Monthly Archives: April 2008

Dialogue – Do’s & Don’ts

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What are the keys to enhancing the effectiveness, outcomes and impact of our Dialogue and Deliberation practice, no matter what the methodology, scale and approach adopted?

This question was the focus of the Saturday morning plenary session at the first Canadian Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation in October 2005 in Ottawa Canada. The session was facilitated and designed by myself and Miriam Wyman, with input from Diane Abbey-Livingstone and Ray Gordezky, and Graphic Facilitation provided by Christine Valenza and Sara Waldston (whose image is shown here). The previous blog on the importance of purpose reminded me of this valuable work, and I want to ensure that the results are known and shared broadly. (What follows is extracted from the pdf report I co-authored and can be downloaded by following the link below.)

From the outset, we intended to offer the results of the Dialogue & Deliberation: Principle and Design Do’s and Don’ts plenary results as a ‘work in progress’ for continued refinement by the global D&D community, as part of C2D2’s contribution to the growing body of collective intelligence around D&D practice. After the conference, I compiled and consolidated the data, then met with Jan Elliott and Miriam Wyman by phone several times to further analyze and summarize the raw data into this Summary.

For the most part, we came out of this exercise feeling that indeed there are principles that are inviolate – things that must characterize any dialogue or deliberation process; these actually do underpin our work and guide us in design, implementation and follow-up. These include things like transparency about purpose, accountability, inclusivity, commitment to feedback – what Dr. Peter A. Singer has called “procedural values”. Design relates to aspects of the dialogue or deliberation itself, like matching approach to situation or numbers, ensuring comfortable and conducive physical arrangements, creating guidelines for engagement, etc. In general, design flows from principles, and careful design is essential to ensuring that principles are ‘lived out.’ That is, principles and design are very closely connected and not always easy to distinguish. So we found ourselves moving away from our initial idea of first identifying principles and then talking about design.

I invite you to download and use the Dialogue & Deliberation: Principle and Design Do’s and Don’ts Summary we compiled as a platform for further reflection and conversation.

Clarity of Purpose – Streams of Engagement Framework

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In a recent Art of Hosting post, as well as in his blog, my friend and colleague Tenneson Woolf is inquiring into questions that invite real energy and focus into the purpose of a project, especially at the start of community or organizational engagement, and also to guide such initiatives once they are underway to ensure the original intent is not lost. He remarks that often there is a rush to ‘jump in’, overlooking this vital first step, and this may lead to stuckness later on.

When it comes to stressing the importance of being clear on purpose, I love Toke Paludan Moeller’s wonderful quote: “Clarity of purpose is a sweet weapon against confusion”. This reflects my own experience that if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will lead you there, and don’t be surprised if you find yourself lost, confused, frustrated, and de-energized in the process. The single most important task in the initial phase of engagement contracting is to clarify the ‘why’ of coming together, along with the ‘what’ of desired outcomes and deliverables.

In this regard, yet more of my friends have been grappling with the same issue at the National Coalition on Dialogue and Deliberation. The result is a wonderful resource developed by Sandy Heierbacher, ED of NCDD (presented in October 2005 with Tonya Gonzalez at Study Circles – now Everday Democracy national conference) and Jan Elliott (presented at the Facing Complex Issues Together Canadian Conference on Dialogue & Deliberation), entitled: NCDD’s Engagement Streams Framework. Intended to assist in the process of clarifying purpose and the alignment of methods to serve that purpose, this free downloadable resource is a series of two charts that categorize the D&D field into four streams based on intention or purpose:

  • Exploration – people learn more about themselves, their community, or an issue – and perhaps also come up with innovative ideas.
  • Conflict Transformation – poor relations or a specific conflict among individuals or groups is tackled.
  • Decision Making – solutions are generated and evaluated, a decision or policy is impacted, and public knowledge of an issue is improved.
  • Collaborative Action – people tackle complex problems and take responsibility for solutions they come up with.

The framework shows which of the most well-known methods (e.g., Cafe, Dialogue, Appreciative Inquiry, Open Space, Study Circles, and so on) have proven themselves effective in which streams. The second chart goes into more detail about 23 dialogue and deliberation methods, and includes information such as group size, meeting type and how participants are selected.

The Streams of Engagement framework was featured in the May 2006 issue of IAP2′s Participation Quarterly publication, was featured in a book published by the United Nations Development Programme called Democratic Dialogue: A Handbook for Practitioners, and is also described in Sandy Heierbacher’s chapter on D&D in the 2nd Edition of The Change Handbook. It has also been used by numerous D&D practitioners to help community leaders and public managers understand their options. The resource can be downloaded free in the following formats as:
  • A 9-page PDF resource
  • A comic graphic representation of the 4 main purposes, and
  • NCDD is in the process of developing a beginner’s toolkit around this.

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Masterful Facilitation Institute: Becoming An Inspired Facilitator

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With my friend and colleague Brenda Chaddock, for the past couple of months, we have been busy developing our exciting 3-tier “Masterful Facilitation Institute: Becoming an Inspired Facilitator” (download overview PDF flyer).

Last July, we offered “Facilitating Wise Action for Lasting Impact” at Rivendell on Bowen Island in BC. It was sold out and a real success. Wise Action was initially conceived as a practically focused skill-building program for people who want to gain greater confidence in the process of convening, designing, and facilitating the engagement of communities or organizations. It is for people who are in positions where they are already asked to be the guide in the overall process of engagement, and to lead in a whole journey from the call to the plan for action. The program in particular was for facilitators and practitioners who had already attended previous AoH programs and attended Nexus for Change conferences, and wanted to understand more about the bones beneath the experience of hosting inquiry and conversation, to the methods, the principles, guidelines that often are tacit knowledge to a skilled facilitator.

We examined issues such as how to select the right process for different challenges and opportunities, and provided ideas for mixing and matching methods for effective outcomes around existing issues. Wise Action was a blend of formal teaching, action learning, experiencing, understanding the key elements of each methodology, of design principles, and of blending methods to achieve a desired result.

From last July’s experience, we realized that in order to build even greater facilitator competence and confidence, we needed to add two additional tiers, hence this year’s Institute which starts with building essential skills for guiding groups through “The Confident Facilitator” offering October 6-8, 2008, and “The Inspired Facilitator” October 27-29, 2008, which goes on to provide more opportunity for deep diving into the ‘moments of truth’ that inevitably arises – opportunities for group emergence. The difference between “Facilitating Wise Action for Lasting Impact” and “The Inspired Facilitator” is that the former focuses more on the engagement process and the blending of conversational methods for engaging communities and organizations in non-adversarial processes (in 1-day or several day engagements), whereas the latter picks up on ‘what do you do in the moment, once the engagement is underway, when things go awry, and/or when opportunity shows up? – either way, how do you facilitate emergence of group wisdom and dynamics? The two programs complement one another, with “The Inspired Facilitator” picking up where “Facilitating Wise Action” leaves off. Participants who took “Facilitating Wise Action” last July are telling us they are coming to “The Inspired Facilitator” this October. In a nutshell then, depending on existing knowledge and proficiency, the three Institute programs build and enhance confidence and skill at designing and facilitating successful meetings, retreats and sessions through these tiers:

  • The Confident Facilitator: Essential Skills for Guiding Groups - a three-day experiential program (October 6-8 2008), focused on the foundational level of practical facilitation theory and practice at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, SFU in Vancouver, BC, Canada. If you or your staff regularly lead meetings in any setting, whether at work or in the larger community, solid facilitation skills are critical for obtaining successful outcomes. This facilitation workshop is a three-day experiential program that will give participants a practical foundation in facilitation theory and practice. As a competent, capable, and confident facilitator, participants will be able to use their skills and knowledge to achieve effective results in guiding and enabling groups to move towards their goals and find their own answers. Participants will know how to create participative environments, and use a variety of approaches to help groups achieve their objectives and desired outcomes. Participants will be able to honour and recognize diversity, support groups to higher performance and creativity, leverage different learning styles, and minimize tension and conflict. The regular registration rate for this program varies according to corporate or social profit sector. Learn more or register.
  • The Inspired Facilitator: Achieving Mastery in Engaging Organizations and Communities - a deep dive into the principles, theories, practices, and processes for understanding, designing, and facilitating complex group dynamics and multi-stakeholder situations scheduled October 27-29, 2008 the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Using different theoretical frameworks as useful constructs, participants will dialogue, analyze, experiment and practice how to transform (and as needed, rescue) design and facilitation situations, nurture the emergence of group creativity and wisdom, while remaining centered, authentic and present.
  • Facilitating Wise Action for Lasting Impact: Engaging Groups in Meaningful Conversations Around Complex Issues – a unique in-house learning intensive scheduled January 18-21 2009 (Bowen Island, BC) on how to facilitate conversational methods in communities and organizations for more cooperative and sustainable results. This program combines theory and practice around proven participatory methods used around the world (e.g., World Café, Open Space, Dialogue, Appreciative Inquiry, Deliberative Dialogue, etc.) for breakthrough thinking, decision-making and collaborative action.

INFORMATION: All three of these highly experiential programs are designed to help enhance facilitation performance to produce extraordinary group results. For more information, visit our website, download the full Masterful Facilitation Institute brochure, send me an e-mail: myriam@myriamlaberge.ca, or call me at 604-943-9133.

REGISTER: To register, please download the Registration Form and return completed to me by email at myriam@myriamlaberge.ca.

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Women’s Leadership Revival Tour with Meg Wheatley – April 29th in Vancouver

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Another project that has been taking up a lot of my discretionary pro bono time is taking a coordinating role on the Core Host team organizing the upcoming April 29th Vancouver evening event with Meg Wheatley. We expect to be sold out this week, and are looking forward to a incredible evening of stimulating and inspiring inquiry into how women can step forward more fully with the gift of leadership in service of community. One hundred percent of the funds raised by this event will support the work of The Berkana Institute; click on the link to see the work with women and men in Latin America, Africa, Asia and North America. Along with an amazing local organizing group, we are also in the process of setting up a social network site for pre- and post- event connection and follow-on project work. We also intend to host whoever is interested in further conversation following an Art of Hosting format (World Cafe, Open Space, AI, Dialogue) – stay tuned!

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Twitter – A New Tech Tool Goodie

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Andy Fluke at the National Coalition on Dialogue and Deliberation has put me on to this ‘mini-blogging’ tech goodie, and I am testing it out. I have also added the application to synchronize Twitter and Facebook updates, though of course that would mean I actually would have to provide one :-) ! Plus I have the updates linked into this blog – all so cool and instantaneous!

If you are already on Twitter, then you can follow me at http://twitter.com/myriamlaberge

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Creativity of A Different Kind

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I have been remiss adding to my blog since January with my focus taken up with many new ventures, including learning how to paint. Here is a picture of me beside an acrylic painting I submitted as part of the Poets and Painters art show at the South Delta Arts Gallery – it is called Old Light (on the right) and is of an old growth stand backlit through a sunny clearing.

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