections that others might miss. (hey, that’s me *smile*). The facilitator can become part of the system for a while and play a disruptive (in a good way) role. They can help the group experience something different. And when we use Open Space, the experience can be quite dramatic. Whatever the outcome the group, and the individuals, will be different as a result of the experience. Often only a little bit different, sometimes fundamentally different. Hopefully different good, rather than different bad.

Control/taking charge 

Facilitators generally learn to focus on process. And often, the most appropriate process for a particular group will be one where the facilitator plays a central role. Increasingly, though I’m finding I can be of more use when I’m not the centre of attention. So if I let go of content AND process, what’s left for me to do? Good question. Get out of the way? Find a new job? I think it’s all the work done before an event that has the greatest effect – and then maybe I’m only needed on the day to provide moral support.

Speaking personally, I like to be in control. That’s why I work for myself. I quite like to be bossy too. And sometimes those are good traits when things need to get done (and we know what those ‘things’ are). And sometimes I just need to let go of control. It’s hard. And it’s a really good skill to have developed. I’m grateful to Open Space for teaching me to let go.

In Playback Theatre there’s an activity called ‘conflicts’. Two players will act out, physically and with words, an inner conflict. I’m always reminded of this when I facilitate Open Space. I so want to get in there and DO something, FIX things, while I KNOW that I should just let it unfold. Is this abrogating my responsibility as a facilitator? Some might think so – I think it’s part of the facilitator skill to know when to intervene and when to stay the hell out of it.

Outcomes/consensus/products

I’ve posted on this before. If a particular product is required from a facilitated event, then maybe facilitation isn’t the best option. There’s lots of ways of ensuring outcomes, products, and consensus that don’t require facilitation. What facilitation can do is provide a way for people to gather face-to-face and have conversations – that may or may not lead to some conclusion. Open Space Technology provides a way (not the only way) for people to be in conversation. 

As a facilitator I’m prepared to take responsibility for my role – I’m not prepared to do the work on behalf of the group. I’d charge double for that!

And a final thought

I love the way Open Space creates such passion, so many questions, followers and heretics. Those of us participating in this on-line discussion have been grappling with many of these questions for years – I know I certainly have. And I can’t see it ending soon. As soon as I think I’ve grasped some *truth* about Open Space the world tilts a little and I’m left floundering again. I’ll continue to use Open Space, as well as many other approaches, and I’ll continue to explore and question. I’m grateful to Open Space and all the users and naysayers and tinkerers out there who continually challenge and excite.

Cool Competition

With a theme of ‘participatory learning’ I just had to point you towards this competition. Sadly Australia isn’t eligible. In any case, can’t wait to see the results.

I love this time of year

We’re coming out of winter. The days are getting longer (bring on daylight saving) and it’s often sunny and warm. For a few minutes, anyway. It can also still be quite cold, windy, wet and stormy. The birds are building nests and the blue wrens are in the full breeding colours. And many of the plants in the garden are at their best. Makes me think of new ventures – even new adventures.

Benefits of blogging

A friend of mine recently signed up to Twitter (hi Kim!). We had this email conversation about what it means to be on Twitter, and about blogging. This got me reflecting on what a difference these web tools have made to my business and to my facilitation practice. 

Contactable in many ways

Less than two years ago the only way to contact me was by phone, email (one account) or mail. Now I have at least four email accounts, twitter, facebook, 3 web sites, skype – well, you get the picture. And they only need to be as intrusive as I want them to be. On a 10-day vacation recently in Africa I had no technology at all, not even a cell phone. The world didn’t end. Emails waited patiently wherever they’re stored until I returned. 

Connecting with people – known

So I’d meet someone at a conference – and let’s face it, I AM prone to attending conferences. I like the interaction and the challenges and the ideas that emerge (which mean I only attend certain types of conferences – if there’s too many presentations, or too much control, I scarper). I’ve met lots of really interesting people at conferences and the only thing I have to show for it, years later, is their card (if I can find it). Since blogging, skyping etc I’ve been able to stay in touch with people I meet and even become friends with some. We don’t talk every day – and may go for months without any interaction. But I might read their blogs (and they might read mine), or I might simply see on my skype contacts that they are on-line. It’s enough to remind me of them. For example, the other day I ran a workshop around status behaviours for facilitators. It went really well and I was enthused to do some more around this topic. So I skyped my improv buddy in Finland, Simo, who just happened to be on-line to ask if his book about status had been translated into English yet (the answer was ‘no’). I really value the connections, and particularly the friendships, developed this way. It’s always great when they come and visit too – and I suppose it helps living in a tourist destination.

Oh, and it works just as well staying connected with people around the corner as across the globe. 

Connecting with people – unknown

Following links from a trusted source to somewhere else on the web can lead to all sorts of possibilities: unexpected collaborations, book reviews, invitations to present at conferences, work opportunities – all of these have happened for me, not from people I personally know, but from people I’ve ‘met’ on the web.

Connecting with ideas & staying current

I have to make a conscious effort to stay in touch with people, AND ideas – especially as I work alone. I’ve always been a media junkie – I put that down to doing media studies in the 80s – so reading newspapers is a start, a few mags are good, and then I find things out via the web and especially links that I would never have known about any other way. As a facilitator, I think I need to have a good sense of what’s happening in the world – globally, nationally and locally. This enables me to put the topic of the workshop into a context, so I may not understand the detail, but I do have a sense of why the topic is important for this client and how I can contribute as a facilitator.

Practical

Today I had a two-hour skype video chat with my friend Andrea who lives in San Antonio, Texas (and I’m in Australia) – so despite the time difference, we were able to plan two workshops that we’re co-delivering at this year’s Applied Improv Conference in Chicago. And then my friend Geoff demonstrated dimdim as another meeting tool – especially when you both want to co-create something on the whiteboard.

It’s fun – mostly

I enjoy it – if I didn’t I’d stop. Which is exactly what happened recently on a listserv that I’d been on since its inception 12 years ago. The discussions turned a bit nasty, with too much one-upmanship for my liking. I stuck it out for a while, and finally decided I was not enjoying it at all, so unsubscribed. 

Ego

And what blogger doesn’t like seeing their words in print? There is an ego element to all of this – the trick is keeping it in check, realising that it’s not the number of friends you have, or the number of people following you on Twitter, or the number of hits on your blog, but the quality of the relationships and the value that you can receive, and give. Karma.

Taking stock

This post by Lee Lefever really struck a chord with me. He writes about ignoring his RSS feed, and not reading blogs for a while – even though there were lots of posts he was supposed to read. And that seemed to be the problem – he said ‘it felt like homework’.

I have some friends (OMG) who never read blogs (OMG) – really. We have a recurring conversation that is usually about how on earth I find the time the read blogs.

And the thing is, I don’t just read blogs – I read some blogs. And recently the number of blogs I read regularly is a lot fewer. Like Lee, I partly blame Twitter. It’s easier, lighter and gives me lots of leads. It’s not as much work as blogs. And I also read books, and newspapers, and magazines.

I do have a handful of trusted ‘go to’ blogs – the ‘A’ Team – maintained mostly by people I have actually met. And then there’s blogs by people I know of and admire that I visit quite often.

When the choice is so vast it’s hard to know where to start. I like to keep it manageable and connected. That, and Twitter, works for me. For now.