2018 Leading Courageously in Human Services AoH Workbook

ABOUT THIS RESOURCE
This workbook is your personal reference journal with the purpose of strengthening your learning by offering
the key materials of this training. It also should be a place for you to take notes to help you remember, focus
and deepen your understanding and practice as we dive in. It shares the basic assumptions and worldviews
underpinning the Art of Hosting and Harvesting Conversations that Matter (also known as the Art of Participatory
Leadership) practice. It includes several techniques, tools and practices that the community of practitioners around
the world has found helpful. It provides you with resources - books, links, and information and where to go next –
to support your learning further. Our team has adapted this workbook for this particular Art of Hosting training,
but it is a reflection of a lineage of shared practice and writing about the Art of Hosting. All of this is offered to
you to use, improve, and share under creative commons or noted copyright. We only ask that you credit authors
and acknowledge sources.
Cover art created by Sook Jin Ong in collaboration with Jen Mein
St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

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ABOUT THIS TRAINING
Leading Courageously in the Human Services Sector: The Art of Hosting and Harvesting Conversations That Matter was
called for leaders in the health and human services field by the Future Services Institute (see www.futureservicesinstitute.
org) to support fundamental systems redesign activities. The Future Services Institute is housed at the Humphrey School
of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. Financial support to lower the cost of the training was
provided by the Kresge Foundation in Troy, Michigan.
WE BELIEVE IN GROWING AND CHALLENGING YOURSELF ON YOUR JOURNEY OF AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP.
We are excited that you are joining us! You will be experiencing a powerful leadership training around a set of practices
that are spreading in use in Minnesota, nationally, and internationally. These simple yet impactful practices enable authentic
engagement that builds community, activates shared intelligence, and motivates leadership for change. Today, in fields like
human services, where technical solutions are often the default, we must become better at inviting more people to help us
co-create, effective services. Given the events of the last few months, the need to build individual and organizational capacity
to navigate the complexity of our world with authenticity is even more critical.
A diverse group of changemakers from the public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors will be participating. They come from
organizations big and small, and all come with the intention of challenging themselves to serve better. Making this workshop
accessible financially is our partner, the Kresge Foundation.
This workshop is not for spectators. It will be hands-on and participatory. Expect to step in, step up, and take responsibility
for whatever it is that calls you. Expect to be both challenged and supported as we step into learning together.
During our learning time together, we will explore powerful questions about both our personal leadership and goals for
conversations that matter in our work and communities. Some of the questions we may explore together include:
• How do we host and hold space for many identities, voices, and perspectives to emerge, engage, and empower? How
can we continue to do so in a meaningful way that promotes resilience, belonging, innovation, and collective impact?
• What we can do to be bold in the face of systemic inequality which underpins human services work?
• How do we practice nuanced, proactive, and authentic leadership and be a true partner in light of the many difficult
events and grand challenges in our society?
• What is the change I am inviting in myself by pursuing broader systems change? How can I engage skillfully with the
topics of fear, conflict and stuck patterns? How can I work in complexity, uncertainty, and change?
• In what ways can we explore new, emergent collaborations and ways of doing human services work?
As we begin to reflect on these questions, we leave you with this quote:
“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul….The
light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of
soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward other -- both are acts of immense bravery and greatest
necessity.”
- Clarissa Pinkola Estes

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YOUR HOSTING TEAM
JOE BARTMANN KEISHA BLACKMAN
Dakota Resources Future Services Institute
MICHAEL GARNER BETH KALLESTAD

Olmsted County University of Minnesota
Extension - Leadership &
Civic Engagement
JEN MEIN TUESDAY RYAN-HART

Future Services Institute Tuesday Ryan-Hart, LLC
JODI SANDFORT ISADORA TABUE

Humphrey School Future Services Institute
of Public Affairs
As your hosting team, we have been building a field to help hold this work with you. It's a journey that
begins months before the first day of our gathering.You'll likely notice it when you walk into the room the
first day.You'll be stepping into an experience of being hosted and held in a learning environment
where you get to step in and experiment with shared learning and insights. It is an opportunity for you to
practice and grow in your leadership, and an honor for us to host you.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
04 WELCOME 65 PROCESS DESIGN TOOLS

66 Powerful Questions
05 WHAT IS THE ART OF HOSTING? 68 Working with Purpose
70 Chaordic Stepping Stones
09 TWO COMPLIMENTARY 76 Chaordic Design Process
WORLDVIEWS 78 8 Breaths of Process Architecture
80 The Eight Little Helpers
13 CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES 84 Checklist for Process Design
14 The Four-Fold Practice 86 Design Lab Process
16 The Chaordic Path 90 On Action and Participatory Process
18 Appreciative Inquiry 92 Being Purposive with Invitation
20 Cynefin Framework
22 Divergence and Convergence
93 WORKING TOGETHER USING AOH
24 Two Loops Model: How Systems Change
94 Communities of Practice
25 Theory U
96 Hosting and Designing as a Team
29 Organizational Patterns
97 A Hosting Team Holds a Field
30 Networks and Complex Problems
98 Shared Work Model
32 Equity and Inclusion
100 Collaborative Advantage
34 Reflective Listening/Mirroring Technique
102 Core Teams
36 Engaging Limiting Beliefs

105 RESOURCES & INSPIRATION
39 GROUP PROCESS METHODS
106 What it Means to "Hold Space" for Others
40 Core Methodologies
110 Reflective Practices
41 The Circle Way
117 7 Elements for Visual Practice
44 World Café
126 Books, Articles, Websites
46 Open Space Technology
128 Glossary
48 Pro Action Café
130 Notes
50 Collective Story Harvesting
55 HARVESTING AND EVALUATION

56 The Art of Harvesting
59 Documented Learning
60 Developmental Evaluation
62 Probes, Prototypes and Pilots


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WELCOME...
To the Art of Hosting and Harvesting Conversations That Matter
...a training and practice retreat for all who aspire to lead MULTIPLE LEVELS OF FOCUS
by engaging in interactive ways with groups and teams. AoH invites us to operate at four interconnected levels at
once. The learning at each of these levels informs and is
Welcome to those who want to help - trainers, managers, present in the subsequent levels, so that a natural hierarchy
social workers, entrepreneurs, social innovators, youth results. These four levels operate as characteristics of a
workers, community builders, hosts. What you are whole.
about to experience has been offered in countries
all over the world. There is a growing community of
Individual
practitioners supporting each other to further our ability
• To continue to connect to our passion and reason
as practitioners/hosts in co-creative learning and problem-
for choosing a different way of leading in our
solving.
communities
. • To strengthen individual courage to lead as hosts
PARTICIPANTS IN THIS ART
OF HOSTING WILL…
Team
Learn valuable approaches and tools for engaging • To train on the competencies of collective
stakeholders in meaningful conversations reflection and wise action
• To practice co-creating, co-deciding and cohosting
Develop a shared understanding of each in order to host strategic meetings and community
other’s work and opportunities for future and conversations
strategic collaborations
Explore and gain clarity on how to address Community/Organization/Etc.

issues at the center of day-to-day decisions and practices • To experience working in unity with other leaders
in our human service organizations • To experience new organizational forms and work
of co-creating relationships that serve the deeper
Explore and identify new strategies and approaches needs and patterns in our community and world
for furthering their work in community
Global
• To understand the bigger context that we all share
“It is one of the secrets • To benefit from the knowledge and experience of a
of the world. We all have global or “trans-local” network of practitioners
and learners
the key to one another’s
locks. But until we start We have three days together to deepen a practice of
to talk, we don’t know being present, focusing on questions that matter, listening
it.” to each other and to what we create together, harvesting,
and choosing wise action. It is our opportunity to be in the
- MICHAEL SILVERBLATT
practice of thoughtfully doing the work that needs to be
done.

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What is the Art
of Hosting?
5
WHAT IS THE ART OF HOSTING?
THE ART OF HARVESTING IS
The Art of Hosting is a response to a world that is THE YING TO THE YANG OF
becoming increasingly complex and fragmented, where THE ART OF HOSTING.
true solutions and innovations lie not in one leader or
one viewpoint, but in the bigger picture of our collective
Anyone who plants a garden is planning for
intelligence.
results. Whether the result is a fruit or a flower, a
The Art of Hosting is a response at a time when gardener is planning for a harvest. In the same way,
institutions and democracies are failing to address the anyone who plans to host a meeting also wants
increasing chaos in our world. It is a testing ground for to get a good result from their efforts. In this case,
those seeking to find new, effective and healthy patterns the harvest might be in the form of a project plan,
for organizing, innovating and interacting to create new or an agreement to action or a better relationship.
forms that serve us better.
As Art of Hosting practitioners, we plan our
The Art of Hosting is a set of practices for all who conversation design around the harvest we want
aspire to bring out the best in others. It is based on the
to produce. The results we are seeking help to
assumption and experience that human beings have an
determine what methods we use and how.
enormous untapped wealth and resilience.
It activates the collective intelligence in a group to We are continuing to grow our harvesting capacity
find new solutions to the increasing challenges of the and experiment with different forms of harvesting
world of work today. As leaders we need to be more – digital images, photographic, musical, social
flexible and creative in the context of accelerating changes, media, multi-media, narrative – you name it! We
increased complexity, and challenging economic realities. think good harvesting is one of the most potent
The traditional command-and-control type of leadership ways to assure that the agreements and decisions
alone is no longer appropriate. In the current climate, arising from important conversations actually lead
tapping into the potential held by others is crucial. Inviting to clever action.
everyone to participate with their diverse perspectives is
the key to releasing this potential. This form of leadership
is already used with successful results in multiple sectors a Practice, like mediation, Tai Chi or
(government, NGOs, and private settings) particularly in
the following areas: mindfulness is a practice. We see it as a
• Strategic organizational development Four Fold Practice.
• Facilitating large-scale conversations
around strategic questions
• Stakeholder involvement an Invitation to live and work in the space
between chaos and order, the Chaordic
Path.
a Fellowship, which is more than a

community. It is a web of practitioners and
not an organization.
THE ART OF HOSTING St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

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A Few Assumptions
New Solutions are Needed Paradoxes at Work

The Art of Hosting is built on the assumption and In hosting strategic and meaningful conversations we
experience that we need to find new solutions for the operate in a world that is not black or white – but rather
common good, whether in corporations, government, full spectrum. We need to be able to operate in and
education, non-profits, social movements, communities, hold paradoxes such as:
or families. These solutions are more comprehensive and
• Action and Reflection
more readily found and owned if they are co-created by
the energy between us. • Content and Process
• Leading and Following
New Solutions Grow Between • Hierarchy and Community
Chaos and Order • Warrior and Midwife
If we want to innovate, we have to be willing to let go of
what we know and step into not knowing. In nature all
innovation happens at the edge of chaos, or in the space
between chaos and order (the chaordic path). It is in the
chaordic space that new connections are created and
new possibilities emerge. The way to any major change
or transformation will go through chaos into new order.
Conversation Matters
It is common sense to bring more people together in
conversation. It is the way we have done it in generations
past, gathering around fires and sitting in circles. It is the
way we occasionally taste now, building core relationships
that invite real collaboration.
Meaningful Conversation can

Lead to Wise Action
Human beings that are involved and invited to work “Instead of looking on
together take ownership and responsibility when ideas
and solutions must be put into action. Conversations that discussion as a stumbling block
surface a shared clarity on issues of importance foster
ownership and responsibility when ideas and solutions
in the way of action, we think
must be put into action. Actions that come out of it an indispensable preliminary
collective clarity are both wise and sustainable.
to any wise action at all.”
- PERICLES

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On Leadership
MARGARET WHEATLEY
In fact, in this day and age, when problems are And so these leaders act as hosts, as stewards
increasingly complex, and there simply are not of other people’s creativity and other people’s
simple answers, and there is no simple cause intelligence.
and effect any longer, I cannot imagine how
stressful it is to be the leader and to pretend And when I say host, I mean a leader these
that you have the answer. days needs to be one who convenes people,
who convenes diversity, who convenes all
So, what I see in life-affirming leaders is that viewpoints in processes where our intelligence
they are willing to say to people “I do not can come forth.
know the answer, but together we will figure
it out.” So these kinds of leaders do not give us the
answers, but they help gather us together so
So, they are also leaders who rely on other that together we can discover the answers.
people’s intelligence.
And a life-affirming leader is one who knows

how to rely on and use the intelligence that
exists everywhere in the community, or the
school or the organization.
NOTES

8
Two
Complementary
Worldviews
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AOH AND LIVING SYSTEMS
As a Complement to Traditional Leadership Models
TRADITIONAL AOH AND LIVING SYSTEMS

LEADERSHIP COMPLEMENT
Mechanistic Organic
Management by control Leadership by trust
Hierarchical lines of management Community of practice
Top-down Bottom-up
Executing procedures Innovating process
Chairing and reporting Hosting, harvesting, following-up
Work determined by organizational chart Work determined by purpose; task forces in projects
Analysis Intuition
Results-oriented Purpose-oriented; the rest falls into place
Seeking answers Seeking questions
Wants to create a fail-safe environment Creates a safe-fail environment, which promotes learning
Sets agenda from the top-down Sets agenda together
Works without a clear purpose and jumps to solutions Collective clarity of purpose is the unseen leader
Silos Networks
No one person has the right answer, Together we can reach greater clarity: intelligence
but somebody has to decide through diversity
Leading by instruction Leading by hosting
People are invited as individuals; they are attracted by the

People represent their services
quality of the invitation
Engagement is needed from all, including those who usually

Information sharing
don’t contribute much
Individuals are responsible for decisions Uses collective intelligence to inform decision-making
Motivation via carrot and stick Motivation through engagement and ownership
10
COMPLIMENTARY WORLDVIEWS St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg
TRADITIONAL AOH AND LIVING SYSTEMS
LEADERSHIP COMPLEMENT
Communication in writing only Asking questions
One-to-many informational meetings A participatory process informs the information
Dealing with complaints by forwarding them to the Dealing with complaints directly; the hierarchy trusts that
hierarchy for action the solution can come from the staff
I must speak to be noticed in meetings Harvesting what matters, from all sources
When innovation is needed: learning what we don’t

Great for maintenance, implementation know in order to move forward; engaging with
(doing what we know) constantly moving targets
Co-creating solutions together in real time, in presence

Consultation through surveys, questionnaires
of whole system
Engagement processes: collective inquiry with

Questionnaires stakeholders
Rigid organization Flexible self-organization
Event and time-focused Good timing; ongoing conversation and adjustment
A NOTE ON WORLDVIEWS ...

Our worldviews, made up of our values, beliefs, assumptions, attitudes, and ideas, impact everything
from how we understand the nature of reality to how we respond to the environment around us. Each
person’s worldview influences their goals and desires, consciously and unconsciously shaping perceptions,
motivations, and values.
The convergence of our individual characteristics and our unique history, including our life experiences,
region, culture, religion, socioeconomic status, and family are expressed through our worldview. Our
worldviews inform and affect our individual realities and the actions we take in the world. There is an
infinite multiplicity of worldviews and more than one “right” way or perspective. Each of us has our own
unique worldview.
We are each part of a complex, ever-changing, interconnected living universe. What we do influences the
world around us, and the world around us influences us, even when we are not aware of exactly how.
Greater understanding of the interdependence of all life leads to a more complete view of reality.
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COMPLEMENTARY WORLD
VIEWS
Organizations as Machines and as Adaptive Systems
For three hundred years, since Descartes and Newton, SOME QUALITIES OF LIVING SYSTEMS:
our thinking has predominantly been influenced by • A living system only accepts its own solutions (we
rationalism. We have been able to figure things out and only support those things we are a part of creating)
“be in control”. We tend to view our organizations and • A living system only pays attention to that which is
communities as we view machines – as consisting of • meaningful to it (here and now)
clearly defined parts with clearly defined roles and a • In nature a living system participates in the
predictable output. In a complex world, this mechanistic development of its neighbor, an isolated system is
view may not always be adequate to meet the complex doomed.
problems and challenges we face. What if communities • All of nature, including ourselves is inconstant change
and organizations could be viewed as living systems as (without ‘change management’)
well? • Nature seeks diversity, new relations open up to
new possibilities. It is not survival of the fittest,
Living systems exist everywhere in nature – bacteria but everything that is fit with as many species as
forming colonies or ants coming together to form a possible.Diversity increases our chances of survival.
system that is capable of creating an anthill. Some termite • Tinkering’ opens up to what is possible here and
nests even have air conditioning so the temperature stays now nature is not intent on finding perfect solutions,
the same inside the hill! but those that are workable
• A living system cannot be steered or controlled, they
There are two exciting phenomena in nature and living can only be teased, nudged, titillated
systems: • A system changes identity when its perception of
itself changes
1. Nature has the capability to self-organize, i.e. it does • All the answers do not exist ‘out there’; sometimes
not require someone specific to direct the we must experiment to find out what works
organization instead of all who are involved • Who we are together is always different and
participate in what is needed to achieve a purpose more than who we are alone with the possibility
2. Self-organization can lead to emergence, the of emergence. Our range of creative expression
emergence of totally new properties and qualities, or increases as we join others. New relationships create
something totally new and surprising. new capacities.
• Human beings are capable of self-organizing. Given
What if organizations really are living systems and there the right conditions, self-organization shifts to a
could be a simpler way of organizing that opens up the higher order.
possibility for emergence provided the right conditions
are in place? People are intelligent, creative, adaptive, self-organizing,
and meaning-seeking. Organizations are living
What would our organizations and communities look like systems.They too are intelligent, creative, adaptive, self-
then? organizing, and meaning-seeking.
- MEG WHEATLEY
LIVING SYSTEMS: A NATURAL APPROACH TO ORGANIZING LIFE
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Concepts,
Patterns, and
Practices
13
THE FOUR-FOLD PRACTICE
Practicing the Art of Hosting
There are four basic practices that are key to the Art in many different places, you cannot be present in one.
of Hosting. Being truly present, engaging skillfully in For meetings to have deep results, every person in the
conversations, being a good host of conversations and room should be fully present.
engaging with others in co-creation are all practices or
skills that are easily understood, but it takes a continuous Being present also means being aware of one‘s
practice to hone these skills. environment, other people, impacts on you, and how
you impact others.
1. TO BE PRESENT — Pre-sensing
Being present means to show up, to not have Collectively, it is good practice to become present
distraction, to be prepared, to be clear about the need together as a meeting begins, be it through a welcome,
and to understand what your personal contribution a good framing, a process of checking-in to the subject
can be. It allows you to check in with yourself and matter or task at hand by hearing everyone‘s voice in
develop the personal practice of curiosity about the the matter or even taking a moment of silence.
outcomes of any gathering. Presence means making Invite a collective slowing down so that all participants in
space to devote a dedicated time to work with others. a meeting can be present together.
If you are distracted, called out, or otherwise located
CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

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2. PRACTICE CONVERSATIONS 4. COMMUNITY OF PRACTITIONERS
— Participating — Co-creating
Conversation is an art; it is not just talk. It demands that The fourth practice is about showing up in a
we listen carefully to one another and that we offer conversation without being a spectator, and contributing
what we can in the service of the whole. Curiosity and to the collective effort to sustain results. The best
judgment do not live well together in the same space. conversations arise when we listen for what is in the
If we are judging what we are hearing, we cannot be middle between us — what is arising as a result of our
curious about the outcome, and if we have called a collaboration. It is not about the balancing of individual
meeting because we are uncertain of the way forward, agendas; it is about finding out what is new, in particular
being open is a key skill and capacity. Only by practicing collectively. And when that is discovered, work unfolds
skillful conversation can we find our best practice beautifully as everyone is clear about what they can
together. contribute to the work.
If we practice conversation mindfully, we might slow down In a truly co-creative process, it becomes irrelevant who
meetings so that wisdom and clarity can work quickly. said or contributed what — the gift is in the synergy and
When we talk mindlessly, we neither hear each other inspiration when we build on each other‘s knowledge
nor do we allow space for the clarity to arise. The art of and the whole becomes much bigger than the sum of the
conversation is the art of slowing down to speed up. parts.
3. HOSTING CONVERSATIONS This is how results become sustainable over time — they
— Contributing fall into the network of relationships that arise from
Hosting conversations is an act of leadership and a good conversation, from friends working together.
means taking responsibility for creating and holding the The collaborative field can produce unexpected and
“container” in which a group of people can do their best surprising results, especially in complex situations where
work together. multi-layered challenges need to be met simultaneously.
You can create this container using the eight helpers (see FROM A LEARNER TO A COMMUNITY
further down) as starting points, and although you can THAT LEARNS
also do this in the moment, the more prepared you are As we learn to be truly present and engage in
the better. conversations that really matter, we become learners. As
learners, many doors are open to us.
The best preparation is being fully present.
As we begin to host conversation and connect with
The bare minimum to do this is to discern the need, get other hosts or practitioners, we become a community
clear on the purpose of the meeting, prepare a good, of learners or practitioners. As a community, we own a
powerful question to initiate the conversation, and know much bigger capacity than as individual learners.
how you will harvest and what will be done with that
harvest to ensure that results are sustainable and the As a community of individual practitioners or learners
effort was worth it. truly becomes a community that learns, where we really
enter the collective intelligence, we multiply our capacity
Hosting conversations takes courage, and it takes a bit and enter the field of emergence.
of certainty and faith in your people. We sometimes give
short shrift to conversational spaces because of the fear You can have a group of individually intelligent people
we experience in stepping up to host. It is, however, a gift — but until that group knows what it knows together
to host a group, and it is a gift to be hosted well. — the group as a group is not intelligent.
— INSPIRED BY PETER SENGE

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CHAORDIC PATH
visual by Brave Space (http://bravespace.ca)
Chaos, order, and control are different states of being At the edge of chaos is where life innovates — where
and experiencing. We tend to feel safest in the state of things are not hard wired, but are flexible enough for new
order, or for some people, in the state of control. Being out connections and solutions to occur. New levels of order
of control is scary if we are looking for predictability. If we become possible out of chaos.
have a mechanistic view on organizations, our tendency
will be to stay within the realms of order and control, In nature, so too in organizations, the path between Chaos
where things are predictable and stable — and where we and Order leads us to the new.
produce status quo or more of the same— which, in some
cases, is exactly what is needed. To lead our organization on the chaordic path, we need
“chaordic confidence,” to have the courage to stay in
There is a path to take between Chaos and Order the dance of order and chaos long enough to support
that leads us to the new, collective learning, real time generative emergence that allows the new, collective
innovation. Instead of relying on controlling every detail intelligence and wise action processes to occur.
in our organizations or communities from the top down,
many leaders today see the need to access the collective As we tread the line between chaos and order, individually
intelligence and collective wisdom of everyone, which can and collectively, we move through confusion and conflict
be, at times, a “messy” process until we reach new insight toward clarity. It is in the phase of not knowing, before we
and clarity. If we are looking for innovative, new solutions, reach new clarity, that the temptation to rush for certainty
we will find them in a place between chaos and order: the or grab for control is strongest. We are all called to walk
chaordic path. this path with open minds and some confidence if we
The chaordic path is actually the story of our natural world want to reach something wholly new.
— form arises out of nonlinear, complex, diverse systems.

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In this space of emergence, we leave our collective encounters
with something that not one of us individually brought into the
room.
The art is to stay in the fine balance between chaos and order.
Straying too far to either side is counterproductive. On the far
side of chaos is chamos, or destructive chaos, where everything
disintegrates and dies. On the far side of order is stifling control,
How much order
where there is no movement, which eventually means death.
When we move toward either of these extremes, the result is do we need? How
apathy or rebellion, the very opposite of chaordic confidence.
Staying on the chaordic path is where the balance is and where life much chaos would
thrives.
CHAOS/ORDER IS THE PLACE

be helpful here?
FOR LEADERSHIP
The practice of leadership resides in the place between chaos
and order. When facing new challenges that cannot be met the
same way we are currently working, we need to learn new ways
of operating. It is during these times of uncertainty and increased
complexity, where results cannot be predicted, that leaders need
to invite others to share diverse knowledge to discover new
purpose and strategies and decide the way forward.
ORDER/CONTROL IS A PLACE
FOR MANAGEMENT
The practice of management lies between order and control,
where activities need to be maintained and executed routinely
so that a particular standard results. It is the place where “more
of the same” is required (such as landing an airplane safely,
or performing a surgical procedure). Therefore, it is where
predictability is called for and where procedures and standards
are clearly defined and adhered to.

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APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY
Working with What’s Possible
Appreciative Inquiry is a strategy for intentional What is Appreciative Inquiry Good For?
change that identifies the best of ‘what is’ to Appreciative inquiry is useful when a different
pursue dreams and possibilities of ‘what could be’; perspective is needed, or when we wish to begin
a cooperative search for strengths, passions and a new process from a fresh, positive vantage point.
life-giving forces that are found within every system It can help move a group that is stuck in “what is”
that hold potential for inspired, positive change. toward “what could be”. Appreciative inquiry can be
(Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987) used with individuals, partners, small groups or large
organizations.
ASSUMPTIONS
General Flow of an Appreciative
• In every community something works Inquiry process:
• What we focus on becomes our reality Appreciative inquiry can be done as a longer
• Reality is created in the moment — there is structured process going through phases of
more than one reality DISCOVER: identifying organizational processes
• The act of asking questions influences the that work well
community in some way DREAM: envisioning processes that would work
well in the future
• People have more confidence and comfort
DESIGN: Planning and prioritizing those processes
to journey into the future when they
DELIVER: implementing the proposed design
• carry forward parts of the past
• If we carry forward parts of the past, they The basic idea is to build organizations around what
should be what is best works, rather than trying to fix what doesn’t.
• It is important to value differences
• The language we use creates our reality
PROBLEM SOLVING APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY
“Felt Need” - Identification of the Problem Appreciating and valuing the best of “What is”
Analysis of causes Envisioning “What might be”
Dialoguing “What should be”

Analysis of possible solutions
Innovating “What will be”
Basic Assumption: An organization is a

problem to be solved.

18
At the center is a positive topic choice – how
we ask even the first question contains the “We grow in the
seeds of change we are looking to enact.
Appreciative Inquiry can also be used as a

direction of the
way of opening a meeting or conversation by
identifying what already works. What do you questions we ask.”
value most about your self/work/organization?
David Cooperrider
DISCOVER
“Appreciate what is.”
DELIVER DREAM
“Create what will be.” “Imagine what might be.”
DESIGN
“Determine what should
be.”

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CYNEFIN FRAMEWORK
Identifying Systems
The way we lead is very much formed by how we This is the area of the “expert” that knows better than
perceive reality. Social reality has become an object of the actors how the system‘s relationships actually fit
systems research and cognitive science, which in turn best together. Scientific methods are particularly useful
offers us the whole range of realities that makes up our in supporting analysis of this domain. The experts design
actual reality. In what follows we introduce the notion of the way to follow, and sound managers implement this
a system to understand social reality. advice. It is important to note that in the complicated
domain there are linear cause-effect relationships, but
A system is the whole of its elements and their there are so many and not all obvious that some expert
relationships as well as its rules of behavior or processes. insight is necessary to find a good way through.
You may wonder where the borders of a system are. If
the elements of a system include living beings like humans Complex, in which the relationship between cause and
or nature, then it tends to be dynamic and may move its effect can only be perceived in retrospect, but not in
borders; it actually defines them by its own rules. advance, the approach is to Probe – Sense – Respond,
and we can sense emergent practice. Evaluation in
A highly instructive synopsis on the various states of this domain is often developmental, learning monitor
systems found in the Cynefin framework, developed by and keep sensing the current state and gauge against
the Welsh researcher Dave Snowden, distinguishes five preferred direction. We harvest collective intelligence.
domains of reality that a given system may represent.
Here the system‘s relationships are mutually influenced
FIVE DOMAINS OF THE FRAMEWORK by the actors‘ behavior. Thus, it is impossible to discern
causal relationships in advance, and experts fail as anyone
Simple (or Obvious), in which the relationship between else in trying so.
cause and effect is obvious to all, the approach is to
Sense – Categorize – Respond, and we can apply best Leading in complexity is a game of trial and learning. The
practice. We simply need to coordinate our response and art is to launch a number of different possible actions
get to work. Evaluation is either it worked or it didn't. together and see what works better. Those are then
We harvest knowledge. amplified, and the ones that work less well might be
stopped or revised. Here we work on the basis that we
This is the area we know from the assembly line factory, know that we do not know the best way in advance.
work and environment constrain any actor so much that
they are left with few options and perform as the system Chaotic, in which there is no relationship between cause
instructs them to do. and effect at systems level, the approach is to Act –
Sense – Respond, and we can discover novel practice.
Complicated, in which the relationship between cause In this domain, evaluation is simplying tring to figure
and effect requires analysis or some other form of out what you did after the situation stabalizes. Here we
investigation and/or the application of expert knowledge, harvest wisdom.
the approach is to Sense – Analyze – Respond, and we
can apply good practice. Cooperation is important, and The way to stabilize chaotic situations is by Acting –
good management and monitoring will ensure that the Sensing — acting at large scale at once (there is no time
parts of the system are working well together and at left for trying), until the chaos stabilizes into “normal”
peak efficiency for solving problems. Evaluation in this complexity where further actions can be tested.
domain is often summative, analytical, measurable. We
harvest expertise.
20
The fifth domain is Disorder, which is the state of Complex problems are characterized by emergent
not knowing what type of causality exists, in which phenomena. In other words, you will confront here
state people will revert to their own comfort zone in results that are not predictable from simply knowing
making a decision. the starting places. Poverty, racism, culture, stigma,
peace and conflict are all emergent phenomena.You
In full use, the Cynefin framework has sub-domains, cannot locate single causes, and even understanding a
and the boundary between simple and chaotic is seen set of dynamics will not give you knowledge of the way
as a catastrophic one: complacency leads to failure. emergence will unfold. Such challenges require adaptive
and participatory leadership.
WORKING WITH THE FRAMEWORK
Adaptive leadership skills include improvisation,
As we move from simple problems to Chaotic collaborative learning, resilience, resourcefulness
problems the nature of our leadership and decision and humility. Adaptive leaders are good at creating
making changes. The Simple and Complicated prototypes that result in knowledge about how
domains are characterized by problems that are the system will evolve. They are good at living in
generally “knowable.” In other words, with an uncertainty and understand that failure means learning.
appropriate amount of analysis and research we can Solutions and decisions about complex problems tend
fully understand the dynamics of the system and make to be practice-based, because context is so important.
decisions accordingly. This is the realm of technical There are no finish lines and the moment one thing
leadership. Examples of technical leadership includes changes, the system changes too. This requires leaders
scientific research, analytical thinking, traditional project that can hold on to a core purpose and intention for
management and strategic planning. Technical problems their work and rely on a variety of approaches for
have knowable solutions. As you increase the level of moving forward.
complication you need to rely on more expertise to
gather the knowledge you need, but in general technical Participatory leadership is useful for addressing complex
solutions work very well in this space. problems because leadership can come from anywhere,
so ensuring that diversity, multiplicity of voices and
Once you cross the boundary between complicated collaborative decision-making takes place is essential to
and complex, you enter the realm of the unknowable. making good strategic choices.

21
DIVERGENCE AND CONVERGENCE
Diamond of Participation
In entering into an inquiry or multi-stakeholder conversation we The three phases of divergence, emergence
operate with three different phases in the process – divergence, and convergence are three different complementary ways
emergence, and convergence. Each of these phases is different of thinking and working. They can also be seen as the three
and it is important for a host to know where we are in the phases of breathing: in-breath (lungs expanding/diverging);
process – and what is needed in each phase. pause; out-breath (lungs contracting/converging). The “breath”
of divergence and convergence—of breathing in and breathing
out—is at the heart of designing process. Every process goes
through several such breathing cycles.
The convergent phase is goal- oriented collective direction. A key driver in this time.” It is process-oriented and needs
and focused, linear, structured and usually phase is asking the right questions. If you prolonged decision time.
subject to time constraints. It is focused close the divergent phase too soon, the The emergent phase, between the
on getting results and may require quick level of newness or innovation will be divergent and convergent, is fondly known
decisions. Convergent thinking means less. Ideally a group will stay in inquiry in as the ‘groan zone.’ It is the phase where
evaluating alternatives, summarizing key the divergent phase until a new shared different ideas and needs are integrated.
points, sorting ideas into categories and and agreed solution or goal is seen by It may require us to stretch our own
arriving at general conclusions. everyone. Divergent thinking typically understanding to hold and include other
generates alternatives, has free-for-all open points of view. We call it the groan
In the divergent phase, there is as yet no discussion, gathers diverse points of view zone because it may feel messy — an
clear goal. This is a “goal-seeking” phase and unpacks the problem.The divergent uncomfortable stretch — but it is also the
where a clear, shared purpose gives the phase is non-linear and needs “chaos phase where the new solution emerges.

22
DIVERGENT THINKING CONVERGENT THINKING
Generating alternatives Evaluating alternatives

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Free-for-all open discussion Summarizing key points

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gathering diverse points of view Sorting ideas into categories

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Unpacking the logic of a problem Arriving at general conclusions

23
TWO LOOPS MODEL: HOW
SYSTEMS CHANGE
Using emergence to take social innovation to scale
If we follow the trajectories of systems we see that they At the Berkana Institute (www.berkana.org) they have
all have life cycles. They have a beginning, a middle, and been studying emergence in social innovation for several
an end. We can see many of our modern systems failing years. They have been noticing and practicing four levels
to sustain themselves in the complexity of our times. that help support the creation of new systems while old
systems die. Each of these steps show up on the new /
Human systems, like systems in nature, don‘t tend bottom curve.
to change through plans or dictates, but through
emergence. If we want to support movements 1. Naming the work of pioneers.
taking hold, the best thing we can do is foster critical 2. Connecting pioneers into networks of
connections between pioneers who are working on the shared interest and purpose.
ground to create fresh and relevant solutions.
3. Nurturing networks into deliberate
communities of practices.
4. Illuminating the stories of communities of
practice to help them become more
far-reaching systems of influence (from the
former fringe into a new social norm).

24
THEORY U
Presencing emergence
“Presencing” is bringing into presence, and into the PRINCIPLES OF PRESENCING
present, your highest potential and the future that is
seeking to emerge. Your highest future possibility is 1. Energy follows attention.
related to your own highest intention.. it’s being an Wherever you place your attention, that is
instrument of life itself, to accomplish, in a sense, what where the energy of the system will go. “Energy follows
life wishes for me to accomplish. attention” means that we need to shi our attention
from what we are trying to avoid to what we want to
Theory U proposes that the quality of the results that bring into reality.
we create in any kind of social system is a function of
the quality of awareness, attention, or consciousness that 2. Follow the three movements of the U.
the participants in the system operate from. We refer to this as the U process because of the
“shape” of the journey. In order to get to the deep
Since it emerged around 2006, Theory U has come to point of transformation (at the bottom of the U) it is
be understood in three primary ways: first as necessary first to “go down the U” (the left-hand side)
a framework; second, as a method for leading profound by opening our minds, hearts, and will, and then, after
change; and third, as a way of being - connecting to the “passing through the eye of the needle” at the bottom,
more authentic of higher aspects of our self. “go up the U” (the right-hand side) to bring the new
into reality. In the words of economist Brian Arthur, the
SHFTING THE INNER PLACE FROM WHICH WE three main movements of the U process are:
OPERATE
• Going down the U: “Observe, observe, observe.” Stop
During an interview, Bill O’Brien, the late CEO of downloading and totally immerse yourself in the
Hanover Insurance, summarized his most important places of most potential, in the places that matter
insights from leading transformational change in his own most to the situation you are dealing with.
company. O’Brien said: “The success of an intervention
depends on the interior condition of the intervener.” • At the bottom of the U: “Retreat and reflect, allow the
We might say it this way: the success of our actions as inner knowing to emerge.” Go to the places of
change-makers does not depend on What we do or stillness where knowing comes to the surface. Here
How we do it, but on the Inner Place from which we you share and reflect on everything that you have
operate. The essence of that view is that we cannot learned from a deep place of listening, asking, ”What
transform the behavior of systems unless we transform wants to emerge here?” and ”How does that relate to
the quality of awareness and attention that people apply the journey forward?” So the key question is: how can
to their actions within these systems, both individually we become part of the story of the future rather than
and collectively. holding on to the story of the past?
• Going up the U: “Act in an instant.” Explore the future

by doing. Develop a prototype. A prototype explores
the future by doing something small, speedy, and
spontaneous; it quickly generates feedback from all the
key stakeholders and allows you to evolve and iterate
your idea.

25
.3. Go to the edges of the self. we have to let go of everything and offload all the
To apply this process in the context of institutions, we baggage that isn’t essential. Going through that gate
have to power it with a new leadership technology. The means encountering the two root questions of our
core of this new leadership technology focuses on journey: Who is my Self? and What is my Work? The
tuning three instruments: the open mind, the open heart, capital “S” Self is my highest future possibility. The capital
and the open will. With an open mind we can suspend “W” Work is my sense of purpose or calling. It’s what I
old habits of thought. With an open heart we can am here on this earth to do.
empathize, see a situation through the eyes of someone
else. With an open will we can let go and let [the new] 5. Transform the three enemies.
come. Why is the U journey the road less traveled? Why is
it that most people are aware of this deeper process
4. Pass through the eye of the needle. of knowing and yet it rarely happens in the context of
At the deepest point of each U journey is a threshold. our larger systems? Because the moment we commit
Crossing that threshold, passing through the eye of the ourselves to going on this journey we start to encounter
needle, can feel like dying and being reborn. The phrase our three principal enemies: the voice of judgment (VoJ:
“eye of the needle” refers to a gate in ancient Jerusalem, shutting down the open mind), the voice of cynicism
www.ottoscharmer.com
where, according to the Bible, “it is easier for a camel to (VoC: shutting down the open heart), and the voice of
go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to fear (VoF: shutting down the open will).
www.presencing.org
enter the kingdom of God.” For a man to fit his camel
www.theoryu.com
through Jerusalem’s gate, he has to remove all the
bags from the camel’s back. Likewise, if we want to go
through the eye of the needle at the bottom of the U,

26
6. Always start by “attending to the crack.” heart, and the will. We know that there are many empirical
Where do we meet the future first? “Seek it with examples of this process. But everyone who works in
your hands, don’t think about it, feel it” is the essential institutions and systems also knows that there is another
instruction that Bagger Vance gives to Junah in the Robert field out there. That field is
Redford movie Bagger Vance. The future shows up first characterized by getting stuck with the idea that there is
in our feelings and through our hands, not in our abstract only One Truth rather than operating with an open mind,
analysis. " Attend to the crack” means attend to the by getting stuck in One Us vs. Them rather than operating
openings, the challenges, and the disruptions where you from an open heart, and by being frozen inside one rigid
feel the past ending, and the future wanting to begin. identity rather than operating from an open will.
7. Transform the fields of conversation from What do we call social systems that have these three
downloading and debate to dialogue and collective characteristics? Fundamentalist. Fundamentalism is the
creativity. result of closing down and freezing your mind, heart, and
Each social field needs a container. Higher-level will — as opposed to opening, warming, and illuminating
conversation like dialogue and collective creativity require them.
higher-quality containers and holding spaces. “Transforming
the quality of conversation” in a system means to We live in the tension of these two fielelds. We are not
transform the quality of relationship and thought—that is, one, but two. Sometimes we operate from our highest
the quality of tomorrow’s results. future possibility (presencing). But every now and then
we lose it and get stuck in old patterns of downloading
8. Strengthen the sources of presencing in order to (absencing). We experience this fragile nature of current
avoid the destructive dynamics of absencing. reality not only in personal relationships, but also on the
Modern society emerges from the interplay of two field of global development and change. We are torn
powerful social fields: presencing and absencing. The field between these two fields, and we need to learn how to
of presencing works through the opening of the mind, the strengthen our grounding in the field of presencing.

27
NOTES

28
ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERNS
Throughout human history the living system of human BUREAUCRACY – Despite its bad rap, the gift of the
organization has created many ways of organizing itself bureaucracy is that is can bring stability and efficient
to get work done. We notice that these ways of working ways of distributing resources. Bureaucracies that work
together can be captured within four organizational well act like irrigation systems, ensuring that all parts of
paradigms. Each of these paradigms is alive and familiar an organization are “watered” and that resources don’t
to us, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. When flow too fast. To slow down the flow, bureaucracies
we are designing process, projects and organizations, it retain accountabilities from the bottom to the top in
is worth paying attention to the dfferent roles of these exchange for a flow of resources from the top down.
paradigms so that they can be used wisely. This form, used wisely, is a brilliant adaptation of the way
energy flows in a natural system.
CIRCLE – Our oldest organizational form. In a circle,
people come together equally to provide a multiplicity NETWORK – Networks are formed by actors who
of perspectives on something. Circles are powerful for actively choose to be in relationships with others. Actors
reflection, for harnessing collective insight and for making are autonomous and only engage in relationships that
decisions. To work, people in circles need to have equal mutually serve partners. Networks are incredibly fast
access to information, power and responsibility. ways to organize complexity. In nature the network is
the prevalent form of sustainability. Increasingly, human
HIERARCHY (the triangle) – Hierarchy is another networks are becoming the prevalent form of
ancient form. When things need to get done and organizing on the planet led and abetted by the
someone has more responsibility than others, hierarchy internet. Networks thrive when sharing and
is an efficient way to channel action. In a small and reciprocity is present. Huge amounts of work can
dynamic hierarchy, a leader is assisted by helpers. The get done very efficiently by networks, because
helpers don’t need to have the same information as the actors can find exactly the partners they need for
leader in order to do the work. any given time.
THE FIFTH PARADIGM –

What could the next paradigm
in human systems be? How will
we integrate these four systems
in a post- networked world? As
we work with each of these four
paradigms, we get hints about
what it might be like to work at
the next stage of human evolution.

29
NETWORKS AND COMPLEX
PROBLEMS
HOW DOES A NETWORK WORK? WHERE IS “PURPOSE” IN A
NETWORK? DOES A NETWORK ACHIEVE ANYTHING INTENTIONALLY?
Networks can be vehicles for motivating people to act and mobilizing collective action on a large scale because activity
can spread quickly without being routed through a central authority. By creating infrastructure that enables people to
connect with one another and with new opportunities, networks can catalyze widespread engagement.
Networks are about independent agents pursuing their own good ideas, but staying connected. The emphasis for
action is on folks trying things out and bringing their results to learn and teach each other. The leadership role is simply
to hold space, connect, support the learning. It’s not a good organizational structure if you want to achieve a concrete
goal. It’s brilliant for getting a million things done all at once.
If a group is coming together to work on a specific task that has a definite completion, then yes, you need unity of
purpose and a common goal. You need to exclude distractions and leadership is about getting the resources and
making it happen.
When people convene networks, they need to convene a rim, inside which the agents in the network can find each
other. As in Open Space, we trust that the center rests with each individual who takes action, succeeds and fails on her
own merits. Networks form around principles, not rules.
When working as a network, it is about action that is self-organizing and connected, not centrally determined. We don’t
need a collective decision on which initiatives to proceed with (e.g. we don’t vote on which initiatives to proceed with).
What we need instead is a lot of various connected action that is “posted and hosted” and undertaken by invitation.

30
This is valuable because it allows for actions to come from the margins without the need for a whole group to be
involved or to collectively decide. And we have clarity on what different people and sub-groups are doing – we
make visible the web of autonomous, connected action.
So it doesn’t make sense to make a network do one thing. It would be like forcing a market to produce only a Volvo.
You would lose the chance to produce Hondas and apples and typewriters and craft beer and rimless spectacles.
But if the organization you are running is not a network, don’t call it a network, and choose the single piece of work
you are all committed to doing. Then you are a team.
Complicated problems benefit from a clear purpose and a single-minded team working together to make it happen.
Complex problems require millions of little solutions and some sense-making and pattern-finding to discern what
the heck is going on and where the system has an inclination to evolve. When we sense that, we can do a million
things that take us that way.
Perhaps you have a goal: healthy water for all. But what’s the point of that as a goal? You can’t achieve it alone.
You don’t have the power. It’s a waste of time to get everyone to agree on a goal that is an emergent outcome
of a complex system. Instead, the “goal” should be a guiding star for the work. Let’s do things that take us in that
direction. How will we know we’re heading in that direction? Choose a few simple metrics and apply them to a
million experiments and support the ones that make the numbers go the right way.
For an additional resource on networks, see:

http://www.monitorinstitute.com/downloads/what-we-think/catalyzing-networks/Catalyzing_Networks_for_Social_Change.pdf

31
EQUITY AND INCLUSION
by Tuesday Ryan-Hart
Because the Art of Participatory Leadership (AoPL) HOW DOES AOPL AMPLIFY EQUITY WORK?
seeks to bring forth the best thinking and collaborative One of the core philosophies of AoPL is that we’re
action among and across groups of people, it is a smarter together. This fits nicely with traditional
natural fit for convening groups around issues of equity notions of inclusion, which stress the need for folks
and access. Using simple, but powerful, techniques from marginalized groups to have an equal access and
and practices, people who participate in hosted representation in a system. AoPL asks us to move a
conversations are invited to both come together into bit deeper into this inclusion conversation by shifting
deeper relationship as well as collectively do good work our typical parameters about who is invited in to our
around issues that are important to them. work - who are those folks who could be strange allies,
surprising partners, or unexpected co-creators? What
OVERLAPPING PRINCIPLES AND ASPIRATION if the key to systemic change is being wildly inclusive?
There are four key areas of overlapping principles What might be possible if we shifted our own thinking
between the Art of Participatory Leadership (AoPL) about who “we” are?
and work geared toward addressing issues of historical
oppression, diversity, and inclusion. The principles: AoPL has been viewed as “deeper than engagement” or
other ways of getting others to come to the table. The
• Wisdom - all people have knowledge to share with notion that we need to invite others to the table is valid
the whole. - especially when we are walking in the halls of power
• Dignity - all people deserve to be treated with - and AoPL builds on that understanding by working to
respect and with appreciation for their unique gi s and create a collective sense of “we” that moves us beyond
to use those gi s in all areas of their lives (personal and engaging others to seeing ourselves as a whole system
professional). with valuable insights, questions, and contributions from
• Voice - all people deserve to have a say in what every other person in the system.
happens to them and their communities.
• Action - working together on issues that are WHAT DOES WORK FROM THE PLACE OF THERE IS
important to us is the way to make change in our own NO ONE WE DON’T NEED LOOK LIKE?
lives, organizations, systems, and communities. AoPL, which is based in living systems theory, holds
diversity as the “smart” way of working. The complexity
AoPL and equity work both hold the above core of diversity is seen as both a gift and as a given. There
principles with the accompanying aspiration that is an assumption that every person is needed for us to
together, we can make systemic change where the develop new solutions together.
wisdom, dignity, and voice of every person impacts
our action. While AoPL was not developed specifically AoPL provides practitioners with new ways of
to address issues of historical issues of access, equity, thinking about being smarter together, engaging
and inclusion, it is being used to bring diverse groups others, and working from our strengths. It is inherently
of people around the world together to take action complimentary to work seeking equity and access.
around our toughest issues.

32
HOW DOES AOPL DIFFER FROM TRADITIONAL issues, but rather allows the group to come to their own
WORK AROUND DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION? best conclusions and action planning.
AoPL is deeply rooted in the practice of inquiry. We
know that there are answers to be had, but even more AoPL works to deepen ongoing efforts to address
important are the questions we ask to arrive at those historically hierarchies and oppressions.
answers. AoPL does not engage in a pre-designed set of
exercises around current or historical realities, but rather WHAT’S POSSIBLE?
asks questions to help us create a new future together. What’s possible is a new conversation around issues of
diversity, inclusion, and equity. A conversation that invites
Typically, AoPL workshops do not have a lot us to our next level of thinking about these complex
of teaching that has participants agreeing on a speci c topics that we have been doing really good work
set of facts or analysis, but poses powerful questions to around for many years. A conversation that does not
participants that allows them to move toward shared invite easy answers, but rather invites us into the tough
work and action together. AoPL practice is inherently questions in a new way: based in relationships and the
emergent. There is a strong container of principles shared power of those relationships. A conversation that
(some shared above) and specific techniques/tools, stands firmly upon what we do know and what is yet to
which allow groups to discover, name, and plan for what be discovered about smart ways of working together
they would like to create together. Emergence entails across difference.
not having a predetermined answer for addressing

33
REFLECTIVE LISTENING
TECHNIQUE
Reflective listening/mirroring is the restatement of what you have heard a speaker say for purposes of clarification. A
second stage can be used to state a feeling the listener has heard embedded in the message. We are checking out our
interpretations by asking if the reflection is a correct interpretation. We are reflecting, but always with a question mark.
No one likes to be told how they are feeling if it does not match what they are feeling.
REFLECTIVE LISTENING IS USED:

• When we sense we do not fully understand and we would like to learn more about how
he/she experiences their situation
• When we sense there is more to what the other person is saying than what is being expressed
• To summarize from time to time in order to pull together important ideas and establish a
basis for further discussion
• To verify a feeling the listener has heard embedded in the message
• To validate a quality or value the listener might have heard embedded in the message
BENEFITS OF REFLECTIVE LISTENING:

• The communication level may be deepened
• The listener may become more empathetic/compassionate towards the speaker
• The speaker may be able to gain greater self-understanding, clarity and vulnerability
through effective mirroring
• A shift in perspective may occur through mirroring statements
FIRST LEVEL: FACTS The listener repeats what the person has said and checks for confirmation that the important
parts of the communication were heard accurately.
SECOND LEVEL: FEELINGS The listener expresses the essence or meaning behind the words, including the feeling
and tone and asks for accuracy.
THIRD LEVEL: VALUES / ESSENCE The listener deepens the mirroring to the being or core level of the speaker’s
communication and reflects the values or essence of what was heard.
VALUES
In listening deeply to one another, our hearts assist us to hear the values underneath the words, rhetoric, or strongly
held positions. When we listen deeply and can reflect the values that we hear, we connect to the wholeness in the other.
SOURCE:
2010 The Compassionate Listening Project www.compassionatelistening.org

34
helpful   discouraged   unhappy  
FEELINGS  alarmed
LISTENINGSTRATEGIES
hopeful dismayed horrible   unnerved  

Likely to be invigorated aloof disgruntled   unsteady  
experienced involved displeased horrified upset
when our needs inquisitive angry hostile uptight  
ARE being
fulfilled inspired disquieted hot humdrum hurt vexed  
  intense anguished impatient weary  
absorbed interested distressed indifferent inert  withdrawn  
adventurous intrigued animosity intense  woeful  
affectionate joyous disturbed irate  worried wretched
alert jubilant annoyed irked irritated
alive
amazed
keyed up
loving
downcast
anxious
jealous 
jittery 
VALUES
In listening
amused mellow downhearted keyed up lassitude  deeply to one
appreciative merry apathetic lazy  another, our
aroused mirthful dread lethargic listless  hearts assist us
to hear the
astonished moved apprehensive lonely  values
blissful optimistic dull mad  underneath the
carefree overjoyed averse mean   words, rhetoric,
cheerful overwhelmed edgy  melancholy   or strongly held
positions. When
comfortable peaceful beat   miserable   we listen deeply
concerned proud embarrassed   mopey   and can reflect
complacent quiet bitter   nervous   the values that
composed radiant embittered   nettled   we hear, we
connect to the
confident rapturous blah   overwhelmed   wholeness in
contented refreshed exasperated   passive   the other.
cool relieved blue   perplexed    
curious satisfied exhausted   pessimistic   beauty 
dazzled secure bored   puzzled   compassion 
delighted sensitive fatigued   rancorous   community 
eager  splendid broken-hearted   reluctant   connection 
ecstatic  stimulated fearful   repelled   courage 
elated surprised chagrined   resentful creativity 
electrified tender fidgety  restless  equality 
encouraged thankful cold   sad  faith 
energetic thrilled forlorn   scared   family 
engrossed touched concerned   sensitive   friendship 
enlivened tranquil frightened   shaky   freedom 
excited warm confused   shocked   generosity 
exhilarated wide awake frustrated   skeptical   justice 
expansive wonderful cool   sleepy   goodwill 
expectant zany furious   sorrowful   gratitude 
exultant zestful cross   sorry  harmony 
fascinated  gloomy   sour  humor 
dejected   spiritless   inclusiveness 
free 
friendly
FEELINGS grief   startled   love 
Likely to be
fulfilled  experienced depressed   surprised   order 
glad  when our needs guilty   suspicious   patience 
gleeful ARE NOT being despairing   tepid  peace 
fulfilled 
glorious hate   terrified  respect 
glowing afraid despondent   tired  service 
good-humored disgusted heavy   troubled   simplicity 
grateful  aggravated detached   uncomfortable trust 
gratified   disheartened helpless   unconcerned   understanding 
2010  The Compassionate Listening
groovy agitated
Project Staff disappointed   uneasy   wholeness 
(360)  626-4411 www.compassionatelistening.org
happy dislike hesitant   unglued   wisdom

35
ENGAGING LIMITING BELIEFS
by Caitlin Frost
"WE CAN'T SOLVE PROBLEMS BY USING THE SAME KIND OF THINKING WE USED
WHEN WE CREATED THEM."
Albert Einstein
Our own beliefs - about other people, ourselves, We need a diversity of people and perspectives to
and challenges we face have a powerful impact on solve our toughest issues. We cannot do this work
our actions, emotions and even our capacity to think alone, and we cannot do it together well across our
creatively and effectively. These may be beliefs we are differences without challenging and expanding our own
aware of or not, but either way they affect our ability thinking as a regular practice.
to lead, participate and collaborate to our full potential.
While well-designed and hosted participatory group
There is a high level of uncertainty in much of our process can create better conditions for meaningful
work as we engage complex challenges for which conversation and collaboration, the thinking that
we don’t have solutions. When we are experiencing we bring to our leadership and work together can
uncertainty and stress, we are often even more override the best process designs, keeping us stuck or
influenced by our fear-based thinking. simply re-creating the systems that are not working.

36
Agile, and adaptable thinking is a crucial capacity As leaders and hosts of participatory process, our ability
for leaders working to engage the challenges and to engage our own limiting beliefs is directly connected
possibilities in our organizations, communities and in to our ability to host and lead others through territory
our world in these times. Regardless of whether we are that is limited and challenging for them.This requires time,
working on large scale global issues, or in small local attention and practices that help us to illuminate our
teams; collaborating with others in long-term initiatives limiting beliefs (individually and collectively) and engage
or coming together for a meeting or forum: if we are them at a depth that allows us to genuinely open our
working with change and complex challenges, and we minds, learn and shift.
want to find new ways forward together, we also need to
open our view/minds and cultivate new ways of thinking.
This requires us to develop greater awareness of the

limiting beliefs we hold individually and collectively, and to
engage our own thinking with rigorous practices.
The good news is that changing our beliefs and

expanding our own thinking can have a profound effect
on what we are able to learn, how we are able to think
and act, and what we are able to see as possible.
The practice of engaging limiting beliefs shows Our ability to

up in a number of key places in various tools and
processes in The Art of Hosting methods and practices.
From the moment of invitation, our beliefs impact who
engage our own
we invite and include (or exclude) and how. When we
are hosting and engaging in participatory process (such as limiting beliefs is
Open Space, Circle, World Café, Pro-Action Café) many
limiting beliefs can arise in the process of relinquishing directly connected
command and control to allow space for shared
leadership, genuine participation and emergence of
outcomes. Limiting beliefs can also show up for people in
to our ability to host
our ability to be present, participate fully, share leadership,
speak honestly, and step into action.
and lead others
In collaborative, creative process we will always through territory
find ourselves in the ‘Groan Zone’ (a crucial but
uncomfortable part of the creative process) where our that is limited and
differences will often come to the surface
as conflict, along with our fears and attachments
to particular ideas or outcomes. We can find ourselves
challenging.
thrown by our own thinking in the form of judgment,
cynicism and fear. These patterns of limiting beliefs also
show up as barriers to genuine learning and resourceful
response to emerging challenges as described byTheory
U and the Cynefin framework.

37
NOTES
WORKING TOGETHER St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

38
Group
Process Methods
39
CORE METHODOLOGIES
The following pages will give a short introduction ► Meeting in a circle is a meeting of equals.
to some of the core methodologies that are Generally all these methodologies inspire
good practice in participatory leadership. They peer-to-peer discovery and learning.
are designed to engage a group of people (large
or small) in strategic conversations where our ► Inquiry or powerful questions are a driving
collective wisdom and intelligence can be engaged force. Answers tend to close a conversation
in service to finding the best solutions for a while inquiry keeps the conversation going deeper.
common purpose.
► The purpose of all this is to “think well
together,” that is, to engage the collective
There are some basic principles or qualities that are
intelligence for better solutions.
common to all these methodologies:
► They offer a simple structure that helps to ► Facilitating these engagements or conversations
engage small or large groups in conversations is more like stewarding or “hosting,” allowing
that can lead to results. the solutions to emerge from the wisdom in the
middle. Hosting well requires a certain
► They each have their special advantages proficiency in the following four-fold practice:
and limitations. being present in the moment to what is
happening, engaging in conversations with
► They are usually based on dialogue, others, hosting conversations and co-creating or
with intentional speaking (speaking when you co-hosting with others.
really have something to say) and attentive
listening (listening to understand) as basic ► There are a number of conditions that need
practices. They allow us to go on an to be in place for engagement to work well.
exploration and discovery together rather than Any engagement or strategic conversation needs
trying to convince each other of our own to be based in a real need and has to have a
present truths. clear purpose. Any “givens” or boundary
conditions need to be clear ahead of time.You
► Suspending assumptions is a basic practice.
may also have defined success criteria or have an
It allows us to listen without bias (or with
idea of the outcome even if the concrete
less bias) and to examine our own present truths.
solutions will emerge from the conversations
► Circle is the basic organizational form, whether (see also the section on design).
used as the only form (Ex. circle practice) or
used as many smaller conversation circles,
woven into a bigger conversation (Ex. World
Café, Open Space).
GROUP PROCESS METHODS St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

40
THE CIRCLE WAY
Practicing an Ancient Form
The Circle Way is an alternative infrastructure for COMPONENTS OF CIRCLE
collaborative conversations that calls on long-held
principles and practices of circle. As Christina Baldwin THREE PRINCIPLES
describes, circle has come back to take us forward. • Leadership rotates among all circle members
Circle is a foundational practice that is embedded in • Responsibility is shared for the quality of
other group dialogue methodologies. If people can experience
learn circle practice, it is easier to take other facilitation • Reliance is on wholeness, rather than on any
practices to a deeper level. personal agenda
• Circle is a shape where everyone can see and THREE PRACTICES

hear each other. • Speak with intention: noting what has relevance to
the conversation in the moment
• Circle is a group process that supports every
• Listen with attention: respectful of the learning
voice into collaborative decision-making.
process for all members of the group
• Circle is an experience of sharing story, inviting • Tend to the well-being of the circle: remaining
diverse thinking, and encouraging creative aware of the impact of our contributions
problem solving.
SETTING CIRCLE AGREEMENTS
One of the beautiful things about circle is its adaptability The use of agreements allows all members to have a
to a variety of groups, issues and timeframes. It is a free and profound exchange, to respect a diversity of
chance for people to stop, to sit down, and to listen views, and to share responsibility for the well-being and
to each other. Circle can be the process used for the direction of the group. Agreements often used include:
duration of a gathering, particularly if the group is
relatively small and time for deep reflection is a primary • We hold all stories or personal material in
aim. Circle can also be used as a means for “checking in” confidentiality
and “checking out” or a way of making decisions • We listen to each other with compassion and
together. curiosity
• We ask for what we need and offer what we can
Circle can be used to build relationship, to • We agree to employ a group guardian to watch
have difficult conversations and make difficult decisions, our need, timing and energy. We agree to pause at
and to help a community through transitions. It can a signal when we feel the need to pause
be used for a couple or family or a company of
hundreds. Wherever people need or want to gather for INTENTION
conversation, circle practice invites meaningful dialogue. Intention shapes the circle and determines who will
come, how long the circle will meet, and what kinds of
What transforms a meeting into a circle is the outcomes are to be expected. The caller of the circle
willingness of people to shift from informal socializing spends time articulating intention and invitation.
or opinionated discussion into a receptive attitude of
thoughtful speaking and deep listening.

41
START-POINT OR WELCOME CHECK-IN/GREETING
Once people have gathered, it is helpful for the host, Check-in helps people into a frame of mind
or a volunteer participant, to begin the circle with a for council and reminds everyone of their commitment
gesture that shifts people’s attention from social space to the expressed intention. It insures that people are
to council space. This gesture of welcome may be a truly present. Verbal sharing, especially a brief story,
moment of silence, reading a poem, or listening to a weaves the interpersonal net.
song – whatever invites centering.
Check-in usually starts with a volunteer and proceeds
SETTING THE CENTER around the circle. If an individual is not ready to speak,
The center of a circle is like the hub of a wheel: the turn is passed and another opportunity is offered
all energies pass through it, and it holds the rim after others have spoken. Sometimes people place
together. To help people remember how the hub helps individual objects in the center as a way of signifying
the group, the center of a circle usually holds objects their presence and relationship to the intention.
that represent the intention of the circle. Any symbol
that fits this purpose or adds beauty will serve: flowers,
a bowl or basket, a candle.

42
GUARDIAN CHECK-OUT AND FAREWELL
The single most important tool for aiding self- At the close of a circle meeting, it is important to allow
governance and bringing circle back to intention is the a few minutes for each person to comment on what
role of guardian. One circle member volunteers to they learned, or what stays in their
watch and safeguard group energy and observe the heart and mind as they leave. Closing the circle by
circle’s process. The guardian usually employs a gentle checking out provides a formal end to the meeting, a
noise-maker, such as a chime, bell, or rattle, that signals chance for members to reflect on what has transpired,
to everyone to stop action, take a breath, rest in a space and to pick up objects if they have placed something in
of silence. The guardian makes this signal again and the center.
speaks to why s/he called the pause. Any member may
call for a pause. As people shift from council space to social space or
private time, they release each other from the intensity
FORMS OF COUNCIL of attention being in circle requires. Often after check-
• Talking piece council is often used as a part of out, the host, guardian, or a volunteer will offer a few
check-in, check-out and whenever there is a desire inspirational words of farewell, or signal a few seconds of
to slow down the conversation, collect all voices silence before the circle is released.
and contributions, and be able to speak without
interruption.
• Conversation council is often used when reaction,
interaction and an interjection of new ideas,
thoughts and opinions are needed.
• Reflection, or silent council gives each member
time and space to reflect on what is occurring, or
needs to occur, in the course of a meeting. Silence
may be called so that each person can consider the
role or impact they are having on the group, or to
Our deepest belief has been that
help the group realign with their intention, or to sit careful dialogue, with a question or
with a question until there is clarity.
intention in the center, agreements
for speaking and listening at the
rim, and a light social structure for
leadership can change how people
work, live, and govern themselves.
Christina Baldwin & Ann Linnea
This content is adapted from a gift from The Circle Way, a loosely connected global circle of colleagues who
practice, consult, and teach The Circle Way (originally mentored and guided by Ann Linnea and Christina
Baldwin of PeerSpirit Inc.) www.thecircleway.net

43
THE WORLD CAFE
Dialogue for Large and Small Groups
The World Café is a method for creating a living GENERAL FLOW OF A WORLD CAFÉ
network of collaborative dialogue around questions (WITH TABLE HOSTS):
that matter in real life situations. It is a provocative
metaphor...as we create our lives, our organizations, and ► Seat 4-5 people at café-style tables or in
our communities, we are, in effect, moving among ‘table conversation clusters.
conversations’ at the World Café. (From The World ► Set up progressive rounds of conversation,
Café Resource Guide) - www.theworldcafe.com usually of 20-30 minutes each – have some
good questions!
WHAT IS WORLD CAFÉ GOOD FOR? ► Ask one person to stay at the table as a
A World Café is a great way of fostering interaction “host” an invite the other table members to
and dialogue with both large and small groups. It move to other tables as ambassadors of ideas
is particularly effective in surfacing the collective and insights.
wisdom of large groups of diverse people. The café ► Ask the table host to share key insights,
format is very flexible and adapts to many different questions, and ideas briefly to new table
purposes – information sharing, relationship building, members, and then let folks move through
deep reflection exploration and action planning. When the rounds of questions.
planning a café, make sure to leave ample time for both
► After you’ve moved through the rounds,
moving through the rounds of questions and some
allow some time for a whole-group harvest
type of whole-group harvest.
of the conversations.
OPERATING PRINCIPLES OF WORLD
CAFE: GENERAL FLOW OF A WORLD CAFÉ
(NO TABLE HOSTS):
• Create hospitable space
• Explore questions that matter ► Seat 4-5 people at café-style tables or in
conversation clusters.
• Encourage each person’s contribution
► Set up progressive rounds of conversation,
• Connect diverse people and ideas
usually of 20-30 minutes each – have some
• Listen together for patterns, insights and good questions!
deeper questions
► All table members are encouraged to move to
• Make collective knowledge visible other tables as ambassadors of ideas and insights
► At the beginning of rounds after the first round,
ASSUMPTIONS OF WORLD CAFE:
everyone is encouraged to briefly share key
• The knowledge and wisdom we need is insights, questions, and ideas from previous
present and accessible. rounds and then folks begin answering the
• Collective insight evolves from honoring questions for the new round.
unique contributions; connecting ideas; ► After you’ve moved through the rounds,
listening into the middle; noticing deeper allow some time for a whole-group harvest
themes and questions. of the conversations.
• The intelligence emerges as the system
connects to itself in diverse and creative
ways.
44
MATERIALS NEEDED: CAFE ETIQUETTE
► Small tables (36-42”), preferably round
Focus on what matters
► Chairs for participants and presenters
Listen to understand
► Tablecloths
► Flip chart paper for the tables Contribute your thinking

► Markers Speak your mind and heart
► Flip chart or large butcher paper for
Link and connect ideas
harvesting collective knowledge or insights
► Posters/Table Tents of Café Etiquette Listen together for themes, insights,
and deeper questions
► Materials for harvest
Play, Doodle, Draw - HAVE FUN!
Adapted from Café to Go at www.theworldcafe.com

45
OPEN SPACE TECHNOLOGY
Participants Call the Conversation
The goal of an Open Space Technology meeting OPEN SPACE TECHNOLOGY IS AN
is to create time and space for people to engage EXCELLENT MEETING FORMAT FOR
deeply and creatively around issues of concern ANY SITUATION IN WHICH THERE IS:
to them. The agenda is set by people with the
power and desire to see it through, and typically, • A real issue of concern
Open Space meetings result in transformative • Diversity of players
experiences for the individuals and groups • Complexity of elements
involved. It is a simple and powerful way to
catalyze effective working conversations and • Presence of passion (including conflict)
truly inviting organizations – to thrive in times • A need for a quick decision
of swirling change.
Open space can be used in groups of 10 to
1,000 – and probably larger. It’s important to
WHAT IS OPEN SPACE GOOD FOR?
give enough time and space for several sessions
Open Space Technology is useful in almost any
to occur. The outcomes can be dramatic when a
context, including strategic direction setting,
group uses its passion and responsibility – and
envisioning the future, conflict resolution, morale
is given the time – to make something happen.
building, consultation with stakeholders,
community planning, collaboration and deep
learning about issues and perspectives.

46
ROLES IN OPEN SPACE
HOST
- announces and convenes
a conversation
PRINCIPLES OF OPEN SPACE: PARTICIPANT

- participates in a conversation
• Whoever comes are the right people
• Whenever it starts is the right time BUMBLE BEE
• Whatever happens is the only thing that - moves between conversations,
could have cross-pollinating
• When it's over it's over
BUTTERFLY
- takes time out to reflect
LAW OF MOBILITY
If you find yourself in a situation where you are not
contributing or learning, move somewhere where you
can.
The four principles and the law of mobility work to
create a powerful event motivated by the passion Following a closing or a break, the group might move
and bounded by the responsibility of the participants. into convergence, a process that takes the issues that
have been discussed and attaches action plans to
GENERAL FLOW OF AN OPEN SPACE them to “get them out of the room.”
MEETING:
The group convenes in a circle and is welcomed by The group then finishes the meeting with a closing
the sponsor. The facilitator provides an overview of circle where people are invited to share comments,
the process and explains how it works. The facilitator insights, and commitments arising from the process.
invites people with issues of concern to come into
the circle, write the issue on a piece of paper and MATERIALS NEEDED:
announce it to the group.
► Circle of chairs for participants
These people are “conveners.” The convener places ► Letters or numbers around the room to
their paper on the wall and chooses a time and a indicate meeting locations
place to meet. This process continues until there are ► A blank wall that will become the agenda
no more agenda items. The group then breaks up
► A news wall for recording and posting the
and heads to the agenda wall, by now covered with a
results of the dialogue sessions
variety of sessions. Participants take note of the time
and place for sessions they want to be involved in. ► Breakout spaces for meetings
► Paper on which to write session topics/
Dialogue sessions convene for the balance of the questions
meeting. Recorders determined by each group capture ► Markers/Pencils/Pens
the important points and post the reports on the news
► Posters of the Principles, Law of Mobility,
wall. All of these reports will be harvested in some way
and returned to the larger group. and Roles (optional)
► Materials for harvest

47
PRO ACTION CAFE
Combining World Café and Open Space
The Pro Action Café is a space for creative and action thus increasing people‘s capacity for effective action
oriented conversation where participants are invited to in pursuit of good work. Pro Action Café can be used
bring their call - project - ideas - questions or whatever with a network of people and/or as a methodology
they feel called by and need help to manifest in the for a group, organization or community to engage in
world. creative and inspirational conversation leading to wiser
and more collectively informed actions.
The concept of Pro Action Café is a blend of ‘World
Café’ and ‘Open Space’ technologies. It was first GENERAL FLOW OF A PRO
conceived by Rainer von Leoprechting and Ria Baeck ACTION CAFÉ:
in Brussels, Belgium. Start with a quick check-in circle to connect to the
purpose of the session and with each other. If check- in
WHAT IS PRO ACTION CAFÉ has already taken place as part of a longer process, go
GOOD FOR? straight to building the agenda.
As a conversational process, the Pro Action Café
is a collective, innovative methodology for hosting You need 2 1⁄2 to 3 hours for a good ProAction café.
conversations about calls, questions and projects that Invite participants to step forward with their call and
matter to the people that attend. These conversations in that way they ask the community for the help they
link and build on each other as people move between need to move their project into action. People with
café tables, cross-pollinate ideas, and offer each other a call/project stand up, speak it and write it on the
new insights into the questions or issues that are most agenda that corresponds to a numbered café table.
important in their life, work, organization or community.
Divide the number of participants by four to determine
As a process, the Pro Action Café can evoke and the number of callers with projects/sessions that can be
make visible the collective intelligence of any group, convened (for example, with 40 people you can have
maximum 10 callers with a project).

48
During the final round, three new contributors visit
The real voyage a table to listen to the harvest of the caller, their
learning, their steps, and any help needed, and then
of discovery lies offer any insight and any further support they can.
*Between each round create breaks for the

not in seeking new contributors to have a drink, relax together and get
ready to support another caller in their quest/ project.
landscapes, but in Finally, meet in the circle and invite the callers from
each table to share answers to these 2 questions:
seeing with new eyes. What am I grateful for? and What are my next steps?
- Marcel Proust If there is time the whole group can reflect briefly on:
What applications do we see for practicing ProAction Café in
our contexts?
THE PRINCIPLE IS FIRST COME End the Pro Action Café with a collective gesture to
FIRST SERVE. appreciate the work done and the gifts offered and
If you have fewer callers, add chairs to café tables (but received.
no more than five at each table). During this process,
each contributing participant (those who do not step MATERIALS AND SET-UP:
forward) get to contribute to or support three of the ► Ideally create a large circle in one part of
different calls /projects. the room and enough café tables with 4 chairs in
another part (if the size of the room does not
When the agenda has been created, invite the callers allow this, then participants will move the tables
to go to their numbered café tables. There will be and chairs themselves as soon as the agenda is
three rounds of conversation in café style of 20 to 30 created).
minutes – each guided by a few generic questions to
► Dress the tables with flipchart paper, color pens
help deepen and focus the conversations:
and markers as in a basic café set up.
ROUND 1 ► Prepare the matrix for the agenda setting of
What is the quest behind the call/question/project? the session with the right amount of sessions
The intention is to deepen the need and purpose of according to the number of participants
the call. divided by 4.
ROUND 2 Have fun and do good work together.

What is missing?
When the intention behind the quest has been http://sites.google.com/a/pro-action.eu/pro-action-caf-/how-to-become-a-
host/hosting- kit
deepened, explore what could make the project
more complete and possible.
ROUND 3
What are the essential next steps?
The intention is to help bring it all together for the
caller and his/her project.

49
COLLECTIVE
STORY HARVESTING
Storytelling is one of the most powerful knowledge ► *Process Arc: What interventions, processes,
management tools of the Art of Hosting community. applications, discoveries happened?
During August and September 2010 we began to ► *Pivotal Points: When did breakthroughs occur,
experiment in Art of Hosting trainings with combining what did we learn?
storytelling and harvesting to build our capacity in
► Application: What can we learn from this story
both these mediums; we were hosting the harvest.
for application in our own or other systems?
Collective harvesting enables us to track many arcs
of a single story simultaneously, meaning we can ► Taking Change to Scale: What can we learn from
practice targeted listening and group learning, while this story about taking change to scale?
offering a gift to the story holders. ► Questions: What questions arise from this story
that we could ask of any system?
We‘ve found that group harvesting takes time – at
► Synchronicity & Magic: What happened during
least 90 minutes is the minimum time needed. If you
this story that pointed to synchronicity and the
are working with a group of harvesters during a
magic in the middle?
training, or with people who haven‘t done this type
of process before, then keeping the storytelling to ► Specific theme: Harvest the story using a specific
around 30 minutes is advisable, otherwise it is easy for theme, like collaborative leadership, the art of
listeners to become overloaded. participation, etc, and see what it tells you.
► Art of Hosting Pattern Arc: The 8 Breaths: Where
PREPARING FOR COLLECTIVE did each breath occur during the story? The 5th
STORY HARVESTING organizational paradigm: Where did new forms
First, check with your storytellers and make them an of governance and working occur? Core team/
invitation. Stories respond to invitation and when a calling team: What did we learn about holding the
heartfelt invitation is present, often a story will come center of this work? There may be others as well.
out in a whole new way and offer new learning to ► Principles: What principles of working can be
those telling it. A group harvest is a gift to those telling gleaned from this story? What did we learn
and those harvesting, and should be offered as such. about participatory practices? What principles
of complex living systems were reflected in this
Next, decide on the arcs you would like to harvest. work?
Ideally this could be agreed with the storytellers
► *The Story Field: How did the field of the
and the listeners, depending on where they want to
system‘s story change? Can you name the
focus their learning. You‘ll need at least one person
story or metaphor the system started with and
harvesting each arc you‘ve chosen and more than one
what it moved to?
can harvest the same arc simultaneously.
NOTE: The arcs marked with * might be
HERE ARE SOME TO CHOOSE FROM: foundational to any harvesting process.
► *Narrative Arc: The thread of the story – people,
events, stages.You might also harvest facts, If you have other talents in your group around graphic
emotions and values that are part of the story, etc. facilitation/visuals, poetry, music, mind-mapping, art,

50
etc. you may also want to invite a harvest in this form. • It creates a rich learning field.
Each of these will add a greater richness, diversity and • It creates a strong connection and shared
enjoyment to the harvest. understanding between those involved in the
process.
THE PRACTICE: COLLECTIVE • It is a gift to the storytellers and others with
STORY HARVESTING lots of resonant learning happening.
Framing & Introduction: • It is a simple, but powerful tool that can be
Welcome people to the session. Make the invitation used regularly to take stock, capture learning
publicly to the storytellers. Explain the arcs and ask for and refocus the field.
volunteers.
APPLYING COLLECTIVE STORY
Storytelling: HARVESTING
Ask the storytellers to tell the story and the group There are many ways to apply collective story
to harvest. Be clear about the time allocated for the harvesting:
storytelling. ► Systemic story harvest for applied learning:
A group focuses on one systemic story to harvest
Collective Harvest: the learnings and apply them to its own work. As in
Give the storytellers materials to do their harvest of the process described above, a systemic story is told,
the harvest. Ask each of the harvesters to report in on the group harvests arcs and discusses the learnings.
what they found. Take at least as long for this as for the This works equally well for a practice group coming
storytelling. Each of the harvests will have more depth together or a working team hearing a story from
than can be told during a first round. It might be helpful another organization or system and then applying the
to have more than one round of harvest, or for the learnings to its own practice.
rest of the group to question each harvester to draw
► Full system team building/strategy session:
out additional insights.
Harvesting an organization or group’s own story for
Response from the Group: learning, teambuilding and strategic enhancement.
Working with the story in this way brings the group
What were the gifts to you from this group harvest?
into a collective field of meaning. Vision or mission
What are you taking away from this session?
statements can be enhanced and integrated, strategic
plans can be invigorated. See page 46 for a step-by-
Closing the Session:
step process.
Thank you to the storytellers and the harvesters. Any
final remarks about what will happen to the harvest ► Many stories/collective learning: Harvesting a
now that it has been heard. Is there enough here to variety of stories simultaneously in small groups, then
return to it again and see what else surfaces? Do you converging the learning across the full group. A variety
want to come back as a group and hear the next of stories are selected that offer different aspects to
version of the story? the group. Participants attend and harvest the story
that most interests them. The full group harvests
STRENGTHS OF COLLECTIVE collective meta learning. The suggested process follows.
STORY HARVESTING
• It can deal with complex realities and bring ► Creating a new field of work or practice: Telling
simplicity as well as surface understanding the story of the wider context up to now in order to
and learning from complexity. set the scene for the new work or practice field to
• It is a harvesting of current reality – how we arise and find its potent focus. This process might also
got to where we are now. be used for systemic evaluation.

51
SUGGESTED PROCESS SMALL GROUP HARVESTING
(30 – 50 MIN):
Allow the harvesters to ask any clarifying questions.
FOR MANY STORIES Ask each of the harvesters to report in on what they
found and the storytellers to harvest their insights
as a result. Take at least as long for this as for the
Contributed by Mary Alice Arthur, storytelling.
Monica Nissén & Toke Paludan
Møller, April 2011 BREAK (20 MINUTES)
BEFORE THE SESSION: COLLECTIVE HARVEST

Select appropriate stories and ask the storytellers to (45 – 60 MINUTES):
prepare. It may be you want to provide a number Come back into the full group. Ask like arc harvesters
of different stories, with various scales or a variety to sit together in small groups (i.e. people who
of elements. The key criterion is that the story harvested pivotal points sit together, witnesses sit
must have a breakthrough point or learning within together, etc). Focus the group on a meta harvest
it, although it does not need to be a success story. question, for example: What are the conditions for
Please note that you will hear a very different story participatory leadership to be successfully introduced
when you ask a caller to tell it than when someone in our context? Groups then debrief what they have
who was involved tells it. harvested in the context of the full group question.
Allow plenty of time to harvest this harvest.
FRAMING & INTRODUCTION
(15 – 20 MINUTES): ADDITIONAL RESPONSE FROM
Welcome people to the session, framing the context THE GROUP:
of hosting the harvest. Make the invitation publicly What were the gifts to you from this collective
to the storytellers and ask each teller to give a brief harvest? What are you taking away from this session?
synopsis of their story. Ask participants to cluster
around the story they are interested in working with. CLOSING THE SESSION:
Thank you to the storytellers and the harvesters.
Invite any final remarks about what will happen to the
STORYTELLING (30 MINUTES): harvest now that it has been heard.
If you are working with a harvesting team who can
be pre-briefed, you may wish to have them act as
facilitator for the story groups. They can invite the
story again at the start of this round. Explain the arcs
and ask for volunteers within the groups. Explain
also the role of witness, or pure listener and how
important this is to the process. Witnesses will be
contributing to the meta-harvest in the small groups
and the next stage. Ask the storytellers to tell the
story and the group to harvest. Be clear about the
time allocated for the storytelling.

52
HOW COLLECTIVE STORY HARVESTING CAN WORK WITH
OTHER METHODOLOGIES
Collective Story Harvesting is an ideal partner for other methodologies and can lead directly into:
• A World Café taking questions surfaced during • Further illuminating the founding story or
the process deeper and creating an on-going shaping the future story of the system.
community conversation. Additional storytelling/story sharing by
• An Open Space session where participants can participants to personally link to the story
inquire into applying the learning directly into their harvested or the Story Field that is being
projects or practice. created.
• Collecting additional stories to illuminate
• Circle work focused on deepening
learning points or disseminating the
community, working on issues or questions
harvested story more widely to the
that have arisen or integrating what has been
stakeholders.
learned.
• Developing strategy, powerful questions,
• An Appreciative Inquiry focusing on
principles, values, the value proposition, etc.
appreciative topics that have arisen out of the
• As a frame for additional teambuilding, cross-
story harvest to shift challenges and open
functional and cross-organizational work or
possibilities.
creating new fields of practice

53
NOTES

54
Harvesting and
Evaluation
55
THE ART OF HARVESTING
Making Meaning of Our Conversations
What if we were planning not a meeting but a harvest? STAGE 1: SENSING THE NEED
In taking such an approach, we must become clear Sensing the need may at first be intuitive or very
about why we are initiating any process. The Art of basic, like sensing hunger. But once the sensed need
Hosting and the Art of Harvesting dance together as becomes conscious, one can act on it.
two halves of the same thing.
We sense that we are hungry and from there we
Harvesting is more than just taking notes. To get a plant a garden, knowing that the work of planting and
sense of the complexity of this art, let’s begin by harvesting lies before us but that the end result meets
picturing a field in which someone has planted wheat. the need for sustenance.
How can that field of wheat be harvested?
The need is not complicated; it is real and clear and
We first imagine the harvest from that field as a it speaks deeply and inspires invitation and action.
farmer using equipment to cut down the wheat, thresh Everything begins from this need, and the way we hold
it, and separate the seeds from the stalks. The farmer it and invite others into it informs the harvest that we
might store the grain, further refine it, sell it quickly or take at the end of the day
wait for the price to increase.
STAGE 2: PREPARING THE FIELD
Now imagine a geologist, a biologist and a painter In some cases the caller creates the readiness of the
harvesting from the same field. The geologist picks field by creating awareness around the need. Others
through the rocks and soil gathering data about the with a similar need will recognize the call.
land itself. The biologist might collect insects and worms,
bits of plants and organic matter. The painter sees the In preparing the field – sending out the call, giving the
patterns in the landscape and chooses a palette and a context, inviting etc.– we set the tone of the whole
perspective for a work of art. process – the seriousness and quality will determine
the quality of what we reap. The work of readying a
They all harvest differently from the field. The results field for planting can take a whole year during which
of their work go to different places and are put we condition the soil, clear the rocks and prepare
to different uses. But they all have a few things in things. What we are doing here is actually harvesting a
common. They have a purpose for being in the field field so that the seeds can be planted.
and a set of questions about that purpose; they have a
pre-determined place to use the results of the harvest; In other words: start thinking about the harvest from
and they have specific tools to use in doing their work. the very beginning – not as an afterthought.
Despite the field being the same, the tools and results STAGE 3: PLANNING THE HARVEST
are specific to the need, purpose and inquiry. There are
Planning the harvest starts with and accompanies the
eight stages of harvesting.
design process. A clear purpose and some success
criteria for the process of the harvest itself will add
Briefly they are:
clarity and direction.
What would be useful and add value and in which form
HARVESTING AND EVALUATION St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

56
would it serve best? Holding space for what is emerging and enjoying it.
Translated into a simple check-list, it becomes:
• What intent are you holding? During the process, enjoy seeing your work unfold in all
• Who is going to benefit? its complexity. The more you can welcome the growth
• How can you add most value to the work at you are witnessing, the higher the quality of the harvest.
hand – how will the harvest serve best? Now you are in the pulse of noticing both the quality of
• What form or what media will be most the field and the quality of the crops.
effective?
• Who should host or do the harvesting? This is where we engage in conversation and
• What is the right timing? exploration – where the richness of the harvest is born.
The richer the conversation or exchange, the richer the
STAGE 4: PLANTING THE SEEDS harvest!
The questions around which we structure the hosting
STAGE 6: PICKING THE FRUITS
become the seeds for harvesting. All gardeners and
farmers know that planting seeds depends on the time Picking the fruits corresponds to recording or creating
and the conditions. You can’t just plant whenever you a collective memory. The simplest way to harvest is to
want to. You plant once the conditions are right to record what is being said and done, the output of the
maximize the yield. conversations, etc. This creates a record or collective
memory.
In hosting practice, this means being sensitive to timing Recording can be done in words.
when asking questions. • your notes, which will be subjective
• or transcripts of output from conversations
In sowing the seeds that will drive the inquiry – recorded on tapes, etc., which will be objective.
identifying and asking the strategic and meaningful
questions – you determine the output. So in planning the Recording can also be done with pictures /
harvest, ask yourself, “What it is that this process needs photographs / video / film. Pictures evoke and recall
to yield? What information, ideas, output or outcome feelings, atmospheres, situations. or you can video the
will benefit us here, and what might take us to the next conversation - record both verbally and visually.
level of inquiry?”
It is helpful to give some thought in the planning phase
The process itself is an ongoing one. With each part of to how you want to harvest. What kind of records,
the process, you harvest something. Some of it you need templates etc. will help you gather the relevant
to use right away to help lead you into the next process. information or knowledge?
Some of the harvest you will need later.
STAGE 7: PREPARING AND
So part of planning the harvest is also knowing for PROCESSING THE FRUITS
whom, when and how you need to use it. Another part Creating a memory is the first step. As we pick the fruits
of the planning is asking yourself in which format the or seeds for processing, some will be used right away,
harvest will serve you best. some will be used for further processing and some will
be used as seed for the next season.
STAGE 5: TENDING THE CROP The second step is making collective sense and
Protect the integrity of the crop. Nurture the crop as meaning. This is where we add value and make the
it grows, weed it and thin it to keep the strong plants data useful. There are many ways of doing this. The
growing and get rid of all that will not nourish or serve. general idea is to take loads of bits of information and
This involves a combination of feeding the field and transform them into “holons” – wholes that are also
letting it grow. But it also involves just sitting in the field. parts of greater wholes.

57
THINGS THAT CAN HELP IN A FEW COMMENTS
THIS PROCESS: The above reflections mainly concern collective
• Harvest in a systemic way. Ask collectively: What harvesting.
did you notice? What gave sense and meaning to
you? Notice the patterns - they indicate what is Individual reflection and harvest will raise the level
emerging of the collective harvest. During learning processes,
• Use metaphors, mental models and stories individual harvesting can be done intentionally, by
to make complex issues simple using a journal as a learning tool.
• Use drawings and graphics to make complex
issues manageable and visible Web-based tools open up a whole world of
possibilities that are not dealt with here.
STAGE 8: PLANNING THE NEXT
HARVEST - FEEDING FORWARD Harvesting the “soft” is much more subtle and
Most harvesting is done to bring closure to a process subjective than dealing with the “cognitive” or more
or bring us to the next level of understanding. More objective, tangible parts. A qualitative inquiry into
importantly, it helps us to know collectively, to see what we have noticed, what has shifted or changed
the same picture and share the same understanding in our relationships, in the culture or atmosphere
together. may give us some information about the softer part
of the harvest.
(Summary of The Art of Harvesting version 2.6.; written by Monica For the most effective harvest, these eight steps
Nissen and Chris Corrigan with input from the Art of Hosting should be planned beforehand, as part of designing
Community of Practice. The full article can be downloaded from
the Art of Hosting community Ning site: at: http://artofhosting.ning.
the whole process.
com/page/core-art-of-hosting-practices)
HOST THE
HARVEST
Think about
the collective
tangibles and
intangibles as well
as the individual
tangibles and
intangibles. See
visual for a map
of this harvesting
frame.

58
DOCUMENTED LEARNING
by the Future Services Institute
In society, we invest considerable time and attention in methods for describing and investigating the world around us.
Universities school students in lessons from research about the natural and social worlds. They promote learning a
wide array of research methodologies and scholars pursue basic and applied research to enhance theory that builds
formal knowledge systems. Some of that knowledge focuses upon explaining change in biological, chemical, economic,
and social conditions. Growing out of that tradition, various fields of evaluation studies provide systematic methods
for assessing changes in policy, programs, organizations, and groups.
Within the international Art of Hosting community of practice, there also is considerable attention that focuses upon
documenting changes that occur as a result of convening groups. These practices are called “Harvesting” and there
is a whole section of this workbook (and many others around the world) that share principles of and tools used in
documenting change in complex systems with this frame.
While many in the Art of Hosting community understand there are differences between hosting and harvesting, and
clearly see it as distinct from the fields of evaluation and research, there are many more commonalities than appear
at first glance. All are subjected to rigorous, peer-review of the methods used; only those that pass muster with
others in the professional community are reproduced and used by others. Each is supported by various communities
of practice; associations, professional and affinity groups, provide settings where people involved in the practice can
actively learn from other practitioners. Each also draws upon unique platforms for knowledge sharing among their
practitioners.

59
DEVELOPMENTAL EVALUATION
Applying systems thinking to evaluation
Evaluation is a systematic process of assessing • Developmental evaluation is executed in a rapid

experiences and results in terms of particular criteria. cycle to help decision makers, like those on Core
As individuals, we regularly conduct evaluations, Teams, be more informed about what is being
from our restaurant and movie ratings, to intimate created from various activities.
conversations with friends and family about the state • Developmental evaluation particularly attends to
of the world. However, professional evaluators help the purpose and principles underpinning practice.
programs and initiatives use systematic methods These actually become the standards for assessing
of information collection and analysis to assess the what develops.
contributions, value, and consequences of activities.
• Developmental evaluation adapts to the realities
of nonlinear experiences. The actual design of
Conventionally, professional evaluators have emphasized
data collection responds to the changing needs
either formative or summative approaches. Formative
and issues that arise over the course of the
evaluation provides an assessment about the processes
project. Yet evaluators pursue empirical rigor in
used in the course of a project, program, or initiative;
gathering, interpreting, and reporting information
the latter an assessment of what results from it. The
and sharing it widely.
assessment criteria focuses upon whether or not things
proceeded as planned, through monitoring activities • Developmental evaluation becomes a way to
or describing implementation. In summative evaluation, apply systems thinking; changes in social dynamics,
judgments are made about impacts, often by comparing interrelationships, and boundaries are described
those engaged in an initiative with those who weren’t, over time through the evaluation process. It
or outcomes are described without comparison. Both provides a means for whole system learning to
of these conventional approaches assume evaluative become visible, thus creating accountability to the
criteria are developed at the start of an initiative, various factions.
through plans to control the unpredictable nature of
change.
A developmental evaluation approach starts from an

awareness of complexity and emergence, and focuses
on supporting the development of a project in dynamic
environments. Created by Michael Quinn Patton, it is
particularly useful for documenting and informing others
involved in creating and trying out innovative ideas, or
attempts to bring good ideas to new contexts.
This approach is particularly aligned with the Art of
Hosting worldview and methodology:
• Developmental evaluation focuses upon

documenting emergence. It helps document the
pattern of what is unfolding and the implications
of it. As such, it is aligned with the practice of
Harvesting in the AofH toolkit. visual by Brave Space (http://bravespace.ca)

60
While the core practice of Harvesting from events and gatherings is
one layer of developmental evaluation, a full-blown developmental
evaluation also uses other forms of data collection (surveys,
interviews, focus groups). An evaluation can include any type of
data, any type of design, any focus. The approach depends upon the
circumstances and what is most needed to support the development
of the initiative.
While the practice of Developmental Evaluation is at its infancy,

considerable interest in the approach is surfacing in the American
Evaluation Association.
Below are some lessons learned while using a developmental

evaluation approach to support innovation. These findings were
presented by Trupti Sarode and Jodi Sandfort of the Future Services
Institute (Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota)
at the 2017 American Evaluation Associate conference.
Resources:
Margaret Hargreaves (2010).
“Evaluating System Change: A
Planning Guide.” Mathematica
Policy Research. Brief for Office of
Planning, Research and Evaluation.
US Department of Health and
Human Services.
Margaret Hargreaves (2014).

“Rapid Evaluation Approaches for
Complex Initiatives.” Mathematica
Policy Research. Brief for Office of
Planning, Research and Evaluation.
US Department of Health and
Human Services.
Michael Quinn Patton (2010).

Developmental Evaluation:
Applying Complexity Concepts
to Enhance Innovation and Use.
New York: The Guilford Press.
Michael Quinn Patton, Kate

McKegg, and Nan Wehipeihana,
editors (2016). Developmental
Evaluation Exemplars: Principles
in Practice. New York: The
Guilford Press.

61
PROBES, PROTOTYPES AND
PILOTS by Chris Corrigan
I’ve been working in the world of program development a set of probes and maybe prototyped an approach or
with a lot of complexity and innovation and co-creation two. Without good intelligence about the context you
lately and have seen these three terms used sometimes are working with, pilots are often shown to work by
interchangeably to describe a strategic move. As a result, manipulating the results. A pilot project will run for a
I’ve been adopting a more disciplined approach to these discrete amount of time and will then be summatively
three kinds of activities. evaluated in order to determine its efficacy. If it shows
promise, it may be repeated, although there is always
FIRST SOME DEFINITIONS a danger of creating a “best practice” that does not
Taken explicitly from Cynefin, a PROBE is an activity translate across different contexts. If a pilot project
that teaches you about the context that you are working is done well and works, it should be integrated with
with. The actual outcome of the probe doesn’t matter the basic operating procedure of an organization, and
much because the point is to create an intervention tinkered with over time, until it starts showing signs of
of some kind and see how your context responds. You weakened effectiveness. From then on, it can become
learn about the context and that helps you make better a program. And pilots are also probes, and as you work
bets as you move forward – “more stories like this, less with them they too will tell you a lot about what is
stories like this” to quote Dave Snowden. Probes are possible in the system.
small, safe-to-fail and easily observed. They help to test
different and conflicting hypotheses about the context. The distinctions between these three things are quite
If 8 out of 10 of your probes are not failing, you aren’t important. Often change is championed in the non-
learning much about the limits of your context. Probes profit world with the funding of pilot projects, the design
are actually methods of developmental evaluation. of which is based on hunches and guesses about what
works, or worse, a set of social science research data that
A PROTOTYPE is an activity that is designed to give is merely one of many possible hypotheses, privileged
you an idea of how a concept might work in reality. only by the intensity of effort that went into the study.
Prototypes are designs that are implemented for a short We see this all the time with needs assessments, gap
time, adjusted through a few iterations and improved analyses and SWOT-type environmental scans.
upon. The purpose of a prototype is to put something
into play and look at its performance. You need to have RATHER THAN THINKING OF THESE AS GRADIENTS
some success with a prototype in order to know what ON A LINE, I HAVE BEEN THINKING OF THEM AS A
parts of it are worth building upon. Prototypes straddle NESTED SET OF CIRCLES.
the world of “safe-to-fail” and fail safe. They are both
developmental evaluations tools and they also require Each one contains elements of the one within it.
some level of summative evaluation in order to be fully Developing one will be better if have based your
understood. Prototypes are also probes, and you can development on the levels below it. When you are
learn a lot about the system from how they work. confronted with complexity and several different
ideas of how to move forward, run a set of probes to
A PILOT is a project designed to prove the worthiness explore those ideas. When you have an informed hunch,
of an approach or a solution. You need it to have an start prototyping to see what you can learn about
actual positive effect in its outcomes, and it’s less safe-to- interventions. What you learn from those can be put to
fail. Pilots are often designed to achieve success, which use as pilots to eventually become standard programs.
is a good approach if you have studied the context with

62
By far, the most important mindshift in this whole area is As you move through these phases of work, the
adopting the right thinking about probes. Because pilot following practices are useful:
projects and even prototyping is common in the social
development world, we tend to rely on these methods • Dialogue is helpful at every scale. When you are
as ways of innovating. And we tend to design them working in a complex system, dialogue ensures that
from an outcomes basis, looking to game the results you are getting dissent, contrary views and outlying
towards positive outcomes. I have seen very few pilot ideas into the process. Complex problems cannot be
projects “fail” even if they have not been renewed or addressed well with a top-down roll out of a change
funded. Working with probes turns this approach inside initiative or highly controlled implementations of a
out. We seek to explore failure so we can learn about single person’s brilliant idea. If at any point people
the tolerances and the landscape of the system we are are working on any stage of this alone, you are in
working in. We “probe” around these fail points to see dangerous territory and you need another pair of
what we can learn about the context of our work. When eyes on it at the very least.
we learn something positive we design things to take
advantage of this moment. We deliberately do things to • Evaluation is your friend and your enemy. At every
test hypotheses and, if you’re really good and you are in stage you need to be making meaning and evaluating
a safe-to-fail position, you can even try to create failures what is going on, but it is critically important to
to see how they work. That way you can identify weak use the right evaluation tools. Developmental
signals of failure and notice them when you see them so evaluation tools – with their emphasis on collective
that when you come to design prototypes and pilots, you sense-making, rapid feedback loops and visible
“know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em.” organizational and personal learning – are critical in
any complexity project, and they are essential in the
first three stages of this process.
63
As you move to more and more stable projects,
you can use more traditional summative evaluation NOTES
methods, but you must always be careful not to manage
to towards targets. Such an error results in data like
“We had a 62% participation rate in our diversity
training” which tells you nothing about how you
changed things, but can shift the project focus to
trying to achieve a 75% participation rate next cycle.
This is an especially pervasive metric in engagement
processes. And so you must...
MONITOR, MONITOR, MONITOR. Intervening

in a complex system always means acting without the
certainty that what you are doing is helpful. You need
data and you need it on a short term and regular
basis. This can be accomplished by formal and informal
ongoing conversations and story captures about what is
happening in the system (are we hearing more stories
like the ones we want?) or through a SenseMakerTM
monitoring project that allows employees to end their
data with a little data capture.
THESE PRACTICES ARE NESTED, NOT

LINEAR. And always remember that this is not a multi-
step linear process for intervening in a complex system.
In a large organization, you can expect all of these
things to be going on all the time. Building the capacity
for that is a kind of holy grail and would constitute a
21st century version of the Learning Organization or a
Learning Community in my books.

64
Process
Design Tools
65
POWERFUL QUESTIONS
Inquiring about things that matter
While answers tend to bring us to closure, questions open us
up to exploration.
ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION

Asking the right question is the most effective way of
opening up a conversation and keeping it engaging. A
Powerful
high-quality question focuses on what is meaningful for
the participants, triggers our curiosity, and invites us to
questions
explore further.
focus attention,
When inviting people into a conversation that matters,
it is helpful to have an overall question, one that itself intention,
embodies the purpose of the meeting. This is the key
question or the “calling question” for the conversation or
meeting. The calling question is best formulated together
and energy.
with key stakeholders.
The conversation may include other questions than the

calling question. The questions you choose or that people
discover during conversation are critical to its success. A
hosted conversation could explore one question or a
series of related questions.
SOME GUIDELINES FOR

CHOOSING QUESTIONS:
► A well-crafted question attracts energy and focuses
attention on what matters. Experienced hosts
recommend asking open-ended questions, not ones
that have a simple yes/no answer.
► Good questions invite inquiry and curiosity. They do
not need to promote action or problem solving
immediately.
Resource: The Art of Powerful Questions, a
► You’ll know a good question when it continues to comprehensive guide written by Eric Vogt, Juanita
surface good ideas and possibilities. Brown and David Isaacs, explores the three
► Check possible questions with key people who will dimensions of a powerful question–construction,
take part in a conversation. Does it hold their scope and assumptions–and then offers sample
attention and energy? questions for focusing collective attention, finding
deeper insight and creating forward movement.
PROCESS DESIGN TOOLS St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

66
A POWERFUL
QUESTION… If I had an hour to
• Is simple and clear solve a problem
• Is thought provoking
• Generates energy
and my life
• Focuses inquiry depended on it, I
• Challenges assumptions
would use the first
• Opens new possibilities
• Evokes more questions 55 minutes to

formulate the right
question because
as soon as I have
REFLECTIONS ON POWERFUL
QUESTIONS: identified the right
question I can
solve the problem
in less than five
minutes.
- ALBERT EINSTEIN

67
WORKING WITH PURPOSE
THE PURPOSE OF PURPOSE: WHY ARE WE

ALL HERE COLLECTIVELY? Purpose becomes
A statement of purpose defines, with absolute clarity and deep
conviction, the purpose of the community, event, or initiative.
an invisible leader
An effective statement of purpose will be a clear, commonly as it both connects
understood statement of that which identifies and binds the
community together as worthy of pursuit. When properly done, it different actions
can usually be expressed in a single sentence.
Participants will say about the purpose, “If we could achieve that,
taken and supports
my life would have meaning.” (Dee Hock).
everyone to
Discovering purpose is to discover why something exists. Often we
hurry to get into action, before we properly understand why we need know why their
to take action. Gaining clarity on purpose, and especially gaining
collective clarity is setting the right course for taking action. A purpose, contribution is
therefore, becomes a navigational tool, like a compass, as it helps
us to discover the direction of travel for our efforts so they can be of
service.
valuable.

68
Purpose, to be a useful navigational tool in It is therefore important to remember that
seeking the way forward, contains three elements: different purposes are at play, for example:
• purpose of the stakeholders that the
Higher Intent – why action is needed for the
organization serves
greater good in service of life, e.g. “We are not
forming coalitions of states, we are uniting men” • purpose of the whole community /
- Jean Monnet organization
• purpose of the core group
Statement of Purpose – what effort is needed • purpose of each member of the core team
here and what is being pursued so that direction
of action can be set. It does not define the In the light of this, the following questions may inspire
destination, instead it invites and inspires others your collective inquiry into your shared purpose:
to participate with clarity.
• What is our collective purpose?
Intention – The will to be in pursuit of grounding • What is the purpose of our function, team, project?
the higher intent through the actions we take
• How does my purpose and the purpose
regardless of the challenges that might arise
we are all here to accomplish align?
When these three elements are aligned and • What is the purpose that is at the heart of
collectively understood – the greater good of this work and that will align us all to accomplish it?
why we need to take action, the clarity of what
we are pursuing in order to ground the higher Gaining clarity and specifically collective clarity on purpose,
intent and the will to do this regardless of the is a key strategic action that if overlooked, usually ends up in
conditions – purpose becomes a powerful confusion and even conflict instead of achieving outcomes
attractor that allows people to put their that make a difference. Seeking purpose is not something to
individual efforts to work together on making a be done once. As action is taken and more is discovered
difference for all. as a result, are we still on course or do we have a new
purpose arising?
In an organization or a community, many
purposes coexist and often not enough effort is
given to interconnect these purposes so that it
can often feel that different and conflicting Collective clarity
purposes are at play.
of purpose is the
invisible leader.
- MARY PARKER FOLLETT

69
70
THE CHAORDIC STEPPING
STONES
by Chris Corrigan
Working in the chaordic space each stone as we lay it in place.
The term “chaordic” comes from combining the In this document we have given you a basic definition
words “chaos” and “order.” It is a word coined by Dee of the stepping stones, some sample questions to help
Hock to identify organizations that intentionally blend guide your design and some ideas about how and what
characteristic of chaos and order. In this document, we to harvest. These steps will lead you through three
use this term to indicate that we are working in a space phases of strategic work and are applicable whether you
of complexity, where there is much that is unpredictable are planning a single meeting or engaging in a multi-year
and unknown. Our job as people who are hosting strategic process. The three phases are:
strategic work in this space - whether it is is a • Inviting
conversation, a meeting or a longer term strategic • Implementing
initiative - is to bring some form and order to the • Structuring
unpredictability while letting the emergent properties
of complex systems bring us new ideas, insight and Inviting
innovation. This is difficult to do without a road map, and Participatory processes, whether single meetings or long
the chaordic stepping stones provide both a guide path term strategic interventions, require a solid invitation in
and a set of lenses to plan and reflect on this work. order for people to show up and contribute. Because
participatory processes are still a relatively unorthodox
This tool can be used by callers - those who see that way of meeting and tackling strategic issues, invitations
there is work to be done in the world - in order to need to be participatory too, and they must unfold
get their thinking straight and create good containers over time, inviting people speci cally and in a way that
for planning and action. It can also be used by core engages them long before the meeting begins. The saying
teams that come together around a strategic need and “The conversation begins long before the meeting
purpose, to continually refine their design for their work. starts” should guide the way you plan an invitation. It is
both content and process.
The tool is designed to be used collectively, structured
around a series of questions that can be answered by The first four stepping stones are most useful in
a group. Participatory processes require participatory beginning the invitation process.
leadership and these question will help you guide your
planning to get the most out of a group. NEED
The tool can be used sequentially to plan out a project “This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling o or to
and it can be used as a reflective tool to review and take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.”
refine the work. Martin Luther King
Designing Meetings and Processes The need is the compelling and present reason for
In designing a meeting or a process, each of these doing anything. Identifying the need helps to anchor an
stepping stones is activated by asking key questions. In invitation. Sensing the need is the first step to designing
beginning to design work together we can select from a meeting, organizational structure or change initiative
these questions (or create others) to help us explore that is relevant.

71
Needs can be identified in a number of ways through PRINCIPLES
research, dialogue, large meetings or individual sensing
interviews. “Obey the principles without being bound by them”
Bruce Lee
Context is important.
• What time is it in the world now ? Principles of cooperation help us to know how we will
• What time is it for our initiative now ? work together. It is very important that these principles
• What are the challenges and opportunities we are be simple, co-owned and well understood. These are
facing ? not principles that are platitudes or that lie on a page
• Why is it important that we do this work? somewhere. They are crisp statements of how we agree
to operate together so that over the long term we can
Harvest: sustain the relationships that make this work possible.
» A needs statement for the project. The best principles help to guide us when the plan
» A shared understanding about why it is breaks down, so make them observable and simple to
important to do work now. remember.
» A clear statement of urgency or timing with which to
create an invitation • What key principles guide us in our work?
• What is it important to remember about how we
PURPOSE want to work with the participants in our initiative?
• What unique ways of doing work and being together
Purpose statements are clear and compelling ideas can we bring to this work?
about where we are going that guide us in doing our • If the plan breaks down, what principles will guide us
best possible work. Discerning a shared purpose is anyway?
helpful to guide work and seek outcomes, but don’t
get too attached. Working in a chaordic space means Harvest:
constantly making adjustments as you learn and create » A shared set of principles to rely on when your work
new ideas and solutions. A purpose statement should be enters a complex or chaotic space and you need to
a direction, not a necessarily a destination. reground.
» A set of commitments to one another that helps keep
Once you have a purpose statement, continue to check good work going.
in to make sure it is valid and true. Adjust it if you need
to based on what you’re learning as you go.
• If this work should live up to its fullest potential, what

do you imagine is possible?
• What could this work do/create/inspire/result in?
• Where should we be heading?
• What are the stories we want more of?
Harvest:
» A common understanding of the basic direction for
the work
» Commitment and buy in to a direction and intention
for the work
» A clear statement of purpose around which to build
an invitation

72
PEOPLE Organizing people this way also makes it easier for
people to become more or less involved in your project.
Once the need and the purpose are in the For example someone on the core team who needs
place and we have agreed on our principles of to step out for time or other commitments can move
cooperation, we can begin to identify the people that out to a wider ring and still be involved. they can be
are involved in our work. Mapping the network helps replaced by someone closer to the center, who will have
us to see who is in this work for us and who will have to do less work to get up to speed on the work of the
an interest in what we are doing. To map the network, core team.
create a diagram with a set of three or four concentric
circles. • Who needs to be at the core of our project?
• Who do we need to talk to to make this work, and
In the centre of diagram goes your purpose statement. what questions do we have for them?
Place the names of your team in the first circle. This is • Who has answers or expertise we need?
the core team of people most fully committed to and • Who has the authority to accelerate or impede this
responsible for the project. work and how can we involve them?
• Who will be a ected by this work?
On the second ring, place the names of individuals
who are essential participants in the process, but not a Harvest:
part of the core team. These might be people whose » People and commitment
expertise you need, or whose approval or political » Contact lists, invitation lists, and a set of differing levels
influence are required to sustain the work. of engagement
» Communications and engagement strategies tailored
On the third ring, place the names of people who you for each ring of people.
will consult with and keep closely informed about the
process. They may not have decision making authority, Implementing
but not including them in meetings and gatherings will Participatory processes and chaordic work is all about
diminish the project. Finally on the fourth ring, place the getting better results. As we produce good results, we
names of people who will need to know what you are need to be conscious about the form and shape of the
up to, even though they may not be directly engaged. outputs of a process and how to support them.
In chaordic processes we cannot know the result before
This scheme and process needs to be customized for hand, but we can plan for the outputs
your work and your project, whether you are planning and the architecture we need to put in place to support
a single event or a longer term strategic initiative. our results. Doing this before we choose the structure
In general people closer to the center will be more and processes for our initiative helps ensure that our
committed, more involved and more responsible for the strategic work has a life past the events we are planning.
outcomes.
OUTPUTS
The closer you move to the center the more time and
energy you need to spend on communications and Whether you are planning a single meeting or an
involvement. Those towards the edges will require less ongoing strategic initiative, it is crucial that you focus on
intense communications - perhaps brief communication the outputs: the concrete results of your work. While
updates, or one-way blasts of information. Those in we can’t know the content of emergent processes we
the middle rings can be engaged using different types can plan for the kinds of outputs we expect.
of processes that will bring them into the heart of the
project on a more frequent basis.

73
Depending on what you are doing you need to know if • How do we sustain and nourish our relationships and
your work will result in reports, decisions, ideas, further collective aspirations a er the work is over?
conversations, new structures or ways of doing things. • What commitments are we willing to make to
You need to make choices about how to represent contribute to the success of our endeavour?
these outputs in a way that is usable and appropriate for • What are you willing to do differently?
the group you are working with. • How do we end what we have started?
• What are the forms of harvest from our work that Harvest:
best serves the need? » Resources and commitments that will support the
• What intentional harvest will serve our purpose? sustainability of good outcomes
• What are the artefacts that will be the most powerful
representations of what we have created? Structuring
• How will we make our work visible and usable? Once we have established the center of a project by
connecting a need and purpose to the people who
Harvest: should be involved, and we have an idea how we will
» Physical artifacts that effectively share the results of support implementation, we can turn our minds to the
the work. kind of structures, processes and activities that help us
address our purpose.
Architecture of Implementation
We move through three stages of identifying a concept,
The ongoing practice within the structures we build is investigating our limiting beliefs and then finally deciding
important. This is the world of to-do lists, conference on a project plan for moving forward.
calls and email exchanges. The invitation here is to
practice working with one another in alignment with the CONCEPT
designs we have created.
As we move to a more concrete idea of what our
The architecture of implementation refers to structures are, we begin to explore the concepts that
what you will build to sustain the work you have will be useful. This is a high level look at the shape of
created. If you are doing innovative work your our endeavour. For example, if our need was to design
organization or community will need to develop an a way to cross a body of water, we could choose a
innovative approach to sustaining it. It is critical that bridge, a causeway or a ferry. The concept is important,
you make decisions about how you intend to support because it gives form to very different structures for
the outcomes of the process before you begin to doing our work. Coming up with a concept delays final
undertake the substantive work of the project. While decisions about structuring work, and it allows us to
you can also rely on commitment and sustainability to pause and check out our general direction with those
be generated within the process, it is important to do who are resourcing and enabling the work. Avoid the
some early planning to know what has the best chance temptation to jump immediately to a final design.
of supporting outcomes.
Conceptual plans are also valuable because they can be
• What resources (especially time, money and people) used to test limiting beliefs and discover what’s missing
do we need to sustain our work together? before making final decisions about how to organize
• What capacity and learning do we need to build to the work.
sustain this work?
• How do we leverage relationships and support the
work that arises from them?

74
• What is a good high-level approach to addressing our • What will it take for us to fully enter into working in
need and meeting our purpose? new and unfamiliar ways?
• What basic elements, activities and exercises will best • What is our own learning edge in working together?
serve our purpose? • What are the cynics and skeptics saying about our
• How will we ensure that our work reflects our work?
principles?
Harvest:
Harvest: » Clarity and shared courage and commitment
» A first draft, prototype or sketch of what the work » A naming and recognition of what might hold us back
might look like. » Clarity about how to support people b the process as
they confront their own limiting beliefs.
LIMITING BELIEFS
STRUCTURE
So much of what we do when we organize ourselves
is based on unquestioned models of behavior. These Once the concept has been chosen and we have
patterns can be helpful but they can also limit us in worked through the limiting beliefs, it is time to create
fullfiling our true potential. We cannot create innovation the structure that will channel our resources and enable
in the world using old models, approaches and ways of work to happen. This is where we decide upon a plan
thinking. It pays to examine ways in which we assume of action and define the roles and responsibilities of
work gets done in order to discover the new ways that those involved. It is in these conversations that we make
might serve work with new results. decisions and choices about the resources of the group:
time, money, energy, commitment, and attention.
Engaging in this work together brings us into a co-
creative working relationship, where we can help each • What are we going to do together?
other into new and powerful ways of working together, • How will we enable our work to happen?
alleviating the fear and anxiety of the unknown. Limiting • What resources are needed in time, money and
beliefs appear in both individuals and groups and so attention and where are these going to come from?
it’s useful to engage in practices that work at both the • What will happen with the results of the work?
individual level and the group level to surface and deal • What logistical questions need to be resolved?
with fears, anxieties, shadows and limiting beliefs before • What expertise can help us with our work?
we inadvertently build them into our plans and
processes. Harvest:
» A project plan with roles, resources, activities and
• What makes us tremble, and what do we fear about outcomes.
new ways of working together?
• Who would we be without our stories of old ways of
working?
The Chaordic Stepping Stones by Chris Corrigan is licensed under a

Creative CommonsAttribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on work at www.chriscorrigan.com.

75
THE CHAORDIC DESIGN
PROCESS
by Dee Hock
The chaordic design process has six dimensions, beginning principles constitute the body of belief that will bind the
with purpose and ending with practice. Each of the six community together and against which all decisions and
dimensions can be thought of as a lens through which acts will be judged.
participants examine the circumstances giving rise to
the need for a new organization or to re-conceive an IDENTIFY ALL PARTICIPANTS
existing one. Developing a self-organizing, self- governing With clarity about purpose and principles, the next step is
organization worthy of the trust of all participants usually to identify all relevant and affected parties - the participants
requires intensive effort.To maximize their chances of whose needs, interests and perspectives must be considered
success, most groups have taken a year or more on the in conceiving (or re-conceiving) the organization. As drafting
process. During that time, a representative group of team members pursue their work, their perceptions of who
individuals (sometimes called a drafting team) from all constitutes a stakeholder will typically expand.They now
parts of the engaged organization or community meet have an opportunity to ensure that all concerned individuals
regularly and work through the chaordic design process.The and groups are considered when a new organizational
steps involved in conceiving and creating a more chaordic concept is sought.
organization are:
CREATE A NEW
DEVELOP A STATEMENT OF PURPOSE ORGANIZATIONAL CONCEPT
The first step is to define, with absolute clarity and When all relevant and affected parties have been
deep conviction, the purpose of the community. An identified, drafting team members creatively search for
effective statement of purpose will be a clear, commonly and develop a general concept for the organization. In
understood statement of that which identifies and binds the light of purpose and principles, they seek innovative
the community together as worthy of pursuit. When organizational structures that can be trusted to be just,
properly done, it can usually be expressed in a single equitable and effective with respect to all participants, in
sentence. Participants will say about the purpose, “If we relation to all practices in which they may engage. They
could achieve that, my life would have meaning.” often discover that no existing form of organization can
do so and that something new must be conceived.
DEFINE A SET OF PRINCIPLES
Once the purpose has been clearly stated, the next WRITE A CONSTITUTION
step is to define, with the same clarity, conviction and Once the organizational concept is clear, the details of
common understanding, the principles by which those organizational structure and functioning are expressed
involved will be guided in pursuit of that purpose. in the form of a written constitution and by-laws.These
Principles typically have high ethical and moral content, documents will incorporate, with precision, the substance
and developing them requires engaging the whole of the previous steps.They will embody purpose, principles
person, not just the intellect. The best will be descriptive, and concept, specify rights, obligations and relationships of all
not prescriptive, and each principle will illuminate the participants, and establish the organization as a legal entity
others. Taken as a whole, together with the purpose, the under appropriate jurisdiction.

76
FOSTER INNOVATIVE PRACTICES 1. One or two sessions exploring the core chaordic
With clarity of shared purpose and principles, the right concepts with a leadership or initiating group. We urge
participants, an effective concept and a clear constitution, groups and organizations to take time to assess the
practices will naturally evolve in highly focused and effective relevance and “fit” of chaordic concepts and processes for
ways.They will harmoniously blend cooperation and their circumstances. Having key participants consider and
competition within a transcendent organization trusted endorse a major change initiative is essential if the effort is
by all. Purpose is then realized far beyond original to have a serious chance of success.
expectations, in a self- organizing, self-governing system
capable of constant learning and evolution. 2. One or two sessions determining participants, developing
resources and devising a strategy for working through the
DRAWING THE PIECES INTO A WHOLE chaordic design process. One or more months of work are
The process is iterative. Each step sheds new light on all typically required to organize the resources and support
of the preceding steps and highlights where modifications that an organizational development effort will need.This
or refinements need to be made. In effect, the process includes the development of several dedicated teams with
continually folds back on itself, more fully clarifying the responsibility for project management and staffing, outreach
previous steps even as each new dimension is explored. and communications, and organizational concept and design.
Over time, the elements become deeply integrated. None is A series of in-depth meetings, each several days in length,
truly finished until all are finished. to work through each of the six elements. Some elements,
such as principles and organizational concept, often take
Two risks are frequently encountered - moving onto more than a single meeting. It is not uncommon for this
the next stage too quickly and allowing the striving for series of meeting to take at least a year, sometimes two,
perfection to bog down the process.The first risk is especially when dealing with large, complex organizations or
common when working on purpose and principles, where industries.
agreement on “platitudes” can often be reached even when
underlying differences persist. In these situations, finding an 3. Ongoing analytic and educational support for process
easy answer that pleases everyone is not enough; digging participants. Issues invariably arise that require more detailed
deeper to find richer and more meaningful understanding research or attention by a special team. Research on
and agreement is essential.This can be taken to an extreme, industry- specific matters, or mapping potential participants
of course, which leads to the second risk. Perfection is not and their current relationships to each other, are examples.
required and will never be attained. Getting a very good Legal analysis is often required.
answer that is “good enough” to move on to the next step
is the goal. Keep in mind that what is done at each stage will 4. Chartering and implementation. Our aim is to create
be subsequently refined. a dynamic, evolving organization.Yet implementation of
the new concept can take several month. In the case of
The most difficult parts of the process are releasing existing organizations seeking to transform themselves, a
preconceived notions about the nature and structure careful strategy for the transition from one structure to
of organizations and understanding their origins in our another must be created. When a new organization is being
own minds. We often catalyze this process by asking the formed, it may take some months for individuals and other
question: “If anything imaginable were possible, if there institutions to elect to join and participate.
were no constraints whatever, what would be the nature
of an ideal institution to accomplish our purpose?” There
is no absolutely right or wrong way to undertake and
proceed through the chaordic design process, but we
typically observe the following pattern in our work with
organizations:

77
PROCESS DESIGN TOOLS
The 8 Breaths of Process Architecture
The Stewarding / grandmothering

prac;ce is: to keep inspiring and
crea;ng opportuni;es for people to
The Senseing / grandfathering
find and nurture their own giNs as
prac;ce is: to keep inspiring and
part of a wider prac;ce. Keep
crea;ng opportuni;es for prac;ce
invi;ng, keep witnessing, keep
and for building capacity to build
calling us to see each other’s
more capacity. Co-‐create trainings,
brilliance. Offer space for others to
prac;;oners gatherings, dojos for
step in, becoming even more Stewards - or elders - are also needed to prac;cing with each other,
exquisite prac;;oners. Hold space help host the whole. They are the reminder learning villages…. (a “sensei” is
for a diversity of offering to arrive. of the long term purpose of the work, and the master teacher & prac;;oner
Maintain the quality of the field and
tend to supporting and hosting the people in the mar;al arts dojo)
invita;on surrounding the work.
acting in the project.
1 First breath: THE CALL

• Name the issue: calling the core ques4on -‐-‐ birth of the callers. We have Third breath: INVITE
no4ced that there is always a ‘caller’, a person who deeply holds a ques4on, a • Giving form and structure: design and invita4on process
3 • Wise ac4on: keep checking to be sure your design and invita4on serve the purpose
St.Paul, MN February 2018
problem, a challenge. Some4mes there are several callers. The callers are the
ones who invite the host(s) to help them. • Don’t make your design too complex (match it to the purpose)
• Wise ac4on: Focus the chaos of holding the collec4ve uncertainty and fear -‐-‐ • Ques4on: Who are the stakeholders? How do we invite people to par4cipate in a
step into the centre of the disturbance way that moves them to show up? How do we let go of our expecta4ons that certain
• Don’t move too fast people need to be there?
• Ques4on: What is really at stake here? What if some of us worked together to The mee;ng has been designed, a larger group of stakeholders has been invited, a good
surface the real ques4on and need that maKers to the community? mee;ng space has been found: it’s ;me to meet!
When the caller has commi/ed to call the process, we go to the next phase. 4 Fourth breath: MEET
2 Second breath: CLARIFY • Mee4ng: Conversa4on
• Crea4ng the ground: The callers and hosts work to create collec4ve clarity of • Wise ac4on: our role is to host the group, the purpose, the ques4ons
purpose and the first ar4cula4on of principles • Don’t go alone
• Wise ac4on: engagement • Ques4on: How can I best serve as the instrument/container to allow collec4ve wisdom
• Don’t make assump4ons to emerge?
• Ques4on: How to get from need to purpose? What is our purpose? How to see
pg
...and make meaning together. When the mee;ng is done, the group of stakeholders find
and feed the group value? collec;ve meaning and start to co-‐create. This is where the harvest is important -‐-‐ to
78
This phase is over once the core of clarity has emerged. capture key messages and insights and make sense of them.
5 FIFTH breath: HARVEST
• Prac4ce: Collec4ve Meaningmaking 3rd Breath: Prepara4on behind the scenes
• Callers & Core / Harves4ng team -‐ harvest the harvest of the assembly and make the
needed wise decisions for the wiser way forward in all direc4ons
• Wise ac4on: more perspec4ves help make sense of what one person can’t see alone
• Ques4on: What are the underlying paKerns we can now see? How do they shape our
intended ac4ons? What will we prac4ce to make these intended ac4ons come and stay
alive over 4me? INVITE
Here a deeper view of the pa/erns in the system can be seen. A mul;-‐layered
understanding is possible and new ac;ons may arise.
6 Sixth breath: ACT
• Prac4ce: Perform the wise ac4ons decided on during the conversa4on & harvest.
Follow up, con4nue learning and leading from the field
• Wise ac4on: always come back to purpose and prac4ce
PROCESS DESIGN TOOLS

• Don’t lose sight of the purpose or it won’t be embodied
• Ques4on: How do we sustain self-‐organisa4on?
Here the seed of community is born, and the results are a connectedness between the
stakeholders and wiser ac;ons. From here the next calling ques;on arises...
7 Seventh breath: REFLECT & LEARN

• Prac4ce: Reflec4on & capturing what we’ve learned
• Wise ac4on: build in a regular reflec4on point, experience has wisdom
• Reflec4on in the core team and with key stakeholders. The Art of InvitaGon MeeGng Design HosGng Team
• Ques4on: What have we learned? Have we gained results in alignment with need and Who is invited? Venue What is the field we are What pre-‐work is
purpose? What are the next long term steps? Etc. How will they be invited? Where will we work? working in? needed?
From here the next calling ques4on arises… What arrangements are What is the flow of When/How will we come
needed? hos4ng design? together as a team?
What is the economy?
8 Eighth breath: HOLDING THE WHOLE
Holding the story of the unfolding progress, tending to the core team and the heartbeat
of the sacred purpose underneath all the ac4vi4es. The eagle prac44oners &
perspec4ve -‐-‐ hos4ng and sensing the whole – being aware of all the 7 breaths, tending
to the long-‐term intent and the wisdom of the ac4ons & prac4ces of this community of
prac44oners and the well being of everyone in this systems.
Although we’ve given a step by step descrip7on, the process is not linear but rather cyclical,
and making sense (harves7ng), reflec7ng on alignment to purpose, and next wise steps
happens throughout the process.
Basic Rhythms
Many other parts of our prac4ce sit within and support the 8 Breaths paKern. There are Ques4ons
different kinds of ques4ons and stories that can be used or gathered during each part of the Stories
St.Paul, MN February 2018

process. Harves4ng can take place during each breath. There are different organising Harves4ng
paKerns and the Chaordic Stepping Stones can be applied. Chaordic Stepping Stones
Organising paKerns
pg
79
THE EIGHT LITTLE HELPERS
Essentials of Conversation
Eight “helpers” are the source of good conversational focus on the work and helps groups stay away from
design and plan for harvesting meaningfully from unhelpful behaviors such as personal attacks, politics
gatherings. If you use these tools, conversations and closed minds.
will grow deeper, and work will occur at a more
meaningful level. These eight helpers bring form to A good question has the following characteristics:
fear and uncertainty, and help us stay in the chaos • Is simple and clear
of not knowing the answers. They help us to move • Is thought provoking
through uncomfortable places together, like conflict, • Generates energy
uncertainty, fear and the groan zone and to arrive at • Focuses inquiry
wise action. • Challenges assumptions
• Opens new possibilities
1. BE PRESENT • Evokes more questions
Inviting presence is a core practice of hosting, but it
is also a key practice for laying the ground work for It is wise to design these questions beforehand and
a good meeting. There are many ways of bringing a make them essential pieces of the invitation for
group to presence, including: others to join you. As you dive into these questions,
harvest the new questions that are arising. They
• Start with a poem, reading or prayer represent the path you need to take.
• Start with a moment of silence
• Check in with a personal question related to the 4. INVITE INTENTIONAL LISTENING
theme of the meeting AND SPEAKING with, for example, a talking/
• Pass a talking piece and provide space listening piece
for each voice to be heard
• Start well. Start slowly. Check everyone in. In its simplest form, a talking piece is simply an object
that passes from hand to hand. When one is holding
2. WORK TOGETHER WITH MATES the piece, one is invited to speak and everyone is
Relationships create sustainability. If you stay together invited to listen. Using a talking piece has the powerful
as friends, mates or family, you become accountable effect of ensuring that every voice is heard and it
to one another, and you can face challenges better. sharpens both speech and listening. It slows down
When you feel your relationship to your closest a conversation so that when things are moving too
mates slipping, call it out and host a conversation fast, or people begin speaking over one another and
about it. Trust is a group‘s most precious resource. the listening stops, a talking piece restores calm and
Use it well. smoothness. Conducting the opening round of a
conversation with a talking piece sets the tone for the
3. HAVE A GOOD QUESTION meeting and helps people to remember the power of
this simple tool.
A good question is aligned with the need and
purpose of the meeting and invites us to go to
Of course, a talking piece is really a minimal form
another level. Good questions are put into the center
of structure. Every meeting should have some form
of a circle, and the group speaks through them.
of structure that helps to work with the chaos and
Having a powerful question at the center keeps the
order that is needed to co-discover new ideas. There

80
are many forms and processes to choose from but harvest. Place paper in the middle of the table so
it is important to align them with the nature of living that everyone can reach it. Hand out Post-it notes so
systems if innovation and wisdom is to arise from people can capture ideas and add them to
chaos and uncertainty. the whole. Use your creative spirit to find
ways to have the group host their own
At more sophisticated levels, when you need to do harvest.
more work, you can use more formal processes that
work with these kinds of contexts. Each of these 6. MAKE A WISE COLLECTIVE
processes has a sweet spot, its own best use that DECISION
you can think about as you plan meetings. Blend as If your meeting needs to come to a decision, make it
necessary. a wise one. Wise decisions emerge from conversation,
not voting. The simplest way to arrive at a wise
5. HARVEST SOMETHING USEFUL decision is to use the three thumbs consensus
Never meet unless you plan to harvest your learnings. process.
The basic rule of thumb here is to remember that
you are not planning a meeting; you are instead It works like this:
planning a harvest. Know what is needed and plan the First, clarify a proposal. A proposal is a suggestion
process accordingly. Harvests don‘t always have to for how something might be done. Have it worded
be visible; sometimes you plan to meet just to create and written and placed in the center of the circle.
learning. But support that personal learning with good Poll the group asking each person to offer their
questions and practice personal harvesting. thumb in three positions. UP means “I‘m good with
it.” SIDEWAYS means “I need more clarity before I
To harvest well, be aware of four things: give the thumbs up.” DOWN means, “This proposal
violates my integrity . . . I mean seriously.”
• Create an artifact. Harvesting is about
making knowledge visible. Make a mind map,
As each person indicates their level of support for the
draw pictures, take notes, but whatever you
proposal, note the down and sideways thumbs. Go to
do create a record of your conversation.
the down thumbs first and ask, “What would it take for
• Have a feedback loop. Artifacts are you to be able to support this proposal?” Collectively
useless if they sit on the shelf. Know how you help the participant word another proposal, or a
will use your harvest before you begin your meeting. change to the current one. If the process is truly a
Is it going into the system? Will it create questions consensus-building one, people are allowed to vote
for a future meeting? Is it to be shared with people thumbs down only if they are willing to participate in
as news and learning? Figure it out and make plans to making a proposal that works. Hijacking a group gets
share the harvest. rewarded with a vote. Majority rules.
•Be aware of both intentional and emergent Once you have dealt with the down thumbs, do the
harvest. Harvest answers to the specific questions same with the sideways thumbs. Sideways doesn‘t
you are asking, but also make sure you are paying mean “no” but rather “I need clarity.” Answer the
attention to the cool stuff that is emerging in good questions or clarify the concerns.
conversations. There is real value in what‘s coming up
that none could anticipate. Harvest it. If you have had a good conversation leading to the
proposal, you should not be surprised by any down
• The more a harvest is co-created, the more thumbs. If you are, reflect on that experience and
it is co-owned. Don‘t just appoint a secretary, think about what you could have done differently.
note taker or a scribe. Invite people to co-create the

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7. ACT AND FOLLOW-UP
Once you have decided what to do, act. There isn‘t much more to say about that except that wise action is action
that doesn‘t overextend or underutilize the resources of a group. Action arises from the personal choice to take
responsibility for what you love. Commit to the work and do it.
8. PLANNING THE NEXT HARVEST — FEEDING FORWARD

Most harvesting is done to bring closure to a process or bring us to the next level of understanding.
More importantly, it helps us to know collectively, to see the same picture and share the same understanding together.
A Few Comments:
The above reflections mainly concern collective harvesting. Individual reflection and harvest will raise the level of the
collective harvest. During learning processes, individual harvesting can be done intentionally, by using a journal as a
learning tool.
Web-based tools open up a whole world of possibilities that are not dealt with here. Harvesting the “soft” is much
more subtle and subjective than dealing with the cognitive or more objective, tangible parts. A qualitative inquiry into
what we have noticed, what has shifted or changed in our relationships, in the culture or atmosphere may give us some
information about the softer part of the harvest.
For the most effective harvest, these eight steps should be planned beforehand as part of designing the whole process.

82
Harvests
make the
voices in
the room
visible

83
CHECKLIST FOR THE DESIGN
OF PROCESSES
BEFORE THE PROCESS – MEETING
Preparation (Purpose: to create focus for and prepare 3. Closing the meeting/process
for the meeting/ process). (Purpose: summary/wrap up, conclusion, closing)
• Getting the participants’ ‘meaningfulnesses’ on the • Review of results, decisions
table • Conclusions
• Need check • Agreements
• Burning questions • Check-out (personal)
• Clarify purpose, goals, and methods
• Send out an invitation with a clear purpose AFTER THE MEETING/PROCESS
• Preparation of logistics and material etc. • Follow up (Purpose: review, learning,
• Preparation of yourself as host (over prepared and anchoring)
under-structured) • Review of experiences and results
• Make the room/space yours • Evaluation
• Learning
THE PROCESS - THE MEETING • Anchoring of the meeting/process
• Full stop... or beginning
1. Opening of the meeting/process
(Purpose to create a “safe space”, acceptance, meaning ‘LEARNING ECOLOGY’
and overview.) Documentation of content and process (Purpose:
• Context: “The bigger picture... the many aspects, to maintain and anchor common/shared knowledge,
conditions and relations, that surround a certain insights, agreements etc. – to feed knowledge back
situation or case, and that contribute to defining into the system, so it is not lost, and so it is possible
the meaning to give to the situation.” to further build upon the knowledge that is already
• Purpose – short and long term present. This is to create a shared memory.
• Possibly a framing – set boundaries – and what are
givens OTHER POSSIBLE INGREDIENTS
• Check in – physically, mentally, and emotionally – so It is important that there is a good amount of
everyone’s voice is heard, and everyone is present. disturbance. The disturbance can be so small that it
• Expectations – and hopes for outcomes doesn't move anything, or really challenge, and it can
• Share meeting design/structure ... or create a be too much, so that it is rejected as too overwhelming
shared agenda (inspired by Maturana).
2. The meeting/process
Choice of content (what) and process/ method (how)
in relation to purpose, target group and the desired
outcome.

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The ability to handle chaos – the courage to stand in DIFFERENT PURPOSES:
chaos.
• Show up
To dare let go of control. • Learning processes
• Idea development/innovation
Variation – in rhythm – content – methods – process • Dialogue
etc.. • Experience sharing
• To find consensus
Experience-based – “Tell me and I will forget – show me • To build team
and I will remember – involve me and I will learn.” • Information meetings
• Planning meetings
From head to feet – personally meaningful – mentally – • Distribution of tasks
emotionally and action-wise • Decision making meetings
• Problem solving meeting
Purpose • Need clarification meetings
It is important to let the purpose shape the meeting. • Etc
A key is to determine whether the meeting already
has a determined content – does it need to have a
formal structure (i.e. the group wants to agree upon or
make a decision around a predetermined issue/ content),
or – is the purpose of the meeting to
explore, inquire, develop ideas or in other ways
make space for co-creation and development – in other
words, let a new content emerge – have an
open structure.
TYPES OF MEETINGS FORMAL STRUCTURE OPEN STRUCTURE
Idea-generation meetings,
Creative (Directed/'controlled') design brainstorming, development
and planning meetings meetings
Interactive processes,
Learning Education,
Dialogue meetings,
Information meetings
Experience sharing, etc.
Decision making Decision making

Council, etc.
Common ground meetings
Copied from InterChange’s on-line resources:

http:www.interchange.dk/resources/checklistfordesign/

85
DESIGN LAB PROCESS
Designing for Wise Action
ABOUT THE PROCESS
Designing good process flow is an art. The Designing Co-designers
for Wiser Action process was created to provide The people who help with the first brush strokes of
process practitioners an opportunity to ask for help co-creating design. This is a practice of generocity.
and for the rest of us an opportunity for others to Resource team
practice both design and generosity. It demonstrates If there are more seasoned hosts and a good sized
the power of co-creation and enables participatory group of participants, they may want to act as a
leaders to get support and wise advice about the resource team, bumble-beeing between teams to give
concrete outcomes they are seeking. additional support.
PURPOSE STAGES OF THE THE PROCESS

To enable some of us to get support and wise advice
about the upcoming concreate processes we need ► INVITATION
to host and the rest of us to put what we've learned Make an invitation to those who want to be project
about Art of Hosting and its methods to work on real callers in advance of the convening of the Design
life events. Lab. Ideally, a concrete project that needs to get
unstuck or a project idea to be launched sometime
We find powerful insights and solutions together in the next year will be brought forward. Aim to have
through the exploration of questions that clarify: one topic for every 5-6 participants, so if you have
What is the need? What is the purpose? What are convened 50 people, you would have space for 10
some limiting beliefs and assumptions we might face? topics to be called, first-come-first serve.
What methods will most support the group taking
► CALLING OF TOPICS
wise action? What kind of harvest will serve this wise
Participants are invited to call a project or piece of
action and demonstrate its impact?
work they are responsible for that they would like to
invite others to contribute to the thinking and design
SETUP of actions.
• Tables for 5-6 people
Gather the callers in a circle at the center of the
• Table-sized, design template with thin markers
group and invite each of them to introduce their
and sticky notes
project briefly. Each of the callers then stands in the
room and others go to join them. Remind the group
ROLES this is a time to practice generosity and to distribute
Process Host
evenly across the topics. Participants will have the
Introduce the process to the group, host the callers
chance to visit one other topic during the process.
into clarity prior to the process and host the full
group process
Caller “It is kind to ask for help. A person who

The person who wants helps on brcoming clear and cannot ask for help cannot be trusted ."
crafting focus, design and practice in action, applied to
a particular event or events. - Nuu-chah-nulth tribal wisdom

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► INTRODUCE HARVESTING TEMPLATE ► SHARING.
Show the template and step through the questions Allow 10-20 minutes for this part of the process.
the groups will be working with. The template can The whole group gathers in circle. If possible, arrange
be customized to meet the context of your group. project callers in the center of the circle. Project
There is no particular order for the items on the callers are invited to express gratitude and share one
template; it is not linear. Participants should move in or two ideas that emerged that will help them move
the direction of the template items for which there is forward.
energy. Use sticky notes on the template because the
peer coaching process might change your perspective
and you will need to move things around. Keep the
process moving and keep harvesting clarity!
► ROUND ONE: PROJECT DESIGN CONDITIONS FOR SELF-ORGANISING

Allow 60-90 minutes for this round. Each group (a A POWERFUL TRIANGLE
topic caller and interested participants) will move to
a table. The caller introduces the project briefly. Then,
the team works together reviewing calling question Clarity of need and purpose is the invisible leader...
beneath the topic and sharing wise advice, insights,
ideas, and asking questions to clarify the purpose and Clarity creates a natural centre for the work. As a caller,
need. All group members co-create by populating the become as clear as possible.The clearer you are, the more
harvest template with ideas on sticky notes.
others can help you. At the very least, callers will be hosting
► ROUND TWO: PEER COACHING
Allow 20 minutes for this round. Draw the attention a process to find clarity of purpose.
of the whole group for instructions on the peer
coaching session. Topic callers may ask for one
volunteer to stay with them to harvest input from Respectful relationships
peer coaches. Other group members are invited Being in a good relationship with yourself and with others
to extend their generosity by moving to another
caller's table for peer coaching. The topic caller will will enable you to enjoy and benefit from the diversity
explain their project design to the peer group. Callers of others. It does not mean that you have to agree on
then listen without response or conversation to
the questions, feedback and suggestions of the peer everything - but even if you disagree you can still be in
coaches (if necessary, the caller can turn their chair respectful relationship and focus on getting the work done.
away to enable listening).
► ROUND THREE: REFINING DESIGN

Acting more wisely for the world
Allow 20 minutes for this round. Original teams, those
who were together in ROUND ONE: PROJECT Good work should always yields real results. What are your
DESIGN re-convene for a period of integration,
actions going to create that will be useful for your world?
refining and sharpending of the project design.

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EXAMPLE HARVESTING TEMPLATES

88
Topic
Who’s at the table?
Key questions to move this topic...
Context,
need,
and/or
ideas
Action steps!
One key takeaway

(to be completed during Round 3!)
Who has the passion/knowledge for next steps?

Who wants to engage in this topic?

89
ON ACTION AND PARTICIPATORY
PROCESS
When action is appropriate
“Sometimes, there are gatherings where Because if not...
next steps and action plans are important
and necessary and are the reason why we are HAVING THE GROUP IDENTIFY ACTIONS AND
gathering. But always? No.” NEXT STEPS AND EXPECTING TO OWN THEM
Chris Corrigan IS NOT FAIR. DON’T INVITE ACTION IF YOU
CAN’T PUT LEGS UNDER IT.
WHEN IS ACTION AN APPROPRIATE PART OF
YOUR GATHERING? ASK YOURSELVES:
“Please, think really carefully about whether or not
• Is there capacity to support those actions and action your gathering needs action steps, especially if you
champions post-event? are planning a gathering where the purpose is for
people to simply be together learning and connecting.
• Is everyone able to realistically do their actions or take That alone is significant action. Do we really need to
their next steps, given the reality of what their world is justify it any further? It is easy to make a list of to-dos
like “on Monday”? at the end of a meeting and feel like something has
been accomplished, but that is a naive approach to
• Do you have the resources, time, technology, leadership,
change. If action is required get really clear about
and mentorship in place to support action?
who needs to be involved to make it happen.Think
• Do you have the support from key leadership who is about who enables action or who can stop it and
willing to say “yes” to the actions, creating space where what resources are required. And if the resources
learning can occur from failures? aren’t available or accessible, then make a different
plan.”
• Do people have the resources, information, flexibility, Chris Corrigan
capacity and freedom to act and to meet –
sometimes across organizational lines or outside of
their organizational role – on what they have identified
as action items?
• Do you have a plan for keeping people together to

balance work, co-learning and relationships?
• Are you ready to work with power and leadership,

to balance the need for new action with the reality
of mundane tasks back in the main-stream, deal with
resourcing issues, and working with and supporting new
ideas that might be at odds with the existing flow and
structure?

90
Reflect on if it is you who feels the need for action, or the • To find that place of leadership in ourselves where we
participants? see something that needs to take change and we take
the first steps – often in convening a conversation
Are participants coming for content and relationships? Then about it.
they are best served by their face-to-face time sharing best
practices, exploring new ideas, networking and improving Or as our Art of Hosting colleague Tenneson Woolf says,
their skills and knowledge. Ensure celebration of hard work “To change the vibration of the people gathered.To what? I
accomplished during the session. Focus on creating a one- suppose I think of it as being to a wholeness consciousness,
off great and inspiring, awareness-raising event of collective not just as fanciful, abstract idea, but as access to something
dialogue. most humans have buried in some part of our DNA that
helps us do things well.”
If the need for action/next steps/sense of urgency is felt by
the organizers and not the participants, participants will feel
pushed into a shape they did not need. For them – they
will want to spend their hours discussing, collaborating,
networking.The dialogue IS the action.
Given all the above, there is a time and a place for

gatherings that are not about action and follow-up.The So why do organizations focus on improving idea
benefit of those gatherings are about remembering there is generation, when this is almost never the problem?
a different way to meet and work together. Because idea generation is the easy part! It’s the one
area where you can show measurable improvement
• To raise our collective consciousness. almost immediately. But if your main weakness is
• To remember the deeper purpose that called us to our idea selection, or idea execution, then generating
work. more ideas won’t help. In fact, generating more ideas
• To expand our thinking about what is possible. can actually make you less innovative, because the
• To plant seeds that may or may not germinate. weaknesses in other parts of the process will sink the
• To find a tribe of others that care about the same new efforts, which in turn increases the frustration of
things you do. your people – demotivating them.
• To bring the ‘human’ back into our overly mechanized Tim Kastelle
meetings. from Why Your Innovation Contest Won’t Work
• To lift out of our silos and our isolation to rediscover
our sense of connection to each other (and even our
bigger sense of connection to our communities and to
the earth)

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BEING PURPOSIVE WITH
INVITATION
by Chris Corrigan
When we think of invitation, the first thing that usually • As the design progress, issue small invitations to the
comes to mind is simply a notice sent out by email or growing list of invitees. Let them know when the dates
appearing on a bulletin board - invitation as a THING. are chosen, where the location will be, the clarity of the
need and purpose as it arises.
Over the years I have come to realize that invitation is not a
thing but a process, a lifestyle and a practice. When we host • Try to send out more than one invitation.The
the call of inspiration, we do well to pay attention more important and deep the gathering is, the more
to how it generates the urge to invite others. Invitation is information I like to send out before hand. With some
a process that brings us alive. Compared to compulsion, communities, setting up a web site, blog, forum, or using
invitation results in people choosing to show up and being social media before hand can begin the conversations
open, curious and enthusiastic. Compulsion results in closed, before the participants arrive. The more engaged you
defensive, judgemental and apathetic participation. are with the participants before the meeting, the more
engagement arises in the face-to-face space.
In our work, developing invitations to gatherings is becoming
more and more of an art. And the process starts well • Don’t be afraid to place barriers in the invitation:
before the formal “invitation” is issued. As a design principle, be clear about a cost to participate.This might mean
it pays to remember that the meeting begins long before a commitment of time, money or energy in order to
the invitation is issued. participate. Having a barrier in your invitation results
in people being able to give an authentic and intentional
The goal of invitation is to attract people fully to the event. “yes” in order to attend.
So invitation begins very early on in the planning process
and continues to build up to the event and beyond Typically • Within the meeting itself, frame everything as an
when I am working with a group, we follow something like invitation. Using language that invites people to choose
this work plan: to participate so they participants are aware that the
quality of the experience is up to them.
• Work through the chaordic stepping stones and harvest
the need, purpose and people. is becomes the basis for • Support follow up by inviting participants to connect
the invitation process. to one another and continue to nd each other. Keep
websites in place, sustain social media streams, send out
• Create an invitation list of people who are needed for follow ups and invite connection until the energy wanes
the meeting. and the project moves on.
• Begin contacting these people and hosting little It’s a lot of work, but it is essential because the quality of
conversations to nd out what quality of invitation any participatory gathering depends largely on how the
would attract them to this gathering. participants show up. Be creative, be diligent and make sure
the invitation process works well. The more attention you
give to the inviting, the more intention people will give to
their participation.

92
Working
Together Using
AoH
93
COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
An Introduction
Work alone can be drudgery. Learning alone can be a great for each other – the quality of field that enables divergent points of
intellectual pursuit and might lead to some shift within you as an view to be expressed, where passion for the conversation, the work,
individual but does little to generate collective learning. Building good the future and friends is welcomed. Friendships we will fight for and
relationships is a good skill to have but in and of itself, you might support. We don’t necessarily start there but how beautiful when
as well be in a social club. It is where and how work, learning and we tend to the relational field with such care and intentionality that
relationship intersect that creates the potential for a rich and relevant so much more can spark without risk of offending anyone, without
community of practice. having to tiptoe around the conversations that are most necessary in
our learning, relationship and work. These are friends with whom we
The intersection of work and co-learning is where innovation will venture into unexpected places, uncertainty, emergent fields and
happens as people think about the context of their collective or creative explorations as well as nurture and cultivate the innovations
co-learning in relation to work. Ideas are generated and possibilities that most spark our passion and curiosity. When these people call
emerge. Without relationship though, there is often no traction us because they need something, we respond. Sometimes we drop
or sustainability to the innovative ideas that emerge – they simply everything else and respond.
dissipate into thin air because there is no impetus to work with them
on an ongoing basis. Powerful friendship, kinship or mates is fostered in the place between
relationship and co-learning because part of what we are learning is
It is at the intersection of work and relationship that sustainability how to be together in new ways that break old patterns that have
happens. And not just any relationship will do. The relationship defined relationships, at work, home or in other places where we
needs to be of good quality, filled with respect, trust and deep caring make contributions and commitments – patterns like hierarchy and

94
culture, old ways of moving work along,old ways of meeting and of Communities of Practice could and will be many things – defined
thinking about meeting agendas, conferences or programming. by the people who gather in them. There is some core that attracts
One of the key reasons we want to shift our relationships, aside people into them – it could be creating an active practice ground
from the experience of feeling better, working more effectively in a community or organization for new skills, a safe haven in an
and enjoying showing up at work and projects is to focus them on environment that seems resistant to new work and new ways of
achieving something meaningful and relevant in the world – maybe working, an opportunity to grow individual and collective capacity.
systemic change, maybe some smaller initiative. Otherwise, nothing
happens. We are at such a pivotal time in our human evolution on The ones I’ve been part of seem to have an energy and magnetic
this planet, a Community of Practice will be most meaningful when attraction of their own that keep people showing up, an ease of flow
we bring our relationships and collective learning to bear on the and relationship, shared leadership and shared responsibility. Nobody
shift we are wanting to create rather than putting up with the shift has to make them happen, they almost seem to make themselves
that just shows up. happen. They are fun. People who show up really want to see
each other, be with each other and dive into deep places within
Having now been in several conversations about community of themselves and with each other. There is some intentionality applied
practice, most recently with emerging leaders in Halifax – none of and the CoP is able to follow the path of emergence that points to
whom are following conventional career paths, this model becomes what needs and wants to happen next to be most meaningful to
extremely helpful in focusing on the purpose of a community of work, relationships and learning. Many of these CoPs don’t just know
practice, especially as conversations tend to veer to one component that something different is possible, they are beginning to demand it
or the other. The power in the model is that it reminds us that each and showing up together, cultivating deep relationships and imagining
of these elements is fundamentally important to shifting patterns of what is possible that none of us individually might have imagined on
work, organizations and communities, as well as individual patterns of our own while growing skills to support what we are envisioning is
relationship. one way of creating movement, maybe even creating a movement.
SOURCE:
Community of Practice – What’s it All About? by Kathy Jourdain (https://shapeshiftstrategies.com/2011/09/01/

community-of-practice/ ) with reference to Three Essentials to Move teams to Communities of Practice by
Chris Corrigan (http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/three-essentials-to-move-teams-to-communities-
of-practice/)

95
HOSTING AND DESIGNING AS A
TEAM
WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE A follow-up process, each with some steps that need to
‘CONTAINER’ be clarified before proceeding to the next phase or
“breath”. (see 8 breaths of design)
How are we going to behave together in
pursuit of our purpose? • Planning and designing an emergent process or
When we enter an inquiry where we do not have strategy (rather than a prescriptive one) means
ready or easy answers and we cannot see the obvious operating in the “chaordic space.” (see the chaordic
solution – we also enter “chaos” together. In walking path)
the chaordic path together it is wise to start by creating
the conditions that can help contain that chaos. - We • Designing a process in this context means creating
call this creating a “container”. One fundamental way to a framework or light structure (process design) within
create a container is to agree on how we want to work which one can operate and produce results in an
or “travel” together in pursuit of our goal. – In other environment of self- organizing order rather than
words we define some agreements or principles of co- control.
operation.
• The Chaordic Stepping Stones and the Chaordic
Principles - when defined with clarity, conviction and Design Process offer a step-by-step approach to
common understanding - guide our pursuit of purpose. structuring and creating progress in this space.
Developing them requires engaging the whole person,
not just the intellect. Principles bind a community • A good knowledge of the methods and means
together and serve as a touchstone to remind us of available will allow you to choose the right means for
how we have agreed to act and decide together around the right situations.
our purpose. They also provide a standard against which
we can evaluate our process and results. • A good process design is responding to the need
in the moment, allowing yourself to be well prepared
Leadership - You can combine and apply some of the but flexible and able to respond to what is actually
core techniques in exercising leadership in a strategic happening.
organizational context. The following qualities or
conditions support a successful implementation. • Fully combining and integrating content with
process, each in support of the other is crucial for
• Leadership and the approach described in this creating good results. A good content combined with
workbook are particularly useful when working with a poor process or a good process without some real
complexity (complex problems and situations), where content - both fall short of the mark.
there are no clear, unambiguous, fixed solutions, but
where the context is constantly changing and you have • To be able to operate well in this environment one
to work flexibly with what is emerging. needs to embrace both the ability to work in a highly
structured way as well as in a chaordic way. The 5th
•To create a successful intervention you have to plan paradigm shows a way of organizing that combines
a process not an event. This means that there is a both. (see the 5th paradigm)
preparatory phase or process, the actual engagement
process (one event or a series of events), and a

96
A HOSTING TEAM HOLDS A
FIELD
Hosting really is a co-creative effort. The diagram below sets out the different roles that make up a
Core Hosting Team. Some of the functions can merge e.g. stage-managing and logistics depending
on the size and complexity of the process.
Those holding the Strategic Perspective

are the ones who understand the need for the
The Process Host advises on the
initiative and are connected to the power and
design of the conversations, introduces The Caller is the client of
resources to make it happen and give it the
the processes, their purpose, and the process, the one who has
best chance of success.
explains how people can participate. identified the need and who
They hold space on conversations have holds the highest stake in
started. what will come out of it.
Strategic
perspective
For the self-

organising process Process
to bear fruits and Caller
Host
not be chaotic, PARTICIPANTS
the boundary
conditions, i.e.
the non negotiables,
must be clearly fixed
for the participants
in the framing of a
? Core Team
The Logistics
person attends
process. to the practical
details of materials,
Purpose registrations,
? communications and
all the administrative
Harvester Logistics requirements to
make an initiative
successful.
?
Harvesters capture
the key insights of what Space
the group is engaging Host
with using different tools
to support collective
The Space Host looks after both the
intelligence and clarity, Powerful questions are carefully physical aspects and aesthetic aspects of
making it visible and designed as prompts to engage the group the space and holds the objective of creating
usable. to explore and surface wisdom. hospitable conditions for working together.

97
SHARED WORK MODEL
by Tuesday Ryan-Hart
Often the differences between collaborators — dfferent perspectives, backgrounds, ideologies and aspirations —
becomes the focus of meetings rather than getting work done together. Shared Work offers a way for us to think
about taking the next step together to begin to move forward on those issues and challenges we care about in our
organizations, communities, and systems.
In groups that have been successful in working together over time, there seem to be five key stances the group is able to
adopt in relation to their work together.

98
RELATIONSHIP AS RESOLUTION — At times the ALL LEVELS, ALL THE TIME — When working
issues we are working on together are so complex, so collaboratively, we should be aware of the different
deep seated, and so full of history, that a resolution of levels that are present in our work: personal,
the issue is impossible in the moment. at doesn’t meant interpersonal, organizational, systemic, and structural.
that we stop working on the issues, but it does mean Each of these plays out in all of our interactions, and
that sometimes our ability and willingness to stay in while our collaborative work may focus on a particular
relationship is the resolution. As we are in relationship level, it is important to understand that each level
with each other, we can gure out how to work with the impacts and informs the other. We can make strategic
issue, what our next step should be, and how we’d like choices on where we will intervene, but we need to
to move to more resolution. understand that all levels are operating on the issue at
all times.
INQUIRY AS ANSWER — When we are working
with challenges we don’t know how to solve, we can POWER MATTERS — Considering power in our
be tempted to rely on answers we’ve tried in the past collaborations is key. We cannot ignore how power plays
or best practices we’ve heard from other places. We’re out in our relationships, our understanding of the issue,
tempted to try harder with what we already know how and the action we take. Understanding different types of
to do. is stance asks the group to identify the questions power — not painting “power” with a broad brush! —
or inquiries we should be in together to move toward as well as making strategic choices in our action related
new solutions. It begins from a place of “not knowing” to power, can ensure that our shared work is successful.
— a risk for people who have expertise and passion for
an issue! — and a commitment to work from that place
together.
SEEK MULTIPLICITY — When we invite others into

collaboration, we often do so from a representative
mindset: Who/what constituency does this person
represent? Representation is important, but it only gives
us a partial understanding of those we are working
with. Seeking multiplicity as a stance encourages us to
invite the whole person into the collaboration with their
multiple roles, identities, and perspectives. Allowing the
fullness of each person we’re working with leads us to
better, more robust solutions.
Tuesday Ryan-Hart developed this model after years of working with folks who had passion and commitment
for making change in their systems and organizations, but struggled to figure out how to work together over
time.For more information, visit http://www.tuesdayryanhart.com/method.html

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COLLABORATIVE ADVANTAGE TM
by Tim Merry
Hosting really is a co-creative effort. The diagram below sets out the different roles that make up a Core Hosting
Team. Some of the functions can merge e.g. stage-managing and logistics depending on the size and complexity of
the process.
LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT "All too often we are so focused on the finish line that
we forget that our relationships impact the results.
Any kind of engagement that wants to lead to change The stronger the relationships at the core, the more
has different levels of impact. This is true for a public resilient the outcomes"
engagement, an organizational change process, an
intervention in a team or a bold societal change PROJECT: The project itself must have space for
initiative. An understanding of these levels of impact people to influence its development. Clearly defining
and how they interact with each other, allows us to what can be changed and what cannot creates a
strategically plan for stronger outcomes. playing field for people to work within.
"Just enough structure enables the inevitable chaos of
INDIVIDUAL: If I wish to see change around me and change to evolve meaningfully and productively. Too
engage others in the design of it, I must let go of my much order and we kill innovation, too little order and
own assumptions about what is right and wrong. Only everything falls apart."
then am I able to connect my insights with others for a
more complete picture and inclusive set of outcomes. CONTEXT: Whatever we do is an intervention in the
"The depth of change I am willing to go through inside world around us. It will have impacts beyond those we
myself, is directly relative to the depth of change I will can predict and design for. Knowing this will happen,
be able to lead in the world around me." allows us to be alert and prepared for whatever may
arise. "We live in an inter-connected world. Nothing
TEAM: The team that is leading the work must have happens in isolation. Be prepared to be surprised."
relationships that are strong enough to adapt to and
integrate changing circumstance. Their capacity to work
with each other and learn together will dramatically
impact the quality of result we are able to achieve.

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ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS PROCESS OF CHANGE
Whether we are applying collaboration in an Every project is different in its content and context,
organization, community or across society there are yet there is a simple, iterative process to navigate
key elements we must continue to pay attention to, to the complex landscape of change meaningfully and
build a robust platform for success: productively.
GET INFLUENCE AND POWER INSIDE: Those (1) DEFINE THE DILEMMA: An understanding
who wield decision making power and influence in of the larger aspiration and long term strategy allow
a situation have a key role in creating the conditions us to clarify purpose of the work ahead, define the
for change leaders to be successful in their endeavors. scope of what can be changed (and what cannot) and
Getting their support and clearly articulating their determine the desired outcomes. A pre-condition for
relationship to the work is essential. change is a foundation of clarity among those who
hold decision making power and influence.
BUILD CREDIBILITY BY GETTING RESULTS:
The delivery of successful strategic interventions is 2) SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE: Most efforts at
what builds the credibility for the work and therefore creating change fail because we fail to see reality.
its continued support. We must choose high impact, All too often our expertise, our training or our
high visibility interventions that have good conditions beliefs blind us. We must uncover a wide range of
for success. Results build confidence and momentum. perspectives to make visible the bigger picture of
where we are at, where people would like to go in
TRAINING EMBEDS CHANGE: The best strategy the future and what is needed now.
for long term impact is training people to solve their
own problems. It is through broad based capacity (3) MAKE STRATEGIC CHOICES: The shared
building that culture changes. A shift in culture ensures understanding of the bigger picture enables us to
that our actions will have long lasting impact. collectively discover purpose, articulate culture and
define areas for action that will yield the greatest
HAVE CLEAR SHARED WORK: A clear focus for impact.
our work galvanizes collaboration across difference
and disagreement. Getting into work together will (4) ACT AND LEARN: Based on the bigger picture
accelerate our learning about how to get change and the strategic choices we are fully equipped to
done and surface our shared purpose and principles. formulate the plan for collaborative action, develop
prototypes for rapid learning and build organizational
structure that serves real needs.

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CORE TEAMS
IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH TODAY’S trusting relationships with others, have the capacity
CHALLENGES, WE MUST BE CONNECTED to learn and be open to other ideas, and won’t
WITH EACH OTHER AND FIGURE OUT HOW disappear when conflict arises.
TO WORK TOGETHER. • They may call upon a strategic council, as needed –
this is a group of power brokers, decision-makers,
WHY CORE TEAMS? busy folks running organizations who don’t have
• Groups of people are smarted than individuals. We the time to commit to being a member of the core
may work faster alone, but we get further together. team.
• Core teams reflect the community that we seek • Core teams make hierarchy more effective by
to engage. People trust invitations from others establishing relationships. Hierarchy alone creates
who are like them. The core team becomes the silos and core teams create communication channels
training ground where all participants get to practice that break through silos.
authentic community engagement. • They understand that relationships will reflect the
• Core teams allow us to move between different outcomes. The more complex and challenging and
forms of organizing. We meet in circle to reflect, overwhelming the problem/issue, the greater the
move quickly into hierarchy to get things done as depth of relationship needed among core team
people step up. Members also work their networks members where they can disagree, disrespect each
to engage others. The lightest form creates just other, and then come back and still be in the work
enough structure to do the work. Core teams move together. This requires trusting relationships.
between these ways of working fluidly. • Core teams practice engagement beyond events
with an intentional outreach to meet people where
HOW DO CORE TEAMS FUNCTION? they are at on a regular, on-going basis.
• People step up and take responsibility in response to
a need and/or personal passion. DANGERS OF CORE TEAMS
• They maintain a balance between going out and • By taking the necessary time to reflect and learn
doing things and having the capacity to reflect and together, core teams can move faster than the
learn together. The team needs to be intentional communities they seek to engage. Don’t get so far
about its learning and growth, as well as sharing it ahead you lose people!
within the community and organization. • Can become elitist containers. The only way to
• They leverage a physical and/or online hub where combat that is to engage others outside the core
information is shared and gathered. team and invest in those relationships.
• They reconstitute over time and at different phases • Individual core team members taking action in
of an initiative, welcoming new members as they go. isolation. This reinforces existing patterns that create
They map and track levels of commitment – not to silos. It is important that the core team actions are
hold people accountable but simply to track where happening in relationship with each other. Difference
people are at with their time and energy. Permeable is not the danger, it’s disconnection.
levels of commitment allow us to step in and step • The purpose at the center of the core team is
back. an agreement that they stay in the conversation
• Core team members reflect the diversity of the together. Core teams work best when there is space
communities they seek to engage, are able to be in for disagreement.

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PATTERN FOR INITIATIVE DEVELOPMENT Source:
• Calling need is articulated – let’s do something! A recorded introduction to the concept of Core
• A foundation is built. Who holds power and Teams delivered by Tim Merry during Art of
influence? Who, if they don’t feel involved, will Hosting Beyond the Basics in Columbus, OH -
cut the legs off this work? With one-on-one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBSn83nB0G
conversations, interviews, bring them along. Looking
for involvement, not 100% backing. Involvement
brings ownership and ownership brings loyalty. May
inform core team invitations.
• A core team is formed. In the first stage, they focus
on capacity building, training around how to do
this work; strategic design of the project; roles and
responsibilities and team positioning.
• Engagement activities. On the street, large scale
events, social media campaign, etc. working to
discern patterns.
• Integration. Explore, gather, distill, repeat throughout
at the project-level.

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NOTES

104
Resources &
Inspiration
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WHAT IT MEANS TO "HOLD
SPACE" FOR OTHERS
by Heather Plett
HOW TO BE THERE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO NEED YOU MOST
When my Mom was dying, my siblings and I gathered to be with her in her final days. None of us knew anything about
supporting someone in her transition out of this life into the next, but we were pretty sure we wanted to keep her at
home, so we did.
While we supported Mom, we were, in turn, supported by a gifted palliative care nurse, Ann, who came every few days
to care for Mom and to talk to us about what we could expect in the coming days. She taught us how to inject Mom
with morphine when she became restless, she offered to do the difficult tasks (like giving Mom a bath), and she gave us
only as much information as we needed about what to do with Mom’s body after her spirit had passed.
“Take your time,” she said. “You don’t need to call the funeral home until you’re ready. Gather the people who will want
to say their final farewells. Sit with your mom as long as you need to. When you’re ready, call and they will come to pick
her up.”
Ann gave us an incredible gift in those final days. Though it was an excruciating week, we knew that we were being held
by someone who was only a phone call away.
In the two years since then, I’ve often thought about Ann and the important role she played in our lives. She was
much more than what can fit in the title of “palliative care nurse”. She was facilitator, coach, and guide. By offering gentle,
nonjudgmental support and guidance, she helped us walk one of the most difficult journeys of our lives.
The work that Ann did can be defined by a term that’s become common in some of the circles in which I work. She was
holding space for us.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO “HOLD SPACE” FOR SOMEONE ELSE?
It means that we are willing to walk alongside another person in whatever journey they’re on without judging them,
making them feel inadequate, trying to fix them, or trying to impact the outcome. When we hold space for other people,
we open our hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of judgement and control.
Sometimes we find ourselves holding space for people while they hold space for others. In our situation, for example,
Ann was holding space for us while we held space for Mom. Though I know nothing about her support system, I suspect
that there are others holding space for Ann as she does this challenging and meaningful work. It’s virtually impossible to
be a strong space holder unless we have others who will hold space for us. Even the strongest leaders, coaches, nurses,
etc., need to know that there are some people with whom they can be vulnerable and weak without fear of being
judged.
RESOURCES & INSPIRATION St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

106
In my own roles as teacher, facilitator, coach, mother, wife, and friend, etc., I do my best to hold space for other people in
the same way that Ann modeled it for me and my siblings. It’s not always easy, because I have a very human tendency to
want to fix people, give them advice, or judge them for not being further along the path than they are, but I keep trying
because I know that it’s important. At the same time, there are people in my life that I trust to hold space for me.
To truly support people in their own growth, transformation, grief, etc., we can’t do it by taking their power away (ie.
trying to fix their problems), shaming them (ie. implying that they should know more than they do), or overwhelming
them (ie. giving them more information than they’re ready for). We have to be prepared to step to the side so that they
can make their own choices, offer them unconditional love and support, give gentle guidance when it’s needed, and make
them feel safe even when they make mistakes.
Holding space is not something that’s exclusive to facilitators, coaches, or palliative care nurses. It is something that
ALL of us can do for each other – for our partners, children, friends, neighbours, and even strangers who strike up
conversations as we’re riding the bus to work.
Heather Plett is trained as an Art of Hosting and The Circle Way facilitator, a narrative coach, and a leadership mentor.
She hosts retreats and workshops; speaks at conferences; teaches writing, creativity, leadership, and self-discovery classes;
facilitates planning and community-building sessions, makes journals for mindfulness and growth, and coaches people who
are seeking deeper authenticity and connection. Visit heatherplett.com to learn more.

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Here are the lessons I’ve learned from Ann and others who have held space for me.
1. Give people permission to trust their own intuition and wisdom. When we were supporting Mom in her
final days, we had no experience to rely on, and yet, intuitively, we knew what was needed. We knew how to carry
her shrinking body to the washroom, we knew how to sit and sing hymns to her, and we knew how to love her. We
even knew when it was time to inject the medication that would help ease her pain. In a very gentle way, Ann let
us know that we didn’t need to do things according to some arbitrary health care protocol – we simply needed to
trust our intuition and accumulated wisdom from the many years we’d loved Mom.
2. Give people only as much information as they can handle. Ann gave us some simple instructions and left us
with a few handouts, but did not overwhelm us with far more than we could process in our tender time of grief. Too
much information would have left us feeling incompetent and unworthy.
3. Don’t take their power away. When we take decision-making power out of people’s hands, we leave them
feeling useless and incompetent. There may be some times when we need to step in and make hard decisions for
other people (ie. when they’re dealing with an addiction and an intervention feels like the only thing that will save
them), but in almost every other case, people need the autonomy to make their own choices (even our children).
Ann knew that we needed to feel empowered in making decisions on our Mom’s behalf, and so she offered support
but never tried to direct or control us.
4. Keep your own ego out of it. This is a big one. We all get caught in that trap now and then – when we begin to
believe that someone else’s success is dependent on our intervention, or when we think that their failure reflects
poorly on us, or when we’re convinced that whatever emotions they choose to unload on us are about us instead
of them. It’s a trap I’ve occasionally found myself slipping into when I teach. I can become more concerned about my
own success (Do the students like me? Do their marks reflect on my ability to teach? Etc.) than about the success of
my students. But that doesn’t serve anyone – not even me. To truly support their growth, I need to keep my ego out
of it and create the space where they have the opportunity to grow and learn.
5. Make them feel safe enough to fail. When people are learning, growing, or going through grief or transition, they
are bound to make some mistakes along the way. When we, as their space holders, withhold judgement and shame,
we offer them the opportunity to reach inside themselves to find the courage to take risks and the resilience to
keep going even when they fail. When we let them know that failure is simply a part of the journey and not the end
of the world, they’ll spend less time beating themselves up for it and more time learning from their mistakes.
6. Give guidance and help with humility and thoughtfulness. A wise space holder knows when to withhold
guidance (ie. when it makes a person feel foolish and inadequate) and when to offer it gently (ie. when a person
asks for it or is too lost to know what to ask for). Though Ann did not take our power or autonomy away, she did
offer to come and give Mom baths and do some of the more challenging parts of caregiving. This was a relief to us,
as we had no practice at it and didn’t want to place Mom in a position that might make her feel shame (ie. having
her children see her naked). This is a careful dance that we all must do when we hold space for other people.
Recognizing the areas in which they feel most vulnerable and incapable and offering the right kind of help without
shaming them takes practice and humility.

108
7. Create a container for complex emotions, fear, trauma, etc. When people feel that they are held in a deeper way
than they are used to, they feel safe enough to allow complex emotions to surface that might normally remain hidden.
Someone who is practiced at holding space knows that this can happen and will be prepared to hold it in a gentle,
supportive, and nonjudgmental way. In The Circle Way, we talk about “holding the rim” for people.
The circle becomes the space where people feel safe enough to fall apart without fearing that this will leave them
permanently broken or that they will be shamed by others in the room. Someone is always there to offer strength
and courage. This is not easy work, and it is work that I continue to learn about as I host increasingly more challenging
conversations. We cannot do it if we are overly emotional ourselves, if we haven’t done the hard work of looking into
our own shadow, or if we don’t trust the people we are holding space for. In Ann’s case, she did this by showing up
with tenderness, compassion, and confidence. If she had shown up in a way that didn’t offer us assurance that she could
handle difficult situations or that she was afraid of death, we wouldn’t have been able to trust her as we did.
8. Allow them to make different decisions and to have different experiences than you would. Holding space is
about respecting each person’s differences and recognizing that those differences may lead to them making choices that
we would not make. Sometimes, for example, they make choices based on cultural norms that we can’t understand from
within our own experience. When we hold space, we release control and we honour differences. This showed up, for
example, in the way that Ann supported us in making decisions about what to do with Mom’s body after her spirit was
no longer housed there. If there had been some ritual that we felt we needed to conduct before releasing her body, we
were free to do that in the privacy of Mom’s home.
HOLDING SPACE IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE CAN MASTER OVERNIGHT, OR THAT

CAN BE ADEQUATELY ADDRESSED IN A LIST OF TIPS LIKE THE ONES I’VE JUST GIVEN.
IT’S A COMPLEX PRACTICE THAT EVOLVES AS WE PRACTICE IT, AND IT IS UNIQUE TO
EACH PERSON AND EACH SITUATION.

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NOTES

110
REFLECTIVE PRACTICES
REFLECTION is an invitation to think deeply about our actions so that we may act with more insight and
effectiveness in the future. It is probably something you do already: processing, analyzing, and integrating your experiences
through writing, discussions with friends or art, for example. As related to service, reflection is the use of creative and
critical thinking skills to help prepare for, succeed in, and learn from service experience and to examine the larger picture
and context in which service occurs. (Jim and Pam Toole, Compass Institute).
IF REFLECTION OCCURS NATURALLY, WHY STRUCTURE IT?

• To call attention to your natural reflection process and provide new questions you may not come to on your own
• To introduce you to new ways of learning from your service and the people you work with
• To share a learning process with a group of people having the same experience
• To build relationships and understanding between people with different perspectives
• To give you tools for leading such experiences for others
YOU MAY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEAD REFLECTION IN MANY DIFFERENT

CONTEXTS:
• Your self: How are you evaluating or processing your experiences in order to grow or at least understand them better?
• Your community: How are you engaging people more deeply in the work they are doing (social issues, their connection
to service, their impact, group dynamics, creativity)?
• A group over time: Group development can be just as important as the actual tasks you perform. How are you
facilitating group process?
The resources included here offer a variety of tips and activities appropriate for all of these situations and many different
learning styles. All are invitations to your creativity as you assess your group’s needs and choose, modify, or discard the
ideas. They are offered to you as you facilitate and also as you seek avenues for your own reflection.
Reflection may be done well or poorly. It may include acknowledging and/or sharing of reactions, feelings, observations
and ideas about anything regarding the activity.
Reflection can happen through writing, speaking, listening, reading, drawing, acting and any other way you can imagine.

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DESIGNING A REFLECTION ACTIVITY
An effective reflection activity should:
• Have an outcome in mind (Ex. leadership, team building, improved critical thinking, acknowledgment);
• Be appropriate for the team (age, culture);
• Happen before, during, and as soon after the service experience as possible;
• Be directly linked to the project or experience;
• Dispel stereotypes, address negative experiences, increase appreciation for community needs, increase commitment to
service;
• Be varied for different learning styles, ages;
• Actively involve the service recipients for a really compelling reflection session;
• Be facilitated well for maximum participation, creativity and learning.
FACILITATING A REFLECTION ACTIVITY
There are plenty of resources available about facilitating group activities. Some specifics for service reflection activities
include:
• Seek a balance between being flexible to address members‘ needs, and keep the process\consistent with the theme.
Reflection questions often lead to other questions, which lead to other questions. While these diversions can lead to
great discussion, they can, as easily, go all over the place with little value for participants. Maintain focus by bringing it
back to the theme or significant topic, and presenting “so what, now what” questions before leaving a decent topic.
• Use silence. People need some silence to reflect internally, some more than others do. Ask the
question, then wait.
• Ensure that all participants have an equal opportunity to become involved; remember that in a group setting, each
member of the group will learn and reflect in a different way. Allow space for diversity; it, too, is part of the reflection
process for the group.
“The meaning of things lies not in the things

themselves, but in our attitude towards them.”
— ANTOINE DE SAINT EXUPERY

112
15 - 60 SECOND ACTIVITIES 5 - 30 MINUTE ACTIVITIES
POSED QUESTION: Reflection does not require WHAT? SO WHAT? NOW WHAT? To get to each
a product or a discussion. Gather the group, obtain step in the model, allow 5-30 minutes for group
silence, and ask a question. Give a few more seconds of processing.
still silence.
WRITTEN REFLECTION: Pose three or four questions,
POSED SENSATION: Same as above, but ask using the “what, so what, now what” model, and allow
participants to check in with some sensory stimuli time for writing. (Ex. what you did, why/how you did it,
(sound, smell, sight) and make a mental bookmark of how you could do it better)
the project with that observation.
THE IMAGE: Prior to the project, each person writes
CAPTURING: Each participant makes a face, a sound, or draws about the people or objects they will be
or movement capturing how they felt about the working with (such as a tree for a tree-planting project
service project. Snapshot: Create a silent snapshot of or the community being served), the subject matter, or
the service project. One person starts with a pose or their feelings about the project. Revisit (or re- write/
action related to the project, everybody else joins the draw) it after the service project and discuss.
“snapshot.”
SENSES: Before the activity, project or event ask
participants to share what they expect to hear, smell,
1 - 5 MINUTE ACTIVITIES see, touch and taste. Follow up after the day with what
the participant actually senses.
QUESTION DISCUSSION: Randomly, or in a circle,
each person responds to a posed question (such as PICTIONARY: Have a Pictionary game about the
project highlight) experience and how you felt. Talk about it as a group.
ONE TO THREE WORDS: Each person shares one to PARABLES/STORIES: Read a piece of pertinent
three words to describe the service activity or how literature and have participants respond and draw
he/she feels about the service activity or anything else correlations to service experience.
regarding the project. Journaling: Each person responds
to a question in writing. LETTER TO SELF: Prior to a project, have participants
write a letter to themselves about their personal and
POETRY/WRITING SLAM: Take turns; each day career goals regarding the project or feelings about the
somebody else will write a short poem or sentence project or community. Place it in a sealed envelope,
about the project, then share it with the group. mail it to yourself or hand out again to the team after
six months and reflect.
SCULPTOR: One participant chooses a topic and asks for
a set amount of participants to be the clay.The clay people MASKS: Make a two-sided mask from a paper plate.
let the sculptor mold them into the sculptor’s vision of their Draw an image of how others might see you on one
topic, such as invasive plant removal, the plight of someone side, and how you see yourself on the other. Discuss
who is homeless, racism. the contrast. Or, could be work self/free time self,
actual work/dream work.
GINGERBREAD MODELS: Draw a large gingerbread

person at the beginning of the day, with drawings/

113
writings of what makes a good mentor, urban forester, 30 MINUTE - TWO-HOUR ACTIVITIES
team member. At the end of the day, share what you
did well, how you thought you could improve. SONG, POEM, COLLAGE, SCULPTURE,
WRITTEN STORY, SKIT: Create something artistic as a
YARN WEB: Stand in a circle with a ball of yarn. Each large group, or individually and then meshed together,
person throws it to another and says one word that to express what happened, how it felt, or what the
explains what they will bring to the next project, service experience meant to you. It can incorporate
something they appreciated in the person they are what was learned, accomplished and challenges
throwing it to, what they learned. The yarn forms a web overcome along the way. It could be presented to
supported by the group. Use a thicker string, lower people from organizations that helped, parents,
it, and have someone climb on, and try to support a community volunteers or others.
person (use caution with this one).
JOURNALING: Journaling is one of the best reflection
CARTOON: Draw a cartoon that teaches something tools. Ideally, the program or project would allow for a
important regarding the service project. All on the 10-15 minute period every day for the volunteers to
wall: Put a large piece of paper up on one wall or all journal; preferably at the end of the day or during/after
the way around the room. Participants write or draw a debrief.
feelings/thoughts/learnings on the paper. Facilitator
leads discussion based on writings. INTERVIEW EACH OTHER: Break the group into pairs
or triplets, have them interview each other about their
LIFELINE BIOGRAPHY: Draw a line representing service experience, take notes and summarize a couple
your lifeline and plot significant periods/events along of things to the group.
it (with writing or drawings) influencing who you
are. Share with a partner or small group. This can be TEACH: Teach others what you learned through
adapted many ways: do the same except use a river this service experience. Put together instructions or
as a metaphor (where were there rapids, meandering, references for learning more about it.
etc.) or do a service biography line (when first service
experience, what influenced you, positive and negative IMITATIONS: Each team member picks the name
impacts on your life) of another team member out of a hat and imitates
that person, relating two or three positive traits/
OBJECT SHARE: Each person brings in and passes contributions to the team and one quirky habit
around an object, and shares how the object is like them (something light — judgment is essential).
or the project they just did (pick a specific one). Examples
include: what I contributed to the team, how I felt about INVENTORY: Develop an inventory for the community
this project, what I learned.The object can be something being served or your own community, regarding
found in nature, a type of food, a book the problem you are addressing or work you are
(pick one). doing. What are the resources, who are the local
leaders, what roles do certain organizations play, what
HOW DID IT TASTE: Bring a mixture of fruits and relationships exist, what other work has been done,
nuts, and have them use these items as metaphors to what are the various attitudes about the project, what
describe their day, week, project, group interaction, and are the challenges, where are they?
answer the question, “how did it taste?” Then, “what
would you like it to taste like?” MEDIA: Build a skill as well as reflect by writing press
releases, taking pictures, contacting media, and obtaining
some media coverage of the project.
POETRY: Each participant comes up with a metaphor to
represent where they are in life (or in service) right now.

114
The metaphors are shared in the whole group, writing them LONGER-TERM PROJECT OR TEAM
on the flip charts. Break into groups of six, each group chooses EXPERIENCE ACTIVITIES
a metaphor to write about, each person writes (stream of SCRAPBOOK OR MEMORY BOX: Create a scrapbook
consciousness) for five minutes. Each person chooses two
of your memories with the team or project, including
favorite phrases from their writing and weaves them together
pictures, quotes said, skills learned, challenges overcome
with the phrases from other participants of their group to
compose a twelve-line poem.
LETTER TO YOURSELF: At the beginning of the year, write
a letter to another person or yourself about what your
CRAFTS: Make clay masks, make a sculpture out of
expectations or goals are for the year or why you choose
recycled or natural materials, finger-paint, etc. Virtually any
to do service. Collect, save and redistribute at the end of
art activity can be adapted to a reflection experience.
the year. Share and discuss.
TEAM PHOTO TRADING CARDS: You can add history,

APPRECIATION/ACKNOWLEDGEMENT quotes, and service “stats”
YARN BALL: (see above for more info) Each person states
what he or she appreciates about the person they are VIDEO: Shoot a video about the project or about the
throwing the ball to. topic related to the project
APPRECIATION CARDS: Each person writes their name DISPLAY/MURAL: Create a group or project display/
on a card or slip of paper. Then, the cards are passed mural, which chronicles the project. If utilized, this can be
around the circle, and each person on the team writes an excellent outreach tool for recruiting new members
(and draws, if desired) something they appreciate about or community volunteers, or the public awareness of the
that person. When they come back to the person of origin, project.
have each person take time to read the cards and make
comments. NEWSLETTER: Pool your service reflections, stories and
pictures together to make a newsletter. This can be sent
WHISPER-WALK: The group forms two lines facing each out to members, sponsors, staff and community volunteers
other. One blindfolded or eye- closed person at a time involved in the project.
walks down the middle of the two lines. People on either
side of the line step in to the middle (if and when moved ZINE: A mixture of pictures, drawings, poetry, quotes, free-
to), tap the walker on the shoulder, and whispers in their writes
ear something they appreciate about them. People at the
end of the line help guide the person back in line, and then JOURNAL: A little writing, every day, goes a long, long way
they take the blindfold off.
REPORT: Write a report on the project. Use photos!
INSIDE CIRCLE: Each team member takes turns sitting in
the middle of the circle with eyes closed (or opposite the ABC BOOK: Illustrated with one sentence, thought and/
group with their back to the group) and remains silent or picture for each alphabet letter. For grown-ups, use the
while the rest of the team randomly shares things they project or organization name instead of alphabet!
appreciate about that person. You can have someone write
or record what was said. MOSAIC OR QUILT: Gather mortar, tiles, plates, a mold,
and make mosaic stepping stones representing your
IMITATE-EXAGGERATE: Each person in the team picks service experience, then share with each other
from a hat the name of one other person on the team,
and imitates their positive qualities with exaggeration until
the other team members guess who that is. This can be
done with the entire group at once, around some task or
decision, and then discussed afterwards.

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WHAT? SO WHAT? NOW WHAT? What did you learn about the people/community that
This is a well-used and successful model to assist we served? What might impact the recipient’s views or
you in designing the reflection activities. Although experience of the project?
you can derive learning from each question, focusing
on all three will provide broader insights and keep THE COMMUNITY: What are some of the pressing
participants from getting stuck on only the facts or just needs/issues in the community? How does this project
the feelings. address those needs? How, specifically, has the community
benefited? What is the least impact you can imagine for the
WHAT? (Reporting what happened, objectively.) project? With unlimited creativity, what is the most impact
Without judgment or interpretation, participants on the community that you can imagine?
describe in detail the facts and event(s) of the service
experience. Questions include: THE GROUP (GROUP PROJECTS): In what ways did
the group work well together? What does that suggest
• What happened? to you about the group? How might the group have
• What did you observe? accomplished its task more effectively? In what ways
did others help you today (and vice versa)? How were
• What issue is being addressed or population is being
decisions made? Were everybody’s ideas listened to?
served?
• What were the results of the project?
• What events or critical incidents occurred? NOW WHAT?
(How will they think or act in the future as a result
• What was of particular notice?
of this experience?) Participants consider broader
• How did you feel about that? implications of the service experience and apply
• Let’s hear from someone who had a different learning.
reaction?
Be aware to strike a balance between realistic,
reachable goals and openness to spontaneity and
SO WHAT? change. Questions include:
(What did you learn? What difference did the event
make?) Participants discuss their feelings, ideas and What seems to be the root causes of the
analysis of the service experience. issue/problem addressed? What kinds
of activities are currently taking place in the
Questions can also be focused on the meaning or community related to this project?
importance of the activity to: What contributes to the success of projects
like this? What hinders success? What learning
THE PARTICIPANT: Did you learn a new skill or clarify occurred for you in this experience? How
an interest? Did you hear, smell, feel anything that can you apply this learning? What would
surprised you? What feelings or thoughts seem most you like to learn more about, related to
strong today? How is your experience different from what this project or issue? What follow-up
you expected? What struck you about that? How was that is needed to address any challenges
significant? What impacts the way you view the situation/ or difficulties? What information can
experience? (What lens are you viewing from?) What do you share with your peers or community
the critical incidents mean to you? How did you respond volunteers? If you were in charge of the
to them? What did you like/dislike about the experience? project, what would you do to improve it? If
you could do the project again, what would
THE RECIPIENT: Did the “service” empower the you do differently? What would complete the
recipient to become more self- sufficient? service?
116
7 ELEMENTS FOR VISUAL
PRACTICE
The following practice worksheets were created by Jen Mein and Dan Wagner at the University of Minnesota to
accompany the YouTube video titled Learning Graphic Facilitation - 7 Elements by Bigger Picture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5DJC6LaOCI (4:26)
These worksheets can also be downloaded and shared - visit http://z.umn.edu/7elements
A list of visual practice resources (books, websites, videos, etc) can also be found at http://z.umn.edu/visualresources

117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
RESOURCES
BOOKS
Ways of Hosting
Baldwin, Christina & Linnea, Ann. The Circle Way - A Leader in Every Chair
Bojer, Marianne Miller et. al. Mapping Dialogue: Essential Tools for Social Change (Taos Institute)
Brown, Juanita & Isaacs, David, et. al. THe World Cafe: Shaping Our Future through Conversations that Matter
Cooperrider, David and Srivastva. Appreciative Inquiry: Rethinking Human Organization Toward a Positive Theory of Change
Corrigan, Chris. The Tao of Holding Space
Herman, Michael & Corrigan, Chris. Open Space Technology: A User’s NON-Guide
Holman, Peggy. Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity
Holman Peggy, Cady, Steve & Devane, Tom (eds). The Change Handbook: Large Group Methods for Shaping the Future.
Isaacs, William. Dialogue and Art of Thinking Together
Kaner, Sam et. al. The Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision Making
Lindahl, Kay. Practicing the Sacred Art of Listening
Owen, Harrison. Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide
Owen, Harrison. Expanding Our Now: The Story of Open Space Technology
Watkins, Jane Magruder. Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of Imagination
Whitney, Dianna & Trosten-Bloom, A. The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change
Ways of Being in Community and Organizations

Atlee, Tom. The Tao of Democracy
Axelrod, Richard. Terms of Engagement - Changing the Way We Change Organizations
The Berkana Institute and Neighborhood Centers Inc. Healthy Community Tool Kit -- Unlocking the Strength of Our
Communities: A Step by Step Guide to Appreciative Community Building
Block, Peter. Community: The Structure of Belonging
Brisken, Alan, Ricks, Sheryl, Ott John. The Power of Collective Wisdom & the Trap of Collective Folly
Cziksentmihaly, M. Flow
Herman, Michael. The Inviting Organization Emerges
Kahane, Adam. Power and Love - A Theory and Practice of Social Change
Kahane, Adam. Solving Tough Problems
Jaworski, J. Synchronicity
Lundquist, Leah; Sandfort, Jodi; Lopez, Cris; Sotela Odor, Marcela; Seashore, Karen; Mein, Jen; Lowe, Myron. Cultivating Change in
the Academy: Practicing the Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter within the University of Minnesota
Marshall, Stephanie. The Power to Transform: Leadership that Brings Learning & Schooling to Life
McKnight, John, Block Peter. Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families & Neighbors
Scharmer, Otto. Theory U
Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline
Senge, Peter, Scharmer, Otto, Jaworski, J., Flowers, Betty Sue. Presence
Sutherland, Jessie. Worldview Skills: Transforming Conflict from the Inside Out
Wenger, Etienne et. al. Cultivating Communities of Practice: a Guide to Managing Knowledge
Wheatley, Margaret. Leadership and the New Science
Wheatley, Margaret. Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future
Wheatley, Margaret, Frieze, Deborah. Walk Out Walk On

126
Ways of Seeing, Practice and Knowing
Arrien, Angeles. the Four Fold Way
Atleo, Richard (Umeek). Tsawalk: A Nuu-Chah-Nulth Worldview
Beck, Don & Cowan, Chris. Spiral Dynamics
Capra, Fritjof. The Web of Life
Chodron, Pema. The Places That Scare You
Katie, Byron. Loving What Is
Lao Tzu. Tao et Ching
Macy, Joanna & Brown, Molly. Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World
Lindahl, Kay. Practicing the Sacred Art of Listening: A Guide to Enrich Your Relationships and Kindle Your Spiritual Life
Palmer, Parker. A Hidden Wholeness: Journey Toward an Undivided Life Pink, Daniel. Drive: e Surprising Truth about What
Motivates Us Ruiz, Don Miguel. The Four Agreements - A Toltec Wisdom Book Scharmer, Otto. Presencing
Siegel, Daniel. Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation Wheatley, Margaret. Perserverence
Wilbur, Ken. Sex, Ecology and Spirituality
Wilbur, Ken. A Theory of Everything
RESEARCH ARTICLES AND PAPERS

In recent years, Jodi Sandfort's interest in improving policy systems has led her to investigate and develop her own practice in
facilitation of citizen engagement initiatives by the public and nonprofit sectors. This area is under much transformation, with the
development and use of social media and increased pressure for public accountability in real time. Some of her resources in this area
include:
Sandfort, Jodi and Kathryn Quick. Forthcoming "Deliberative Technology: A Holistic Lens for Interpreting Resources and Dynamics
in Deliberation." Journal of Public Deliberation.
Sandfort, Jodi and Kathryn Quick. 2015. “Building Deliberative Capacity to Create Public Value: The Practices and Artifacts of Art of
Hosting,” Valuing Public Value, edited by John Bryson, Laura Bloomberg, and Barbara Crosby. Georgetown University Press,
Washington, DC.
Quick, Kathryn and Jodi Sandfort. 2014. “Learning to Facilitate Deliberation: Practicing the Art of Hosting,” Critical Policy Studies 8:3
and “Learning to Facilitate: Implications for Skill Development in the Public Participation Field,” in The Professionalization of the
Public Participation Field, 2016 edited by Laurence Bherer. Routledge: New York.
Sandfort, Jodi R., Nicholas Stuber, and Kathryn Quick. 2012. “Practicing the Art of Hosting: Exploring what Art of Hosting and
Harvesting Workshop Participants Understand and Do.” University of Minnesota’s Center for Integrative Leadership:
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Lui, Helen and Jodi Sandfort, 2011. “Open Source Platforms for Citizen Engagement: Examining Ashoka’s Design and
Implementation,” Nonprofit Policy Forum. 2:2.
WEBSITES
Art of Hosting www.artofhosting.org University of Minnesota Art of Participatory Leadership
The Circle Way www.thecircleway.net Community of Practicte
The World Cafe www.theworldcarfe.com z.umn.edu/artofhosting
Open Space Technology www.openspaceworld.com
Tuesday Ryan-Hart tuesdayryanhart.com Chris Corrigan www.chriscorrigan.com

Caitlin Frost www.caitlinfrost.ca Tim Merry www.timmerry.com
Jodi Sandfort www.jodisandfort.org Amanda Fenton amandafenton.com

127
GLOSSARY
There sometimes is a thin line between specific
language that refers to a worldview, and jargon,
“Words create worlds”
which is used to isolate people from each other. —WITTGENSTEIN
The language used in Art of Hosting is particular to
improving process skill among its practitioners. Here
are translations into common language of some of the
specific language items used in this workbook.
HOSTING (Facilitating) TO “HOLD POTENTIAL”

Facilitating focuses more on the techniques, hosting To have potential for …
entails the consciousness with which you are doing
it — consciousness of yourself, the others and what is OPEN SPACE TECHNOLOGY
common to all and beyond everyone. (open space or open space format)
Facilitation process where the participants, with their
ENTERING THE FIELD passion and responsibility, create the agenda. Those
Starting the process who want to call sessions on the basis of questions,
issues or opportunity they wish to explore with others.
METHODOLOGIES KIOSK They become the hosts of their sessions. The other
Session dedicated to presenting different participants decide with their feet where they feel
methodologies at the request of participants called to participate.
CIRCLING OR PEERSPIRIT CIRCLING TO ENGAGE DEEPLY

Facilitation process where participants sit in a circle AND CREATIVELY
To become intensely and creatively involved
CHECK-IN (the opening of the meeting)
Opening moment of a meeting, gathering, or seminar TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCES
that aims to create a transition from the previous Important development steps
contexts of the participants, and enables everyone
to settle down, connect with, and get to know each RAISING TO ONE’S NEXT LEVEL
other, and to focus everyone’s attention on the topic of Going through an important development step
discussion.
TO CATALYZE EFFECTIVE
CHECK-OUT (the closing of the meeting) WORKING CONVERSATIONS
Closing of a meeting, gathering, seminar . . . which aims To maximize the benefits of conversations at work
at capitalizing on individual and collective learnings and
at creating a transition towards the next contexts of TO “TRULY INVITE”
the participants ORGANIZATIONS/PEOPLE

128
To invite organizations/people to focus on what really HOSTING YOURSELF (Taking care of yourself)
matters to them rather than to formal meetings Being aware of and maintaining one‘s energy level in
order to be capable of achieving one‘s objectives
TO INVITE ORGANIZATIONS
TO THRIVE IN TIMES OF BEING WILLING TO
SWIRLING CHANGE “SIT IN THE CHAOS”
Supporting organizations to do well what they really Being comfortable with chaos, trusting that order and
should be doing in times of ever-faster changes new ideas and opportunities can and will emerge
TO “SENSE THE NEED” SITING IN THE FIRE OF THE PRESENT

(Understand/analyze the need) Focusing on what is here and now and learn from it
Sensing the need with all your senses, your whole being
and consciousness rather than understanding with your PRACTICING CONVERSATION
mind only MINDFULLY
Attending to what is happening in yourself, in the
PREPARING THE FIELD (Prepare the event) others, and among the group during discussions
Preparing a conversation in all its dimensions:
understanding the needs, inviting people, designing TO HOLD SPACE
the conversational process with facilitation questions,
To be open and attend to everything that emerges
preparing the recording
from a situation; to attend to what is emerging
THE “BREATH” OF DIVERGENCE AND SOCIAL TECHNOLOGIES

CONVERGENCE, OF “BREATHING IN
(facilitation processes/formats)
AND BREATHING OUT”
Facilitation processes aiming at connecting people
Phases of opening up (diverging) and closing down
together around what matters to them
(converging) in brainstorming and creative reflection
processes
HARVESTING
To record and collect; the act of recording what is
EVERY PROCESS GOES THROUGH
discussed and reporting on it
“SEVERAL SUCH BREATHING CYCLES”
The succession of cyclic phases of opening up
(diverging) and closing down (converging) in processes.
(Every process goes through several
such phases).
THE “FOUR-FOLD WAY OF HOSTING”

The four aspects/dimensions of hosting

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ABOUT THIS RESOURCE

St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

WE BELIEVE IN GROWING AND CHALLENGING YOURSELF ON YOUR JOURNEY OF AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP.

As we begin to reflect on these questions, we leave you with this quote:

St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

MICHAEL GARNER BETH KALLESTAD

JEN MEIN TUESDAY RYAN-HART

JODI SANDFORT ISADORA TABUE

St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

04 WELCOME 65 PROCESS DESIGN TOOLS

55 HARVESTING AND EVALUATION

St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

Explore and gain clarity on how to address Community/Organization/Etc.

St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

a Fellowship, which is more than a

THE ART OF HOSTING St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

New Solutions are Needed Paradoxes at Work

Meaningful Conversation can

THE ART OF HOSTING St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

And a life-affirming leader is one who knows

THE ART OF HOSTING St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

TRADITIONAL AOH AND LIVING SYSTEMS

Management by control Leadership by trust

Hierarchical lines of management Community of practice

Executing procedures Innovating process

Chairing and reporting Hosting, harvesting, following-up

Results-oriented Purpose-oriented; the rest falls into place

Seeking answers Seeking questions

Sets agenda from the top-down Sets agenda together

Leading by instruction Leading by hosting

People are invited as individuals; they are attracted by the

Engagement is needed from all, including those who usually

Communication in writing only Asking questions

One-to-many informational meetings A participatory process informs the information

When innovation is needed: learning what we don’t

Co-creating solutions together in real time, in presence

Engagement processes: collective inquiry with

Rigid organization Flexible self-organization

Event and time-focused Good timing; ongoing conversation and adjustment

A NOTE ON WORLDVIEWS ...

LIVING SYSTEMS: A NATURAL APPROACH TO ORGANIZING LIFE

CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

visual by Brave Space (http://bravespace.ca)

CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

CHAOS/ORDER IS THE PLACE

CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

PROBLEM SOLVING APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY

Analysis of causes Envisioning “What might be”

Dialoguing “What should be”

Basic Assumption: An organization is a

CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

Appreciative Inquiry can also be used as a

CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

Generating alternatives Evaluating alternatives

Free-for-all open discussion Summarizing key points

Gathering diverse points of view Sorting ideas into categories

Unpacking the logic of a problem Arriving at general conclusions

CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

• Going up the U: “Act in an instant.” Explore the future

CONCEPTS, PATTERNS, PRACTICES St.Paul, MN February 2018 pg

hopeful dismayed horrible   unnerved  