Even as an ‘E’ in Myers Briggs I know the value of designing in individual tasks in events we run – providing time to think and for everyone to contribute.
This video does a really nice job of presenting what can seem like a tension between E and I as a polarity.
It raises important questions on how to design our working spaces and ways of working.
Tags: balance, communication
We are just about to head out on quite a run of workshops and events until the end of the month – lots of preparation is behind us with lots of delivery to come.
However, as part of our prep-routine, we think it is healthy to be somewhat self-effacing to get a balanced self-esteem.
A colleague has been running a meeting today on the threat of hubris in organisational leaders. In case that power drug gets the best of any of us, we suggest keeping in touch with the irony of David Brent and the caution against being too controlling and certain in running an event.
And Jo Brand’s colleague demonstrates a certain lack of charm and self-awareness when teaching others to ‘ice your cake’
Cringe!
Tags: communication, confidence
We like the Pecha Kucha approach to preparing slideware and structuring presentations. Even when we are not timed to 20 seconds a slide, we tend to stick with the ‘one image or idea a slide’ model as the structure for our talks. We think this is much preferable to slides of dense text that are then talked to or skimmed through.
A similar presentation format leads to this useful talk….on buying a car.
Tags: communication
You might know that (and fully in sync with the push by surgeon Atul Gawande) we like checklists for avoiding failures of ineptitude…such as this one on facilitation skills and this on finding a good venue.
A colleague shared this blog – a checklist of 13 things crucial for success – we like it
Here are a few things from the piece by Chase Jarvis.
“Success is each to his or her own, but let’s call it like we see it…So here’s a list of thirteen such things that you should be doing right now – let’s call it your hit list:
6. Iterate.
Nothing–and I’ll say it again, but louder–NOTHING will spring from your creative self fully formed. Genius, clarity, vision–whatever you want to call it–will come in fragments at inopportune moments over days, weeks, months, years. Be ready to catch each one of the iterations and push it out of you. The summary of those iterations will aggregate into something special.
8. Don’t underestimate the fundamentals. Know your craft.
Vision and big-picture-thinking are important, but not at the expense of the fundamentals. You’ve got know the nuts and bolts of what your doing. Skip this item at your own risk.
12. Find some quiet.
Noise, stimulation, and adventure are good for creating the raw building blocks of creativity, but they suck for the most important part of creativity — the synthesis. Synthesis–the gluing together of your ideas–requires some sort of quiet, be it just a moment or bunch of moments. So carve out this time.
13. Help others.
When chasing success too many people play the ‘me’ game. It’s all about ‘me’. Well, contrary to what it might seem, success ain’t just about me. Most people who achieve success are concerned with helping others. Helping others cultivates understanding, humility, compassion, and your network – not to mention, a better world. So don’t just reach up and pull yourself there. Be sure to reach sideways and down too, as often as you can muster
Tags: culture, management
Idenk is 6 years old this month…
So 6 online things – maybe lessons or refreshers
2 popular blogs: learning from events and thinking through options for action
2 business briefings that people like: on organisational purpose and planning meetings
And a couple of older best bits (we are told) from our web site: on ‘being your own consultant’ and getting desired behaviours into practice.
Tags: communication
In military history the creation of line infantry in Napoleonic times was a major innovation, but one that required those being fired at to stand closely with colleagues, to help then hold their nerve.
This might be a metaphor for proximity in teams (virtual and face to face) – time together is crucial.
And sometimes, in an event, we encourage voting and exploration of option with a ‘Human Histogram’- it can be easier for some with deviant views to speak up when they see others standing shoulder to shoulder with them.
Tags: communication, innovation
The scene:
……you are in a meeting and someone asks for clarification of a term before the discussion can start.
And they wont let it drop. You are not sure if this is a derailing tactic or whether others agree…
What are your options for handling this real situation – or possible meeting nightmare?
What would you say?
What could you say?
We like the model of 6 interventions from John Heron, which might be applied here like this:
THE FACILITATIVE ONES
Cathartic – tell me more
Catalytic – who has (or can imagine) a great definition
Supporting – I know…
THE AUTHORITATIVE ONES
Informative – this is the one we are using today
Prescribing – lets move on, and we will come back to it
Confronting – I am always curious when this comes up, is this a real issue for you or maybe about something else?
This sort of approach reminds me of the scene in 1987 film Roxanne where Steve Martin handles an insult with 20 put downs.
In relation to this ‘definition obsessed’ scenario we got these others from a colleague:
“I’m thinking – does anyone else see the need for a clearer definition”
“Let’s spend a few minutes on tables – how do you define it as we start today – then lets feedback, we can agree what to work with, then get going”
“Lets hear the introductory presentations first and see if that helps us…”
“There isn’t a precise definition – that’s why we’ve gathered a range of people here today…”
What are your ideas? From a multitude of options comes choice…
Tags: communication, meetings
We have a range of assessments that we do in advance of a development workshop – or on arrival. This one exploring team or organisational culture has been used with well over 1000 people since we started using it 5 years ago. We have results from teams in commerce and education, health and charities, in the UK and abroad.
There are some familiar patterns when reviewing the results from all the assessments. First, many groups rate themselves highly on their sociability or drive to get things done. However:
1) The quality of meetings regularly comes out low.
2) Living and reinforcing the values is often a challenge too.
These are two dimensions that get to the deeper levels of relationship and performance – beyond the fire fighting culture and the desire to get on with each other that many people report.
There are a couple of things we offer to help better meetings from DIY effort to developmental help .
And our values in practice paper continues to be popular .
Enjoy!
Tags: management, meetings, values
The workshop dilemma from a previous post is a dynamic we face a lot.
As we move through the decision making diamond, getting the right moment to shift from divergent to convergent thinking, takes some attention.
We think of it a bit like catching a wave when surfing. If you are successful, the group thinking and energy is easy and fun. Time it wrong, and it is a bit of a struggle! Rushing and dawdling can have similar results…
Tags: Decision-making
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