Generating Ideas Worth Celebrating!

In celebrating this winter holiday, especially the New Year, I realize (as I have for most years) it’s time to throw out the old and bring in the new. But I don’t really want to give up the ‘old’ but just spruce it up – like the Peanuts clan did with Charlie Brown’s withering Christmas tree.

So what needs to be changed, enhanced or just plain improved? From a facilitation perspective it has got to be around helping people to generate better ideas. Don’t get me wrong, classic brainstorming is valuable (the old), but so often the technique of ‘just say what’s on your mind’ results in ‘same old, same old’ ideas being generated.

In his book Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making Sam Kaner speaks of two types of ideation practices:

1. Familiar Ideation: this occurs when the group shares ‘in the box’ ideas, which are sanctioned by experience, culture, expertise and what is known. This is where people feel most comfortable with the process, but ideas tend to be similar to those heard before.



2. Creative Ideation: this occurs when the group is committed to going beyond the obvious or the easy, where new ideas are brought up and explored; one idea sparks new ideas. Unfamiliar ideas will have advantages and disadvantages. This requires creative methods that enable participants to go beyond the ordinary, the usual, or the ‘tried and true.’

So what I want to focus on is creating something new using some form of creative idea generation. Recently during an Advanced Facilitation Skills Workshop I discussed and presented some creative methods, including the one below using metaphors. When the group tried it out, they found that this method helped them go beyond the familiar. This is precisely what we help our groups do, especially if ‘innovation’ is desired.

The most simple way to use metaphor is to take any object and to ask the group “what are the characteristics of this object?” For example, showing an ‘apple’ might produced comments like “it’s red, it’s nutritious and good for the body, it tastes fresh, it’s easy to hold, it’s organic, it’s got a core, etc.” Once the characteristics have been defined go back to the your topic. For example, if the group needs to brainstorm ideas on how to improve the efficiency of our snow tires we then ask, looking at our defined characteristics, "how is improving efficiency like ‘something good for the body'?" Ideas that may come up include ‘they enable safer driving; they are easy to put on and take off the wheels; etc.” I find that the object you choose should be one that has some characteristics that are easy to relate to the topic being addressed.

Another method for using metaphors was created by a colleague of mine, Tom Heck, who runs the International Association of Teamwork Facilitators. He creates Metaphor Cards from pictures that he cuts out of a magazine. He creates about 30 cards, by pasting pictures on card stock. He then has the group engage in one or more of the following activities:

Frontloading - Before the start of the discussion (or the activity) ask everyone to pick a card (or two) that represents the theme they want to work on (invest in). A variation – ask the group to select the one card that represents what they believe best represents the topic they’re about to discuss.

Follow-up - After ‘familiar’ brainstorming, ask everyone to select a card (or two) and have them define one characteristic they see in the picture. Have them use that characteristic as a metaphor for defining a potential idea for the discussion topic.

Random Card - The facilitator holds the cards in their hands so that the participants cannot see the images. Participants are asked to choose one card randomly and then be prepared to share with the group WHAT new ideas this card evokes related to the discussion topic.

Note: if you don’t want to cut out pictures to make cards, just buy postcards with provocative images (how provocative will of course depend on your audience!)

The best thing I like about using metaphors to generate ideas is that it forces people to think out of the box, but most of all, it generates a lot of laughter and fun. The perfect holiday gift we facilitators can give to the groups we facilitate!

Happy holidays!

Dealing with Venting

Recently there was a post on 'how to deal with a moan fest' via my IAF discussion group. There were some interesting posts and after having read a few of them and adding my own experience I'd like to share with you some possible process suggestions:

1. Properly acknowledge the complaints right from the start.

2. Be aware thought that sometimes people don’t know when to stop venting. So after listening to someone for a few minutes, letting them know they have been heard by paraphrasing back what you heard, asking clarifying questions and/or scribing down their concerns, you may sense that the individual/ group may naturally shift to speaking about a solution. However, sometimes this doesn’t happen so it may be helpful to:

a. invite the person to shift to a "solution", by asking them what it is, that they DO want, or …

b. use Appreciative Inquiry to get to the solutions, for example:

i. Q: Imagine you fell asleep tonight and all of the challenges disappeared by magic, what would be the first tiny signs that that the miracle had happened?

ii. Q: If you had a magic wand, how would you want it to be. When/where does this happen already... or, even just a little bit?

iii. Q: On a scale of 1 - 10, where do you stand right now with 10 being the perfect situation. (And when the group responds 3 because they are feeling so low, follow up with). What gets you even that high? What's already working for you? What would get you one point higher?

iv. Q: Was there a time when you were able to bring about massive change despite the odds? What was going on? What did it take to get the change to happen?

3. If people need more safety in order to be candid, break them up in to pairs. Have the pairs then report out during a large group plenary.

Stuck in a Parking Lot

I just ran across a great article by Kevin Eikenberry that discusses the misuses of Issue Bins or Parking Lots by meeting facilitators. For anybody not familiar with the tool, I suggest Ingrid Bens's Facilitation at a Glance. Ingrid describes Parking Lots as a means of capturing ideas outside the scope of the current agenda, to return to later on or at the next meeting. Just because an idea is tangential doesn't necessarily mean it warrants no further discussion.

Kevin's article reminds us that even with the best intentions, meeting facilitators can run out of time to address these off-track ideas or, even worse, they may choose on some level to ignore those ideas that don't fit squarely in their agenda.

The Parking Lot becomes a place where ideas go to die.

This is just one example of a meeting facilitation tool that can negatively affect participation levels or bias outcomes. Some other types of tools and respective pitfalls include:

• Questioning: using close-ended questions (instead of open-ended) to manipulate a group down a designated path that they have no interest in following
  
• Surveys: using questions that are vague, or speak to only one aspect of the issue or opportunity, thereby avoiding the 'white elephants'
• Process designs: creating a meeting structure that purposefully takes people to a desired end (i.e. your client's) rather than to where they need to go
• Warm-ups: that don't take into consideration individual abilities and mindsets of the group attending

So, how do we take Kevin's point to heart and identify and use tools that make a difference? One easy reminder is that our tools are supposed to be content-neutral and straightforward for participants (and you the facilitator) to use. We have the ability to modify tools so they fit the needs of the group we're facilitating - rather than fitting the group to the needs of the tool! For example, the Parking Lot should be considered a temporary place to put ideas/issues or opportunities on hold, with the understanding that they will be addressed at the appropriate time during the session. If time runs out, then a plan for dealing with the items in the next session should occur.

Finally, think of tools like cutlery. There are times when a fork and knife just don't cut it (excuse the pun) when eating a drumstick. Likewise, don't haphazardly use a tool because you like it or it's what the client suggested. Rather, use a tool only if makes sense for the process you're leading and helps advance the group in achieving its outcomes.

Thinking critically about tools will save you and the group you're facilitating a lot of wasted effort!

Meeting Design 101: Keeping Rotation Simple

Recently a workshop grad from our Facilitating with Ease workshop emailed to ask a simple way to rotate meeting participants. This can be a tricky meeting moment where the meeting design can appear too complex or pervasive for participants, so keeping instructions simple is crucial.

Typically groups are rotated around a room for purposes of:

• Getting them to input on multiple issues/topics


• Bringing some physical movement to the meeting process so people aren't just sitting all the time


• Get a chance to discuss ideas amongst a smaller, sub-group of the larger group so that shyer people may feel more open to be candid

Method One: The Clock Rotation
People are divided into sub-groups by numbering them off according to the number of topics being discussed. So if the group must brainstorm or debate five different issues I create 5 sub-groups. Each sub-group is assigned to a flipchart with the written issue or topic. The sub-group is given 10 - 20 minutes to discuss and jot down their ideas. Following this I begin to rotate the groups clockwise from one flipchart to the next. The first rotation is always given less time as the original group probably captured most of the common ideas. The second rotation gets a little less time and so on to jot down their ideas. Rules when arriving to the next flipchart are as follows:

1. when arriving to the new flipchart please review all current ideas. If you have questions about anything written go to the previous group and have them provide clarity


2. you cannot eliminate another group's ideas but rather embellish on their ideas or add new ideas below theirs

Sometimes if the ideas are complex I'll have one person stay back from the previous group during a rotation. This person overviews what was written on the flipchart and addresses any questions for clarification. They then move ahead to join their group at the new flipchart. When they arrive, one of their team mates quickly debriefs them.

Method Two: I Choose
Instead of Method One where we tell people the group they're going to be in, with this method people choose which flipchart they go to. The only catch is that only a specific number of people are allowed per topic group. For example, if there are 10 topics and 40 people, I only allow a max of 5 - 6 people per topic group. If people arrive at their topic group and the it's maxed out I then ask them what their second choice would have been and to go there. People are asked to choose their topic group by these criteria. You either...

• have a lot of expertise with this topic and understanding of what's required and/or


• you're passionate about this topic and/or


• you're interested in this topic

People go to their chosen topic and are given 10 - 20 minutes to discuss ideas. Following this I then ask the group to now to another topic which meets the criteria. We continue to do this for 3 - 4 rounds. The same rules apply when arriving at the new topic flipchart:

1. when arriving to the new flipchart please review all current ideas. If you have questions about anything written go to the previous group and have them provide clarity


2. you cannot eliminate another group's ideas but rather embellish on their ideas or add new ideas below theirs

Hope this helps everyone who has trouble with group rotation!