Aopl Workbook Ec

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THE ART AND PRACTICE OF PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT Leading Through Conversations That Matter

HOW DO WE AS LEADERS CONVENE STRATEGIC CONVERSATIONS THAT ENABLE US AND THE COMMISSION TO MEET THE INCREASING CHALLENGES OF THE WORLD TODAY?

HOW CAN PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVELY SERVE IN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION?

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WORKBOOK CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 6

WELCOME TO THE ART OF AND PRACTICE OF PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP 6 PURPOSE OF THIS WORKBOOK 8

PART I. GETTING STARTED – CORE METHODOLOGIES 10 OVERVIEW 10 PARTICIPATORY PROCESSES 15

- CIRCLE PRACTICE 15 - APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY 18 - WORLD CAFÉ 21 - OPEN SPACE TECHNOLOGY 24 - PRO ACTION CAFÉ 27 - RITUAL DISSENT 30 - ACTION LEARNING 34 - COLLECTIVE MIND-MAP 37 - COLLECTIVE STORY HARVESTING 40 - POWERFUL QUESTIONS 46

- DIALOGUE – A CONVERSATION WITH A CENTRE, NOT SIDES 48 - WHEN PRACTICING DIALOGUE, REMEMBER TO… 51

CAPTURING THE OUTPUTS OF CONVERSATIONS 53 - THE ART OF HARVESTING RESULTS OF CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER 53 - HARVESTING & CONVERGENCE METHODOLOGIES 69 - LANDSCAPING 74 - GRAPHIC RECORDING 76

LOGISTICS 78

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PART II. STRATEGIC DESIGN 82

CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION 82 WORKING WITH VISION & PURPOSE 83 DEVELOPING A PARTICIPATORY PROCESS FOR RESULTS 85 CHECK-LIST 86 DIVERGENCE – EMERGENCE - CONVERGENCE 90 6 BREATHS OF PROCESS ARCHITECTURE 93 CHAORDIC DESIGN 95

PART III. WORKING TOGETHER 100 FOUR FOLD PRACTICE 100 CORE TEAMS 107 COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE 111

PART IV. BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT 117

STORY OF PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP IN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION 117 STORY OF THE ART OF HOSTING CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER 119 SOME KEY ACHIEVEMENTS 121 OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME 125 TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT VS. PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP 127 MEASURING IMPACT 130

PART V. LEADING IN COMPLEXITY: SHIFTING PARADIGMS 134

CHALLENGING OUR ASSUMPTIONS 134 MULTIPLE LEVELS OF FOCUS 136 2 WORLD VIEWS: ORGANISATIONS AS MACHINES OR LIVING SYSTEMS 138 WORKING WITH EMERGENCE 141

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CHAORDIC PATH 144 CYNEFIN FRAMEWORK 147 ORGANISATIONAL PARADIGMS 150 U-MODEL & PRESENCING 154 ADULT DEVELOPMENT 158

PART VI. RESOURCES FOR YOUR NEXT STEPS 162 EC ON-LINE SPACES 162 LEARNING & PRACTICE EVENTS 163 DG HR IN-HOUSE CONSULTANCY SERVICE 169 FURTHER RESOURCES 171

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INTRODUCTION WELCOME TO THE

ART OF AND PRACTICE OF PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP The art of participatory leadership is about engaging the collective intelligence of the organisation and its stakeholders in creating sustainable solutions.

This form of leadership comes as a response to a world that is becoming increasingly complex and fragmented, where true solutions and innovation lie not in one leader or one viewpoint, but in the bigger picture that can be grasped only by our collective intelligence.

Like other organisations and leaders everywhere, we in the European Commission need to be more flexible and creative in the context of accelerating change, increased complexity and the challenge of negative growth in human resources. In the current climate, the traditional command-and-control type of leadership is no longer adequate, and tapping into the as yet unrealised potential held in the organisation is crucial. Inviting everyone to participate with their diverse perspectives is the key to releasing this potential.

In practice, participatory leadership involves convening strategic dialogue and conversations as drivers for development and change. It is already being used to good effect in the Commission in the following areas (among others):

- Strategy-making - Stakeholder consultations and alignment - Organisational development - Leadership development - Management alignment - Team development - Staff engagement - Collaboration across levels and departments ("working across silos") - Developing and animating networks and communities of practice

This practice has been used by many Commission services since 2008: JRC, RTD, HR, TAXUD, COMM, OLAF, ESTAT, OP, HR, TRADE, ECFIN, SCIC, DGT, BEPA, SG, SANCO, DEVCO, REGIO, MARKT, ENV, RELEX, EEAS, OIB, PMO, … and by many networks and communities of practice: Strategic Planning & Programming, Internal Communication, Learning & Development, Equal Opportunities, Appraisal & Promotion Correspondents, Directors’ community, etc.

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HOW DO WE CONVENE STRATEGIC CONVERSATIONS THAT ENABLE US TO MEET THE INCREASING CHALLENGES OF THE WORLD TODAY?

HOW CAN PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVELY SERVE IN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION?

How do you explain participatory leadership in one sentence? As formulated by Commission staff practicing Participatory Leadership in the day-to-day work of the Commission.

o Imagine a meeting of 60 people, where in an hour you would have heard everyone and at the end you would have precisely identified the 5 most important points that people are willing to act on together.

o When appropriate, deeper engagement of all in service of our purpose.

o Hierarchy is good for maintenance, participatory leadership is good for innovation and adapting

to change.

o Using all knowledge, expertise, conflicts, etc. available to achieve the common good on any issue.

o It allows dealing with complex issues by using the collective intelligence of all people concerned

and getting their buy-in.

o Participatory Leadership is methods, techniques, tips, tricks, tools to evolve, to lead, to create synergy, to share experience, to lead a team, to create a transversal network, to manage a project, an away day, brainstorming, change processes, strategic visions.

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PURPOSE OF THIS WORKBOOK

The book you have in your hands is the fruit of collective intelligence, drawn together from sources scattered throughout the world and collectively crafted to serve and make sense in our context, namely the European Institutions. It is a work in progress and the version you are looking at is the eighth.

The book has six parts, each reflecting a part of its overall purpose:

Part 1 presents the basic methodologies – the surface level you see when you first encounter participatory leadership. It provides the information you need to get started. What the different methods are and when and how to use them. It includes the conversational formats, different ways of capturing the outputs of conversations, and the logistical aspects of supporting these innovative meeting formats.

Part 2 sets out the different elements of strategic design – what you need to think about when designing a participatory process. Here we go into greater depth and examine some of what lies behind and beneath the visible ‘techniques and methods’.

Part 3 focuses on the teamwork aspect of hosting participatory processes - understanding the central importance of the core team and the community of practice in hosting innovation and strategic change processes.

Part 4 describes how participatory leadership has been applied in the context of the European institutions – you will see that this section is still very much a work in progress. Here we tell the story of how participatory leadership has developed in the European Commission so far, and how it has started to spread to other institutions. We list some of the critical achievements to date, unpack some of the critical obstacles that must still be overcome, and consider the question of how to measure the impact of this work.

Part 5 looks at some of the underlying paradigms that can provide the necessary perspectives for overcoming the obstacles evoked in part 4. It touches on systems thinking, complexity and adult development, and sketches the connections with participatory practices.

Part 6 offers resources for your next steps – links to on-line resources, further learning seminars, a bibliography and pointers to further fields of study and learning.

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Your questions, reflections, comments…

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PART I. GETTING STARTED – CORE METHODOLOGIES

OVERVIEW The core methodologies used in the practice of participatory leadership are designed to engage groups of all sizes in strategic conversations, and to create the conditions for unlocking the group's collective wisdom in finding the best way to achieve a common purpose. Basic principles or qualities common to all these methodologies:

• The purpose is to think well together - to engage the collective intelligence for better solutions. • Each methodology has a simple structure that helps groups engage in conversations that can

lead to results. Each has its own specific advantages and limitations. • They are usually based on dialogue, involving intentional speaking (i.e. when you really have

something to say) and attentive listening (to really understand), allowing us to explore and discover together rather than trying to convince each other of our own present truths.

• For best results, we should suspend our assumptions so that we can listen without bias (or with less bias) and examine our own present truths.

• The basic organisational form is the circle, whether used alone (e.g. circle practice) or as many

smaller circles woven into a bigger conversation, (e.g. World Café, Open Space)

• Meeting in a circle is a meeting of equals. Generally all these methodologies inspire peer discovery and learning.

• The best driver of breakthrough conversations is questions. Answers tend to close a conversation while inquiry keeps the conversation going deeper.

• Facilitating these conversations is more like “hosting”, creating the conditions for solutions to emerge from the wisdom in the middle. Hosting well is an art which requires personal presence, relational skills, good listening and 'transpersonal' teamwork.

• The conditions for successful engagement: any strategic conversation must serve a real need and have a clear purpose. Any “givens” or boundary conditions need to be clear ahead of time. Although you can define success criteria or have an idea of the outcome, the concrete solutions will emerge from the conversations. (see also the section on design).

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Method What for? Illustration

CIRCLE PRACTICE

Adaptable to a variety of groups, issues, and timeframes. Circle can be the process used for the duration of a gathering, particularly if the group is relatively small and time for deep reflection is a primary aim. Circle can also be used as a means for “checking in” and “checking out” or for making decisions together, particularly decisions based on consensus.

See page 15

APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY

Useful when a different perspective is needed, or when we wish to begin a new process from a fresh, positive vantage point. It can help move a group that is stuck in “what is” toward “what could be”. Appreciative Inquiry can be used with individuals, partners, small groups, or large organisations.

See page 18

WORLD CAFÉ

Process used to foster interaction and dialogue with both large and small groups. Particularly effective in surfacing the collective wisdom of large groups of diverse people. Very flexible and adapts to many different purposes – information sharing, relationship building, deep reflection exploration and action planning.

See page 21

OPEN SPACE

Useful in many contexts, including strategic direction-setting, envisioning the future, conflict resolution, morale building, consultation with stakeholders, community planning, collaboration and deep learning about issues and perspectives.

See page 24

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PRO ACTION CAFÉ

The Pro Action Café is a space for creative and inspirational conversation. It is a blend of 'World Café' and 'Open Space' technologies, where volunteer hosts call sessions on what matters most to them (projects, ideas, questions, knowledge, experience - or whatever they feel inspired by) and other participants travel from table to table and engage around those issues to help the hosts to deepen their understanding of the matter and gain diverse perspectives on it. See page 27

RITUAL DISSENT

Ritual Dissent is a workshop method designed to test and enhance proposals, stories, ideas, etc. by subjecting them to ritualised dissent (challenge) or assent (positive alternatives). In all cases it is a forced listening technique, not a dialogue or discourse. Overall plans that emerge from the process are more robust than those surfaced by consensus-based techniques.

See page 30

ACTION LEARNING

Question-based process used to explore complex problems and come up with unexpected insights and possibilities. For use with small groups (minimum 5, maximum 8 people).

See page 34

COLLECTIVE MIND MAP

Quick and simple way to create a shared overview of issues and opportunities relevant to a particular subject or challenge. Always has a clear focus that can be captured in a ”burning” question. Can be done either by hand, on a large sheet of paper, or electronically with mind-mapping software projected on a screen. When all themes and issues have been recorded on the mind-map, the group can decide on the priorities by voting on the map. This gives a clear indication on which themes or issues have the highest leverage for further action.

See page 37

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THE ART OF HARVESTING

How to record, share and acted on the fruits of a good conversation.

What if we were planning not a meeting but a harvest? When we understand the process of meaningful conversations as a series of connected phases (“breaths”), we see that each must somehow feed into the next

See page 54

HARVESTING & CONVERGENCE METHODOLOGIES

Here we offer some of the many ways to collect the results of important conversations and to make sense of them. Be creative and adapt them to your contexts and needs.

See page 70

LANDSCAPING

A Landscape is a visual representation of a participatory process. It includes both what we are going to do during the process and how we are going to work together.

See page 74

GRAPHIC RECORDING

An specialised technique for capturing (in real time) the essence of conversations in images and keywords. Sometimes known as Strategic Illustration.

See page 76

PREPARING THE SPACE AND LOGISTICS FOR CONVERSATIONS

When preparing to host conversations that matter, you should pay particular attention to the quality of the space and – devil being in the details – to logistics.

See page 78

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PARTICIPATORY PROCESSES

CIRCLE PRACTICE

The Circle, or council, is an ancient form of meeting that has gathered human beings into respectful conversations for thousands of years. In some areas of the world this tradition remains intact, but in some societies it has been all but forgotten. PeerSpirit circling is a modern methodology that calls on this tradition and helps people gather in conversations that fulfil their potential for dialogue, replenishment and wisdom-based change.

What is Circle good for? One of the beautiful things about circle is its adaptability to a variety of groups, issues, and timeframes. Circle can be the process used for the duration of a gathering, particularly if the group is relatively small and time for deep reflection is a primary aim. Circle can also be used as a means for “checking in” and “checking out” or a way of making decisions together, particularly decisions based on consensus. Be creative with circle and be ready for the deep wisdom it can uncover! Principles of Circle:

o Rotate leadership o Take responsibility o Have a higher purpose that you

gather around Practices of Circle:

o Speak with intention - noting what has relevance to the conversation in the moment o Listen with attention - respectful of the learning process of all members of the group o Tend to the well-being of the group - remaining aware of the impact of our

contributions Four agreements of Circle:

o Listen without judgment (slow down and listen) o Whatever is said in circle stays in circle o Offer what you can and ask for what you need o Silence is also part of the conversation

General flow of the Circle

o Intention o Welcome/start-point

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o Centre and check-In/greeting o Agreements o Three principles and three practices o Guardian of the process o Check-out and farewell o Tend to the well-being of the group: remaining aware of the impact of our

contributions

Intention shapes the circle and determines who will come, how long the circle will meet, and what kinds of outcomes are to be expected. Additionally, the centre of a circle usually holds a focus that can be supported by placing the question in the centre or objects that represent the intention of the circle. Check-in usually starts with a volunteer and proceeds around the circle. If an individual is not ready to speak, the turn is passed and another opportunity is offered after others have spoken.

To aid self-governance and bring the circle back to intention, having a circle member volunteer to take the role of guardian is helpful. This group member watches and safeguards the group’s energy and observes the group’s process.

Closing the circle by checking out provides a formal end to the meeting, a chance for members to reflect on what has transpired.

(The above was adapted from a handout, which was generously provided by Peer Spirit to the Art of Hosting community)

Material Needed:

o Chairs arranged in a circle – people should be able to view each other without impediments (i.e. tables or desks)

o Object for the centre – this is to bring focus. It can be flowers, a poster stating the intention or purpose of the gathering, or any other object that has meaning

o Talking piece o Chime, bell, or other instrument to call everyone to

attention o Materials for harvesting conversation

For more information: http://www.peerspirit.com/downloadable-gifts.html

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APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY Appreciative Inquiry is a strategy for intentional change that identifies the best of ‘what is’, to pursue dreams and possibilities of ‘what could be’; a cooperative search for strengths, passions and life-giving forces that are found within every system and that hold potential for inspired, positive change. (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987) Assumptions

o In every community something works o What we focus on becomes our reality o Reality is created in the moment – there is more than one reality o The act of asking questions influences the community in some way o People have more confidence and comfort to journey into the future when they carry

forward parts of the past o If we carry forward parts of the past, they should be what is best o It is important to value differences o The language we use creates our reality

What is Appreciative Inquiry good for? Appreciative Inquiry is useful when a different perspective is needed, or when we wish to begin a new process from a fresh, positive vantage point. It can help move a group that is stuck in “what is” toward “what could be”. Appreciative Inquiry can be used with individuals, partners, small groups, or large organisations. 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”

Analysis of possible solutions Dialoguing “What should be” Innovating “What will be”

Basic Assumption: An organisation is a problem to be solved

Basic Assumption: An organisation is a mystery to be embraced

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General Flow of an Appreciative Inquiry process: Appreciative inquiry can be done as a longer structured process going through 5 phases of o DEFINITION: surfacing the focus for

inquiring appreciatively o DISCOVERY: identifying organisational

processes that work well. o DREAM: envisioning processes that would work well in the future. o DESIGN: Planning and prioritising those processes. o DELIVERY: implementing the proposed design.

The basic idea is to build organisations around what works, rather than trying to fix what doesn't. At the start is a positive topic choice – how we ask even the first question contains the seeds of change we are looking to enact. Appreciative Inquiry can also be used as a way of opening a meeting or conversation by identifying what already works. What do you value most about your self/work/organisation? Material Needed: Varies depending on how the methodology is used For more information: http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/

Definition“Topic Choice”

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WORLD CAFÉ

The World Café is a method for creating a living network of collaborative dialogue around questions that matter in real life situations. It is a provocative metaphor...as we create our lives, our organisations, and our communities, we are, in effect, moving among ‘table conversations’ at the World Café. (From The World Café Resource Guide)

Assumptions of World Café:

o The knowledge and wisdom we need is present and accessible.

o Collective insight evolves from honouring unique contributions, connecting ideas, listening into the middle, noticing deeper themes and questions.

o The intelligence emerges as the system connects to itself in diverse and creative ways.

What is World Café good for? World Café is a very effective way of fostering interaction and dialogue with both large and small groups. It is particularly effective in surfacing the collective wisdom of large groups of diverse people. The café format is very flexible and adapts to many different purposes – information sharing, relationship building, deep reflection exploration and action planning. When planning a café, make sure to leave ample time for both moving through the rounds of questions (likely to take longer than you think!) and some type of whole-group harvest. General Flow of a World Café:

o Seat 4-5 people at café-style tables or in conversation clusters.

o Set up progressive rounds of conversation, usually of 20-30 minutes each – have some good questions!

o Ask one person to stay at the table as a “host” and invite the other table members to move to other tables as ambassadors of ideas and insights

o Ask the table host to share key insights, questions, and ideas briefly with new table members, and then let folks move through the rounds of questions.

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o After you’ve moved through the rounds, allow some time for a whole-group harvest of the conversations.

Operating principles of World Café:

o Create hospitable space o Explore questions that matter o Encourage each person’s contribution o Connect diverse people and ideas o Listen together for patterns, insights

and deeper questions o Make collective knowledge visible

Material Needed:

o Small tables (60 cm width), preferably round

o Chairs for participants and presenters

o Tablecloths o Flip chart paper or paper placemats

for covering the tables o Markers o Flip chart or large paper for harvesting collective knowledge or insights o Posters/table tents showing the Café Etiquette o Materials for harvesting

For more information: www.theworldcafe.com (The above info adapted from 'Café to Go' on this website)

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OPEN SPACE The goal of an Open Space meeting is to create time and space for people to engage deeply and creatively around issues of concern to them. The agenda is set by the people with the power and desire to see it through. Typically, Open Space meetings result in transformative experiences for the individuals and groups involved. It is a simple and powerful way to catalyse effective working conversations and to truly invite organisations – to thrive in times of swirling change. What is Open Space good for? Open Space (also known as Open Space Technology) is useful in almost any context, including strategic direction setting, envisioning the future, conflict resolution, morale building, consultation with stakeholders, community planning, collaboration and deep learning about issues and perspectives. Open Space is an excellent meeting format for any situation in which there is:

o a real issue of concern o diversity of players o complexity of elements o presence of passion (including conflict) o a need for a quick decision

Open space can be used in groups of 10 to 1,000 – and probably larger. It’s important to give enough time and space for several sessions to occur. The outcomes can be dramatic when a group uses its passion and responsibility – and is given the time – to make something happen. The Law of Two Feet: If you find yourself in a situation where you are not contributing or learning, move somewhere where you can. Follow you passion and take your responsibility Principles of Open Space:

o Whoever comes are the right people o Whenever it starts is the right time o Whatever happens is the only thing that could have o When it's over, it's over

The four principles and the law work to create a powerful event motivated by the passion and bounded by the responsibility of the participants.

Roles in Open Space:

o Host – announce and host a workshop o Participant – participate in a workshop

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o Bumble bee – “shop” between workshops o Butterfly – take time out to reflect

General Flow of an Open Space meeting:

o The group convenes in a circle and is welcomed by the sponsor.

o The facilitator provides an overview of the process and explains how it works. The facilitator invites people with issues of concern to come into the circle, write the issue on a piece of paper and announce it to the group.

o These people are "conveners." Each convener places their paper on the wall and chooses a time and a place to meet. This process continues until there are no more agenda items.

o The group then breaks up and heads to the agenda wall, by now covered with a variety of sessions. Participants take note of the time and place for sessions they want to be involved in.

o Dialogue sessions convene for the rest of the meeting. Recorders (determined by each group) capture the important points and post the reports on the news wall. All of these reports will be harvested in some way and fed back to the larger group.

o Following a closing or a break, the group might move into ‘convergence’, a process that takes the issues that have been discussed and attaches action plans to them to "get them out of the room."

o The group then finishes the meeting with a closing circle where people are invited to share comments, insights and commitments arising from the process.

Material Needed:

o Circle of chairs for participants o Letters or numbers around the room to indicate meeting locations o A blank wall that will become the agenda o A news wall for recording and posting the results of the dialogue sessions o Breakout spaces for meetings o Paper on which to write session topics/questions o Markers/pencils/pens o Posters of the principles, Law of Two Feet, and roles (optional) o Materials for harvest

For more information: www.openspaceworld.org

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PRO ACTION CAFÉ The Pro Action Café is a space for creative and inspirational conversation where participants are invited to bring their project, ideas, questions, knowledge, experience - or whatever they feel inspired by. The original concept of Pro Action Café is a blend from 'World Café' and 'Open Space' technologies. What is Pro Action Café good for? Pro Action Café is an innovative yet simple methodology for hosting conversations about questions and projects that matter to the people that attend. These conversations link and build on each other as people participate in different topics, moving between groups, cross-pollinating ideas and discovering new insights into the questions or issues that are most important in their life, work, or community. The Café can evoke and make visible the collective intelligence of any group, thus increasing people’s capacity for effective action in pursuit of common aims. Pro Action Café can be used for open invitation to a large number of people and/or as a methodology for a specific group / organisation / community to engage in creative and inspirational conversation. Pro Action Café is also a growing global community of people, groups, organizations and networks that practice this conversational format. General flow of a Pro Action Café:

o Check-in circle to connect to the purpose of the session and with each other

o Ask participants to consider in silence if there is a question they would like to explore for the session: if so, they will be called on to share it and invite others to work on it with them. If not, they will be invited to move around and engage around the themes proposed by others.

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o People with an issue stand up, speak it and write it

on the agenda, choosing their table. We do that until tables are full (1 host per table + 3)

o 3 Rounds of conversation - 20 to 30 minutes each, each with a specific focusing question to move the conversation through a deepening and widening process before converging:

o Round 1: What is the quest behind the question? Going deeper with the question, digging under the surface of what we know already

o Round 2: What is missing? A discovery question once the quest has been redefined, what makes the picture more complete.

o Round 3: Next steps and key learnings A last round where 3 new participants visit the tables to hear the steps, help needed and learning, – and then offer any last fine tunings and help

o Between each round it is advisable to create a 5 to 10 minutes break for people to have a drink and weave their conversations further

o Feedback in circle. The hosts of each table share what happened. After that, anyone can share any additional insights.

o End of the Pro Action Café Material Needed:

o Ideally, create a large circle in one part of the room and set out tables with 4 chairs in another part (if the size of the room does not allow this, then participants will move the tables and chairs themselves as soon as the agenda is created)

o Dress the tables with flipchart paper, colour pens and markers, a talking/listening piece if appropriate

o Prepare the matrix for the agenda of the session: It can be as simple as the one shown above

See also the Pro Action Europe website http://sites.google.com/a/pro-action.eu/pro-action-caf-/how-to-become-a-host/hosting-kit. These pictures were taken during a seminar for Commission Directors entitled 'Facing the Challenges of the Next Decade' where – using the Pro Action Café format - a group of 30 Directors engaged in 8 parallel key issues such as: - How to deliver on Europe 2020, both internally and with the Member States? - How to manage European Parliament expectations? - How do we turn steam into energy? - How to improve multi-stakeholder processes which should lead towards a more sustainable and responsible Europe? - How do we lead in all directions: upwards + sideways + downwards?

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RITUAL DISSENT Overview Ritual Dissent is a method designed to test and enhance proposals, stories, ideas, etc. by subjecting them to ritualised dissent (challenge) or assent (positive alternatives). In all cases it is a forced listening technique, not a dialogue or discourse. The method is designed to be embedded inside a larger process, which it serves by ensuring that resulting action plans are robust and resilient. The basic approach involves a spokesperson presenting a series of ideas to a group who receives them in silence. The spokesperson then turns their chair, so that their back is to the audience and listens in silence while the group either attacks the proposal (dissent) or provides alternative proposals (assent). The ritualisation of not facing the audience de-personalises the process and the group setting (others will experience the same process) means that the attack or alternative are not personal, but supportive. Listening in silence without eye contact increases listening. Overall plans that emerge from the process tend to be more resilient than consensus-based techniques. Preparation The technique is normally used in a workshop with a minimum of three groups with at least three participants in each. Ideally the number of participants should be higher, but no more than a dozen. The larger the number of groups, the more iterations and the greater the variety. Each group should be seated at a small table (or in a circle of chairs), and the tables should be distributed in the work area to allow plenty of space between them. There should be a clipboard with paper and pen on each table. If the tables are too close, the noise will make it harder for the spokesperson to listen to the dissent/assent. The tables should be set up so it is easy (and self-evident) to give an instruction to move to the next table in a clockwise or anti-clockwise fashion.

The flow of events starts after the group have been working for some time on the process/outcome which is to be improved by ritual dissent/assent. Cycling the ritual process several times with multiple groups offers a significant improvement opportunity. Not only the spokesperson learns, but the group dissenting or assenting also learn from their comments.

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Workflow

Task Comment

Each group spends some time engaging in creating the solution to the issue presented (e.g. an action plan)

Next, each group is asked to appoint a spokesperson. It is important that the spokesperson have a resilient and robust personality and not bear a grudge! The spokesperson is given some time (minimum five minutes) to prepare to present the solution.

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Just before the deadline, stop the groups' work and explain exactly what is going to happen to the spokesperson. Advise the spokesperson that they will have three minutes to present their idea.

Make sure the group knows that they can choose a spokesperson. Resist any temptation to make the process a surprise at this stage, to do so is a serious breach of ethics.

At the end of the deadline ask the spokesperson from each group to stand up, but not to move.

It will take a bit of time to get everyone standing up, but do not allow them to move until one person is standing up in each group.

Tell the spokespeople to move to the next table in a clockwise direction and take the vacant seat, but to wait for your instruction before saying or doing anything.

You need to maintain rigid control of the process at this point otherwise things go wrong. If this is the second or subsequent iteration then go anti-clockwise, clockwise plus 1 etc to make sure that each time a new group is used.

When everyone is seated, repeat the instruction. The spokesperson will present their idea for 3 minutes, at that time a time check will be announced by the facilitator. If the group are happy to listen for more time they may do so, but from this point onwards the spokesperson can be made to turn around, whether they have finished presenting or not. They must present to silence (the group may not comment or interact with the spokesperson in any way) and then turn round, taking the clipboard to take notes on what they hear. The group should then attack the ideas with full and complete vigour (dissent) or come up with a better idea or major improvement (assent).

Help people here by giving examples: - Think of the water cooler conversations that follow an executive presentation - Remember that time you came up with a great idea, presented it to the board and had to sit in silence while your idea was taken apart Make sure people realise that the idea is not to be fair, reasonable or supportive but to attack, or provide a better alternative (often more painful than being attacked).

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Source: Cognitive Edge website: www.cognitive-edge.com The pictures were taken during the following events in the Commission: - A strategic reflection in DIGIT about critical issues of storage space in the Data Centre - A seminar for the Publications Office with 50 key players engaging together on how to implement a large transformation programme - A training seminar on the Art of Consulting

Once complete the spokesperson must not talk with the group but leave to a central area, away from the groups that are working, until all the spokespeople are complete.

This is important and a recent addition to the method. When spokespeople talk with the group they start to explain or compromise their learning.

Once all the spokespeople are in the central area or if enough time has elapsed, send the spokespeople back to their groups to talk about what they have learnt. They get ready for the next iteration as the cycle can be repeated many times to increase learning, enable multiple perspectives to be taken into account and refine the final outcomes.

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ACTION LEARNING

'The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in

seeing with new eyes.'

- Marcel Proust Action learning is a technique that can be used with small groups (maximum eight people) to tackle urgent problems arising in the work place. It has a number of astonishing and unexpected advantages:

o Team members learn about themselves and each other

o Real problems are solved o Effective action is taken o Leadership potential in the team is

developed o Trust and teamwork are improved o The technique implants a learning

culture in the team. How does it work? Action learning is based on Socratic dialogue. Its power lies in asking questions. One member of the group is the problem presenter or owner of the focus area, and one plays the role of the action learning coach. The other members of the group make statements only in response to a question. The rapid and profound learning that this approach unlocks has to do with the way our assumptions are constantly challenged and we are required to unlearn beliefs and assumptions that no longer serve us or adequately reflect the facts. The fact that everybody in the group is similarly challenged makes an action-learning group a safe place in which to experience the disorientation which inevitably comes when our worldview is readjusted. From the perspective of the collective, this kind of reflection and inquiry often leads to a radical reformulation of the problem to reveal a more systemic and holistic understanding. The following description of the action learning roles can give an impression of what happens in an action learning session. Guidelines for action learning roles: Problem presenter/focus area owner

o Take 2-3 minutes to highlight key elements of the problem/challenge/task o Trust the group to ask for important information/details o Be brief. Too much detail gets in the way of asking questions that challenge

assumptions o Answer questions concisely o Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure”

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o Feel free to ask questions of others Members/participants

o Seek to gain understanding of the problem by asking questions

o Make statements only in response to questions

o Ask questions of other group members

o Build on each others’ questions o Listen to the action learning coach o Avoid yes/no questions (closed

questions) o Listen, listen, listen

Action learning coach

o Focus on helping the group learn/improve – not on solving the problem. Do not criticise the group – the coach should never get involved in the content of the discussion!

o State rough agenda for the session up front: questions on the issue, followed by actions to take on the issue. Monitor time

o Only ask questions o Instruction to the problem owner at the beginning of the session: o “Please take a minute or so to tell us the problem or task that you would like the

group to help you with” o Questions at first intervention (8-10 minutes into session)

o How are we doing as a group so far? OK? Not OK? Great? o What are we doing well? Give an example? What was the impact? o What could we do better? Can you be specific? o Do we have agreement on the problem – yes or no? o Why don’t we all write it down? Is there agreement?

o Additional intervention question areas: quality of questions; building on each others’ questions; willingness to challenge assumptions; creativity of questions; ask problem presenter which questions have been most helpful; quality of ideas and strategies; learnings thus far about problem context, leadership, teams

o Concluding questions: o (To problem presenter) “What action are you going to take as a result of this session?

Were you helped?” o (To entire group) “What did we do best as a group? Quality of our questions?

Learning or problem solving? Team formation/development? Demonstrated leadership behaviours? What did we learn that we could apply to our lives/organisations? Transformative learning? While informative learning concerns changes in what we know, transformative learning happens at a higher level and produces changes in how we know, generally enabling us to embrace greater complexity.

Author of this description: Helen Titchen Beeth The pictures were taken during a strategic seminar with DG MARKT senior leadership team on the future of the Internal Market

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COLLECTIVE MIND-MAP

“A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radically around a central key word or idea. It is used to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organisation, problem solving, decision making, and writing.” - Wikipedia A collective mind-map A collective mind-map is a quick and simple way to create a shared overview of issues and opportunities relevant to a particular subject or challenge. The mind-map always has a clear focus that can be captured in a ”burning” question, i.e. What are the main issues or opportunities you as a team are facing now? The mind-map can be done either on a large sheet of paper, or electronically with mind-mapping software projected on a screen. Ground-rules for making a collective mind-map:

1. All ideas are valuable! We do not evaluate or discard ideas at this point. 2. Whoever presents an idea or issue decides where it goes on the mind-map, and

whether it is a major theme or a sub-issue.

3. It's OK to have contradicting themes or issues.

4. Whenever possible, give concrete examples. The host explains the procedure and rules of making a collective mind-map Participants present their ideas and suggestions.

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Making the mind-map The mind-map process is lead by a host. All participants have access to post-it notes. When anyone has an idea or issue they want to suggest for the mind-map, they write their name on the post-it and hold it up. Runners will collect the post-its and give them to the host, who will then call out the names in the order received. Once a person's name is called, they can present their idea or issue. If the group is large there will be a need for radio-microphones. The runners will provide these when it is the participant's turn to speak.

Two scribes draw up the actual map, or else one person familiar with the mind mapping software, optionally assisted by another person. The central question is at the centre of the mind-map. The major themes – and different issues under each theme, are recorded on the mind-map radiating out from the central question.

Voting When all themes and issues have been recorded on the mind-map, the group can decide on the priorities by voting. Everyone gets a number of votes i.e. sticky dots they can place on the themes or issues they see as most important. The voting procedure gives a clear indication on which themes or issues have the highest leverage for further action.

(The above process is adapted and inspired by “Future Search” – a social technology developed by Marvin Weisbord & Sandra Janoff)

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COLLECTIVE STORY HARVESTING

Storytelling is mankind's oldest knowledge management tool – and still one of the most effective. Our stories contain both the experience and learning that can grow our capacity to function in our complexifying contexts.

Collective harvesting allows us to track many threads or aspects of a single story simultaneously. We can practice targeted listening, group learning and collective meaning making, as well as offering a

tremendous gift to the story holder. Group harvesting is an ideal way to surface the many insights, innovations an a-ha's that dwell beneath the surface of our stories, using the full wealth of the diverse perspectives present in any group in order to enrich the experience and understanding of the group as a whole.

Preparation phase

Allow enough time

You need to allow at least 90 minutes for the whole process. If you're working with people who haven't done this type of process before, keep the storytelling to around 30 minutes so people don't get overloaded. If you want to maximise the learning around a story, you may want to work on the interplay between story, harvest and learning for half a day, a day or even longer.

Select the story with care

• You will need a story that is relevant to the purpose and the context or system you wish to serve with this exercise. Ideally it should have enough complexity, scale and duration to make it interesting.

• The best people to tell the story are those who are directly connected to it. It can be more interesting to hear from more than one person involved in the story. More voices add depth and richness, as well as a variety of points of view.

• The story does not have to be an often-told one, or polished in any form. In fact, this process can be used to help polish a story and enable the storytellers to focus and refine it for different audiences.

Take care with your invitation

Be intentional about how you invite the story holders to come and tell their story. Stories respond to invitation, and when a heartfelt invitation is present, often a story will come out in a whole new way and offer new learning to those telling it. A group harvest is a gift to those telling and those harvesting, and should be offered as such.

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Select the threads

Decide on the threads you want to harvest. Ideally, this should be agreed with the story holders and the listeners, depending on where they want to focus their learning. Take as much time as you need to discuss exactly what you want to get out of this process and what will happen to the harvest afterwards. You'll need at least one person harvesting each thread you've chosen, and more than one person can harvest the same thread simultaneously.

Possible threads to choose from:

• Narrative thread* - The thread of the story – people, events, stages. You might also capture facts, emotions and values that are part of the story.

• Process* - What interventions, processes, applications, discoveries happened?

• Pivotal points* - When did breakthroughs occur? What did we learn?

• Application - What can we learn from this story about application in our own or other systems?

• Taking change to scale – What can we learn from this story about taking change to scale?

• Questions – What questions arise from this story that we could ask of any system?

• When things just came together – What where the times when the right people showed up and things just flowed naturally? (synchronicity & magic)

• Specific theme – Harvest the story using a specific theme (like participatory leadership) and see what it tells you.

• Specific participatory leadership patterns – e.g. the six breaths of process design: where did each breath occur during the story? The 5th organisational paradigm: Where did new forms of governance and working occur? Core team/calling team: What did we learn about holding the centre of this work?

• Principles – What principles of working can be gleaned from this story? What principles of complex living systems were reflected in this work?

• Challenges encountered and how they were overcome

• The story field* - How did the field of the system's story change? Can you name the story or metaphor the system started with and what it moved to?

* Threads marked with * might be foundational to any harvesting process.

Identify other possible harvesting modes

If you have other talents in your group, around graphic facilitation/visuals, poetry, music, mind mapping, art, etc., you might also want to invite harvest in this form. Each of these will add a greater richness, diversity and enjoyment to the harvest.

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Suggested process

Framing and introduction: Welcome people to the session. Make the invitation publically to the storytellers. Explain the harvesting threads and ask for volunteers.

Storytelling: Ask the storytellers to tell the story and the group to harvest. Be clear about the time allocated for the storytelling. (It can be helpful to use a chime to let the storytellers know when they have 5 minutes left)

Collective harvest: Give the storytellers materials to do their 'harvest of the harvest'. Ask each of the harvesters to report on what they found. Take at least as long for this as for the storytelling. Each of the harvests will have more depth than can be told during a first round. It might be helpful to have more than one round of harvest, or for the rest of the group to question each harvester to draw out additional insights.

Response from the tellers: What were the gifts to you from this group harvest? What are you taking away from this session?

Closing the session: Thank the storytellers and the harvesters. Any final remarks about what will happen to the harvest now that it has been heard. Is there enough here to return to it again and see what else surfaces? Do you want to come back as a group and hear the next version of the story?

Materials and set-up

Room set-up: Ideally create a large circle with the storytellers as part of the circle. You may need some small tables for those harvesting onto flipcharts (or they may be OK sitting on the floor).

Supplies: coloured pens and other art supplies.

Equipment: Recording equipment if you want to video the process and results. Camera to photograph any graphic harvest.

What else is collective story harvesting good for?

For the story holders

Collective harvesting is an ideal input both for taking stock of the learning so far in a project and for polishing a story so that it can be told to another audience. Having external ears listen to your story can help to surface things you haven’t seen or haven’t taken notice of during the time you were living in the experience. Often an experience is so complex and moves forward with such speed that it is almost impossible to see how it all fits together from the inside.

We suggest using a collective harvest to take stock at regular intervals during a project’s life. Being well witnessed can be both a blessing and a relief to people who’ve done the hard yards holding the space for something to happen. Good witnessing enables insights about the key pivotal points in a story to surface, as well as helping other emotions to be heard and released. Deep listening can help a story to identify its protagonists’ strengths and gifts, as well as the supports and barriers they faced in contributing those gifts. It can also support a story to rise above the personal to reveal insights about the local context it happened in and even the wider systemic context.

Just as external eyes can help us see something we know well in a new light, external listeners can help story participants to see their own experiences in a new light, often revealing what

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has not been seen from inside the story. Even such a simple thing as naming what has not been named before adds immensely to the learning.

Specific feedback can also help a team to know what to focus on in polishing their story. Often there are so many details held by the team, that a listener can be overwhelmed. Harvesting can help to bring what’s important into sharp relief, supporting a story to become more focused and more potent.

For the Listeners and Harvesters

If storytelling is a skill that is both inherent to humans and one that can be polished with practice, then so is listening. Listening is the companion skill to storytelling, indeed the story arises in the space between the teller and the listener. In essence, a story needs a listener to become what it can be. We don’t often get the opportunity to listen well, especially with a specific purpose, and to provide a necessary feedback loop to those within a committed project. Group story harvesting can provide such a practice and feedback loop, strengthening the community around a project shared in this way.

Harvesting is also a skill that needs practice, and it is important to experience the wide variety of ways a story or an experience can be harvested, each bringing its own richness, much as another facet brings sparkle to a gemstone. Purposeful harvesting is both a good experience and an excellent way to practice. Story listeners and harvesters may want to debrief afterwards on their experience, surfacing their challenges and learning as a way for the group to become more skilful in the future.

For the wider community and networks

Harvests of projects that have gone to scale, as well as those that have faced many challenges, are a valuable contribution to the wider community and beyond, helping us to increase the learning within our networks. Sharing practice stories is one of the quickest ways for principles and practices in any field to be understood and integrated.

The strengths of Collective Story Harvesting

• It can deal with complex realities and bring simplicity as well as surface understanding and learning from complexity.

• It is a harvesting of current reality – how we got to where we are now?

• It creates a rich learning field.

• It creates a strong connection and shared understanding between those involved in the process.

• It is a gift to the storytellers and others, with lots of resonant learning happening.

• It is a simple, but powerful tool that can be used regularly to take stock, capture learning and refocus the field.

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Applying collective story harvesting There are many ways to apply collective story harvesting:

• Systemic story harvest for applied learning: a group focuses on one systemic story to harvest the learnings and apply them to its own work. As in the process described above, a systemic story is told, the group harvests threads and discusses the learnings. This works equally well for a practice group or a working team hearing a story from another organisation or system and then applying the learnings to its own practice.

• Full system team building/strategy session: Harvesting an organisation or group's own story for learning, teambuilding and strategic enhancement. Working with the story in this way brings the group into a collective field of meaning. Vision or mission statements can be enhanced and integrated, strategic plans can be invigorated1.

• Many stories/collective learning: Harvesting a variety of stories simultaneously in small groups, then converging the learning across the full group. A variety of stories are selected that offer different aspects to the group. Participants attend and harvest the story that most interests them. Collective meta-learning is harvested by the full group1.

• Creating a new field of work or practice: Telling the story of the wider context up to now in order to set the scene for the new work or practice field to arise in find its potent focus. This process might also be used for systemic evaluation.

Adapted from the document of the same name by Mary Alice Arthur, which can be found at: http://artofhosting.ning.com/page/core-art-of-hosting-practices

1 You can find a suggested process for this variaton in document '110914 Collective Harvesting of AoH Practice Stories.pdf' under the Collective Story Harvest heading at: http://artofhosting.ning.com/page/core-art-of-hosting-practices

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POWERFUL QUESTIONS While answers tend to bring us to closure, questions open up to exploration. Asking the right question is the most effective way of opening up a conversation and keeping it engaging. A high-quality question focuses on what is meaningful for the participants, triggers our curiosity and invites us to explore further. If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on it, I would use the first 55 minutes to formulate the right question because as soon as I have identified the right question I can solve the problem in less than five minutes. - Albert Einstein When inviting people into a conversation that matters, it is helpful to have an overarching question that itself embodies the purpose of the meeting and invites people into inquiry together. This calling question must be compelling enough to call forth participation from the target community. It is therefore best to discover and formulate the calling question with key stakeholders. The conversation may of course include questions other than the calling question. Questions capture the need for people to come together and are therefore critical to the conversation's success. Some guidelines for choosing questions: • A well-crafted question attracts energy and focuses attention on what matters. Ideally it will

be open-ended, with no simple yes/no answer. • Good questions invite inquiry and curiosity. They do not promote immediate action or

problem-solving. • A good question continues to surface good ideas and possibilities. • Check each possible question with key people who will take part in the conversation. Does

it hold their attention and energy? A powerful question

o focuses attention, intention and energy o is simple and clear o is thought provoking o generates energy o focuses inquiry o challenges assumptions o opens new possibilities o evokes more questions.

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DIALOGUE – A CONVERSATION WITH A CENTRE, NOT SIDES

Participatory Leadership practices are all about dialogue. In many contexts – especially professional ones - what we know of conversation equals debate and discussion. A basic skill we need to develop is how to recognise the difference between debate and discussion on the one hand, and dialogue on the other. This is so that we can recognise which one we are engaged in at any moment and learn how to switch between them in order to use which ever form serves best for our purposes.

The art of thinking together

Fundamentally, the difference lies in the choice between thinking alone and thinking together. In our society, we are much more used to thinking alone, and this draws us into discussion and debate, where we find ourselves defending our views and sustaining our positions against opposing views and positions.

While discussion is a powerful mode of exchange, it has its limitations because it focuses on:

• either/or thinking • closure and completion • controlling the outcome.

Discussion can easily move into debate, whose root means "to beat down". This often creates frustration and bad feeling among people who need to work together.

Dialogue is based on the assumption that in every situation there is an underlying wholeness. Not only is there is room for all perspectives, but unless all perspectives are expressed, held and honoured, that wholeness cannot fully emerge and be seen.

Defend or suspend

Learning to dialogue is about learning to make conscious choices, and so it is a path of personal development. We can transform any conversation into a dialogue by choosing to suspend rather than defend.

Suspending means listening without resistance (we dis-identify from our own starting position). This leads to reflective dialogue, where you can explore underlying causes, rules and assumptions, to get to deeper questions and framing of problems. From here, it is possible to enter generative dialogue, where together you can invent unprecedented possibilities and new insights. A collective flow emerges which is energising and enlightening. We are inquiring together into what matters.

Four basic skills

Dialogue requires four basic skills: listening, respecting, suspending and voicing. A little unpacking shows that these simple words contain an enormous harvest of wisdom and depth.

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Listening

What does it take to really listen?

• Developing an inner silence. It is hard to listen when our minds are full of our own inner dialogue. Learning to listen is learning to be present. We must learn to notice what we are feeling now.

• Recognising that much of our reaction to others comes from memory – it is stored reaction, not fresh response. In this case we are not really listening, we are simply "downloading" from memory of what we already know.

• Learning to distinguish between the inferences we make about experience and the experience itself. Stick with the facts, don't jump to conclusions.

• Following the disturbance – when we are emotionally triggered by something we hear, we tend to close down and act out. Instead of looking for evidence that confirms my point of view, I can listen for the source of the difficulty – in myself and in others.

• Listening while noticing resistance – this helps us to become conscious of the ways in which we project our opinions about others onto them, and distort what is said without realising it.

Respecting

What does respect look like in practice and how do we learn it?

• Honouring boundaries –Treat the person next to you as a teacher – what do they have to teach you that you do not know? Look for what is highest and best in the other and treat them as a mystery that you can never fully comprehend.

• Assuming coherence – look for the whole. The new physics proposes that human beings are intimately part of the overall fabric of life. However, we are conditioned to see only parts, and to assume that the parts comprise the whole. The holistic view suggests that the whole precedes the parts.

• Respecting polarisations – to enable dialogue, we must learn to respect the polarisations that arise without attempting to fix them!

• Supporting the people who challenge – different view points must be integrated, or disturbances will continue. Dialogue requires willingness to hold the space open for inquiry.

• Learning to hold tension – when a group can hold the tension that arises without reacting to it, its capacity for dialogue rises to a whole new level.

Suspending

What becomes possible when we suspend our certainties?

• Dialogue is possible only among people who can be surprised by what they say. Recognise and embrace what you do not already know.

• The first step is to disclose: we make available (to ourselves and others) the contents of our consciousness so we can see what's going on.

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• The next step is to become aware of the processes that generate our thought. Observing our thought processes, we transform them.

• Suspension asks us to refrain from fixing, correcting and problem-solving in favour of inquiring into what we observe.

• At the core of inquiry is the question. A really good question creates a tension in us that we must learn to tolerate – suspend the search for answers and see what emerges.

Voicing

What happens when we speak what is true for us?

• Simply ask: what needs to be expressed now? What is it that people together are endeavouring to say here?

• Finding our authentic voice requires willingness to speak in the circle without knowing what we will say.

• Let there be silence – make space to let the meaning bloom.

• Speak to and from the centre, recognising that it is not only about interpersonal relationships, but that there is something larger at stake.

Mastering these four skills would be basic to becoming a fully-fledged adult in an enlightened society. May it one day come to pass.

(inspired by the book 'Dialogue' by William Isaacs)

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WHEN PRACTICING DIALOGUE, REMEMBER TO…

- FOCUS ON WHAT MATTERS We have no time to waste on what doesn't. - SUSPEND JUDGMENTS, ASSUMPTIONS, CERTAINTIES No one knows it all and dialogue is not about knowing who is right or wrong. It is about exploring together and surfacing what we do not yet know or see. - SPEAK ONE AT A TIME Refrain from interrupting. Speak with intention, say what you mean and then stop. - LISTEN TO EACH OTHER CAREFULLY Listen with attention; really seek to understand what is being said. - LISTEN TOGETHER FOR INSIGHTS AND DEEPER QUESTIONS Do not remain on the surface of what you already know. Engage fully with others to surface what we do not know yet, then engage with that. - LINK AND CONNECT IDEAS Innovation often lies in between – in relationships between existing elements or in the wider context. - SLOW DOWN Reflection and silence can create conditions for inspiration to be born. - BE AWARE OF YOUR IMPACT ON THE GROUP Do not monopolise the speaking time. Make sure everybody is heard. Focus on what is in the middle rather than what is in your mind. - ACCEPT THAT DIVERGENT OPINIONS ARE OK We don't need to reach consensus on what we are discussing. Innovation comes from putting different perspectives together. - CONTRIBUTE WITH YOUR MIND AND HEART Bring your full self into the room. Allow yourself to be both a professional and a human being. - PLAY, DOODLE, DRAW Capture the results of your collective reflection on a large sheet of paper in the middle. - HAVE FUN! What if enjoying ourselves was the key to improving our learning and performance?

These practices can radically shift the quality of any conversation, whether with one person, or in a small circle or with hundreds of people. Like any skill, they need to be practiced regularly to become natural in any context. Practice them and invite others to practice them with you.

You may want to display some of these principles in the room where you are hosting a participatory session, to serve as a constant reminder to participants. Alternatively, you can print them on small cards to put on the tables where conversations will take place.

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CAPTURING THE OUTPUTS OF CONVERSATIONS

THE ART OF HARVESTING RESULTS OF CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER

The purpose of harvesting is to support individual and collective meaning making. The fruits of our most important conversations need to be harvested if they are to have an impact in the world. The harvest of a meaningful conversation can take many forms. It can be tangible (documentation, newsletter, audio or video, etc.) or intangible (new

insights, a change of perspective or mindset, a shared clarity, new relationships and contacts). Both are valuable and needed, as both can enhance our collective intelligence and wisdom. Ultimately the harvest can support wise decisions and wise action. Hosting & Harvesting, two sides of the same thing

“The stakes are too high: our era is too complex, its challenges too significant, its promises too great, and its velocity too fast for us simply to react. Rather we must amplify the power of our brains, individually and collectively, to match our new circumstances.” Eamonn Kelly – Powerful Times Two sides of one thing Graphics: George Pór

The art of hosting meaningful conversations and the art of harvesting them are two sides of the same effort: namely to “amplify” our brains and our hearts, to engage our collective intelligence and wisdom in the search for emergent and sustainable paths through complex landscapes. There is a popular quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes…

“I would not give a fig for simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.”

The Art of Hosting and Harvesting Meaningful Conversations offers a gateway to the simplicity on the other side of complexity, even if the path goes through chaos.

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Two different qualities While hosting and harvesting meaningful conversations are aspects of the same thing, the two activities differ in nature. The work of the host is to invite everyone to speak their truth, listen openly, seek to understand differing views and bring their best to the table and work at hand. The harvesters' focus is on capturing the essence, remembering, seeing patterns and making meaning – and then making this meaning visible and accessible to others in the relevant context. At first sight, hosting is predominantly divergent in nature, teasing out the different strands present in the collective, while harvesting is more convergent, weaving different strands together. Although, of course, neither is solely one or the other. We could also say that hosting is about animating the discovery and learning process, whereas harvesting is about sense-making, embedding insights and learning back into their context, making them as relevant and useful as possible. Circles

Circle by Barbara Bash Harvest is cyclical in nature Winter - Rest, reflection and renewal – some things need time to ripen - the new impulse is born Spring - planning, preparing, sowing, inviting, convening

Summer - working the field, weeding, tending, engaging, acting – immerse in the process Autumn - harvest and process the fruits, chose the seeds to be planted the following spring.. Then Winter comes again with time to rest – reflect – renew…

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Levels Artifacts Feed-back loops Levels Broadly speaking, we see four different levels of harvesting:

o Meta-level harvest What is useful for our longer-term learning? What could usefully be shared with others, similar networks, etc? How widely could this harvest serve? Cyberspace may be the limit?

o Community level harvest What is useful for us as a community to remember? What do we need to share / feed back? With whom and how is it best done?

o “Ground level” harvest After each meeting or process how can we harvest what happened? How can we create a collective memory and make collective meaning right now?

o Personal level harvest How can we enhance our personal learning (using time for reflection, journaling, etc)?

Artifacts Harvest can be captured in different forms. We tend to think in terms of ”artifacts” - memos, newsletters, drawings, videos, etc. The challenge is to find which form best communicates for the purpose at hand. Creating an intentional artifact gives the harvest the attention and form it deserves so that it will be taken seriously by others. Feedback loops Having captured the harvest in an artifact, the next question to ponder is how and where will it be fed back into the system (the organization, the conversation, etc.) in order to help us build on what we have already understood and get to the next level of our conversation and our understanding.

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or add a third loop… Change / renew Change your Mental models Basic assumptions

a transformative loop = harvesting Triple loop learning

Spirals The idea of converging or harvesting is to illuminate and articulate what we understand at this moment, and then to feed that insight or understanding “back into the system”. In this way we can build the next conversation on the previous one - our exploration can spiral instead of going round in circles….

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Intentional & emergent harvest

What color are your lenses? “We do not understand what we see – but we see what we understand.” Peter Senge

Holding an intent Most strategic or meaningful conversations have a stated purpose, and consequently the harvesting will serve this purpose. Holding an intent for harvest will give a conscious and sharp focus for your inquiry. In practice, this often simplifies the design of the process and provides a more seamless experience for participants, as well as producing a rich and relevant harvest. One can harvest both content and process – output and outcome. Harvesting can serve to create a record or memory, and to illuminate emerging patterns and meaning. The process of making meaning – or collective meaning – can be served by reflecting together around questions like: What did we just notice? What did we learn? What do we now see that we didn't see before? Both memory and meaning are valuable. Seeing what emerges The downside of holding an intent – having a strong set of lenses or a clear mental map - is that this may blind you to anything that is outside the map.

“Mental models are powerful filters. They help us make sense and meaning but filter out anything that does not belong.” Eamonn Kelly – Powerful Times

The alternative to holding a strong intent is to consciously step outside the mental map – or set it aside in order see what emerges. Holding our mental models lightly – in a spirit of inquiry may prevent us from being blinded by them. Better still, have a strong harvesting team with members all primed to filter through different lenses!

“Put your arms around the biggest intent you can hold!” George Pór

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Harvesting collectively for emergence

“Who we are together will always be different and more, than who we are alone.” Margaret Wheatley When a group of people has a collective purpose that they pursue together, then delegating the harvest to someone or doing it alone does not make sense.

Principles of a collective harvest for a collective purpose (Courtesy of Chris Corrigan) 1. Agree collectively on the purpose of the joint inquiry (uncover a government plan, build a new community-based approach to child and youth mental health, etc.) 2. Conduct gatherings to collect a lot of diverse wisdom and thinking about the inquiry. 3. Harvest detailed notes from initial conversations, but don’t make meaning from them right away. 4. Invite everyone to read whatever they want of the documents and select the pieces that seem to have the most relevance and benefit to the inquiry at hand. The larger and more diverse the group doing this, the better, especially if you have a substantial and complex inquiry and body of thought. 5. Make this second-level harvest visible and begin identifying patterns within what is emerging, all the while feeding that back into the system to both show progress and help people go back to and find additional meaning and wisdom to support what is emerging. 6. Have a further inquiry to tap creativity to fill the gaps that are being noticed.

Tangible and intangible harvest

“Talking together

is a way of thinking together,

and thinking together

creates these new possibilities

that could not emerge

from just one alone!”

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Harvesting insights and learning is a prerequisite to renewal and new insight. Harvesting the “soft” is much more subtle and subjective than dealing with the “cognitive” or more hard-core parts. Tangible results are measurable, in the way we traditionally understand the term. Intangible results are harder to see, more difficult to agree on. Results may not be immediate, but may in fact be more powerful in the long run. I remember a case where we had facilitated a day for a department in a bank. The purpose of the day was to work with ideas for creating an even better workplace for everyone. Twelve concrete suggestions for further improvement came out of the day. Three months later the CEO was still pleased with the good atmosphere the day had created – but he was a bit concerned that it seemed as if only three of the projects were still “alive”. One month after that, we met with the CEO and a representative from each of the project groups to “evaluate”. We brought three simple questions to the meeting and mind-mapped our conversations around them: 1. Where do we notice or see evidence that something has changed as a result of the day? 2. What is the situation / status of the various projects and what might be the reason? 3. How do we want to move on from here? I think we were all amazed at how much had resulted from that one day. It seemed that the original projects had been just the first stepping-stones. Some projects had not manifested because the group had already moved on and were taking other initiatives. Others because the actual conversation about the “problem” had already shifted it towards a solution, and so on. Furthermore, the relationships and open atmosphere that had resulted from the conversations had changed the climate and prepared the ground for other initiatives, some that the CEO did not even know about. A qualitative inquiry into what we have noticed, what has shifted or changed in our relationships, in the culture or atmosphere may give us information about the intangible part of the harvest.

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The Cycle of Harvesting

The Art of Harvesting is a way to bring the Art of Hosting into its fruition.

Eight phases of harvesting:

o Sensing the need o Preparing the field o Planning the harvest o Planting the seeds o Tending the crop o Picking the fruits: Recording – or creating a collective memory. o Preparing and processing the fruits: Creating collective meaning o Planning the next harvest: Feeding forward

1. Sensing the need Something shifts in the way things are, causing a need to shift or change something – to take action. The first step is to become clear about what the need or call is. Picture a field in which someone has planted wheat. When we imagine that field being harvested, we probably see a farmer using equipment to cut down the wheat, thresh it, and separate the seeds from the stalks. Now imagine a geologist, a biologist and a painter harvesting from that same field. The geologist picks through the rocks and soil, gathering data about the land itself. The biologist might collect insects and worms, bits of plants and organic matter. The painter sees the patterns in the landscape and chooses a palette and a perspective for a work of art. They all have different needs and will harvest differently from the field. The results of their work go to different places and are put to different uses. But they all have a few things in common: they have a purpose for being in the field and a set of questions about that purpose; they have a pre-determined place to use the results of the harvest, and they have specific tools to help them do their work. It's useful to note that despite the field being the same, the tools and results are specific to the purpose and the inquiry.

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Sensing the need may at first be intuitive or very basic – like sensing hunger. But once the sensed need becomes conscious it can be acted upon. The need is not complicated; it is real and clear; it speaks deeply and inspires invitation and action. Everything springs from this need. The way we hold it and invite others into it will inform the harvest that we take at the end of the day. The need translates into a clear purpose and some defined outcomes. These two fix points can offer the coordinates for a good harvest.

”The quality of the field determines the quality of the yield.” Otto Scharmer “The quality of the intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervener!” Bill O´Brien

2. Preparing the field ”The quality of the field determines the quality of the yield.” This quote by Otto Scharmer talks about the importance of preparing the field – making it ready to nurture the seeds. In some cases the caller creates the readiness of the field by creating awareness around the need. Others with a similar need will recognize the call. In preparing the field – sending out the call, giving the context, inviting others in, etc., you set the tone for the whole process. The seriousness and quality of this work will determine the quality of what you reap. In other words – you start to think about the harvest from the very beginning – not as an afterthought. Preparing a field for planting involves paying careful attention to environmental conditions, the condition of the soil, the quality of the tools and the seeds before even anything is planted. This work can take a whole year, during which you build wind-breaks, condition the soil, clear the rocks and prepare things. What you are doing here is actually harvesting a field so that the seeds can be planted. The quality of the field is set with the invitation that arises from the need. The quality of the invitation springs from the presence and awareness of the initial conversation. There is a seriousness and a depth that is communicated in the process from the beginning. This work looks like preparing ourselves and inquiring into the capacity of the system to actually do the work we are asking it to do. Preparing ourselves as hosts is part of preparing the field.

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3. Planning the harvest Planning the harvest starts with and follows the design process. What is your intention with the harvest? A clear purpose and some success criteria for both process and the harvest will add clarity and direction. What you harvest is determined by what you sow.

3 principles for planning the harvest (Provided by Ivan Webb at the actKM discussion list and harvested and shared by Chris Corrigan) Three simple principles will change the culture of most organizations and lead naturally to knowledge management being embedded in the organization’s activity. It is everyone’s job to:

o know what is happening o work with others to improve what is happening o make it easier for the next person to do their work well

A checklist for planning the harvest A good question to ask is: What would be useful and add value - and in which form would it serve best? Translated into a simple check-list:

o What intent are you holding? o Who is going to benefit from or use the harvest? o How can you add most value to the work at hand – how will the harvest serve best? o What form or what media will be most effective? o Who should host or do the harvesting? o What is the right timing?

In other words, part of planning the harvest is also to know for whom, when and how you need to use it. Which harvest formats will serve you best? Are there templates, sheets, colors, drawings, audio or video recordings, etc. that can be used as harvesting aids? In his book Out of Control, Kevin Kelly describes how, the seeds or plants that enter an empty ecosystem in the early phases after a desert fire determine what the ecosystem will be like, and what kind of plant habitat you will end up with. “In all beginnings – and all endings, be careful!” Tao Te Ching

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4. Planting the seeds The questions around which we structure the process we will host become the seeds for harvesting. In many cultures and places the sowing of seeds is accompanied by ritual. All gardeners and farmers know that sowing seeds depends on the time and the conditions. One does not simply plant when one feels like it. One plants once the conditions are right to maximize the yield. In hosting practice this means asking the right questions and being sensitive to the timing. In sowing the seeds that will drive the inquiry – identifying and asking strategic and meaningful questions – you determine the output. So in planning the harvest, ask yourself what this process needs to yield. What information, ideas, output or outcome will benefit you here and now, and what might take you to the next level of inquiry? Even though the process of harvesting starts with preparing the field and the planning – the process itself is an on-going one. With each part of the process, you harvest something. Some of it you need to use right away, to help lead you into the next process. Some of the harvest you will need later. The most powerful seeds are powerful questions. A powerful question:

o is simple and clear o is thought-provoking o generates energy o focuses inquiry o challenges assumptions o opens up to new possibilities o evokes more questions.

A powerful question focuses attention, intention and energy.

What if harvest is the bridge from conversation to action?

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5. Tending the crop Protect the integrity of the crop. Nurture it as it grows, weed it and thin it to keep the strong plants growing. Remove all that will not nourish or serve. Gardeners scrutinize their plants - call it scouting. They look for pests and signs of under-nutrition, and see what they can learn about the crops as they grow. This involves a combination of feeding the field and letting it grow. But part of it just sitting in the field, holding space for what is emerging and enjoying it. As the process unfolds, take enjoyment in seeing your work unfold in all its complexity. The degree to which you can welcome the growth you are witnessing will translate into the quality of the harvest. Now you is the time for noticing both the quality of the field and the quality of the crops. This is where we engage in conversation and exploration – where the richness of the harvest is born. The richer the exchange, the richer the harvest! 6. Picking the fruits Picking the fruits corresponds to recording or creating a collective memory. The simplest way to harvest is to record what is being said and done, the output of the conversations, etc. Recording can be done in words.

your notes, which will be subjective or transcripts of out-put produced in conversations or the participants themselves documenting key insights, which will be objective.

Recording can also be done with pictures / photographs / videos / films.

Pictures capture and recall feelings, atmospheres, situations. Or you can video the conversation - record both verbally and visually

It is helpful to give some thought in the planning phase to how you want to harvest. What kind of records, templates etc. will help you gather the relevant information or knowledge?

“A thought which does not result in an action is nothing much, and an action which does not proceed from a thought is nothing at all.” George Bernanos

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7. Preparing and processing the fruits Creating a memory is the first step. As we pick the fruits or seeds for processing, some will be used right away, some will be processed further and some will be used as seed for the next season. Preparing and processing the fruits corresponds to creating collective meaning and value. The second step is making collective sense and meaning. This is where we add value and make the data useful. There are many ways of making sense and meaning. The general idea is to go from loads of bits of information to chunks of meaning. There are several ways to help this process along:

Be systematic. Ask collectively: What did you notice? What gave sense and meaning to you? Notice the patterns - they indicate what is emerging.

Look for ways of reducing complexity through: metaphors, mental models, stories and graphic renderings

Clustering, voting etc. can add clarity and reduce noise Meaning-making can also happen in a conversation at the next level. Harvesting from the past: You may look back and ask: What did we learn? What made sense? Where are we now in the journey? What are the next steps? Harvesting in the present: What are we sensing? What are we noticing now? What patterns are emerging? etc. Harvesting for the future: You may also look forward: look for the issues or questions that you know will feed the next inquiry and feed those back into the system. Harvesting for emergence: “What question could shift us to the next level?”

The first people had questions and they were free. The second people had answers and they became enslaved Wind Eagle, American Indian Chief

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8. Planning the next harvest: feeding forward Most harvesting is done to bring closure, or bring us to the next level of understanding. More importantly, to enable us to know collectively, see the same picture and share the same understanding together. These are the fruits of the harvest. From Chris Corrigan: “Once in a conversation with a client, I stumbled upon one of these hobbit tools of harvesting: have somewhere to take the harvest.

My client's vision was to convene a conference, produce a report and hope that the report inspired action. When we spoke about the real impact of the conference, it turned out she wasn't confident that the report would come to life on it's own. I challenged her to do more than that and to find a way to bring the conference proceedings to life. So we began to craft a strategy for the harvest of this event.

The plan became to harvest the results of the conference as both a record of the event and as an inquiry in itself. We shared the report but we also crafted a series of questions - the questions we are left with after three days of deliberations - and these questions would be put to five different and specific forums. My client spent the month leading up to the conference talking to influential groups, organizations and forums to find five places that would commit to co-inquiring with her on the conference proceedings during the year following the conference. This plan was shared with the conference delegates in a pre-conference note that gave them confidence and inspiration that the conference would have an impact.

In the months following the conference, the report was taken from one gathering to another, and many eyes and hands worked through the ideas that were raised in the gathering. Harvesting into inquiry spreads the results and is a powerful way to create sustainable learning and engagement."

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Who should do the harvesting?

Whoever does the harvest will enjoy the fruits of it We need a harvester!! Where is our secretary?? I have heard this comment many times! Having harvesting as an afterthought is like the farmer who is so focused on preparing the field and growing the crop, that he forgets about the

harvest. Going through all the trouble of preparing the field and tending the crops without harvesting is insane! Picking the fruits - recording and transcribing - can be done by most people and can easily be delegated. But making sense of the multitude of input, noticing the emerging patterns, finding the seeds/questions to feed forward, is where the fruits of the harvesting really lie. This meaning making is best done with the stakeholders, those who own the project, know the content and need to act on it. Individual and collective harvest Individual harvest can be done through reflection, journaling etc. The individual harvest enhances individual learning and the individuals´ contribution to the collective inquiry. My best experiences of harvesting have been when the stakeholders themselves have done it together, collectively. Harvesting collectively seems to have a greater potential for emergence and yields more than harvesting alone. It becomes the next level of conversation, a meta-level, where we make sense together. If the stakeholders cannot do the harvest, gather a good, inspired and diverse harvesting team and plan a way to feed the harvest back into the system. If you cannot get a team but you are inspired to do it, give it your best shot. Feed it back into the system and see if it stirs.

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HARVESTING & CONVERGENCE METHODOLOGIES

There are many ways to collect the results of important conversations and to make sense of them. Here are some of them. Be creative and adapt them to your contexts and needs.

Harvesting a check-in circle by dedicated harvesters:

When you open a process and invite a group to check in, for example in circle, it is usually delicate to ask people to write on cards because you need them to become present to themselves and to the process first. A good solution is for a pair of dedicated harvesters to capture in turn the contribution from everyone. They should ideally sit next to each other with a stack of

cards and a marker each so they can complement each other and avoid duplications. After the circle they may display the cards on a board or a flipchart and cluster the contributions by meaning to surface the patterns.

Cards Harvest after a World Café or in Circle:

After a Café session, you may invite each person in the room to identify their key insights or questions inspired by the conversation they have just taken part in. A good way of then collecting the cards/insights on a board or a wall paper is to ask anyone to start with one (and only one) item and for the others to attentively listen and add to this item something similar or close. This way, some natural clusters of meaning are created by the participants themselves. Ideally, as a host, let the group make sense themselves

or have a dedicated host by the board helping with the clustering (to avoid getting trapped into the content). You can propose the same process in circle with cards dropped on the floor and clustered in real time.

Sharing results collected on flipchart sheets:

One of the most often used ways of converging the reflections after any type of process (Open Space, World Café, Ritual Dissent…). The hosts of the sessions or spokespersons of the groups bring their flipchart into the group (usually in circle) and speak in turn what their key findings are (issues explored, solutions identified, next steps…). Keeping the discipline of the speakers when time becomes short can be a challenge!

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Exhibition / 'Gallery Walk' after an Open Space session: With large groups, the flipchart technique described above will probably take too long. As an alternative, you can organise an exhibition style in one or two rounds where you invite each session host to very briefly (30 seconds to a minute max.) share their key insights, as a way of pitching their session for more people to join the more in-depth sharing moment that follows. Once each session host has spoken, you apply Open Space principles again and people can go to learn from and contribute to the session(s) of their choice. This enables the host to enrich his/her harvest with new perspectives.

Collective mind map:

See dedicated section above

Live clustering of individual key items:

Imagine you have invited a group to share (through Appreciative Inquiry) the success stories they are most proud of in their work and you want to distil out of those stories the strengths demonstrated.

At the end of the interview phase, invite each person to write on a card the key strength from his/her story. You then invite people to circulate in the room to find others

with the items that are same or similar. In a very lively manner people will self-organise in a short time in groups of different sizes and in a completely unpredictable manner. It is fun, people enjoy it and it is effective with groups of any size - a group of 100 people will organise themselves in 2 to 3 minutes maximum.

Once the groups are stabilised, go from one group to another (use a mike if necessary) and ask them to speak their key concept to everyone and maybe add some nuances in the groups. You may want to invite the groups to stick their key concept and all their cards on a board.

If this exercise is part of a process designed to surface key challenges or possible improvements or key developments needed, you can add a next step by inviting people to reflect in their groups about what can be done in the area they have identified.

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Harvesting individual interviews in Appreciative Inquiry: It usually is good to distribute individual harvesting sheets to all participants of an interview process. Each individual story will be harvested on a separate sheet. When participants come back together you can invite them to display all the sheets on a wall, so that everyone gets a chance to read them during the day and get some additional inspiration.

Harvesting templates for Open Space or Pro Action Café sessions: Pre-defined templates can be suggested for session hosts to collect the key results of Open Space or Pro Action Café sessions. The template can be made available on a sheet of flipchart. Better still, if laptops are available, prepare an electronic template into which results can be input in real time. The results can then be presented by the hosts to the plenary, projected on screen and inserted into the report of the process. The following templates may inspire you to create your own. Template 1:

Title: What is the issue, question or project? 1. Give a short summary of our key points and insights 2. What actions / next steps do we recommend? 3. What will we do ourselves within our sphere of influence? 4. What help do you need and from whom? 5. Who participated in the session? 6. Who is the contact person? 7. Who is willing to help move this forward?

Template 2:

Title: What is the issue, question or project? 1. Problem statement 2. Why the problem exists 3. What happens if the problem is not fixed - in the short term - in the long term 4. Recommended solutions 5. Expected benefits 6. Who participated in the session? 7. Who is the contact person? 8. Who is willing to help move this forward?

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Having a check-out circle harvested by the participants themselves:

A good and swift way of checking out of a process is to invite participants to identify their key learning from the process, write it on a card, and drop it on the floor in front of them. In this way you can see when everybody is ready and then hear what is on the card (and nothing more). This allows a group of 100 people to check out in less than 10 minutes. And you can collect all insights afterwards.

Taking pictures during a participatory process: As a host, taking pictures helps to focus one's attention on the process and to better sense what is happening as the process as it is unfolding. It also helps to memorise people's faces. It is strongly recommended to systematically photograph all pieces of harvest, in case they go astray. If you take pictures of people while they are in conversation, always ask everyone for permission and mention the use you intend to make of them.

Creating a newsletter / harvest letter / report of the process: Such a harvest letter serves as a living memory of the process, especially when it can be illustrated with pictures. This always has a very positive impact on the participants, especially if it can be delivered swiftly after the event. It can also inform those who could not be there. And above all it will be an invaluable source of information for the follow-up. Depending on the context and the needs, you may produce a shorter version with the key insights (sort of executive summary) and an extensive version with all detailed results. Important: ideally you should plan for a dedicated harvesting team during the process and the newsletter could be delivered the day after. If that is not possible, always plan time in your Calendar to create it, otherwise it will become a burden afterwards and might never be issued, which would create a very negative impression. Again, develop your own template and enjoy yourselves while doing it!

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LANDSCAPING

A Landscape is a visual representation of a participatory process. It includes both what we are going to do during the process and how we are going to work together.

To many practitioners, this is 'the signature' of the participatory leadership approach.

In the preparation phase by the hosting team, drawing a Landscape is very effective to make visible the red thread of a process, and how each

step will build on each other. There may be several interactions needed.

It needs not be very graphically advanced. Simple 'clouds' already help to have a more visual representation of the inner logic of the process. And in any case, the graphics should not hide the content but support it.

During the participatory process itself, a Landscape is a good way to raise people's curiosity about the process as soon as they enter the room, to present the process at the start, and to have a dedicated and visible space where to harvest the key results of conversations. Sometimes, this is enough as a memory or even report of an event. It also helps to easily bring the late comers into the process. You can also use it at the end of the process as a way of checking out, by inviting participants to add their key learnings or 'A-ha' moments with post-its or markers. After the process has ended, many people enjoy hanging the landscape on the wall of their offices or corridor - again piquing the curiosity of anyone passing by.

Using a landscape in this way can create a coherent visual memory based on key insights, at the same time as offering an overview.

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GRAPHIC RECORDING

Graphic Recording is an advanced harvesting technique. Also called by some Strategic Illustration, it consists in representing graphically and in real time the outcomes of conversational processes or more traditional conferences. It enhances the attention and retention of the audience and illuminates the key insights and patterns presented or discovered which can be reflected back to the group and seed their next reflections. The graphic records are also a vivid memory of an event.

It can have various degrees: from simple symbols and keywords organised in a structured way on a flipchart sheet in the middle of a small group to most advanced versions with fully fledged drawings.

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LOGISTICS

When preparing to host conversations that matter, you should pay particular attention to the quality of the space and – devil being in the details – to logistics.

The list below is indicative and you will always have to adapt it to the design and what will actually be available on site. Prepare yourself to be creative and flexible!

All following requirements should be kept in mind when drafting calls for tenders

SELECTION OF THE VENUE

- Room large and flexible enough to host a conversation (some equivalents from real-life situations: in a room for 400 people in theatre style, 200 people can sit in café; in a room where 30 people can sit around a large rectangle table, 30 people can sit in café-style)

- The room should really have natural light and ideally it should be possible to open windows to get some fresh air. If not, the air, energy and heat generated during the work will get stuck in the room.

PREPARATION VISIT BEFOREHAND

- Take the time for a good visit of the venue and to sit down with the logistical manager in the room itself, put a flipchart sheet in the middle and draw the plan of the room as you will need it set up

- Take pictures of the room for future reference and to share the sense of the space with the team members or sponsors who could not be part of the visit.

- Will the acoustics in the room be fine when all participants are talking?

- Check where and how you can hang the productions of the groups: on the walls is ideal (with blutack or masking tape?) or on dedicated boards

FURNITURE

- Tables should be moved easily

- Chairs without tablets and without wheels (for security purpose mostly)

- Usually a podium is not necessary

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EQUIPMENT

- PC & beamer to which one can connect a laptop easily. Connection must be tested beforehand

- Screen large enough for all participants to look even from the back of the room - Usable for a voting on the collective mind map if one is planned. If the screen is too high for example, then a lower screen and a portable beamer must be foreseen

- Laptops for groups works if you want the groups to harvest their results themselves in real time

- Microphones: tie-mikes or ear-mikes are ideal for the hosts, hand-held microphones are good to pass them around to collect participants insights, 1 central mike on stand, 1 mike near the PC/laptop

- Possibility to quickly print out documents created during the event (which format: A4 or A3?)

- Large clock in the room

FACILITATION MATERIAL

- Badges for participants (print before / blank?)

- Large boards to pin the cards collected and documents produced during the event

- Flipcharts stands + additional paper rolls

- Moderations sets including various cards, markers, pins, glue

- Large roll of thick paper for landscapes, open space matrix, collective mind maps, large pieces of harvest…

- Colour pens and markers

- Masking tape and blu-tack - a lot!

- Scissors, cutter

- Café etiquette

- Print the harvesting templates if any

MEALS & REFRESHMENTS

- Ideally a running bar available all the time in the room with coffee, tea, water, juices

- When a lunch is foreseen, the best formula is a buffet which allows all the flexibility you need and keeps people in the spirit of self-organisation and active participation. A served lunch always takes a lot of time and drains people's energy.

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PREPARATION & SET-UP

- Whenever possible for large-scale conversations, the best final preparation is done the afternoon before: check-in as a team, reviewing the process, setting-up the room and all logistics. For an event starting at 9:00, the room should absolutely be ready at the latest at 8:00 so you have time to fine tune anything that needs to be.

- When preparing for a Café conversation: 4 participants per table, maximum 5, with room enough to circulate freely between the tables, 2 flipchart sheets on each table with colour pens and markers and the Café etiquette

- Create a work station for the hosting team and possibly a separate one for the harvesting team

- Dedicate one table for the facilitation material

- Test all equipment: connection laptop-beamer, functioning and volume of the microphones

minutes before the start of the meeting

- Check all equipments before: PCs, screens, microphones...

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PART II. STRATEGIC DESIGN 107 CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION The following pages will give a short introduction into how to combine and apply some of the core methodologies that support participatory leadership in a strategic organisational context. The following qualities or conditions support successful implementation:

o Participatory leadership as described in this workbook is particularly useful when working with complexity (complex problems and situations), where there are no clear, unambiguous, fixed solutions, but where the context is constantly changing and you have to work flexibly with what is emerging.

o To create a successful intervention you should plan a process not an event. This

means that there is a preparatory phase, the actual engagement process (one event or a series of events), and a follow-up. Each phase contains steps that need to be clarified before proceeding to the next phase. (See the 'Six Breaths of Process Architecture)

o Planning and designing an emergent process or strategy (rather than a prescriptive

one) means operating in the 'chaordic space'. (See 'The Chaordic path'. The Chaordic Stepping Stones & Chaordic Design Process offer a step-by-step approach to structuring and creating progress in this space.)

o Designing a process in this context means creating a framework or light structure

(process design) within which the group or organisation can operate and produce results in an environment of self-organising order rather than control.

o A good knowledge of the methods and means available will allow you to choose the

right means for the situation. o A good process design responds to the need in the moment, allowing you to be well

prepared but flexible and able to adapt in response what is actually happening. o Fully combining and integrating content with process, each in support of the other

is crucial for creating good results. (A good content combined with a poor process or a good process without real content both fall short of the mark.)

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WORKING WITH PURPOSE Discovering purpose is discovering why something exists. Often we hurry into action before we properly understand what is needed and why. Getting clear about purpose – especially collectively - sets us on course for taking right action. Purpose then becomes a navigational tool, like a compass, that helps us discover the direction of travel so that our efforts can be of service. When all those involved in a collective enterprise clearly understand the bigger picture of overall purpose, this guides and connects the contributions of the different actors and supports everyone in seeing what needs doing and doing it. Collective clarity of purpose is the invisible leader – and it makes self-organisation possible. Achieving collective clarity of purpose is a key strategic action. Failing to articulate the purpose of an enterprise will create entanglements, confusion and conflicts instead of achieving the desired outcomes. Nor is seeking purpose something to be done once only, at the outset. As action is taken, the world changes as a result, so it is wise to check in regularly with our purpose: given what has happened, are we still on course? Or is our purpose shifting? In an organisation or a community, many purposes co-exist, and it is important to interconnect them so they do not conflict or counteract each other. Purposes often at play include: - the purpose of the stakeholders that the organisation serves - the purpose of the whole community / organisation - the purpose of the core group - the purpose of each member of the core team The following questions may inspire your collective inquiry into your shared purpose: - What is our collective purpose? - What is the purpose of our function, team, project? - How does my purpose align with the purpose we are all here to accomplish? - What is the purpose at the heart of this work that will align us all to accomplish it?

A statement of purpose defines, with absolute clarity and deep conviction,

the purpose of the community. An effective statement of purpose will be a clear, commonly understood statement of that which

identifies and binds the community together as worthy of pursuit.

When properly done it can usually be expressed in a single sentence.

Participants will say about the purpose,

If we could achieve that, my life would have meaning.

Dee Hock

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DEVELOPING A PARTICIPATORY PROCESSES FOR RESULTS

NEEDS & GIVENS - What are the real needs felt and complex problems to be solved? - What is given (non-negotiable)? - What is open for participation?

PURPOSE OF THE PARTICIPATORY PROCESS: What is the new that we are really looking to discover now?

HOST & HARVEST THE ENGAGEMENT PROCESS: Be clear, honest, trust the process designed, adapt if needed, safeguard the cohesion of your hosting team, harvest the results DISTIL THE RESULTS

TOWARDS NEXT STEPS: - Collect the results into a report - Identify the next wise steps - Distil the important learning as a hosting team to facilitate your next collaboration

FOLLOW-UP: - Monitor the results - Spread the success stories

DESIGN THE PROCESS - Share the needs and purpose of the process - Invite people in the spirit of participation - Clarify logistics CONVENE WITH CLEAR

INVITATION - Share the needs and purpose of the process - Invite people in the spirit of participation - Clarify logistics

NEXT ITERATION / COLLABORATION? Commitment

Host the whole process

Trust each other Trust the process

Learn together Be authentic

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CHECKLIST

Before the process - meeting

Preparation (purpose: to create focus for, and prepare for the meeting/process).

o Reach an understanding of what is meaningful to the participants o Understand what is the need for the process o Identify the burning questions of the system to be 'hosted' o Clarify purpose, goals and methods o Send out an invitation which states a clear purpose o Prepare logistics, materials etc. o Prepare yourself as host o Make the room/space yours

The process - meeting 1. Opening the meeting/process (purpose: to create a “safe space”, acceptance, meaning and overview.

o Set the context for the meeting process – where it fits in a bigger picture o Purpose – short and long term o Framing – set boundaries – and what are givens o Check in – physically, mentally, and emotionally – so everyone’s voice is heard, and

everyone is present. o Surface participants' expectations – and hopes for outcomes o Share meeting design/structure … or o Create a shared agenda

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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3. Closing the meeting/process (purpose: summary/wrap up, conclusion, closing)

o Review of results, decisions o Conclusions o Agreements o Check-out (personal)

After the meeting/process

Follow up (purpose: review, learning, feeding forward) o Review of experiences and results o Evaluation o Learning o Feeding forward from the meeting/process into the larger system o Full stop… or beginning

Capturing the learning

Documenting both content and process, to create a shared memory (purpose: to maintain and anchor common/shared knowledge, insights, agreements etc., and to feed knowledge back into the system, so it is not lost and can be further built upon.

Other possible ingredients

Disturbance For a process to be transformative, there needs to be the right amount of disturbance. Too little disturbance won't move anything or really challenge; too much will likely be rejected as too overwhelming (inspired by Humberto Maturana). The ability to handle chaos The courage to let go of control Variation – in rhythm – content – methods – process etc.. Experience-based – “Tell me and I will forget – show me and I will remember – involve me and I will learn.” From head to feet – personally meaningful – mentally – emotionally and action-wise The hosting o Show up o Be present o Speak your truth o Get out of the way It is important to let the purpose shape the meeting. The format of the meeting will vary depending on whether:

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• it already has a determined content (i.e. the group wants to agree upon or make a decision around a predetermined issue/content), in which case it will need a formal structure

• it is intended to explore, inquire, develop ideas or make space for co-creation and development of new content, in which case it will need an open structure.

Types of meetings Formal structure Open structure

Creative (Directed/’controlled’) design and planning meetings

Idea-generation meetings, brainstorming, development meetings

Learning Education, Information meetings

Interactive processes, Dialogue meetings, Experience sharing, etc.

Decision making Common ground

Decision making meetings Council, etc.

Copied from InterChange's on-line resources: http:www.interchange.dk/resources/checklistfordesign/

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DIVERGENCE AND CONVERGENCE Effective inquiry or multi-stakeholder conversation tends to unfold in a specific pattern that contains three phases: divergence, emergence and convergence. Each phase is different, and the process and participants have different needs in each phase. As a host, it is therefore important to know where we are in the process – and what is needed in each phase. The three phases are different ways of thinking and working that are complementary. They can be likened to the three phases of breathing: breathing in (lungs expanding/diverging) holding, breathing out (lungs contracting/converging). The ’breath’ of divergence and convergence - of breathing in and breathing out - is at the heart of designing participatory processes. Every process goes through several such breathing cycles (see also the section on process design further down). In the divergent phase, there is as yet no clear goal. This is the “goal-seeking” phase where a clear shared purpose gives the collective direction. Divergent thinking typically generates alternatives, has free-for-all open discussion, gathers diverse points of view and unpacks the problem. It is important in this phase to ask the right questions – ones which keep inquiry open, rather than closing it down. If you close the divergent phase too soon, the degree of newness and innovation achieved will be less. Ideally a group will stay in inquiry in the divergent phase until a new shared and agreed solution emerges, or a goal is seen collectively. The divergent phase is non-linear and needs ”chaos time”. To host this phase well, it is important to focus on the process and allow sufficient time, knowing that the next phases can go rapidly when this first phase is allowed to run to term. The convergent phase is goal-oriented and focused, linear, structured and usually subject to time constraints. It is focused on getting results and may require quick decisions. Convergent thinking involves evaluating alternatives, summarising key points, sorting ideas into categories and arriving at general conclusions. In between the divergent and convergent phases, the emergent phase - fondly known by

Clear purpose

Diversity

Time

Divergent phase

Emergent phase

Convergent phase

Clear goal Groan Zone

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many who have experienced it as the ‘groan zone’ – is the phase where magic happens, where different ideas and needs are integrated. It may require us to stretch our own understanding in order to hold and include other points of view. We call it the groan zone because it may feel messy and uncomfortable, but it is also the phase where new and innovative solutions emerge.

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SIX ‘BREATHS’ OF PROCESS ARCHITECTURE Over the years many hosts have seen their work with different (larger scale) initiatives as a sequence of different ‘breaths’, different phases of divergence and convergence. This iterative flow has become known among practitioners as the ‘Six Breaths’. As we learn through reflecting on our work, this pattern will no doubt become clearer…

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CHAORDIC DESIGN

The chaordic design process has six dimensions, beginning with purpose and ending with practice. Each of the six dimensions can be thought of as a lens through which participants can examine the circumstances giving rise to the need for a new organisation or to re-conceive an existing one.

Developing a self-organising, self-governing organisation worthy of the trust of all participants usually requires intensive effort. To maximise their chances of success, most groups take a year or more to go through the process. During that time, a representative group of individuals (called a Core Team) from all parts of the engaged organisation or community meet regularly to work through the chaordic design process.

The steps involved in conceiving and creating a more chaordic organisation are:

Develop a statement of purpose

The first step is to define - with absolute clarity and deep conviction - the purpose of the community. An effective statement of purpose will be a clear, commonly understood statement of what identifies and binds the community together as worthy of pursuit. When properly done, it can usually be expressed in a single sentence. Participants will say about the purpose: "If we could achieve that, my life/job would have meaning."

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Define a set of principles

Once the purpose has been clearly stated, the next step is to define - with the same clarity, conviction and common understanding - the principles by which those involved will be guided in pursuit of that purpose. Principles typically have high ethical and moral content, and developing them requires engaging the whole person, not just the intellect. The best principles will be descriptive, not prescriptive, and each principle will illuminate the others. Taken as a whole, together with the purpose, the principles constitute the body of belief that will bind the community together and against which all decisions and acts will be judged.

Example of a set of principles – developed by the Elise core team that hosted Inter-institutional Workshops for translators to raise awareness of a communication tool for translators.

"Our principles speak of the way we wish to work together.

• Our relationship is based on trust

• We sense, then we act, then we sense, then we act... When we don't know what to do, we stop and sense until the next step becomes clear (OK, we might have a little panic, first... )

• Awareness is important: we pay attention to each other and to the process

• We trust each other to act when needed

• We pay attention to what is in the centre

• We have fun together, doing challenging, meaningful work

• Our mandate is to succeed, and we do whatever it takes

• We have a clear goal that makes sense to us

• We interact: we work together, we take each other's advice, we are peers

• We are flexible and we support each other to become ever more flexible"

Identify all participants

With clarity about purpose and principles, the next step is to identify all relevant and affected parties - the stakeholders whose needs, interests and perspectives must be considered in conceiving (or re-conceiving) the organisation. As the core team members pursue their work, their perceptions of who constitutes a stakeholder will typically expand. They now have an opportunity to ensure that all concerned individuals and groups are considered when a new organisational concept is sought.

Create a new organisational concept

When all relevant and affected parties have been identified, core team members creatively search for and develop a general concept for the organisation. In the light of purpose and principles, they seek innovative organisational structures that can be

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trusted to be just, equitable and effective with respect to all participants, in relation to all the practices in which they may engage. They often discover that no existing form of organisation can do so and that something new must be conceived.

Write a constitution

Once the organisational concept is clear, the details of organisational structure and functioning are expressed in the form of a written constitution and by-laws. These documents will incorporate, with precision, the substance of the previous steps. They will embody purpose, principles and concept, specify rights, obligations and relationships of all participants, and establish the organisation as a legal entity under appropriate jurisdiction.

Foster innovative practices

With clarity of shared purpose and principles, the right participants, an effective concept and a clear constitution, practices will naturally evolve in highly focused and effective ways. They will harmoniously blend cooperation and competition within a transcendent organisation trusted by all. Purpose is then realised far beyond original expectations, in a self-organising, self-governing system capable of constant learning and evolution.

Drawing the pieces into a whole

The process is iterative. Each step sheds new light on all of the preceding steps and highlights where modifications or refinements need to be made. In effect, the process continually folds back on itself, more fully clarifying the previous steps even as each new dimension is explored. Over time, the elements become deeply integrated. None is truly finished until all are finished.

Two stumbling blocks are frequently encountered - moving onto the next stage too quickly and allowing the striving for perfection to bog down the process. The first difficulty is common when working on purpose and principles, where agreement on "platitudes" can often be reached even when underlying differences persist. In these situations, finding an easy answer that pleases everyone is not enough; digging deeper to find richer and more meaningful understanding and agreement is essential. This can be taken to an extreme, of course, which leads to the second risk. Perfection is not required and will never be attained. Getting a very good 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 be subsequently refined.

The most difficult parts of the process are releasing preconceived notions about the nature and structure of organisations and understanding their origins in our own minds. We often catalyse this process by asking the question: "If anything imaginable were possible, if there were no constraints whatever, what would be the nature of an ideal institution to accomplish our purpose?"

There is no right or wrong way to undertake and proceed through the chaordic design process, but we typically observe the following pattern in our work with organisations:

o One or two sessions exploring the core chaordic concepts with a leadership or initiating group. We urge groups and organisations to take time to assess the

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relevance and "fit" of chaordic concepts and processes for their circumstances. Having key participants consider and endorse a major change initiative is essential if the effort is to have a serious chance of success.

o One or two sessions identifying participants, developing resources and devising a strategy for working through the chaordic design process. One or more months of work are typically required to organise the resources and support that an organisational development effort will need. This includes the development of several dedicated teams with responsibility for project management and staffing, outreach and communications, and organisational concept and design.

o A series of in-depth meetings, each several days in length, to work through each of the six elements. Some elements, such as principles and organisational concept, often take more than a single meeting. It is not uncommon for this series of meetings to take at least a year, sometimes two, especially when dealing with large, complex organisations or industries.

o Ongoing analytic and educational support for participants in the process. Issues invariably arise that require more detailed research or attention by a special team. Research on industry-specific matters, or mapping potential participants and their current relationships to each other, are examples. Legal analysis is often required.

o Chartering and implementation. Our aim is to create a dynamic, evolving organisation. Yet implementation of the new concept can take several months. In the case of existing organisations seeking to transform themselves, a careful strategy for the transition from one structure to another must be created. When a new organisation is being formed, it may take some months for individuals and other institutions to elect to join and participate.

- Dee HOCK, Birth of the Chaordic Age

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PART III. WORKING TOGETHER

“You can have a group of individually intelligent people – but until that group knows what it knows together, the group as a group is not intelligent”

- inspired by Peter Senge

FOUR-FOLD PRACTICE

The Art of Participatory Leadership is based on four foundational practices:

1. Be Present

...host yourself first - be willing to endure chaos - keep the space of possibility open in yourself - stay present.

Being present means:

• showing up, without distraction, prepared, clear about the need and what your personal contribution can be

• making space to dedicate quality time and attention to working with others. If you are distracted, called out or otherwise dispersed, you cannot be fully present in one place.

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• being aware of your environment, other people and what impacts you and how you impact others.

Collectively, it is good practice to become present together as a meeting begins, be it through a welcome, a good framing, through “checking-in” to the subject matter or task at hand by hearing everyone's voice in the matter or simple by taking a moment of silence together.

Invite a collective slowing-down so that all participants in a meeting can be present together.

2. Practice conversation

...be willing to listen fully, respectfully - without judgment and thinking you already know the answer – practice conversation mindfully...

Conversation is an art. It requires us to slow down enough to really listen carefully to one another and and to offer what we can in the service of the whole. Curiosity and judgment do not live well together in the same space. If we are judging what we are hearing, we cannot be curious about it. If we have called a meeting because we are uncertain of the way forward, being open is a key skill and capacity.

If we practice conversation mindfully, we might slow meetings down so that wisdom and clarity can work quickly. When we talk mindlessly, we neither hear each other nor do we allow space for clarity to arise.

See also the section entitled 'When Practicing Dialogue, Remember to…)

3. Hosting conversations

...be courageous, inviting and willing to initiate conversations that matter - find and host powerful questions with stakeholders – and then make sure you capture the insights, the patterns, learnings and wise actions...

Hosting conversations is an act of leadership. It means taking responsibility for creating and holding the “container” in which a group of people can do their best work together.

Convening a conversation can of course be done spontaneously in the moment. However, the more prepared you are the better. The best preparation is being fully present.

The bare minimum to do is:

• discern the need

• get clear on the purpose of the meeting

• prepare a good, powerful question to initiate the conversation

• decide which method will best fit the purpose

• know how you will capture (or harvest) what transpired and what will be done with that harvest, to ensure that results are sustainable and the effort was worth it.

Hosting conversations takes courage and a bit of faith in people. While stepping up to host a conversation you really care about might be scary, it is a gift to host a group and it is a gift to be hosted well.

4. Community of practitioners

...be willing to co create and co-host with others, blending your knowing, experience and practices with theirs, working partnership

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The best conversations arise when we all listen together for what is in the middle between us, what is arising as a result of our collaboration. It is not about balancing individual agendas, but about discovering what is new. In a truly co-creative process, it becomes irrelevant who said or contributed what – the gift is in the synergy and inspiration when we build on each other’s knowledge and the whole becomes much bigger than the sum of the parts. This is how results become sustainable over time – they fall into the network of relationships that arise from a good conversation, from friends working together. The collaborative field can produce unexpected and surprising results, especially in complex situations where multi-layered challenges need to be met simultaneously. From a learner to a community that learns As we learn to be truly present and engage in conversations that really matter – we become learners. As learners many doors are open to us. As we begin to host conversation and connect with other hosts or practitioners – we become a community of learners or practitioners. As a community we own a much bigger capacity than as individual learners. When a community of individual practitioners or learners truly becomes “a community that learns”, collective intelligence is born. We multiply our capacity and enter the field of emergence. Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups Psychologists have repeatedly shown that a single statistical factor—often called "general intelligence"— emerges from the correlations among people's performance on a wide variety of cognitive tasks. But no one has systematically examined whether a similar kind of "collective intelligence" exists for groups of people. In two studies with 699 individuals, working in groups of two to five, we find converging evidence of a general collective intelligence factor that explains a group's performance on a wide variety of tasks. This "c factor" is not strongly correlated with the average or maximum individual intelligence of group members but is correlated with the average social sensitivity of group members, the equality in distribution of conversational turn-taking, and the proportion of females in the group. Quoted from Science Magazine. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1193147v1 See also the section dedicated to Communities of Practice further down

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CORE TEAMS A CORE 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. space host and logistics) depending on the size and complexity of the process.

In a very large process, it is helpful to also have a logistics person who supports the team with the additional physical conditions needed for the process to run seamlessly for the participants

For the self-organising process to bear fruits and not be chaotic, the boundary conditions, i.e. the non–negotiables, must be clearly fixed for the participants in the framing of the process

Powerful questions are carefully designed as prompts to engage the group to explore and surface what they do not know yet collectively

Harvesters capture the key insights emerging from the group with different tools: notes, mind maps, pictures, on-line spaces…

The process host introduces the processes, their purpose and explains how people can participate. They hold space once conversations have started. They also host the gathering of new insights as a result of the processes.

The people holding the strategic perspective are usually members of the calling service. They are deeply involved in the content and help the hosting team to understand what is emerging and how to best serve it.

The Space host looks after both the physical aspects, e.g. room layout, materials, equipment, etc., and the more subtle, non-physical aspects of a group, e.g. energy, etc.

The caller is the client of the process, the one who has identified the need and who holds the highest stake in what will come out of it.

Caller

Caller

Process

host

Harvester

Space host

Logistics person

Strategic

perspective

Purpose

?

?

?

Participants

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WHO MAKES UP A CORE TEAM? An ideal hosting team consists of: • The caller who has sensed the need to convene this process • Members of his/her team who have an in-depth understanding of the content • Internal consultants who understand the culture of the organisation and how change can be led

and accompanied successfully in this context • External consultants who bring their experience and practices from outside and help the team to

take some distance from the context in which they are absorbed in order to gain some fresh perspectives.

The size of this team will vary depending on the scale of the process. A CORE TEAM IS ABOUT LEARNING TOGETHER In such a team, everybody is learning. Being clear about what you can contribute and what you can expect to learn will help the team to work consciously together in service of the people invited and the purpose. It is highly recommended to have seasoned people in the team who can help less experienced practitioners to deepen their understanding of this way of working through practice. Sometimes, these seasoned practitioners will not even be visible to the participants - instead, they might act as coaches of the team, behind the scenes. DETAILED ROLES IN A CORE TEAM - Caller

The caller is the client of the process. They have sensed a need and have invited the hosting team to help them initiate a process to which others will invited in order to produce outcomes from sharing their knowledge together. The caller is part of the process and: - co-drafts and sends the invitation - welcomes people - frames the context and the purpose - participates in, and listens to what is coming out of the conversations - helps the hosting team to adapt the process if necessary - commits to follow up on the outcomes

- Strategic Perspective Holders The people who hold the strategic perspective include the caller and other people with a key stake in the outcomes of the event. These people specifically: - liaise with speakers to help them see where their interventions fit - liaise with guests to help them catch up when they arrive and make sense of the outcomes of the seminar - listen intentionally for horizontal questions - capture the group's key learnings - liaise with the hosts to keep the event on track.

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- Process Hosts

Before an event, process hosts offer their design skills to create an architecture for the process. This is done taking into account the context and purpose of the process, as well as the desired outcomes. During an event, the process hosts focus on facilitating the processes that make up the overall architecture. This includes framing in each method, explaining how people will participate, offering stillness while people are in conversations (also known as 'holding space') and supporting the gathering of insights as a result of the conversations. The process hosts are the most visible part of the team, but they cannot fulfil their role without the support of the other members of the team

- Speakers At different points during an event, e.g. welcome, framing a process or closing, a speaker offers a helpful perspective that will support the process. The purpose is to inspire and catalyse the subsequent conversations. Speakers play an important role in voicing the key challenges that need to be faced, identifying the key questions that can make a difference if the group engages with them, or offering in a new way of looking at issues. The role of speaker in a participatory process should not be confused with more traditional speakers - they do not take the stance of an expert with the preferred approach or option. Instead they offer their knowledge and perspective to invite in more diversity of views and collective intelligence. - Harvesters During the design phase of a process, it is important to think ahead to what we wish to collect as a result of the conversation - i.e. the harvest. This clarity will shape what the Harvesters look out for and gather during an event. Specifically, the harvesters' role includes:

- being of service to the strategic group and speakers at any time - collecting the results of the conversations, depending on the level required, e.g. detailed notes of what was spoken, worksheets participants have filled in, graphic recording, meta level, etc. - collecting all pieces of harvesting throughout the event, e.g. worksheet, flipcharts, etc. - recording visually in real time, e.g. mind maps, taking photos, videoing, creating a visual landscape - producing – or overseeing production of - the artefacts put out by the process, e.g. landscape, newsletter/live minutes, full record, strategic report, etc.

- Space hosts Space hosting contributes to creating optimal learning conditions by tending to the physical and non-physical (energetic/subtle) levels. It can involve many levels, depending on the context, including: Physical hosting - Location of venue– access to nature, transport links, etc. - Venue – standard and style of facility, e.g., main group room, break out rooms, accommodation,

catering, etc. - Main group room – spacious, light, adaptable, wall space for harvesting - Setting the optimal learning space when in location e.g., comfort and access for participants,

learning space for optimal flow, which includes ample space for harvesting, location of food/drinks, amenities, e.g., restrooms, cloakrooms, etc

Energetic hosting, sometimes known as holding space - Connecting to the authentic higher purpose that serves the common good

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- Working intentionally with the more subtle levels of emotional, subliminal (unconscious) and thought-based aspects of human interaction that can distract or negatively disturb the creation of a generative learning field

- Noticing the ‘unspoken’, the shadow, and – if this serves the process - giving voice to them, either by asking a question, naming the energy or emotion in the field, or grounding it intentionally.

- Logistics team When hosting a very large event, a logistics person or team is needed, as tending to the practical details becomes even more important when working with large numbers. Specifically, this role includes:

- liaising with the people in charge of the venue on any issue - ensuring proper set-up of the space - handling laptops & USB sticks whenever used - handling requests coming from all other teams - testing all equipment: microphones, PC, beamer...

FOLLOW-UP / STRATEGIC CONTINUITY After an event, it is good practice for the entire core hosting team to gather and harvest out both the key content insights that will move the work forward and the key process insights that will help to shape the next process steps. This helps identify the wisest next steps in service of the development of individuals, the organisation and the common good.

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ILLUSTRATION - WHEN HOSTING A PARTICIPATORY PROCESS: The role of the core hosting team here is to create the conditions for participants to engage in conversation in a way that will deliver the expected outcomes. Once the process starts, the team holds space for it, meaning that they attend to how the participants react to the invitation, they attend to the physical space and they prepare it for the convergence. In this example, the group is creating the agenda of an Open Space session.

The host of the process frames the process, explains how it runs, invites participants to engage and then holds space for it while it is running

The question around which participants are invited to engage is displayed visibly

Harvesters are witnessing the start of the process to identify whether anything must be fine-tuned in how the harvesting was planned

The space host has prepared: - the centre for this process with both the question and the material needed for participants to engage - the matrix on which participants are creating the agenda

The logistics person makes sure with the venue manager that the necessary equipment is functioning correctly: beamer, computer, microphone

The landscape of the process created by the harvesting team presents a graphic overview of the process and serves as a harvesting tool throughout the process

The persons holding the strategic perspective can also engage fully in the process and even put questions

A seasoned host is supervising the whole process to help the team learn from how the process is running and to coach the process host, in particular, both in his/her preparation and after s/he is done

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ILLUSTRATION - WHEN A KEYNOTE SPEAKER IS OFFERING A PERSPECTIVE: The role of the core hosting team in any context is to ensure that the perspective being offered serves the process. In particular, a speaker’s perspective must inspire participants in a way that contributes to the overall experience and purpose. The core hosting team listens for how the perspective is received and then checks whether anything needs to be adapted in the rest of the process.

The keynote speaker offers a perspective as an input to the next conversation (not as the truth)

The space host prepares the documentation for the next steps and is available to intervene if anything happens with the equipment

The logistics person makes sure that all logistical aspects are covered throughout the event

The harvester intentionally listens for key insights during the perspective and notes them down to be inserted in the newsletter A host sits with the audience to feel

from the inside how the keynote is received by the participants

A host is holding space for this process, i.e. supervises the whole process, ready to intervene in case it would be needed

The host of the process welcomes the speaker and frames the perspective, then sits close to him/her and then moderates a Q&A session if any

A harvester takes pictures to illustrate the newsletter. It is also a way of holding energetically

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COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE When there is an ongoing or long-term issue, a community of practice is often the ideal way for fast learning, improvement of professional practice and problem solving in a given domain. Taking a participatory leadership approach can be the best and most reliable way to set up and nourish a community of practice. Communities of practice are groups of people who share a passion for something that they know how to do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better. “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and understand.” —Confucius If, towards the end of this Participatory Leadership seminar, you feel the desire not only to apply the methods, but also to keep exchanging successes, failures and learnings at the workplace in a safe place among peers in the same situation, then you will have discovered the ‘fuel’ that communities of practice run on. Communities of practice are an informal alternative to networks, a space of trust, no judgement and outside the hierarchical setting. Membership is voluntary and contributions are freely given. People contribute because they want to, and participate because they find it beneficial for themselves and/or a way to contribute to the larger whole of the organisation. The successful ingredients of a community of practice are: The domain: the definition of the area and the key issues (i.e. Strategic planning and programming in the Commission, equal opportunities, project management, any particular policy field, law, communication, participatory leadership) A real community: Relationships among members and a sense of belonging (not every network is a community) The practice: the body of knowledge, stories, cases, tools, documents (how to do something). It is the combination of these three elements that constitutes a community of practice. And it is by developing these three elements in parallel that one cultivates such a community. While they all have the three elements of a domain, a community, and a practice, such Communities come in a variety of forms. Some are quite small, some are very large - often with a core group and many peripheral members. Some are local and some cover the globe. Some meet mainly face-to-face, some mostly online. Some are within an organisation and some include members from various organisations. Some are formally recognised, often supported with a budget; and some are completely informal and even invisible. The concept of community of practice has found a number of practical applications in business, organisations, government, education, professional associations,

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development projects, civic life and also in the European Commission. Initial efforts at managing knowledge in large organisations have focused on information systems, with disappointing results. Communities of practice provide a new approach, which focuses on people and on the social structures that enable them to learn with and from each other. Today, there is hardly any organisation of a reasonable size that does not have some form communities-of-practice initiative. A number of characteristics explain this rush of interest in communities of practice as a vehicle for developing strategic capabilities in organisations:

o Communities of practice enable practitioners to take collective responsibility for managing the knowledge they need, recognising that, given the proper structure, they are in the best position to do this.

o Communities among practitioners create a direct link between learning and performance, because the same people participate in communities of practice and in teams and units.

o Communities are not limited by formal structures: they create connections among people across organisational and geographic boundaries.

A community of practice needs to operate in a strategic context. This link is created by being connected to a sponsor and, in a mature community, will emerge as a result of the collective nature of its activities. A sponsor (a head of unit, director or director general) will protect the community from unnecessary procedures, value the work of the community and publicise its successes. Practitioners need encouragement, as they see the value of working as a community but may feel the organisation is not aligned with their understanding. Communities also need support, like coaching, guidance, logistic assistance and a technology infrastructure for knowledge sharing, collaborative working and communicating (i.e. a website with a with a wiki function, a blog and some kind of library system). Communities can emerge out of the realisation of a need for continuous work to be done together across services or networks, or they might be initiated by the organisation itself. It needs some steer through a skilful coordinator and a core group, a sponsor, and some support. How to start a community of practice? If possible, gather a core group of people committed to the practice to prepare and initiate the launch process. Help members organise an initial series of value-adding activities, which help to re-affirm the purpose of the community and create a sense of belonging. Encourage them to take increasing responsibility for stewarding their knowledge. Create an on-line space for sharing after the first face-to-face meeting, to capture the outcomes of meetings and make it available to those who have an interest to participate but cannot show up each time, as well as for the follow-up of the work started together. Methodologies used: Many methodologies and practices contained in this seminar and workbook are typically applied in communities of practice, depending on the purpose and desired outcome of each meeting. The common characteristics of them all is that they are life-affirming and quite different to habitual working methods. That starts at the moment

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of making the first contact with potential core-group members, colours the tone of its invitations and documentation (Wiki thinking: publish and then edit, instead of edit and then publish), manifests in personal or informal meeting formats and can include the way presentations to sponsors are made. Common practices are check-in and check-out in circle (both are community-building practices), world café (to get to know faster what really matters to the members), Pro-action Café and Open Space in a slightly more mature community, where members seek practical solutions. Skills: Ideally the coordinator initiating the community should have some skills beforehand, or else parallel coaching should be available in the start-up and early phases. Core group members and the coordinators can acquire practice as the community develops, as it is a learning environment. Newer members will learn and acquire skills from older members. Value of a community of practice:

The value of communities of practice, as of any voluntary group, lies in the benefits that they deliver to their primary stakeholders: 1. their members and 2. the organisation hosting the community.

Without benefits to members, no community is sustainable because people are unlikely to join or remain members. Without benefits to the organisation, the community may not get the resources it needs in order to evolve.

The evolution of a community of practice:

A community of learners is any group of people who have come together as colleagues to learn something of mutual interest. It exists for the sake of the individual benefits that members can draw from the collective mind and shared pool of expertise, talents, questions, and solutions.

A community that learns is a group that has its own learning agenda and learning infrastructure. It exists, primarily, for the sake of developing collective capabilities and resources and advancing the members' shared domain of practice and creating value for the organisation that is hosting the community.

When properly supported, the first form of community can evolve into the second. When that happens, the individual benefits to members don't disappear, but get enriched by the collective capabilities and resources. What is needed to enable that shift that includes, and then transcends, the benefits to the individual?

Just as a human being needs a nervous system and memory to be capable to learn, so does a collective entity, such as a community of practice, which learns.

Its nervous system is the web of conversations among community members and with its organisational and social environment. When that web of conversations is fragmented and disconnected, this weakens the community’s potential to learn. A well-developed nervous system reaches into all the nooks and crannies of the organism. In the case of a "social organism," such as a community of practice, it connects all the voices of the community, and all of its meaning-making

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conversations.

The art of cultivating and connecting meaningful conversations is also the art of opening wider the doors of shared sensing. Those who cultivate and connect them play a pivotal role in boosting the group's collective intelligence.

The community’s memory lives in the insights, reports, recorded practices and stories stored in its "knowledge garden." In its simplest form, this could be a set of interlinked and tagged wiki pages. Knowledge gardeners, sometimes called “wiki gardeners,” seed, feed, and weed the content, and structure the garden so as to help members easily find relevant knowledge, and help the community grow the competences it needs to reach its purpose.

This material was compiled on the basis of material by Etienne Wenger, and CommunityIntelligence Ltd, who both gave courses in the European Commission in 2007-09, and on the practical experience of starting up and coordinating the Strategic Planning and Programming Community of practice in the European Commission.

There is no greater power than a community discovering what it cares about.

Ask “What’s possible?” not “What’s wrong?” Keep asking.

Notice what you care about. Assume that many others share your dreams.

Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.

Talk to people you know.

Talk to people you don’t know. Talk to people you never talk to.

Be intrigued by the differences you hear.

Expect to be surprised. Treasure curiosity more than certainty.

Invite in everybody who cares to work on what’s possible.

Acknowledge that everyone is an expert in something. Know that creative solutions come from new connections.

Remember, you don’t fear people whose story you know.

Real listening always brings people closer together.

Trust that meaningful conversations change your world.

Rely on human goodness. Stay together.

- Margaret Wheatley – “Turning to one another”

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Participatory Leadership

Communities of Practice

Collectiveintelligence

Field of practice

Critical Issues & questions

Process tools& online

environments

Stakeholdersat all levels of system

Shared purpose

Participatory Leadership supports (and is supported by) Communities of Practice

Source: Tom Hurley, George Pór, Toke Møller

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PART IV. BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT

STORY OF PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP IN THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION It is hard to pinpoint exactly when the practice of hosting was first seeded in the European Commission, but it's been brewing since late 2006, when the first World Café conversations were hosted at a Commission-wide learning day. In retrospect, it is astonishing to see how much of what has happened since was already intimated in those first conversations. All of this started from a handful of EC colleagues who got trained in the Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter (AoH, see story below) outside the Commission as of 2006. Having seen enough potential for this approach to bring a valuable contribution to the core work of our organisation, we have been determined to bring it into our system. We started to raise awareness among managers in particular. A series of dedicated pilot training seminars and initial experiments with management meetings, stakeholder engagement processes and team days taught us much about how to position the approach in the EC context – including the name 'Participatory Leadership'. Since then, over 900 members of staff - coming from all levels of hierarchy and all departments - have been through a 3-day training seminar called the Art of Participatory Leadership. Hundreds of meetings and events have been hosted using tailor-made processes, ranging from unit meetings, staff-engagement exercises and team-building events for whole Directorates-General to large-scale stakeholder engagement processes with representatives of different professions and economic sectors from all over Europe. Feedback from participants is invariably positive – people are reassured to know that the European Commission is open to working in these innovative and participatory ways. Some stakeholders are inspired to take the approach home with them and apply it in their context. Typically, hosting teams consist of members of operational units, trained hosts from other Commission departments and seasoned external 'consultants' invited from among the stewards of the global AoH community. There is a growing community of in-house practitioners which regularly meets in different constellations, locations and formats (weekly breakfast meetings in Brussels, monthly lunch time meetings in Luxembourg, groups of practitioners at DG-level, Commissison-wide 3-day practitioners' gatherings…) , and at the same time, the dividing line between inside and outside is growing ever fainter as more gatherings are convened across organisational boundaries in service of cross-cutting challenges that don't stop at the gates to the organisation. Global stewards are generously offering their time to reflect with in-house practitioners on how this work could develop further in service of Europe. As the community broadens and deepens, we are consistently witnessing people's development accelerate, both as individuals and as leaders and team members.

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STORY OF THE ART OF HOSTING CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER The first generation of whole-systems practitioners broke new ground by "getting the whole system in the room" in previously unheard of numbers to participate in creating their own answers. Methodologies emerged that could support the creation of containers where diverse perspectives could lead to new collective intelligence. The current generation is learning to mix and match these practices in creative and effective ways as seasoned practitioners from different traditions meet and learn from each other and their work in the world. One expression of this next generation is the Art of Hosting Meaningful Conversations (www.artofhosting.org), discovered within a field of practitioners, friends talking, sharing stories, learning and listening together, wanting to contribute, and asking meaningful questions. This has resulted in a community of people who are called to be hosts, and are called to bring a suite of conversational technologies, (Circle, Open Space, World Café, etc) into play in powerful ways in organisations, communities, families and all their relations. Teams of practitioners taking collective responsibility for designing practices and creating fields that open the space for imagination, inspiration, love, creativity, learning, etc. have come together in many different parts of the world. This inquiry from within a field has begun to surface the deeper patterns that live beneath the methodologies, as well as the gift of fundamental architecture for collaborative and transformative human meetings. It is engaging in questions like: Where is it that all methods meet? What is the wellspring of design? What are the non-negotiable in an ever-changing world? As a result of this creative foray into emergent practice, the discipline known as the Art of Hosting serves the opening and holding of fields of collective intelligence and community consciousness for the common good in any context. It is a practice for creating generative spaces in which powerful conversations can take place. These generative spaces have qualities that allow learning, wisdom, responsibility, co-creation and heart to flow. The hosts of these spaces work with this generative field – the field that emerges between the practitioners and participants – while at the same time being fully present in his/her own hosting to what is needed in the moment. The Art of Hosting consciousness engages multiple practices, bringing the insight that to host / teach a practice, you must embrace the deeper pattern of the practice yourself (knowing methods), sense the learning edge or ‘crack’ in any given situation to invite the shift wanting to happen (know the situation), and embrace the practice of being present in the moment so as to serve best (know yourself). Others are invited to learn and practice this consciousness through a transformative three-day learning experience, which invites individuals and teams to co-create a journey of discovery into the practices of hosting and creating space for emergence. As described by Colleen Walker, Toyota Financial Services:

"Few professional development opportunities have the true potential to go beyond superficialities. The Art of Hosting does so by delivering clear methodologies and building skills to enable positive, sustainable change in business, government, communities and schools. "

For people wanting an immersion in the dynamics of systemic change, the Art of Hosting has much to contribute.

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SOME KEY ACHIEVEMENTS This is a partial snapshot of what teams trained in participatory leadership have carried out since its introduction into the EC in 2008. Many more projects have been implemented. SUPPORTING EXTERNAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT & STAKEHOLDER ENGAMENT - 2 stakeholder consultations (120 stakeholders each time) on the future Europe for Citizens Programme 2010-2011, which allowed the DG COMM team in charge to collect the key elements of the next Programme, build the ground inside their DG and with their Cabinet and to draft the Impact Assessment needed.

- 3 workshops on Healthy Ageing for DG Health & Consumer Protection (2010) with 30 experts each, which provided input into the European Year of Healthy & Active Ageing 2012 and into the setting-up of the high-level partnership on the same topic. - European Consumer Summit (2011), where 300 stakeholders reflected on the future European Consumer Strategy currently being drafted and provided input on 6 key areas. - 2 stakeholder conferences on Volunteering in the context of the European Year of Volunteering (2011): a conference with 350 volunteers from the ground and a conference with 250 representatives of volunteering organisations, both of which provided input into a Commission communication on volunteering and the legacy of the European Year to foster sustainable developments of volunteering all across Europe. - Stakeholder consultation for DG Agriculture on Monitoring & Evaluation for the Common Agricultural Policy post-2013 (2011) with 230 participants, which created a common ground and worked on 23 key areas towards a more collaborative development of the future monitoring and evaluation system - Europe Direct Information Centres annual general meeting (2011), where 450 representatives of the centres, network correspondents, EC services and other institutions met to share their learnings of the current generation and provide input into the definition of the next one starting in 2013 - 5 workshops for DG Research's Science in Society Programme on 5 themes (2010-2011):

new ways of doing research, open access to research results, scientific information in the digital age, responsible research and innovation, structural change (gender balance in research) - each theme provided input into impact assessments towards Commission's recommendations to Member States and into the definition of the 8th Framework Programme for Research

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- EAC Conference on 25th anniversary of the Erasmus Programme (2012) where 120 'Erasmus ambassadors' from all over Europe gathered to create a Manifesto for the future of the Erasmus Programme. SUPPORTING INTERNAL POLICY, STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT AND MAJOR CHANGE INITIATIVES - Supporting management engagement processes at the Joint Research Centre (2008-09), where participants identified and workedin depth on 5 key development areas, leading to key developments until 2010. - Strategic development of the Publications Office (2009-11) through a series of engagement processes initiated by the Director-General around the transformation of the IT infrastructure of the Office on which all working processes are organised - Internal Communication & Staff Engagement seminar 'Commission vision, values and purposes' in 2009 with 160 key players from all across the Commission (3 DGs, 40 senior managers, representatives of 4 key networks: internal communication, external communication, strategic planning and programming, HR), who engaged around our shared purpose for Europe now and surfaced 15 key development areas, which were followed-up on by the people who raised them.

- Developments in specific contexts with high potential over an extended period of time through multiple types of activities (2010-11) (management seminars, dedicated training seminars, internal and external stakeholder engagement processes on specific themes, team building events, individual coaching of some key players…): COMM.C 'Citizens', Pay Masters Office, EU Fundamental Rights Agency in Vienna…

- 7 Directors' Seminars 'Facing the Challenges of the Next Decade' (2008-10), which provided a unique platform for senior management of the Commission and the Agencies to engage around cross-cutting themes in the context of defining the vision for Europe 2020. - 2 strategic retreats for REGIO's and MARKT's senior leadership teams at Jean Monnet's house (2009), where the teams reflected on the future of the Regional

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Development Policy and the Internal Market TEAM COACHING - Re-engineering large team building events through the participatory leadership approach to focus them on what really matters and identify key developments, creating ownership and commitments for them – to name just a few: SG (450 staff), ECHO (350 staff), SG ASTs (300 staff), BEPA (40 staff), JUST.D (80 staff), TRADE.H (150 staff), ENV.C (100 staff), DGT.D (220 staff), HR.D (80 staff), DEVCO.F (100 staff), ECFIN.R (120 staff)… - Introduction of volunteering team building in the context of the European Year of Volunteering with DG COMM - where groups of various sizes volunteer to work together on actvities that support local communities in need. SUPPORTING DEVELOPMENT OF KEY CLIENTS - Coaching key players in connection with their projects (senior and middle managers, project leaders, network coordinators), supporting them to develop their personal leadership capabilities in pursuit of their projects. DEDICATED TRAINING SEMINARS & PRACTICE EVENTS - Training seminars on the 'Art of Participatory Leadership', 'Art of Consulting', 'Action Learning', 'Systemic Constellations', 'Developing Human Potential in Organisations', 'Introduction to Mind Mapping', where more than 1 000 colleagues have developed their capacity to bring more to their teams and their contexts – by creating meetings and engagement processes that foster genuine collaboration. Nowadays, many participants in these training courses are invited to attend because they are working on projects being supported by DG HR's team of internal consultants. These training days provide a shared understanding and experience of practice that supported the successful developments of their initiatives. DEVELOPING COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE AND NETWORKS - Introduced the concept of Communities of Practice in 2006 with a view to helping the Commission to become a learning organisation - Communities of practice on Participatory Leadership, Consulting and Action Learning since 2008, which have provided invaluable help to many colleagues to develop their projects and contributed to continually evolving these practices in the Commission context - Support to the development of the Strategic Planning & Programming community of practice since 2008, which has provided input recognised by the Secretary-General to the re-engineering of the SPP process in the Commission

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OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME Section under construction

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TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT VS. PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP Formulated by colleagues using what they learned at the Art of Participatory Leadership seminar in their daily activities in the Commission.

Traditional ways of leading Participatory leadership Mechanistic Organic – if you treat the system like a

machine, it responds like a living system Management Leadership Management by control Management by trust Top-down Bottom-up Hierarchical lines of management Community of practice Top-down agenda setting Setting the agenda together Silos/hierarchical structures More networks and collaborative processesExecuting procedures Innovating processes Leading by instructions Leading by hosting Great for maintenance, implementation (doing what we know)

When innovation is needed – learning what we don't know in order to move on – engaging with constantly moving targets

Analysis Intuition Individuals responsible for decisions Using collective intelligence to inform

decision-making No single person has the right answer but somebody has to decide

Together we can reach greater clarity - intelligence through multiple perspectives

Wants to create a fail-safe environment Creates a safe-fail environment that promotes learning

I must speak to be noticed in meetings Harvesting what matters, from all sources Communication in writing only Asking questions Organisation chart determines work Task forces/purpose-oriented work on

projects People represent their services People are invited as human beings,

attracted by the quality of the invitation One-to-many information meetings Many-to-many peer production Information sharing When engagement is needed from all,

including those who usually don't contribute much

Dealing with complaints by forwarding them to the hierarchy for action

Dealing with complaints by engaging the complainant

Consultation through surveys, questionnaires, etc.

Bringing the whole system together in real time to co-creating solutions together

Questionnaires (contribution wanted from DG X)

Engagement processes – collective inquiry with stakeholders

Top down orders – often without full information

Top level hierarchy states purpose and direction, then invites staff engagement

Resistance to decisions from on high Better acceptance of decisions because of involvement

Tasks dropped on people Follow your passion and put it in service of the organisation

Rigid organisation Flexible self-organisation Policy design officer disconnected from stakeholders

Direct consultation instead of via lobby organisations

People feel unheard/not listened to People feel heard

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Working without a clear purpose and jumping to solutions

Collective clarity of purpose is the invisible leader

Motivation via carrot & stick Motivation through engagement and ownership

Managing projects, not pre-jects Better preparation – going through chaos, open mind, taking account of other ideas

Result-oriented Purpose-oriented– the rest falls into place Seeking answers Seeking questions Broadcasting, boring, painful meetings Meetings where every voice is heard,

participants leave energised Chairing, reporting Hosting, harvesting, follow-up Event & time-focused Good timing, ongoing conversation &

adjustment

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MEASURING IMPACT

At seminars on participatory leadership in the European Commission, the question is repeatedly asked: where is there evidence that participatory leadership is having an impact? The following insights have emerged from recent gatherings of practitioners in the Commission.

Impact can happen in places where we are not looking. Typically, in a large organisation, we look for change to show up in the systems and structures – the organisation chart, the procedures, the architecture. Often, this is the last place where change becomes visible, because this is the domain where we see the manifestation of change that has already emerged in the less visible domains of the interiors and behaviours of individual actors, and in the immaterial organisational culture. These inner aspects of life are notoriously hard to measure, but not so hard to observe, if we know where and how to look.

If we look at our own inner experience, typically what we hear from colleagues who have attended Participatory Leadership trainings, they speak of their expanded sense of possibility, of how their values have shifted, how their perceptions of what's going on in the workplace have changed, how they feel more – or differently – motivated, how they have experienced inner states of hope, joy or excitement (some even speak of love…). Often colleagues report that they discover themselves growing again after years of arrested development. They report a deeper sense of personal presence, connection to a sense of purpose and a whole new awareness of the potential that can emerge from engaging differently with our work. These are all invisible phenomena that reside inside individuals and only become visible when we think to inquire and share the question what has changed in me as a result of this work?

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More visibly, if we think to look, we see changes in behaviour – our own and others'. Quite specifically, we find ourselves adopting a stance of curiosity, rather than of judgement. We start asking questions more than we offer opinions, we listen more, and more deeply. We find that we are able to hold more tension in meetings and gatherings – we can step up to anchor the container for difficult encounters, where real issues are tackled and real change can happen.

Looking around us, we notice the change also in others, our ‘mates’ in this work. Rather than thinking alone, people start inviting each other in – to meetings, conversations, projects. They develop new skills and, using them, change their habits and start to experiment more. They find new forms of leadership - more collaborative and therefore often more comfortable – that allow them to take more initiative. We are starting to see such initiative recognised and rewarded with promotion.

Over all, in the individual sphere, we see people starting to introduce more balance into their lives, to achieve long-cherished dreams and find fresh appreciation for their work, their colleagues and life in general.

As individuals shift and develop, this can have quite an impact on the culture of the workplace. This is particularly true in the case of Participatory Leadership, because by its very nature it invites dialogue, sharing, participation and co-creation. When these practices begin to take root, even at the smallest scale, we typically see teams beginning to learn together, we see more interaction and collaboration between individuals. As teams develop the habit of talking together about what matters to them, they typically become more resilient to stress, pressure and disturbance. Individuals begin to find more meaning, purpose and life in their work. Culture starts to change as trust is built in ever-expanding circles among colleagues – whether they work together every day or just see each other occasionally, they show up to support each other when called together. We start to develop and use the 'community muscle' that previously was only present as potential. Our community of practice might still be fragile, but it offers real support, both emotionally and as a practice ground for honing our skills. As we learn to engage more systematically in the practice of collective meaning-making, the culture shift starts to scale up.

Now that we have developed more nuanced vision by scouting in the less obvious terrains of the inner collective and the individual, when we finally turn to look at what impact participatory leadership is having on our systems and structures, we realise that more has changed than we might initially have thought.

Many of us who have really stepped up to the challenge of inviting more participation into our work report that things are now changing continually – step by step getting easier, making more sense. One crucial development that should not be underestimated is the learning infrastructure that has evolved in recent years to support the culture shift towards more participation. There is now a whole raft of learning opportunities offered by the Commission to help staff learn these practices. This can only be interpreted as an institutional invitation to more collaboration in all fields of our work.

More and more colleagues are being invited to step across organisational boundaries and host events, meetings and change processes in other DGs. It's only a matter of time before we find ourselves working in other institutions – including national government departments – sharing our experience and expertise with European colleagues far and wide. Hard as it might seem to imagine, colleagues are getting their 'away-from-home' hosting work recognised and encouraged by their own line management. Some DGs have drawn up official guidelines laying down procedures for both permitting and restricting their staff's participation in this work. This, surely, is evidence that participatory leadership practices are having an impact on our systems and structures.

Having learned the rudiments of hosting ourselves inside the Commission, many colleagues and departments are now taking the plunge and stepping up to invite their stakeholders into

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conversation around the projects and programmes they are responsible for implementing together. Such events leave our stakeholders scratching their heads delightedly: is this the same Commission whose drab, tedious, frustrating meetings we all dread? This was one of the best meetings we've ever attended! More please: these formats really allow us to get work done in ways we never imagined.

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PART V. LEADING IN COMPLEXITY: SHIFTING PARADIGMS

CHALLENGING OUR ASSUMPTIONS We all have a view of the world and some basic assumptions about what is true, what is right and how the world works. Many times these assumptions are unspoken or even unconscious to us, and yet they determine our actions.

As we communicate or work together we tend to assume that we understand each other, and yet often we discover after the fact that we were coming from completely different places. Making certain basic assumptions clear and explicit from the start helps us communicate and avoid misunderstanding.

To be able to talk about our assumptions and make our world views explicit, we often need to rely on metaphors or mental models - road maps we can use to orient ourselves. It goes without saying that the map is not the territory it describes: these models are clearly simplifications of the truth.

Corporate culture can be considered on at least three distinct levels2 – the first being visible and the other two invisible:

1) Artefacts - how our assumptions manifest in the visible world e.g. language, rules and procedures, organisational structure, etc.

2) Values - what we believe is good and right, the principles that guide us in our cooperation and in pursuit of our goals.

3) Basic assumptions - our core beliefs, whether we are aware of them or not, ultimately determine how we act and how we manifest and shape our organisations and our world.

The following sections look at the world of organisation through the filters of Participatory Leadership, showing why and when the Participatory Leadership approach makes sense and how it compliments more traditional ways of leading.

2 According to Edgar Schein, a well-known organisational theorist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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MULTIPLE LEVELS OF FOCUS Participatory Leadership invites us to operate at four interconnected levels at once. Although each person's journey tends to start at the level of the individual, these four levels can best be seen as characteristics of a whole, rather than as a linear path.

INDIVIDUAL • Connecting to our own motivation and reason for choosing a

different way of leading • Strengthening our individual courage to lead as hosts

TEAM • Training in collective reflection and wise action • Practicing co-creating, co-deciding and co-hosting strategic

meetings, focus groups, community conversations, etc.

COMMUNITY, ORGANISATION, ETC. • Experiencing working in unity with other leaders • Practicing new organisational forms and fostering

relationships that serve the needs of our organisation or community.

GLOBAL • Integrating the bigger context in our thinking and our actions • Participating in a global network of practitioners and learners

in this field (sharing knowledge and experience gained in different contexts)

POLARITIES AT WORK We operate in a world that is not black or white – but rather full spectrum. In order to successfully host strategic conversations and practice participatory leadership, we must be able to operate in and hold polarities such as: • Chaos and Order • Content and Process • Leading and Following • Hierarchy and Community • Warrior and Midwife • Action and Reflection • Hosting and Consulting • Individual and Community ”There is a way to see this ballet of chaos and order, of change and stability, as two complimentary aspects in the process of growth, neither of which is primary” - Margaret Wheatley – Author of ”Leadership and the new Science”

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2 WORLD VIEWS: ORGANISATIONS AS MACHINES OR LIVING SYSTEMS For 300 years - since Descartes and Newton - thinking in the Western world has been predominantly influenced by rationalism. We have been concerned with figuring things out and seeking control. We tend to view our organisations as machines – consisting of clearly defined parts with clearly defined roles and a predictable output.

This mechanistic view is no longer adequate to meet the complex challenges of the 21st century. It is time we updated our thinking to keep pace with the advances of science, and viewed organisations as adaptive living systems.

Living systems exist everywhere in nature – from colonies of bacteria to ecosystems more complex than anything humanity has managed to engineer. The following principles underlying living systems also apply to human systems – whether we realise it or not:

1) Nature is self-organising - all parts of the system participate in doing what is needed to sustain the system (without managers!)

2) Self-organisation tends to lead to emergence of unpredictable results and new properties. Like 1+1 = 11

When human beings join together in any shared enterprise, they have more in common with a living system than with a machine. Given that organisations really are living systems, self-organising and emergence are possible provided the right conditions are in place. Seen through this lens, our organisations and communities look quite different.

Living systems are intelligent and self-organise their own unique solutions. This has radical implications for leadership: living systems cannot be directed – instead they can be disturbed, nudged, stimulated or provoked in new directions.

Qualities of living systems that are relevant to our organisational context:

o A living system accepts only its own solutions - we only support those things we are part of creating.

o The answers do not exist ‘out there’ – we must experiment to find out what works.

o A living system pays attention only to what is meaningful to it here and now.

o In nature, a living system participates in the development of its neighbour - an isolated system is doomed.

o Nature - and all of nature, including ourselves - is in constant change (without ‘change management’).

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o Nature seeks diversity. New relations open up new possibilities. It is not a question of survival of the fittest – but of everything that is fit, and that fits - as many species as possible. Diversity increases our chance of survival.

o Nature seeks not perfect solutions, but workable ones. “Life is intent on finding what works, not what is right”.

o Self-organisation shifts complex systems to a higher order.

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WORKING WITH EMERGENCE3

Put simply, emergence is the phenomenon of Order arising out of Chaos.

A more nuanced definition goes like this:

Emergence is higher-order complexity arising out of chaos, in which novel, coherent structures coalesce through interactions among the diverse entities of a system. Emergence occurs when these interactions disrupt, causing the system to differentiate and ultimately coalesce into something novel.

Participatory leadership works with emergent change processes. The work is done not by traditional 'command-and-control' approaches, but by:

• setting clear intentions • creating hospitable conditions • inviting diverse people to connect and interact.

There are some catches to working with emergence, however – that can be especially challenging to leaders in a strongly traditional culture like the hierarchical bureaucracy of the Commission.

• Getting started is a leap of faith - the seeds of most great ideas are misunderstood, dismissed or discouraged by others.

• Success can be a hurdle – since engaging emergence involves the unknown, it is risky. Organisations tend to be afraid to proceed without certainty.

• Outcomes can be difficult to recognise – when we encounter novelty, our first impulse is to try to fit it into our existing frame of reference. Sometimes seemingly minor shifts can change fundamental assumptions about how things work. Yet years may pass before we appreciate the implications.

• What's most important is probably not on our radar screen – organisations tend to measure tangibles like 'number of projects launched and successfully implemented'. But the most powerful fruits of emergent change processes tends to be intangibles, like trust and friendship. Self-organising networks arise that can be catalysed into action if an intention of sufficient magnitude arises.

• Not everyone makes the trip – most of us have experienced situations in which others have dived in, but we've chosen not to play. Are we missing something? Or is everybody else dangerously deranged?

• Death or loss is usually part of the mix – perhaps fear of loss is the biggest reason why we resist emergence. Few of us choose to experience emotional turmoil if we can avoid it, so we invent strategies that bury the root causes of disturbance, perhaps inadvertently setting up a system to die.

3 This section is adapted from Engaging Emergence – turning upheaval into opportunity, by Peggy Holman.

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Practices for engaging emergence

• Step up – take responsibility for what you love as an act of service. This will enhance your capacity to listen and connect.

• Prepare –embrace mystery, choose possibility and follow life energy. This will help you to face whatever shows up with equanimity, if not delight!

• Host – focus intentions and welcome. These practices create hospitable spaces for working with whatever arises. Invite diversity to increase the likelihood of productive connections among people with different beliefs and assumptions.

• Step in – inquire appreciatively (the more positive the inquiry, the more life-affirming the outcome); open to the unknown; reflect, name and harvest.

• Iterate – change is never-ending. Let us not get lost in our routines!

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CHAORDIC PATH You know when emergence has happened – it is when we all leave a meeting with something none of us individually brought into the room.

Our experiences of everyday life lie somewhere on a spectrum between chaos and control. We tend to feel most comfortable in situations where order rules – although some prefer to feel in control. Feeling out of control is scary if we are looking for predictability. We tend to want to avoid chaos at all costs. If we have a mechanistic view of organisations, we will tend to seek to stay within the realms of order and control, where things are predictable and stable – and where we produce status quo or more of the same – which in some cases is exactly what is needed. However, the world and times we live in are neither predictable nor stable. They call for more flexibility, as “more of the same” cannot meet the challenges we are facing. Innovative solutions arise in the interface between chaos and order – the chaordic path.

The chaordic path is the story of our natural world, where form arises out of diverse, nonlinear, complex, systems. At the edge of chaos is where life innovates – where things are not hard wired, but are flexible enough for new connections and behaviours to occur. New levels of order become possible out of chaos.

As in nature, so in organisations the path between Chaos and Order leads us to the new - to collective learning and real-time innovation. Instead of relying on controlling every detail in our organisations or communities from the top down, many leaders today see the need to access the collective intelligence and wisdom of everyone. At times, this can be a messy process until we reach new insight and clarity.

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To lead our organisation on the chaordic path we need chaordic confidence - the courage to stay in the zone between order and chaos for long enough to allows the new, collective intelligence and wise next steps to emerge.

As we tread the line between chaos and order, individually and collectively, we move through confusion and conflict toward clarity. It is in the phase of not knowing, before we reach new clarity, that the temptation to rush for certainty or grab for control is strongest. We are all called to walk this path with open minds and some confidence if we want to reach something wholly new.

The art is to stay in the fine balance between chaos and order. Straying too far to either side is counter-productive. On the far side of chaos is chamos - destructive chaos, where everything disintegrates and dies. On the far side of order is stifling control – where there is no movement, which eventually means death. When we move toward either of these extremes, the result is apathy or rebellion - the very opposite of chaordic confidence. Staying on the chaordic path is where the balance is and where life thrives.

Chaos/Order is the place for Leadership

The practice of leadership resides in the place between chaos and order. When facing new challenges, we need to learn new ways of operating. It is during these times of uncertainty and increased complexity that leaders need to invite all others in the system to share their knowledge, with a view to uncovering new purpose together and deciding what way forward makes sense to all.

Order/Control is a place for Management

The practice of management belongs in the place between order and control, where routine activities need to be maintained and executed to achieve predictable, standard results. It is the place where ‘more of the same’ is required, e.g. landing an airplane safely, operating on a patient, etc.

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CYNEFIN FRAMEWORK The "Cynefin framework", developed by Welsh researcher Dave Snowden, is system for understanding social reality. A system is made up of all its elements and their relationships as well as its rules of behaviour and processes. If the elements of a system include living beings (like humans) or nature, then it tends to be dynamic and may even move its borders, actually defining them by its own rules. The Cynefin framework distinguishes five different types of system, classified by their state of complexity and order, and offers advice on what strategy to adopt to impact each.

o Simple. Where the relationship between cause and effect is obvious to all, the approach is to Sense - Categorise – Respond. In simple systems, we can apply best practice. This is the area we know from the assembly-line factory. The work and the environment constrain actors in the system so much that they are left with few options and perform as the system instructs them to do.

o Complicated. Where the relationship between cause and effect requires analysis or

some other form of investigation and/or the application of expert knowledge, the approach is to Sense - Analyze – Respond. In complicated systems, we can apply good practice. This is the area of the "expert", who knows better than the actors how the system's relationships actually fit best together. The experts design the path to follow and managers implement their advice. In "complicated" systems, although there are linear cause-effect relationships, they are so many and obscure that some expert insight is necessary to find a good way through.

o Complex. Where the relationship between cause and effect can only be perceived in

retrospect, but not in advance, the approach is to Probe - Sense – Respond. In complex systems, we need emergent practice. Here the system's relationships are mutually influenced by the actors' behaviours.

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Thus, it is impossible to discern causal relationships in advance, and experts will fail to do so as much as anyone else. Leading in complexity is a game of trial and learning. The art is to launch a number of different possible actions together and see which works better. Those are then amplified, while the less effective approaches are stopped or revised. Here we work on the assumption that we know we don't know the best way in advance.

o Chaotic. Where there is no relationship between cause and effect at systems level, the

approach is to Act - Sense – Respond. In chaotic systems, we can discover novel practice. Leading in chaos is stressful - as the whole system is in stress mode. Chaotic systems tend to be unstable and subject to catastrophic collapse back into simple systems. As the simplification brought into the system tends be excessive, suppressing the system's inherent complexity, the system is liable to revert to chaos again. The way to stabilise chaotic situations is by Acting-Sensing - that is, acting at large scale at once (there is no time left for experimentation), until the chaos stabilises into 'normal' complexity where further actions can be tested.

o Disorder. Where there is no clarity about what type of causality exists, people will revert to their own comfort zone in making a decision.

The Cynefin framework shows us that leading in complexity is actually simple – it suffices to maintain a number of high-quality learning nodes that are constantly testing new or improved ways of acting to respond to constantly fresh constellations in a world where all actors have a large degree of freedom lightly constrained by the boundaries and rules of the system.

Link with the Chaordic path

The path between Order and Chaos is informed by the complexity insights: Order emerges out of Chaos and is stabilised against it. We know that we do not know and we stay in constant learning mode. The path between Control and Order is when we begin declaring and defining best practices or recipes or procedures to follow that are not emergent and fluid but constrain the whole system. We are then leading as if we were in the simple or complicated domain, with the inherent risk of increasing the possible chaos, at the same time as suppressing creativity and learning: In short, we are assuming that we know and reality has to follow. References: - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mqNcs8mp74 (brief explanation of the Cynefin framework) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Miwb92eZaJg (how to organise a birthday party for 13-year-old boys)

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ORGANISATIONAL PARADIGMS Over the millennia, human beings have developed many different ways of organising together. Each new age of civilization has its signature form of organisation. One of the questions that the Art of Hosting community is continually asking itself is “What are the organisational concepts that we can develop together that are actually good for us, and are good for this time?”

Circle Humans have been sitting in circle since fire was discovered. As nomads we lived in small groups. We told stories, held elder councils and solved problems in circle. As a result, being in circle is the original form of all our organisational patterns. Today, this form is still very useful, especially for reflection, when considering challenges, where a new perspective is needed, when we want to be together, etc. Purpose is held in the centre and is shared by all. Triangle (hierarchy) As we stopped our nomadic wandering and settled in one place, we developed agriculture. Our communities grew bigger, and classes emerged: the clergy (for ritual) and the warrior or soldier (for protection). We began to develop hierarchies and organised society in “levels”, where one person or group had power over others. The triangular form of hierarchy is very useful for action, for getting things done. Purpose is held at the top level. Square (bureaucracy) Simple hierarchies are extremely unstable in the face of the unexpected. The industrial age brought change and more complexity. Bureaucracy became the predominant organisational model, bringing in the specialisation of functions horizontally, with each specialised division acting as hierarchies, which controlled vertically. Together, these two divisions managed much greater complexity than either could do alone. Bureaucracy is best suited for stability, optimising efficiency and maintaining the status quo, and for managing complex situations to a certain degree. However, as complexity and speed grows – the bureaucracy is not agile enough to respond quickly. Its specialised divisions tend operate as silos, and have a hard time interacting when they need to. Bureaucracy typically moves slowly in the face of change. Purpose in the bureaucracy is also held at the top of each division.

Networks – Information Age

Bureaucracy – Industrial Age

Circle / Council - Nomadic Age

Hierarchy – Agricultural Age

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Networks A more recent organisational form (first described in the 70’s), networks emerged in the information-/communication age, as a response to a need to organise and re-organise quickly and flexibly. Networks are collections of individuals, circles (small groups) or triangles (hierarchies) – nodes that are connected together. Networks can link all types of organisations. We rarely find networked collections of bureaucracies, but networks can and often do spring up inside them, especially informally. Networks are great for relationship, flexibility and innovation, and for getting things done fast. The connection is guided by individual purpose harmonising with a collective purpose. The different nodes are connected together because their respective purposes need each other. Once the need is no longer there, the network connection will most often lapse.

Jessica Lipner and Jeffrey Stamps When a new organisational form emerges, the older ones do not disappear. Each form has both advantages and shortcomings – each is good for different things. When we want to start an organisation ourselves or organise something in our lives, which one of these organisational forms do we choose? What we have seen in the Art of Hosting community is that we need to build structures that can use any of these forms at the right time. As need arises, how are we able to respond with the most useful organisational form? When something needs to get done, then hierarchy works best. When we need to stop and reflect, circle is most useful. When we need stability and need to deal with some degree of complexity, it is good to have a bureaucracy. When we need to innovate, networks work best. So what is the next level of organisational form that can hold all of these? The Art of Hosting community is observing the emergence of a new pattern. (See next section: 'A Fifth Organisational Paradigm').

A NEED!

Mechanistic

Complex mechanistic model

Simple mechanistic

Complex organic model

mple Sorganic model

Pace of Change

Random Slow

Fast

Organic Models Mechanistic Models

Simple

Complex

Medium

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5th Organisational Paradigm The fifth organisational pattern is a combination of:

• the circle (or council) for collective clarity • the triangle or project team (hierarchy) for action • the square or bureaucracy for accountability, structure and stability • the network for rapid sharing of information, inspiration and linking the parts together.

At the centre, always, is our purpose. Typically, a core team will gather in a circle around a purpose, which will be based on meeting a need that is felt in our life contexts. As we gather around the core purpose, we begin to form relationships with others in the circle that, as we map the connections, start to show up as a network. But while these relationships can help us all with our individual work, they do not necessarily allow us to manifest our shared purpose in the world, which will typically involve making things happen. The first step might be to develop actions to sustain the core team. So individual members take responsibility for different aspects – like organising meetings or raising funds - other members step up in a support role and this leads to the formation of triangles (e.g. project teams). The triangles will be dictated by the central purpose. Hierarchy forms in response to a collective purpose. Once the core team is sustainable, the next step is typically to open up the conversation to the wider community that is affected by the purpose at the centre of our circle and that can help it to manifest. A triangle from the core team might then get together to call a larger-scale assembly, which might become a circle of supporters for the larger project. The inner circle is reaching out to the next level, which will in turn reach out to a wider community, creating concentric circles rippling out into our society, each circle connected to the others by triangles animating action informed by the core purpose. The pattern of core purpose, circles, triangles and networks repeats again and again. Another typical finding is that as the core team goes out into the community and the conversation expands, the core purpose is informed by a broader perspective and is adjusted accordingly, to accommodate the next level of scale and action.

It is important to understand that what we are describing here is not a deliberately designed model, but a pattern that has emerged naturally and spontaneously throughout the global hosting community as we have collectively developed our work of hosting in ever-larger and more complex adaptive systems. Example of the fifth paradigm: the Food And Society Conference organised by the Kellogg Foundation in the USA

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U-MODEL & PRESENCING “Presencing” is bringing into presence, and into the present, your highest potential and the future that is seeking to emerge. Your highest future possibility is related to your own highest intention…it’s being an instrument of life itself, to accomplish, in a sense, what life wishes for me to accomplish. 'Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future – Otto Scharmer

For more information: - www.theoryu.com - www.presencing.org - www.ottoscharmer.com

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The Journey along the U The journey along the U begins with sensing, an exercise focused on getting a broad grasp of the behaviours that drive the entire system and understanding how different people see both problems and opportunities. Sensing encourages us to get grounded in what's really going on by suspending judgement and stepping outside to look deeply at the system as a whole, with openness and from multiple points of view. Sensing reveals where there are blockages, emerging opportunities and innovations. Next comes presencing (a blend of the words 'presence' and 'sensing'), the stage at which participants internalise learning, consider their roles within the wider system, and start brainstorming ways to bring into the present the highest future potential. Presencing is both an individual and a collective undertaking where we acknowledge that the future depends on us and that we can only get there together. The third phase in this three-part-journey is realising, which is focused on 'transforming action' - exploring the future by doing, rather than by thinking and reflecting. In realising, we take the next steps on the journey to our ideal future.

Taken from Nova Scotia Public Health – a Journey towards Renewal

Illuminating the blind spot The times we are living in call for a new collective leadership capacity that embraces the deeper dimension of leadership and transformational change – the source from which effective leadership and social action come into being. We know a great deal about what leaders do and how they do it. But we know very little about the inner place, the source from which they operate. Successful leadership depends on the quality of attention and intention that the leader brings to any situation, and so our lack of knowledge of these inner dimensions constitutes a blind spot in our approach to leadership.

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Four levels of listening At its core, leadership is about shaping and shifting how individuals and groups attend to and subsequently respond to a situation. The trouble is that most leaders are unable to recognise, let alone change, the structural habits of attention used in their organisations. Learning to recognise the habits of attention in any particular organisational culture requires, among other things, a particular kind of listening. Theory U distinguishes four types of listening: Listening 1: Downloading "I know that already". Listening by reconfirming habitual judgements. You are in a situation where everything that happens confirms what you already know, you are listening by downloading. This is the most superficial and least helpful form of listening. Listening 2: Factual "Look at that!". This type of listening is factual or object-focused: listening by paying attention to facts and to novel or disconfirming data. You switch off your inner voice of judgement and listen to the voices right in front of you. You focus on what differs from what you already know. Factual listening is the basic mode of good science. You let the data talk to you. You ask questions, and you pay careful attention to the responses you get. Listening 3: Empathic "I know how you feel". When we are engaged in real dialogue and paying careful attention, we can become aware of a profound shift in the place from which our listening originates. We move from staring at the objective world of things, figures and facts (the 'it-world') to listening to the story of a living and evolving self (the 'you-world'). Sometimes, when we say “I know how you feel,” our emphasis is on a kind of mental or abstract knowing. But to really feel how another feels, we have to have an open heart. Only an open heart gives us the empathic capacity to connect directly with another person from within. When that happens, we feel a profound switch as we enter a new territory in the relationship; we forget about our own agenda and begin to see how the world appears through someone else’s eyes. Listening 4: Generative “I can’t express what I experience in words. My whole being has slowed down. I feel more quiet and present and more my real self. I am connected to something larger than myself.” This type of listening moves beyond the current field and connects us to an even deeper realm of emergence. This is 'generative listening' - or listening from the emerging field of future possibility. This level of listening requires us to access not only our open heart, but also our open will—our capacity to connect to the highest future possibility that can emerge. We no longer look for something outside. We no longer empathize with someone in front of us. We are in an altered state. 'Communion' or 'grace' is maybe the word that comes closest to the texture of this experience.

Adapted from Otto Scharmer – Theory U: learning from the future as it emerges

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ADULT DEVELOPMENT Leadership is who we are We use the word leadership every day, but what is it? Is it something you can learn?

• Of course, you might say, that's why I take a course on participatory leadership! • Of course not, at least not as we learn other things: this is the insight from

developmental psychology.

Actually, leadership is not about what we have (learned), but about who we are (have become). Research into the development of adults shows that we all (can) develop our capabilities over our full life span. Some capabilities show up at later stages than others, so if we stop developing when we leave school, we might never display them. In the light of scientific research, we now understand that "leadership" has a very different meaning depending on where one is in one's journey of development. Let's have a look into those meanings along a life-long journey from late adolescence to mature wisdom. Our guide will be a simple, elegant model of life-long development4 that measures development in the way people decide and identify with I and We, Self and Others.

When we look at this diagram, we see that at each main level the focus of the person shifts between Self (S-2 and S-4) and Others (S-3 and S-5). Dictator At the late adolescent stage of S-2, we are capable of bringing things into an order or structure, we can distinguish cause-effect relationships and what is, from what seems to be. However, we cannot yet access the interior of other people - we are just struggling to shakily access our own selves. Leadership at this level is "heroic": I outperform all others (that's how I control them) or I out-manipulate them so that I can advance my (career) agenda and get to the top of the social 158 158

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pyramid. A leader here is understood as the one in charge, the one with power, who can control everything. Because at this level I am all about bringing things into a structure, I can manipulate others or be manipulated by them. Life is a struggle in this worldview, and I would rather be the strongest one in the game. Good citizen Society at large will strongly invite us - or even coerce us - to consider a worldview that is more focused on the Other. At S-3, people have learned to be so attuned to the inner world of others that they end up identifying with them. Here, the leader becomes the social system around us, and we lead by example, doing what all good citizens in a socially-ordered world should be doing. The more 'conventional' leaders at this level of development seek to do everything 'by the book' and 'follow the rules'. They seek consensus and are at their best when systems are stable and predictable. If called to lead innovation or change, people at S-3 need other leaders from above to give permission or absolution to actions they'd rather not do (not even consider) if not supported by their surroundings. So leadership here is about legitimate authority based on commonly accepted principles and forms – and on an official mandate. One clearly finds here the 'normal official' or 'manager'. Change agent For some people, it is not enough to follow the status quo as a norm. At S-4, people are searching to express their own original view of the world. For this, they are ready to break with old relationships and communities, as their own principles are more important to them than following a consensus. Understandably, there is no social forcing that moves people on to this stage. People at S-4 are able to 'go it alone' and are autonomous. It is only from this level onwards that we can expect leadership to happen in a responsible way. An S-4 leader has the empathic capacity to understand what's going on in someone else, but can weigh this against an objective analysis of facts, and will judge out of her own principles and values. Leaders of this kind can and will bring about changes in their surroundings. However, the changes they seek will inevitably be 'in their own image'. Participatory leadership at this level has value for the ways in which it can temper the change agenda of the leader. Systems leader After a number of good conflicts and successes, some people discover that what others feel and think is more than just an expression of conventions and organisational culture. They become curious to understand how others make meaning in the world as an experiment to re-construct their own ways of being. In the journey towards S-5, people un-learn and un-do their identity repeatedly in a search to reconstruct and refine it. Leaders at this stage listen deeply to differing perspectives, until they perceive the underlying harmonies and dissonances. Their own perspective is more about tending to the whole, to the emerging of the new and the processes that make it happen. Participation of others in the creation of their world here is not an extra, it has become a way of life. The model presented here is built on empirical evidence. By now we know that over all cultures and nations, certain rough distributions of levels can be expected in any large adult population. About 10% of adults are at S-2 and don't develop further; about 53-58% are at S-3 and don't develop further; some 23-27% arrive at S-4 and stay there. Only some 6-8% are measured at S-5. 4 Model developed by Robert Kegan and refined by Otto Laske

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Seeing humanity in its levels of development has a number of implications for leadership. A few questions for you to contemplate:

1. What influence does the level of development of a manager have on the development of their staff, if the manager is a) at a lower level than her staff, b) at the same level, c) at a slightly higher level, d) at a much higher level?

2. Which levels of leadership intuitively grasp a complex view of the world, and how do other levels of leadership development deal with complex systems?

3. Which processes of conversation allow for differing levels of development to be valued and taken into account without reducing the overall level to the lowest?

For more about adult development and how it impacts leadership:

• In over our heads: the mental demands of modern life – Robert Kegan (1998)

• Measuring Hidden Dimensions: the art and science of fully engaging adults – Otto Laske (2006)

• Action Inquiry: the secret of timely and transformative leadership – William R Torbert (2004)

• Leadership Agility: Five levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change - William Joiner, Stephen Josephs (2006)

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PART VI. RESOURCES FOR YOUR NEXT STEPS EC ON-LINE SPACES A wiki space is a collaborative website where anyone can read, contribute, comment, edit content, upload files. You will find a wiki space dedicated to participatory leadership in the Commission at: - From inside the Commission: http://www.cc.cec/wikis/display/~kleinmu/PARTICIPATORY+LEADERSHIP - From outside: https://intracomm.ec.europa.eu/wikis/display/~kleinmu/PARTICIPATORY+LEADERSHIP We particularly recommend the section 'USEFUL RESOURCES FOR PARTICIPATORY LEADERS', where you will find resources built from real experiences by practitioners: practices of dialogue, pictures of participatory processes, powerful questions, inspiring quotations, key reference documents, recommended websites, suitable venues and logistical needs for large-scale processes, harvesting templates for Open Space sessions, an evaluation questionnaire that you can use and/or adapt for your own processes... and much more!

We are currently reviewing this space. Its address might change soon. A collaborative working space for participatory leadership practitioners is available for more practical exchange on My IntraComm Working Together: http://myintracomm-collab.ec.europa.eu/networks/AoPL/default.aspx

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LEARNING & PRACTICE EVENTS

The following opportunities complement this training seminar. They offer different perspectives and approaches on leading change in oneself, systems and organisations.

In recent years, the Commission's approach to training, learning and organisational develop-ment has evolved to offer an integrated body of approaches and practices that can help indi-viduals and collectives (at all scales from the working team to the DG and beyond) to creatively meet the challenges facing them at the same time as developing the intangible factors of real success such as trust, commitment, ownership and leadership. Underlying principles of this new approach include self-organisation, participation, inquiry and discovery, multiple perspectives and commitment to purpose. Specifically, DG HR's Learning and Development unit, with the support of external consul-tants and experienced colleagues from throughout the Commission, offer:

• learning events which train the new approaches and practices and provide opportuni-ties for you to work in real time on your projects through individual and team coaching

• practice grounds in which to meet colleagues from other DGs engaged in bringing positive change to the organisation.

• in-house consultancy services to accompany ad hoc and long-term development projects

Details of these offers are provided in the following pages. Warning: These learning events are not for you if:

• you expect a training course and feel that the trainer is there to teach you • you want to know in theory only how to lead change and develop organisations • you expect a comprehensive presentation of recipes that always work • you don't want to be a change agent in the context of your work.

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PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP PRACTITIONERS' GATHERINGS These gatherings are an opportunity to get to know each other as practitioners across our organisation, reflect and exchange on our practice and experiences, deepen our skills and capabilities and work in real-time on our projects: Target group: alumni of Participatory Leadership entry-level seminars only Learning objectives • Get to know each other better as a larger community and see how we can support each

other • Share our experiences, both inside and outside the EC and harvest our knowledge

accumulated so far • Explore specific aspects of participatory leadership practice and strengthen our individual

and collective capabilities and talents • Inquire together how to take our practice to scale and make it more strategic and

connected to the European institutions' core work. Check the dates and enrol in Syslog Training: http://www.cc.cec/di/syslog_formation/application/catalogue.cfm?cor_id=384591 THE ART OF HARVESTING RESULTS OF CONVERSATIONS THAT MATTER How many good conversations and crashing insights are lost because they are never recorded, shared or acted on? The concept of "harvesting" covers more than just taking notes. It is about designing the conversations towards their intended outcomes, collecting the actual outcomes and making sense of them, producing relevant artefacts to inform the next decisions and larger circles. Target group: alumni of Participatory Leadership seminars. Learning objectives: • Discover the power of collective meaning-making • Learn different ways of making collective intelligence visible and recording it • See individual meetings, conversations and events in a larger context and as part of a

larger process. Check the dates and enrol in Syslog Training: http://www.cc.cec/di/syslog_formation/catalogue/catalogue.cfm?langue=EN&arg_cou_id=128462

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THE ART OF CONSULTING The Art of Consulting programme is about how to help others to find their own solutions to their problems. As a consultant, you are yourself the instrument of work. The programme focuses on roles in consulting and how to enact them. The content of the programme is the process of consulting as it unfolds in its application to whatever content is brought up by the client. You are invited to learn for yourself, through your own experiences. The programme facilitators will act as consultants to the audience and work as far as possible with the actual situations the participants face at work. You will have the opportunity to practice pertinent consulting methods in short role plays and situational settings. You are invited to reflect and deepen your learning when debriefing.

Target group: Managers, project managers, colleagues who see themselves as changes agents. Colleagues who are called to act as consultants as part of their duties (any horizontal or "desk" role – country desks, evaluation officers, IT officers, all types of advisors, internal auditors, career development officers, coaches). Learning objectives: • Achieve results without formal authority over resources or people, • Successfully perform the role of a consultant and interact with the client, • Understand the roles of consultant and manager and their opportunities in the course of a

typical organisational learning process. The programme consists of 3 modules of 1 day each. Check the dates and enrol in Syslog Training: - Module 1: http://www.cc.cec/di/syslog_formation/application/catalogue.cfm?cou_cd=CTO_ARTCONSULT_1 - Module 2: http://www.cc.cec/di/syslog_formation/application/catalogue.cfm?cou_cd=CTO_ARTCONSULT_2 - Module 3: http://www.cc.cec/di/syslog_formation/application/catalogue.cfm?cou_cd=CTO_ARTCONSULT_3

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ACTION LEARNING FACILITATION Action learning is a peer-learning process that can be used with small groups to tackle pressing but complex issues arising in the work place. Its power lies in asking questions. Target group: colleagues seeking innovative solutions to problems, managers, internal consultants, Learning objectives: • Learn how to ask powerful questions to

address real problems from various perspectives and identify concrete actions to solve them

• Develop leadership potential in the team • Improve trust and teamwork • Implant a learning culture in the team. In this 2-day seminar you intensively practice action learning dialogue and learn how to run such dialogues with your colleagues. Check the dates and enrol in Syslog Training: http://www.cc.cec/di/syslog_formation/application/catalogue.cfm?cou_cd=CTO_ACTLEARNFAC COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE: SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPING COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE Communities of practice are groups of people who are professionally active in a given domain and desire to improve their practice through regular interaction. It is a place where ideas and practices can be shared, peer learning and consulting takes place, and professional practice and problem solving in a given domain can improve. Interactions within a community of practice take the form of face-to-face meetings, using participatory techniques, or online exchanges. Target group: this course is designed for staff working with teams or inter-service networks, who wish to create or strengthen collaborative working conditions based on open, authentic communication and connections with colleagues and to build sustainable expertise. It is also aimed at staff that want to establish a body of hands-on expertise around any given domain in the Commission aimed at exchanging practices and improving them, thereby contributing to the Commission as a learning organisation. Learning objectives: • How can the Community of practice approach help us in our daily work? What domains

are suited for setting one up, and how to get started?

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• Difference between life affirming meetings; events, gatherings, invitations and documentation versus those where potential remains unused? Voluntary vs. obligatory participation

• How to host and design a face-to-face meeting in a participatory way? (Check-in and check-out, circle, open space, world café…), finding the right technique for the purpose

• How to harvest effectively? • How to design and use a wiki or other IT tool so that is supports the community? How to

share information and learning in a collective way? • What are Powerful questions? Difference between working with answers or working with

questions? • How to draft a powerful invitation? In this 1-day seminar you will learn how to start and cultivate communities of practice. Check the dates and enrol in Syslog Training: http://www.cc.cec/di/syslog_formation/catalogue/catalogue.cfm?langue=EN&arg_cou_id=107929

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DG HR IN-HOUSE CONSULTANCY SERVICE Should you need professional support in designing strategies for participation and developing and implementing participatory processes in your context, you can contact the in-house consultancy team in DG HR Learning & Development Unit: HR LEADERSHIP AND ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. They are working with a growing network of external consultants and internal practitioners from all Commission services who have been trained through the learning events described below. Depending on your needs in your contexts and their availability they can support you though coaching yourself and your core teams for your projects in the following areas: - Strategy-making - Stakeholder consultations and alignment - Organisational development - Leadership development - Management alignment - Team development - Staff engagement - Collaboration across levels and departments ("working across silos") - Developing and animating networks and communities of practice Their support can take the following forms: - Strategy retreats with management teams - Leadership development seminars - Learning conferences - Large group conversations with internal and/or external stakeholders - Member States experts workshops - Domain experts workshops - Project meetings - Team coaching - One-on-one coaching of project leaders and/or senior managers - Virtual meetings and conference calls

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FURTHER RESOURCES Many resources are available – books, articles, websites, blogs, communities… Websites: ART OF HOSTING: www.artofhosting.org Co-created by many art of hosting stewards ART OF HOSTING NING (collaborative workspace): http://artofhosting.ning.com/group/art-of-participatory-leadership-eur-commission/forum ART OF HOSTING TV - http://www.vimeo.com/groups/hosting Provides videos about various AoH topics Books: BALDWIN Christina Calling the Circle – The First and Future Culture Storycatcher – Making sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story The Circle Way—A Leader in Every Chair with Ann Linnea www.peerspirit.com BOJER Marianne et al. Mapping Dialogue – Essential Tools for Social Change BROWN Juanita and ISAACS David & THE WORLD CAFÉ COMMUNITY The World Café – Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter www.theworldcafe.com COOPERRIDER David, et al. Appreciative Inquiry: Rethinking Human Organisation Toward a Positive Theory of Change Appreciative Inquiry Handbook: For Leaders of Change www.appreciativeinquiry.case.edu www.appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/uploads/whatisai.pdf CORRIGAN Chris The Tao of Holding Space Open Space Technology – A User’s Non-Guide with Michael Herman www.chriscorrigan.com HOLMAN Peggy and DEVANE Tom The Change Handbook HOLMAN Peggy Engaging Emergence – Turning upheaval into opportunity ISAACS William Dialogue and the art of thinking together

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KANER Sam et. al. The Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision Making OWEN Harrison Open Space Technology – A User's Guide Expanding our now - The Story of Open Space Technology The Spirit of Leadership - Liberating the Leader in Each of Us www.openspaceworld.org SENGE Peter The Fifth Discipline The Fifth Discipline Field Book with Ross, Smith, Roberts, and Kleiner The Art and Practise of The Learning Organisation The Dance of Change with Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts WHEATLEY Margaret J. Leadership and the New Science Turning to One Another Finding Our Now A Simpler Way with Myron Kellner-Rogers Using emergence to take social innovation to scale with Deborah Frieze ©2006 WHITNEY Dianna and TROSTEN-BLOOM A. The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: a Practical Guide to Positive Change. Further reading on Communities of Practice – WENGER Etienne - Cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge with Richard McDermott, and William Snyder (Harvard Business School Press, 2002) - Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity - Communities of practice: the organisational frontier with William Snyder (Harvard Business Review. January-February 2000, pp. 139-145) - Knowledge management is a donut: shaping your knowledge strategy with communities of practice (Ivey Business Journal, January 2004) - Supporting communities of practice: a survey of community-oriented technologies. (Self-published report available at www.ewenger.com/tech, 2001) - Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities with Nancy White, and John D. Smith, Portland, OR: CPsquare, 2009 The book brings together conceptual thinking, case studies and offers a guide for understanding how technology can help a community do what it wants to do. It gives a glimpse into the future as community and technology continue to affect and influence each other. Blog connected to the book at: http://technologyforcommunities.com/ - Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity ( Cambridge University Press, 1998) - Learning for a small planet: a research agenda ( www.ewenger.com/research, 2004) - Resource and library space on communities of practice: http://cpsquare.org/wiki/Welcome

- The Community of Practice on Communities of Practice: http://cpsquare.org/edu/foundations/schedule/

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Examples of communities of practice in the European Commission: - Strategic planning and programming (SPP) CoP https://intracomm.ec.europa.eu/wikis/display/sppknowledge/Home+of+the+SPP+Community+of+Practice - Project management CoP https://intracomm.ec.europa.eu/wikis/display/CoP/Welcome - Business Objects at the Publications Office CoP https://intracomm.ec.europa.eu/wikis/display/opoce/Communities+of+Practice+%28CoP%27s%29 - Participatory leadership CoP http://www.cc.cec/wikis/display/~kleinmu/PARTICIPATORY+LEADERSHIP - Participatory leadership CoP – Luxembourg http://www.cc.cec/wikis/display/~stockdi/AoPL+community+Luxembourg (for users outside the Commission: http://intracomm.ec.testa.eu/wikis/display/~stockdi/AoPL+community+Luxembourg - Action Learning CoP: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/forums/action-learning/

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This visual was taken from the World Café website

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Sources of the material used in this Workbook: o This version 8.2 of the Workbook was compiled and edited by

Art of Hosting stewards: Maria Scordialos (Harå), Chris Corrigan, Toke Moller and Monica Nissén (InterChange), Mary-Alice Arthur (SOAR) and European Commission hosts: Matthieu Kleinschmager, Helen Titchen Beeth, Rainer von Leoprechting, Lena Ter Woort, Dirk Stockmans, Valda Liepina, Ursula Hillbrand.

o Most of the pictures were taken by Matthieu Kleinschmager and Dirk Stockmans during participatory processes hosted in the European Commission.

Aopl Workbook Ec

Documents

Transcript of Aopl Workbook Ec