making an offer

I have another life. A few times a month, I stand up and do performance poetry in various pubs & cafes around Sydney. Sometimes the punters love it. Sometimes you could hear a pin drop in the pained silence. Thems the breaks. I've been doing this for a year and I'd like to broaden my horizons.

Would you like a poem written for you?

Yes. You.

Questions & Answers

What can the poem be about?
Whatever you want it to be. A loved one, a special event, a topic that gets you passionate. Up to you.

How much input do you need from me?
The more the better. A conversation over a coffee or the phone is a minimum.

Can I tell you what style I want the poem written in?
Sure. Suggest poets and poems you like. I cannot guarantee the output will be anything like them but it will give me a clue.

What if I don't like the poem?
If it's minor, we can do a rewrite. If it's major, then we just part company. I keep the poem and you owe me nothing.

What do I actually get at the end of this?
A written copy of the poem and an mp3 of me reading it.

What do I have to give in return?
Well, here's where it gets interesting. I had thought of charging for this service but I'm not skint at the moment and I'm more interested in fostering creativity in others than tangling with the taxman. So you have to think of something to give me that you perceive as being of equal value to the poem. But what that is exactly is up to you. This is an exchange of gifts. A potlatch.

[UPDATE: For various reasons I would prefer it not to be a poem (some other kind of cultural product is fine) but that's down to you.]

Does your stuff rhyme?
Sometimes. But not always and rarely consistently. There does tend to be a lot of alliteration.

Who are you like?
It varies. It really does.

Who owns the poem?
You can use it in any way you see fit (provided it's not to make money). I keep the copyright and can get it published - but only with your permission (e.g. if it's about your dead cat, you may not want it broadcast to the world).

How do I know you're any good?
Try me and find out.

Here is a little sample:

i look around the train carriage and wonder
when the level 3 smile restrictions will be lifted
when ominous clouds of joy will still the chatter of the sun
and douse this cheesecake city in delight

the drought had lasted so long
that i mistook the sound of rain
for the white noise of my television

thoughtglue & 10 KM tips

Stephen Collins has 2 blogs. I have only just discovered thoughglue. SC posts Cory Banks' 10 KM tips which I think are pretty cool.

You could almost recast CB's points as KM improv:

• Start from where you and they are.
• Go somewhere new & better with them (but note the previous point).
• Pay attention to them (& what they do).
• Adopt, adapt & change.
• Use what's to hand and fits in (i.e. technology).

Or something.

And SC is right about this being the wrong question. And as we're on the improv tip here in major way at the moment (don't worry, the symptoms will pass) - the manager of knowledgeable subordinates has to take what they offer and respond with "yes and" in some way.

More facilitation patterns - improv & complexity

In all the excitement, I had forgotten Andrew Rixon's new(ish) Babel Fish blog. Andrew talks about facilitation patterns, improvisation & also juggling. And also a link to this post by Viv McWaters about facilitation as improv.

When I started posting about brainstorming, I was viewing it through the lens of improv - though I don't think that came across in the early posts.

Reflecting for a moment, improv is all about co-creating a complex situation. A complex system is where the participants constantly connect with and influence each other. That's what makes it impossible to predict what will happen next. The lack of a script or fixed roles increases the opportunities for contact & influence. And the "rules" of improv (which are more like rules if you are not experienced and more like patterns if you are*) aim to further increase the opportunities for contact, feedback loops & mutation. When improv is done well, you are watching an emergent complex social system unfold like a bonsai tree in front of your very eyes. And the knob gags are just a bonus.

*In fact, the development of expertise can be seen as the conversion of rules into patterns.

Facilitation - "yes and"

Johnnie Moore has responded to the brainstorming posts with this lovely little number. OK - let's commence with the riffage:

I'm going to begin by saying that those who wear the label "facilitator" find themselves in many different situations. So to talk of the rules in facilitation may be reassuring but it is also useless. For every rule, there is a conceivable circumstance when it should be broken. Instead, there are patterns for facilitation Things that work. Sometimes. For you. What I would suggest here is that Johnnie is offering a set of patterns that work for him.

If you put a gun to my head and asked for a formula, I'd probably talk about the power of invitation. Set everything up as voluntary; avoid insisting people attend, frame it all as an invitation. So if I ever do a warm up game, I always say one way to play is just to sit out and observe (funnily enough, it seems that then more people are willing to join in).

Yes! Much prefer a voluntary approach to things. If people don't want to participate, that's OK. This does imply upfront work and preparation in setting the invitation up. I've not been involved in a full-blown open space but from what I've heard, this is where a lot of the effort goes - in creating the right environment for people. And then letting them get on with it.

Then as you slip off the safety lock, I'd probably splutter about Harrison Owen's motto of "one less thing" if you're facilitating. See how little you need to do to guide the group, organise less, and practice sitting with "awkward silences". We tend to associate creativity with adrenalin and inspiration with stimulation. In one of the most satisfying groups I worked with recently, we had lots of natural pauses for reflection, as well as long breaks. Those pauses are often punctuated by someone with something really interesting to say - usually much better than any facilitatory effort I might make.

This is something I am increasingly drawn to. Shutting up. Seeing how little I can say. I don't do stacks of facilitating but even when talking to people, silence can be powerful. Just sitting with it. The temptation for me is always to rush in - as if by speaking I am staying in control or justifying my existence. And it's not required.

Something interesting happened recently. A friend asked me to mentor him. I was a little surprised by this as he is older and more experienced than me. I said: I don't have anything to tell you. He said: That's not what I want. He actually wanted someone to listen to him. And ask the occasional question. So that's what we've done. It's been fun so far and I think I have probably learned more than he has (but don't tell him that).

The best facilitators have always blown me away with the questions they ask (I have maybe asked 2 or 3 really good questions in my life so far). And I think that often comes from their presence. By being there, the question itself is not forced but naturally emerges. But it may not come out straight away. Several attempts may be required.

In a brainstorming context, if there's time, maybe get people to do writing activity alone. I think introverts tend to get excluded by loud, frantic workstyles and if we give them a more reflective approach, it's more inclusive.

This something that I worry about. As an introvert myself, I often need a bit of space to ponder what I'm doing and why. I like the idea of rhythm here - high-energy group pieces mixed with individual activities. That was something I tried with the KM & Change session - I wanted people to reflect individually before getting into the group fray. I think the concept was sound but the execution was a bit wonky on my part.

My default response in difficult situations is "Can you say more about that?"

Which is always an excellent move. But it requires some poise - my immediate reaction when "threatened" by a challenge is to respond offensively. Rather than accepting it for what it is. I'm getting better at this though. Their is a confidence required to respond with acceptance to a challenge - i.e. the realisation that I am not under threat but rather in a state of play. Relish the moment.

Finally, I suppose I'd invoke Gandhi on being the change you want to see in the world, and being aware and present to what the group is doing, reflecting some of that awareness back to the group; tending to avoid setting myself up as the deliverer of outcomes so the group shares responsibility for what happens.

Not much I can add to that. Pretty spot on. Johnnie has indicated (whether it was a blog post or skype convo, I can't recall) that he sees the role of facilitator as preventing other people from being in charge rather than actively wielding power. And in doing so, everyone else has to take responsibility for what's going on - rather than have someone else to step in as a parent. Sometimes I get impatient or nervous and then the desire to control others kicks in. Which is a bit tedious.

I have a lot of sympathy & enthusiasm for Johnnie's patterns. I suppose ultimately I want activities like brainstorming to be more like the process Johnnie describes - but that no doubt outs me as the closet anarchist that I may secretly be.

N.B. If you're encouraging people to be creative then the role of the facilitator as cheerleader is an important one: "That idea is fantastic. But it could be even crazier..."

Brainstorming (1): Background

A post on brainstorming as improv to an email list back in April has led to the kind offer of a slot at the ACT-KM Conference (plus bus fare if I have a bad run with the pokies in October). I am now putting together the session itself.

So I'm doing a little research into brainstorming at the moment. And the first thing I unearthed was this fantastic literature review done in 1998 by Scott Isaksen (god bless google). And here is SI in a podcast for Cranky Middle Managers* last year.

Bob Sutton makes the following point in Business Week:

Here's the problem: Most academic studies of brainstorming are rigorous, but
irrelevant to the challenge of managing creative work.

BS's 8 rules are also good. Bob is also a fan of IDEO - and Tom Kelley from IDEO offers 7 secrets & 6 mistakes in Fast Company from a while back.

Some themes that emerge are:

• Brainstorming has actual rules that you need to follow.
• Brainstorming is best used with a mix of individual & group activities - and with other creativity techniques.
• Brainstorming requires skills & practice - and also a strong, independent facilitator.
• Fear (of the boss, of the group) kills brainstorming.
• Creativity happens before and after brainstorming as well as during.

These last two points tie into the wider issue of what makes a creative climate.

*Wayne Turmel correctly identifies that anyone who's taken an improv class fancies themselves as an expert in creativity.