by Facilitation Expert | Dec 1, 2011 | Leadership Skills
One of the biggest challenges with facilitation is to build consensus about a future state. Therefore, in a light-hearted sense as we approach the holiday season, here are some bad predictions that likely garnered some respect along the way—albeit short-lived.
Get Out of the Box
- An ancient bad prediction: “Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further developments.” Roman engineer Julius Sextus Frontinus, AD 10.
- “That’s an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?” President Rutherford B. Hayes to Alexander Graham Bell, 1876.
- “It doesn’t matter what he does, he will never amount to anything.” Albert Einstein’s teacher to his father, 1895.
- “I have anticipated [radio’s] complete disappearance — confident that the unfortunate people, who must now subdue themselves to ‘listening-in’ will soon find a better pastime for their leisure.” H.G. Wells, The Way the World is Going, 1925.
- “The problem with television is that the people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen; the average American family hasn’t time for it.” The New York Times, after a prototype television was demonstrated at the 1939 World’s Fair.
- “It would appear we have reached the limits of what it is possible to achieve with computer technology, although one should be careful with such statements; they tend to sound pretty silly in five years.” Computer scientist John von Neumann, 1949.
- “Man will never reach the moon, regardless of all future scientific advances.” Radio pioneer Lee De Forest, 1957.
- “Despite the trend to compactness and lower costs, it is unlikely everyone will have his own computer any time soon.” Reporter Stanley Penn, The Wall Street Journal, 1966.
- “But what is [the microchip] good for?” Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968.
- “I predict the Internet…will go spectacularly supernova and in 1996 catastrophically collapse.” Bob Metcalfe, InfoWorld, 1995
Origin of Bad Predictions
In conclusion, these were first compiled by Laura Lee and published in The Futurist, September-October 2000. Finally, for structured facilitation support, see your FAST Facilitator Reference Manual or attend a FAST Professional Facilitative Leadership training session offered around the world (see http://www.mgrush.com/ for a current schedule).
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Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
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by Facilitation Expert | Nov 10, 2011 | Communication Skills
Recently on a blog, an informal group of mathematicians solved a tough and long-standing mathematics problem in a few weeks. Additionally, an MGRUSH alumnae wrote about preparing for an executive workshop and how to facilitate Europeans and Asians between two different companies.
The following captures considerations on how to facilitate scientists, as well as considerations on how to facilitate Asians and Europeans.
First, How to Facilitate Scientists
The virtual session leader (Tom Gowers) used his blog to post ideas and progress. He encouraged others to contribute, expecting many minds to be more powerful than his alone. Within an hour of his first posting, three people scattered around North America commented, and six weeks later, the problem was solved. Here is an example of an ever-increasing body of scientists who have used networking to solve complex problems and to speed up the delivery of answers and options.
Value Derives When You Facilitate Scientist Because Nobody Is Smarter than Everybody
Whether you provide a structured workshop method or online tools to amplify collective intelligence, nobody is smarter than everybody.
Linking scientists together, face-to-face or virtually, can dramatically speed up the rate of discovery. Empirical evidence shows that more options (ie, discovered) lead to higher-quality decisions. Some argue that crowdsourcing results are so profound that life as we know it will fundamentally change over the next few decades. When you facilitate scientists, more is clearly better.
To facilitate scientists, provide them with a method and effective methods are dependent on neutral facilitation. They also need a deliverable that will not threaten their independent research, findings, and publications.
Why Wikis Fail
Corporate wikis rely on an environment of sharing and collaboration. When wikis fail, it is frequently attributable to weak or non-existent moderation (i.e., facilitation). In your organizational or corporate environments with a shared holarchy and sense of purpose, scope, and objectives, facilitation is frequently the only missing ingredient to breakthrough thinking and innovation.
To Facilitate Scientists, Provide Methods and Do Not Threaten Them
Eventually, we’ll come to realize that humanity sits atop our holarchy, and with an effective facilitator and collaborative environment, discover that no problem is too complex to solve. Keep in mind that there are only three reasons why groups fail:
- They don’t have the proper talent,
- They don’t have the right attitude (i.e., apathetic or don’t care),
- or, They don’t know how (to succeed as a group)
The professional MGRUSH technique leads the HOW TO effort. Combined with an appropriate method, our talented scientists are capable of “Reinventing Discovery: The New Era of Networked Science” (a book by Michael Nielsen, a pioneer in the field of quantum computing).
Next, Considerations to Facilitate Asians and Europeans
The alumnae’s two different companies required a strategy document of their alliance to work with each other in a common supply chain. Specifically, the alumnus inquired about anything in particular to avoid or encourage.
Facilitate Asians and Europeans
Specific Solution on How to Facilitate Asians and Europeans
Speak with the participants to confirm their explicit expectations and then manage accordingly. When conducting confidential, one-on-one interviews, participants will speak more openly about “anything in particular to avoid or encourage.”
Basic Considerations on How to Facilitate Asians and Europeans
- Icebreakers: Consider icebreaker activities that allow participants to share some of their social values, such as asking about a favorite childhood memory or describing their favorite holiday (i.e., vacation) destination and activities.
- Names: An effective facilitator will NOT use people’s names, but rather substitute open hands and eye contact to draw in participation and to pass the talking stick. During breaks and social times, or when discussing administrivia such as evening plans, strive to use people’s last names and titles, including respect toward academic and medical titles. During private introductions, handshakes are a reasonable default standard, perhaps with a slight bow—avoid hugging, arm humping, and shoulder thwacking as too much physical contact.
- Protocol: Emphasize the difference in roles. For example, we treat our parents differently than we treat our children. We may treat customers differently from suppliers. During the workshop, emphasize leaving titles and roles on the other side of the threshold so that everyone has permission to speak freely. When the Joint Chiefs meet, they may wear sweaters over their military stars, so that four-star generals do not claim superiority over three-star generals in a workshop environment. If the armed forces can encourage equality of voice, so can we.
- Punctuality: Punctuality is important. Keep your stated promises about when to start, including after breaks and meals. If not, your broken promise will frustrate participants and cause some to challenge the integrity of the session leader. If the session leader claims punctuality but permits a delayed starting time, they may be seen as someone who cannot be trusted. Be sure to use MGRUSH timers to get people to return from breaks and start on time. If necessary, offer a ten-minute break every fifty minutes, but start on time.
Additional Considerations on How to Facilitate Asians and Europeans
- Rhetoric: Avoid slang, colloquialisms, and American jargon. It is not uncommon for Europeans and Asians to speak in English and understand each other better than an American. While facilitating and providing reflection, stick closely to verbatim words and expressions rather than “interpreting.” If the participants felt there was a better term or expression, they would have used it the first time. Unless the participant asks for language assistance, be patient and avoid volunteering content, unless asked.
- Breakout Groups: Use breakout groups frequently during the agenda, especially during the ideation step within brainstorming. Plan your break-out sessions based on knowledge from interviews. Appoint a CEO (i.e., chief easel officer) for each group. Strive to creatively assign group titles or names that harmonize with the theme of the workshop (e.g., star constellations). Simply calling out 1,2, 3 indicates that the activity was not important enough to plan further. Understand methodologically that sometimes it is appropriate to create homogenous groups (i.e., think alike) and other times it may be advantageous to create heterogeneous groups (i.e., embrace pluralism).
Commonalities to Facilitate Scientists or to Facilitate Asians and Europeans
Be certain to secure pre-meeting buy-in about the purpose, scope, and deliverables of the workshop. Ideally, explain your agenda through a metaphor or analogy. Next, ensure that the method will engage the participants and not drag on and bore them. If you keep them engaged and focused, you will clearly have made it easier for them to build and decide. Do not discount the importance of a formal review and wrap-up. Plan on an approach the group accepts in advance to manage action steps or roles and responsibilities. Invest some time in the MGRUSH Guardian of Change so that they agree on their primary messaging to other executives and stakeholders at the conclusion of the workshop. Moreover, be sure to obtain some feedback on your performance, so that you may continuously improve your talents as an effective, facilitative leader.
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Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools, free.
by Facilitation Expert | Sep 29, 2011 | Analysis Methods, Meeting Tools
One of the worst questions a facilitator could ask is “How would you like to categorize these?” They don’t know how. That’s why they hired you.
Categorizing and creating clusters of related items (or processes) makes it easier for a group to focus on their subsequent analysis and decisions. Learn the logic behind the secret now, when the challenge is how to categorize when facilitating.
Rationale for How to Categorize
The purpose of categorizing is to eliminate redundancies by collapsing related items into clusters or chunks (a scientific term). A label or term that captures the title for each cluster can be more easily re-used in matrices and other visual displays. Frequently we refer to the labels as “triggers” because they rely on a a single term for triggering back to the meaning and definition behind it. For example, “budgeting” refers to the activities and resources required to project, track, and balance accounts. When focused on “budgeting” the group is less likely to focus on the details of “accounts payable” “accounts receivable” or other discrete clusters. Categorizing also makes it easier for the team to analyze complex relationships and their impact on each other.
How to Categorize
Method for How to Categorize
Categorizing can take little or much time, depending on how much precision is required, time available, and importance. The underscoring method suggested below is quick and effective. The other methods may also be effective, but probably not as quick.
Underscore Common Nouns
Take the raw input or lists created during the ideation step and underscore the common nouns (typically the object in a sentence that is preceded by a verb). Verbs typically precede the object in a sentence as in “pay bills”. Use a different color marker for each group of nouns. By pointing to the underscored terms, ask the team to offer up a term, simple phrase, or label that captures the meaning of each cluster.
(Optionally)
For verification or to manage items that are not underscored, ask “Why _____?” The logic and secret behind categorizing follows.
NOTE: Items that share a common purpose likely have a common objective and can be grouped together. Verify that each item is WHAT they are doing and not HOW it gets done. Ask “WHY do you do this?”. Write the purpose next to the item. Continue with the next pairing—if it has the same purpose, then it will group together. When a number of activities relate—due to common purpose—have the group name the cluster. Put a visual box around the name for the cluster.
Transpose
Ask for a volunteer to take the underscored items and create a new statement or gerund that combines, integrates, and reflects the sentiment of the commonly underscored items. Write the new statement or gerund expression that signifies a grouping on a new and separate page. The terms may be more fully defined and illustrated with the list of all items that belong to each cluster. Notice how salt, mustard, and chutney may be grouped as “condiments’ because they share a common purpose. Use the MGRUSH Definition tool to build a consensual and robust definition if required.
NOTE: Format clusters as “gerund-like phrases.” That is, a noun followed by a gerund (a verb acting as a noun and usually ending with “ing”, “ment”, “tion”, or “ble” including “able” and “ible”). Examples are “Order Processing” or “Account Management” or “Resource Generation” or “Accounts Payable”.
Avoid vague terms such as “Management Reporting”—that have no specific goal. If the group includes a number of challenging processes, write these as a side list of “concerns” and continue with additional activities. Revisit the problem areas or concerns later, after the group has developed some momentum.
Avoid letting the group simply define their organization. For example, insurance companies have a tendency to define their “processes” as Underwriting, Claim Adjusting, and Operations. What they do from a process perspective (regardless of how they are organized) is Risk Assessment, Claims Payment, Portfolio Balancing, etc.
Transposing requires artful patience. Remain highly fluid and flexible. Activities may move around and processes may be re-labeled. There is no universally correct answer. Seek the terms that work best for the group that you are serving. And as always, seek to understand rather than be understood.
Scrub
Go back to the original list and strike the items that now collapse into the new terms created for each cluster in the Transpose step above. Allow the group to contrast any remaining items that have not been eliminated and decide if they require unique terms, need further explanation, or can be deleted.
Here is another example of using activities for creating the processes that support the function of Mountaineering.
|
#
|
Support Activities
(verb-noun)
|
Result
|
|
1
|
Order supplies |
Perhaps part of the same process as Pack supplies such as Provisioning |
|
2
|
Make ascent |
Supports a process called Ascending |
|
3
|
Establish camp |
Supports a process called Sheltering |
|
4
|
Erect tent |
Determined to be HOW they support Sheltering because a tent is a concrete term and not an abstract concept |
|
5
|
Measure distance |
Supports a process called Navigating |
|
6
|
Determine altitude |
Supports process called Navigating number 5 from above |
|
7
|
Predict weather |
Deemed to best support the Navigating process, rather than a stand-alone activity |
|
8
|
Confirm location |
Supports process called Navigating numbers 5, 6, and 7 from above |
|
9
|
Make fire |
Also determined to be HOW they support Sheltering because fire is a concrete term and not an abstract |
|
10
|
Pack supplies |
Supports process called Provisioning, along with number 1 from above |
|
etc. |
|
Comparison Review
Before transitioning, review the final list of clusters and confirm that team members understand the terms and that they can support the operational definitions. Let the team members know that they can add additional terms to the clusters later, but if they are comfortable with them as is, to move on and do something with the list, as it was built for input to a subsequent step or activity.
“Decomposing”
Once clusters or processes have been created, you can then further decompose into the various activities required to support the process. For example, with the process or cluster of “Navigating” we might find the following activities:
Reversing the Categories
(In Conclusion, Other Grouping Themes)
Humans visually perceive items not in isolation but as part of a larger whole. The most frequent cause of categories is common purpose (e.g., gardening tools). However, the principles of perception include other human tendencies such as:
- Similarity—by their analogous characteristics
- Proximity—by their physical closeness to each other
- Continuity—when there is an identifiable pattern
- Closure—completing or filling in missing features
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Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools, free.
by Facilitation Expert | Jun 2, 2011 | Analysis Methods, Leadership Skills
Change or die? Most people do not change their minds—rather, they make a new decision based on new information. Sometimes the things they look at change as well.
Change or Die, The Business Process Improvement Manual
Every morning a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle when the sun comes up . . .
. . . you’d better be running.
Source: Unknown
Change or Die – Darwin
Change is stimulated by decisions. Groups make higher quality decisions than the smartest person in the group because groups create more options. Any group or individual presented with more options is known to make higher-quality decisions.
Most change is incremental or evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Yet, by harnessing one degree Fahrenheit, steam power ushered in the industrial revolution. Today’s revolution is both digital and dynamic, it is “in-formation”. With anything in formation, change is inevitable, only growth is optional.
“It is NOT the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin
Change or Die – The Tao
Some of the best books about facilitating change do not mention the term or role of a “facilitator”. Take Dr Wayne Dyer‘s book for example, “Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life.”
We have always argued that effective facilitation begins with clear thinking, and that unclear speaking or imprecise writing is indicative of unclear thinking. Dr. Dyer’s transliteration of “The Tao”, is also called “Living the Wisdom of the Tao.”
The 17th verse begins and completes as follows:
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life
With the greatest leader above them,
people barely know one exists . . .
. . . The great leader speaks little,
He never speaks carelessly.
He works without self-interest
and leaves no trace.
When all is finished, the people say,
“We did it ourselves.”
Change or Die – Being Facilitative
One can easily substitute the term facilitator for a leader or include the adjective “facilitative” in front of the term, as in “facilitative leader.” Modern, facilitative leaders create an environment that is conducive to productivity, where all of the meeting participants feel that they have a personal responsibility to contribute and own the outputs, and the deliverables. Clear learnings that we can import from Dr. Dyer’s treatment of the 17th verse also include:
- Facilitators create an environment that helps everyone act responsibly.
- Effective facilitators are able to make themselves invisible when the group reaches high-performance mode. Although most groups do not reach this level, when they do, the facilitator becomes a scribe.
- When it is time for accolades, facilitators dissolve in the background, wanting the participants to feel that their accomplishments derive from their own talents.
- Instead of believing that they know what is best for a group, they trust the group participants and the method to generate what is best for them.
- The surest way to gain the trust and confidence of participants is to allow them to make as many decisions as possible. Avoid grabbing the low-hanging fruit by answering simple content. Put even the simplest items in the form of a question.
Try being more neutral as a business agent, friend, spouse, family member, parent, etc. and be surprised by the results of people who will live up to their own answers. Remember, there is usually more than one correct answer, the real question remains the taste for risk and reward.
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Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools, free.
by Facilitation Expert | May 26, 2011 | Analysis Methods, Leadership Skills
Leonardo da Vinci identified seven key traits or skills that one can cultivate to enhance intelligence and unlock the potential for genius.
Even after mastering these traits, one must overcome the fear of failure, which often prevents people from taking the first step. Likewise, da Vinci’s traits strongly align with the qualities of a facilitative leader, guiding others toward creativity and growth.
Therefore, da Vinci’s traits or skills or strengths include:
- Curiosita—an insatiable thirst for knowledge
- Dimostrzione—the ability to learn from experience
- Sensazione—the discipline of continuing to hone one’s senses
- Sfumato—the ability to cope with ambiguity
- Arte/ Scienza—holistic thinking
- Corporalita—what some people call sound mind and body
- Connessione—the ability to see deeply into the connection between things
More can be found in the book entitled “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day” by Michael J. Gelb
Walter Isaacson
Subsequent to the original posting of this article, Walter Isaacson published a comprehensive and compelling biography, Leonardo da Vinci, that deserves a much higher ranking in a Google search. While nearly 600 pages in length, the well-researched and documented history of the polymath would provide an excellent return on your time and money. Isaacson identifies twenty Key Learnings. For more detail, you should turn to the original source. They include:
- Avoid silos.
- Be curious, relentlessly curious.
- Be open to mystery.
- Collaborate.
- Create for yourself, not just for patrons.
- Get distracted.
- Go down rabbit holes.
- Indulge fantasy.
- Let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
- Let your reach exceed your grasp.
- Make lists.*
- Observe.
- Procrastinate.
- Respect facts.
- Retain a childlike sense of wonder.
- See things unseen.
- Seek knowledge for its own sake.
- Start with the details.
- Take notes, on paper.
- Think visually.
- “Leonardo’s to-do lists may have been the greatest testament to pure curiosity the world has ever seen.” (pg. 523)
Finally, from a commercial perspective and in the spirit of radical innovation, here are some well-established “secrets”:
- Get intimate with your customers
- Make your own product obsolete
- Break the rules and be audacious
- Act small, think small—even nano small
- Celebrate failure—(see Thomas Alva Edison’s objectives)
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Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools and methods daily during the week. While some call this immersion, we call it the road that yields high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
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by Facilitation Expert | Apr 21, 2011 | Leadership Skills
The Tao of Facilitation
10th Verse of the Tao
Can you love your people
and govern your domain
without self-importance?
. . .
working, yet not taking credit;
leading without controlling or dominating?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While it is not easy leaving the ego at the threshold, it is mandatory for modern and effective facilitative leadership. Meetings run best when the leader is NOT talking, but rather listening. There is an inverse relationship between the amount of air time consumed by the facilitator’s voice and the perceived success of the meeting. If the facilitator speaks 100 percent of the time, the meeting will be viewed as a complete failure. Participants will view meetings favorably when they speak most of the time during a meeting — guaranteed. That’s the tao of facilitation.
Most of us have attended a class on public speaking. Listening, we learn, is no less important (and perhaps even more important) than speaking. Listening also supports facilitating, which is why listening is one of the core skills we apply in our facilitation training.
According to the Dalai Lama:
“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know; but when you listen, you may learn something new.”
______
Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools, free.
by Facilitation Expert | Apr 14, 2011 | Leadership Skills
The MGRUSH technique encourages different approaches based on whether your project is seeking incremental gain or requires real breakthroughs. Blue Ocean Strategy promotes breakthrough thinking, justified by the higher profits such thinking generates among companies studied by its authors, Kim and Mauborgne.[1]
Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
The authors note the failures of companies over the past fifteen to twenty years—since the publishing of In Search of Excellence and Built to Last—including Atari, Data General, Fluor, and National Semiconductor. Therefore, the cornerstone of Blue Ocean Strategy is value innovation, defined as “the integrated and simultaneous pursuit of differentiation (i.e., buyer value) AND low-cost (i.e., supplier value).”
Their analytical toolset begins with a strategy canvas that identifies the principle of competitive and investment factors within your industry. With wine as an example (in brief), they might include price, distinction, marketing, aging, vineyard, complexity, and range. Their framework (called Four Actions) relies on facilitating consensual agreement around four questions. Participants’ answers suggest a new value curve that might enable your company to shift from traditional industry factors to uncontested market space. The four questions are:
1. ELIMINATE––Which factors that the industry takes for granted should be eliminated?
2. RAISE––Which factors should be raised well above the industry’s standard?
3. CREATE––Which factors should be created that the industry has never offered?
4. REDUCE––Which factors should be reduced well below the industry’s standard?
Illustrating Blue Ocean Strategy Four Actions Using Cirque du Soleil
For example, they suggest the success of Cirque du Soleil (compared to a traditional circus) accelerated with the following insights:
1. ELIMINATE––Star performers, animal shows, etc.
2. RAISE––Unique venue, type of concession sales, etc.
3. CREATE––Theme, artistic music, and dance, etc.
4. REDUCE––Multiple show arenas, thrill, and danger, etc.
Using the strategy canvas of Southwest Airlines they emphasized the factors of friendly service, speed, and frequent point-to-point departures. Both Cirque du Soleil and Southwest Airlines provide shared focus, divergence, and a compelling tagline. Overall, the authors’ steps for visualizing strategy draw upon group discussions and consensus—aka, excellent facilitation. They also suggest the use of a Pioneer-Migrator-Settler perceptual map that would seem to offer far less benefit than seeking consensus with answers to the Four Actions above.
Blue Ocean Strategy offers additional and valuable questions[2] that challenge each of the life-cycle steps (e.g., MGRUSH’s Plan-Acquire-Operate-Control). These questions seek to identify the biggest blocks faced by value drivers such as productivity, simplicity, convenience, risk, fun/ image, and environmental friendliness.
Blue Ocean Strategy Organizational Hurdles
The authors finish their discussion with four “organizational hurdles” including politics, motivation, resources, and groupthink (i.e., “cognitive”). However, like many academics, they complete their otherwise valuable book by discussing the importance of converting the strategy into execution—missing the importance and significance of building consensual analysis to pave the way. They jump from the WHY to the HOW without a complete understanding of WHAT is required—i.e., the consensual aspects that assure buy-in, confidence, and ownership. They talk about the importance of attitude and behavior but offer little insight into how to acquire a “fair process,”—something that MGRUSH alumni do regularly by building consensus around the analysis framework.
[1] See chart on page 7, “The Profit and Growth Consequences of Creating Blue Oceans.”
[2] See chart on page 123, “The Buyer Experience Cycle.”
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Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools, free.
by Facilitation Expert | Mar 17, 2011 | Communication Skills
“The term ‘strategy,’ much like ‘quality,’ is often overused and should be applied with precision. ‘The strategy’ should only be used unambiguously when it reflects a clearly defined and singular perspective.”
The Strategy
It’s important to carefully differentiate between the terms “the strategy,” “a strategy” (or “the strategies”), and “a strategic plan.” For a facilitator attuned to rhetorical precision, each of these terms carries distinct meanings. However, many people tend to use them interchangeably, often leading to confusion.
So, what distinguishes a strategic plan from a department plan, a product vision, a project plan, or a team plan? The primary difference lies in their scope. At its core, a “plan” can be succinctly defined in three words (or preferably five): “who does what” (by when). This basic principle of planning apply consistently across all levels of an organization.
Every business group needs answers to the nine questions listed in the “Strategic Planning Agenda”
- Mission (why are we here?)
- Values (who are we?)
- Vision (where are we going? how do we know if we get there or not?)
- Success Measures (what are our measurements of progress?)
- Current Situation (where are we now?)
- Actions (what should we do?—from strategy through tasks)
- Alignment (is this the right stuff to do?)
- Roles and Responsibilities (who does what, by when?)
- Communications Plan (what should we tell our stakeholders?
The term “strategy” within an organization or division often refers to a set of initiatives, typically organized as either a program or a portfolio. These initiatives consist of approved projects that receive investment funds and help further define the overarching goals. The program’s “strategy” is shaped by the quantity and type of projects within the portfolio. At the project level, “strategies” focus on the specific tactics needed to ensure the project’s success. Meanwhile, the team’s “strategy” involves the tasks and operations necessary to implement the project and support its ongoing operation and improvement.
The meaning of “strategy” is highly dependent on the perspective it serves. Referring to “the strategy” without clarifying its context provides only a partial understanding. To gain deeper insight into operational differences and to facilitate better alignment, consider the organizational holarchy and how each level contributes to the overall strategic framework.
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Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
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by Facilitation Expert | Feb 24, 2011 | Communication Skills
With this initial blog, we have launched compelling content about the dynamic role of a facilitator in the interactive world of instant communications. This Best Practices site anchors feeds to Google+, Linked-In, Reddit, Twitter, and hundreds of other sites for seekers of improved servant leadership skills — to make easy.
facilius reddo — The Modern/ Facilitative Leadership Style to Make Easy
Facilius Reddo: Embracing the Modern Facilitative Leadership Style
The term “facilitaera” first appeared in France in 1611, during the Renaissance, originating from the Latin phrase facilius reddo, which means “easily accomplished” or “attained.” At its core, “facil” translates to “make easy.”
To Make Easy Using Dynamic Content: The Evolving Role of Facilitators in an Age of Instant Communication
We aim to make it easier for you to make it easier for others to explain issues and positions, create and understand options, and make more informed decisions. Our goal supports your facilitative efforts to simplify complex processes, empowering you to make it easier for others to articulate issues, explore and understand options, and make informed decisions.
Purpose: To Make It Easy
At MGRUSH we define “consensus” as a situation where everyone can support the outcome without losing sleep over it. Our mission is to equip you with the tools and techniques to help others achieve true consensus—not by taking the easy way out, but by fostering creativity, innovation, and overcoming barriers like miscommunication, politics, and perceived intolerance.
Your role and attitude are critical. By engaging with this Best Practices series, you’ll cultivate an attitude of continuous learning and improvement. In this millennium, learning and listening have emerged as the most effective attitudes for facilitators. We invite your comments, feedback, and challenges, and encourage you to share this content with session leaders—even those who aren’t MGRUSH-certified facilitators.
Upcoming Topics
In other articles, you can look forward to exploring topics such as:
- The Art of Precise Questioning
- Rhetorical Precision: The Impact of a Single Word
- Overcoming Speaker Challenges
- The Tao of Facilitation
- Transforming Your Responsibility Matrix into a GANTT Chart
- Reviews of Cutting-Edge Research and Empirical Studies
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Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools and methods daily during the week. While some call this immersion, we call it the road that yields high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a free timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools.
Go to the Facilitation Training Store to access proven, in-house resources, including full agendas, break timers, forms, and templates. Also, take a moment to SHARE this article with others.
To Help You Unlock Your Facilitation Potential: Experience Results-Driven Training for Maximum Impact #facilitationtraining #meeting design
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With Bookmarks no longer a feature in WordPress, we need to append the following for your benefit and reference
