Posts
Six Ways to Use ToP Facilitation Methods in Training
Recently, I had the pleasure of participating in a training workshop for Indigenous community leaders. They were learning new ways to lead in climate change resilience. A key component of this was to navigate land transfers that would help them deal with severe coastal erosion and permafrost thaw. I was invited to facilitate a few…
Can you help? Damiana is Coming to Life!
Facilitators today, more than ever need to be able to help groups envision a better world. Part of this better world obviously has to be equity changes and protecting those who are most endangered by global warming, biodiversity loss, and severe climate events. As you can tell, I am moving more and more in this…
Facilitator dilemma and opportunity: How much effort is needed?
All my life, I have watched how the level of effort varies in my life and work practices. “How much energy, time and effort do I have to devote to this task?” I would wonder. “Oh dear, this client job is taking a lot more energy that I had not planned for“; “oops, I put…
Facilitating Resilience and Conflict – Conference Highlights
Last week we had over 150 people in San Diego, CA attending the IAF Conference of the Americas for the first time in 5 years! Every workshop I attended was provocative, insightful, and timely in terms of what the world needs now to change rapidly and strategically. There were speakers and participants from 22 different…
Using Insight Dialogue Method to Facilitate Difficult Topics (Such as the Israel-Hamas War)
Recently I had the honour of facilitating using the Insight Dialogue method on the topic of the Israel-Hamas war. We were a group of peer facilitators who had worked together for many years. It was a profound experience and gratifying to see how well we did as a group. This blog is to help you…
How to Facilitate a Community River Clean-up (when you are not a facilitator)
In our 2023 year end blog, we look at how a leader without facilitation training can help a community do an important sustainability project. I admit it would be easier and likely more efficient, if you can get a facilitator to help you do this. But imagine, you are a leader who uses your skills…
The Power of Generosity in Facilitation
What does it mean to be generous? This short blog offers ways to practice generosity both in your personal life and as a group process facilitator. First, let’s just think about the concept generally. Most of us try to be generous yet there are so many nuanced ways of being generous that we may not…
So you’ve been feeling consciously incompetent lately?
I don’t know if you’re aware of the term “conscious incompetence”. It actually comes with a suite of phrases that begin with 1. unconscious incompetence; then 2. conscious incompetence; 3. unconscious competence; and lastly 4. conscious competence. Noel Burch, an employee with Gordon Training International, developed the Conscious Competence Ladder in the 1970s. I want…
How Do You Decide to Take That Facilitation Job?
Quite a few years ago, I presented a paper at a conference called “When to Take the Job”. I was trying to be more discerning about which client work to take on. This is true more than ever now. I have been passing on almost all the jobs that I have been asked to do…
What’s the Buzz with AI?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming quickly recognized by our field of facilitation. Some of my colleagues have been using one form of AI, ChatGPT to get good answers to facilitation design questions. They are also using it to learn how to apply different facilitation tools. Many are using to summarize meeting minute notes. There are…
