Open Space Technology is a simple yet powerful way to facilitate meaningful conversations in larger groups, especially when the topic is complex. This guide covers when to use OST, when not to use it, key facilitation steps, and how to create an environment where ideas and collaboration thrive.
Read moreOrdinary Magic: Finding Transformation in the Everyday
You see, dear reader, my mother was (and still is) not a mainstream mom. Whether we wanted to or not, we were taught that the ultimate creative act is the ability to re-envision and redesign the ordinary, even the mundane, into something entirely transformed and beautiful. And this lesson applies not only to vegetables but also to our relationships, our organisations, our neighbourhoods, and our lives.
Read moreCreating a 'Container' for Meaningful Conversations in Teams
We give a lot of thought to what we should be meeting about, but very little to how we should engage in these meetings in support of the topics on the table. In the facilitation world, the term ‘to create a container’ refers to the intentional establishment of a supportive and safe environment for individuals or groups to engage in conversation, learning, growth and collaboration. This concept draws inspiration from the idea that a container holds and shapes the space within it. When facilitators, leaders, or even just parties to a conversation therefore create a container intentionally, they are essentially setting the stage for meaningful interactions to occur.
Read moreAn experiment with AI, authenticity and learning
“I succumbed to the allure of AI and the wonder of instant solutions through Chat GPT. I asked it to write a blog article on the topic that I had been working on for the last few weeks. It didn’t disappoint. Within seconds it churned out a concise article according to my specifications and it even did so based on the style and language of our website. I made some edits, even added some references and, eureka! My troubles were a thing of the past! Riding the high, I immediately churned out 2 more articles.
Bliss.
But the nagging sense that this wasn’t really my own work stayed with me.”
Stuckness, connection and ritual
We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Stuck. In a loop. Unable to move forward in the way we want to. The same worst-case scenario, thinking, breakdown or conversation on repeat, and without progress. There’s nothing quite as debilitating as the onset and persistent symptoms of a bout of ‘stuckness’. The type of stuckness that manifests in deadlocks in important conversations, that shows up in our inability to think ourselves into a solution for a challenge or problem in our lives, that makes us feel like a visitor in our own life, and that impacts our most important relationships when we can’t find ways to constructively address persistent breakdowns with others.
Read moreConnection before content
More meetings do not necessarily lead to more connection. Instead, we need fewer, but higher quality gatherings. Gatherings that leave people inspired and re-energised. Meetings that support the work we want to do, instead of standing in the way of it.
Read moreThe unexpected lesson music has taught us.
How unexpected that this free resource showed us again and again, how it is able to change the mood, how it can connect people, how it creates space for reflection, how it can restore or energise, and how it can create a sense of togetherness.That is perhaps because humans, over the ages, have made music together and apart. We are wired to understand the language of music, and what struck us in this time, is the way in which music was able to colour the virtual containers of our gatherings.
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