Who needs facilitators?

While there’s been a flurry of posts on the Australasian Facilitators’ Network list about the processes used at last weekend’s 2020 summit (where 1000 of Australia’s ‘best and brightest’ - not my words - gathered in Canberra to discuss 10 topics with a Chair and co-Chair for each topic and an array of facilitators) there’s been disquiet, and some downright fury, at the quality of facilitation at the summit. 

An article in today’s Australian newspaper talks about concerns that some voices were not heard, others misrepresented, and outcomes pre-determined at worst or manipulated by the Chairs at best.Hard to know if these claims are true. But it does raise an opportunity to explore just what the role of the facilitator is/was/should be in such a situation. Here’s what’s clear so far: 1000 people sat through an opening and plenary sessions at the beginning of each day and at the end where the big ideas were revealed from each stream. At other times they were in their ’streams’ groups of 100 - seems different facilitation processes were used with each stream (based on images from television reports). I saw processes where people came to a podium and talked for a short time about their ideas. I saw people sitting in rows; I saw people sitting in small groups; I saw some graphic facilitations; and I saw people writing on flip charts.

Fellow facilitators who knew about the call for facilitators to help with the summit said the brief was broad and vague (aren’t they all?) and none of them was selected. Seems it was a process of ‘who you know’.

I’ve heard first-hand comments like: “The facilitator in our stream wanted agreement before they would write anything up. They wouldn’t allow us to disagree and have different points of view.”

I’ve heard via the media that what people said was rewritten in the scribe/facilitator’s words to a point where the person couldn’t recognise their own words or ideas.

If true, this is not good facilitation and any facilitator worth their salt knows it too - and wouldn’t do it. No matter what the stakes or what the pressures. So it raises the questions about who was facilitating and whether they had any facilitation skills at all. It raises a more important question about the image of facilitation and facilitators.

Good facilitation is transformational – enabling individuals to work together for growth, development and change. And facilitation is no longer an added extra – the skills, the understandings and the personal awareness that accompanies good facilitation can be a part of everyone’s professional kit bag. Facilitation requires us to believe in the wisdom of individuals and groups and their capacity to resolve, build, challenge, shape and grow. But all this doesn’t always come naturally, especially if we are used to being in control. We have to learn some of the basic practices of facilitation and, most importantly, learn how to GET OUT OF THE WAY.

Words into action

I’ve been pondering this question for a while and would like your thoughts. Here’s some scenarios:

#1: There’s a lot of commentry around regarding the forthcoming 2020 Summit and how the ideas will translate into action

#2: Comment heard on the radio: ‘It’s all very well to talk, but what are we going to do about it?’

#3: Recent workshop designed to provide information and dialogue - frustration that no specific follow-up actions emerged.

My question is:What is the value of talk?My thoughts are that there isn’t enough talk. Talk and conversation and discussion and dialogue simply to explore and wander through ideas, taste them, throw them around, spark new ideas, keep the synapses active, and inspire. The need to come up with actions, next steps etc seems to devalue talk - that talking isn’t inherently valuable, but a means to an end.

And I guess inherent in this is responsibility. Actions etc tend to default to what ’someone else needs to do about it’. Isn’t it enough to have an interesting conversation that translates into new personal knowledge, maybe understanding, that may, or may not, translate into action. After all, we are who we are because of all the influences built up over our lives. Isn’t personal responsibility enough?

Life’s retrospective

Today we visited the Sidney Nolan exhibition at the Potter Gallery in Melbourne.

While looking at this great artist’s work across a lifetime and seeing, as one does in a retrospective, the changes, developments and influences manifest in his art, I reflected what a gift this is. And wondered if it’s possible for us mere mortals who bumble our way through life to have access to a similar retrospective. I’ve always admired people who can keep journals for this very reason - the story of their lives recorded and available for reflection. I’ve relied on my (unreliable) memory and a few artefacts to track my life’s journey. Now I suspect that blogging and twitter may provide a window through which we may glimpse our lives (and the lives of others) and that which influences us.

Passionate and Blinkered

Today I went to the footy (Australian Rules Football) at the MCG. My team - the Richmond Tigers - lost to Collingwood (boo!!!). Unless you barrack for Collingwood, you pretty much hate them - everyone does. I love the atmosphere at the MCG - thousands of screaming fans. A fast-paced game that is pretty much unintelligible to the uninitiated.

I was struck by my own biases. And the roller-coaster of emotions depending on how my team was performing - and how unfair the umpire appeared. And I was struck by the biases of those around me. For one side or the other. No half measures. Uniquivocal.

Which got me thinking about facilitating when someone has a real passion for something and I ask them to consider something else. I know what I’d do if role were reversed. I’d shut down. So, the question is something like ‘how do we tap into people’s passions and engage them with other ideas?’ I don’t know the answer. I do know that it’s reminded me of the importance of presence when facilitating - to be noticing what’s going on and responding to what is, rather than what I expect or hope. To be unblinkered by my own biases. It’s harder than it sounds.

So true!

Love this. Reminds me of some people who attend workshops. No - I’m not going to name names! Enjoy.

Conversations that Create

This is really exciting! Last year I attended the Applied Improv Conference which was hosted by the Banff Leadership Centre, and took part in a pre-conference workshop delivered by Colin Funk and others of the Banff Leadership Lab. It was sensational and the major influence for me to focus more on the role of creativity. Now they are coming to Australia!  It’s going to be creative and fun and thought provoking and challenging and inspirational. Interested? Be quick - it’s limited to 30 people. The dates are May 7 - 9 in Sydney. Click here for more information conversations-that-create.pdf

Inspiration - and story to boot

If the truth be known, I use this blog to capture all those things I find inspirational and that I know I’ll want to use some day. Maybe there’s an easier way but I figure any readers out there might be interested too. I’ve been catching up on a few TED podcasts and this one is a ripper.

Slowing down to see more, be more

I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve said that I’m a generalist - through my work and interests I’m happy to know a little about a lot. This post by William Tozier (hat tip to Dave Pollard) is well worth a read. He argues for a life of noticing, of exploration - of being a generalist. Here’s a little sample (and please, go and read the whole lot)…

The generalist should not be headed for any place where he is “done”. When are you “done” paying attention? When are you “done” talking, considering? When are you “done” learning or seeing? Specialization is easier, simpler, more comfortable not because the world demands it, but because it can be measured, commoditized, evaluated and rewarded. Because it’s a worklife that is obvious, and transparent, and self-explanatory.

More work to do in the world for women

At an International Women’s Day event I heard an Aboriginal woman talk of her family’s struggle to remain together; of the ignorance of others in declaring, when, as a teenager she took her siblings to the local swimming pool and was told she wasn’t allowed to swim there ‘because they would turn the water black’; of her joy in being reunited with her brother; and of her pride in herself, her family and her culture - simply for surviving.

I grew into feminism in the 1970s - nurtured by my mother’s indomitable spirit. I argued for women’s rights, fought for equality and today enjoy many of the results. Yet I see many, many women throughout the world who continue to struggle for basic human rights.

This TED video says it much better than I can, through the power of story. And epitomises the open space ethos in the world of passion and responsibility.

Noticing

I wonder if people in organisations are so focused on what they are doing that they are too busy to notice what’s happening.

And does it matter?

This week I was talking to a client about 3 - 5 year planning. I suggested that anything further than one-year planning was a nonsense. Actually I believe that all but simple planning is a nonsense. I can plan what to have for dinner tonight, and then go shopping with intent. Some people I know can even plan meals for a whole week. I’m not that advanced! Alternatively, I can poke my head in the fridge and the pantry, open a bottle of wine and improvise with what I’ve got. Presupposes some basic skill in cooking, yes - but you get the gist. I can also plan a holiday. Work out where and when I want to go, make bookings and start crossing days off the calendar. Or I can be spontaneous. Maybe I won’t get the holiday I imagined: I will be surprised, probably. Plan for my organisation’s response to climate change though? Give me a break! Beats me how rational humans, even scientists, who scoff at something like astrology can put the same faith in strategic planning. It’s all guesswork. Even if it’s a ‘best’ guess, what does that mean? So what should people do instead of all that time-wasting planning? I think they should do six things:

1. Stop doing and start noticing 
Make space to notice what’s going on - within yourself, around you, in your family, within the organisation, in the world. As humans, we are innately good at noticing - maybe we’ve lost the ability by being too busy.

2. Let go of needing to be right
We can often only know what ‘right’ is on reflection. Analysis of options, multi-criteria analysis and all other approaches to identifying the right, or even the best, option do no more than waste more time. Do something. If it works do more of it. If it doesn’t, stop it and do something else.

3.  Do - reflect - plan
Rather than plan - do - reflect, or even worse plan - do - plan - do, (leaving out any reflecting, or noticing) or worse still plan - plan - plan…

4. Set a strategic compass (hat tip to Stephen Shapiro)
Rather than a strategic direction that presupposes a straight line, a strategic compass sets the general course and enables us to manouvre within that course and respond as opportunities arise.

5. It all depends on your point of view 
Be inspired, be challenged (and challenge others), have fun, discover, experiment, set self-imposed boundaries to encourage creativity - look at your world through the eyes of others and notice what you see.

6. Identify your organisation’s premise - what underpins your story?All movies have a premise (the idea that inspires the story) - often an open-ended question or statement: What would happen if…?  From Wikipedia: Most premises can be expressed very simply, and many films can be identified simply from a short sentence describing the premise. For example: What would happen if a lonely boy meets an alien; What would happen if a small town is terrorized by a shark; A small boy sees dead people. So what premise inspires your organisation’s story?