Thanks to Paul Z Jackson at Solutions Focus, my approach to workshop facilitation has changed (and I think improved) throughout 2008. I have read his book and attended Solutions Focus training in Melbourne this year (thanks to Andrew Rixon for bringing it together). I wrote a post called ‘Which Conversation Do You Choose” about my observations of groups who take a solutions focused view in a workshop. Here is the picture to capture the essence of this observation … Here is a message I sent to Paul Jackson, reflecting on solutions focus and my work … Hi Paul. How are …

Like most people you ask, “I’m busy”. Busy running my business, being a husband and a dad. Growing my own fruit and veges and playing music again 🙂 I don’t feel busy though and I make the time to play in this space. Some of my clients ask me … “how do you find the time blog?” My answer is that blogging is a big part of my work now. It gives me the chance to notice what is going on around me and to notice more about myself. It allows me to connect and learn from people all over …

After reading Dan Pink’s A Whole New Mind, I am inspired to develop my right brain … my creative potential … explore the possibilities … do things differently.  As a facilitator, I am encouraging workshop folk to do the same. As Dan suggests, a 5 line Self Portrait can reveal much about how you are feeling in the moment. Participants in my workshops have been subjected to the 5 line self portrait as a way of introducing themselves to others. Here my 5 line self-portrait that represents how I was feeling about an hour ago.   A participant yesterday drew …

Over at Winkipod, Harrison Owen launches his new book (at the 2008 OSonOS) and in this Winkipodcast, Harrison explores a metaphor that links surfing at Mavericks … Open Space Technology and Self Organising systems. Given Viv and I named our podcasting blog (Winkipod) after another famous surf break (Winkipop) … it has added significance. Here is Mavericks … where the surfer is not in control of this wave! Here is Harrison Owen’s Mavericks metaphor (from the podcast above) … Mavericks is a world class surf break (with incredible power) that comes into northern California. Surfers show up when Mavericks is “on” and …

Dave Pollard and I appear to stumble upon (and notice) similar stuff. This time it’s Transition Culture. I have learned much from the Castlemaine community and they have jumped head first into the Transition Culture process which is all about making the transition from a carbon-centric to a carbon-free economy/lifestyle. Here is a description of the Transition Handbook from Rob Hopkins’ blog: “The book has three sections, the Head, the Heart and the Hands. The Head explores the issues of peak oil and climate change, and how when looked at together, we need to be focusing on the rebuilding of …