Resources

"I realized that if my thoughts immediately affect my body, I should be careful about what I think. Now if I get angry, I ask myself why I feel that way. If I can find the source of my anger, I can turn that negative energy into something positive." - Yoko Ono

What is the role of Inquiry in facilitation? Facilitation happens in many places, not just when you stand in front of a room full of people to help them have a useful and productive conversation. You also facilitate when you find yourself: Supporting others’ conversations Helping a group formulate a shared decision Developing an agenda to run a meeting Bringing people together in ad hoc conversation Helping others to negotiate conflict

With the economy in turmoil and no creditable analysis on where we go from here, a drastic shift might be right around the corner.  One might ask is this current economic dilemma based on lack of jobs, uncontrolled debts, or on goods and services being provided within global competitiveness.  Regardless of these or any other reasoning’s, there is a historic shift happening within the world economy that is affecting all of us from first to third world countries.

Today you need a planning process that is agile and responsive. It has to account for the challenges of complexity and uncertainty you and your organization face.

Merriam-Webster defines culture as, “the set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a particular field, activity, or societal characteristic.” Culture and culture change have been central to leadership practice in the past decade. It is no less important, but it is much more difficult, to manage, in this age of Zoom “rooms” and Teams “chats.” 

In today's world, facilitators work with groups to address issues that are more complex and challenging than ever before. They deal with forces that rock their clients’ worlds. They address the partisan impacts of diversity at local and global scales. Facilitators value the importance of relationships and connections over time, in addition to relying on the notions of cause and effect.

Executive coaching is definitely not a game, but the issues clients bring to us are finite and infinite games – ones you try to “win” and ones you try to keep playing.  It’s like the image above. If I had named it “My Mind” you would make the translation and possibly think “She’s feeling scattered and crazy.” The art piece is resolved in your mind (finite game). If I leave the art piece untitled, you can keep looking at it wondering what it is. Each time you look at it, based on the time in your life, the issues you are experiencing, etc., you might see something different (infinite game.) So, how does this relate to coaching our clients?