Facipulation – a first mention

A friend of mine runs a singing group. She’s often referred to by participants as a very special teacher. I heard a report a while back of one of her singing workshops for beginners. (She often gets so-called tone-deaf peopled singing merrily and in tune within a few hours). Participants walk into the workshop at…

Ice-breakers or ice-makers?

Jack Martin Leith (a facilitator of innovation) and I had a chat once about icebreakers. He (also a facilitator) said he didn’t like the word “ice-breaker” as it assumes “ice” is in the room right from the start. I agree. The term “energiser” might be better, but even that assumes that energy is low and…

The Radical Shake Up

Are You Ready for The Radical Shake Up? This three-day process will turn your business or organisation on its head. This is one of the most revolutionary processes in becoming a conscious business. A radical shake up is rarely easy, can be hugely painful,  but also releasing and invigorating. A radical shake up can save the…

Workshop activities – good and bad features

The following is a short checklist I developed when creating activities for workshops and learning events. It’s a very basic list and ideal for those “new to the game”! It is based on the assumption that there are a few generic features of activities that work well or work less well. I am sure the…

A Critique of Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a minimally structured group process for collectively generating ideas on a given theme, question, challenge or problem. One of the most patronising and patently silly assumptions of brainstorming is that, in the space of five minutes, you can harvest the contents of someone’s head, like a field of wheat. Even where this might…