I’ve been thinking more than usual about background noise.
Some background noise needs to be created, like the fake ocean sounds in a baby’s nursery that help her go to sleep.
Some background noise needs to be moved from the background to the foreground of our attention so that we can consciously listen to it and actually appreciate it, like insects on a summer evening or construction noise that may seem like a nuisance but represents renovation and renewal. Continue reading “Background Noise”
How many types of currency are in your wallet at the moment? One? None?! I have three, because I’m travelling, and will likely have four a few days from now. I’m constantly doing price conversions in my head and wondering which currency is listed on menus and price tags.
Currency is how we express value.
What currencies are most highly valued in your work? In traditional for-profit businesses, the answer is usually money — maybe revenue or profitability or growth rates. Increasingly, you may also be adding social or planetary benefits to that equation. Continue reading “Foreign Currency”
In the city where I live, there have long been calls for the creation of fenced, leash-free dog areas. I’ve been involved in facilitating a few of the meetings about them — over years, not months. The community engagement that went into planning these dog parks was extensive, and support for the initiative was robust.
The first one was installed last year, with at least one more about to be constructed. And now the local Council has voted to remove the one and cancel the rest, pending further study.
Why? Because some of the neighbours who live close to the new dog park are very unhappy.
So what happened? Continue reading “How Decisions are Really Made”
I am currently participating in board meetings of the International Association of Facilitators, in my new role as Regional Director for Canada. Seventeen of us have gathered for three days in Kuala Lumpur.
We’re right in the thick of things, but two insights I’ve gained so far:
It’s no wonder people can be cynical about the value of stakeholder engagement. They submit their ideas and never see them again.
We’re getting better at engaging people, better at assuring them their input matters, better perhaps at telling them their input is being considered alongside other inputs, and occasionally better at telling them what was eventually decided. But the path between their input and that decision is still largely shrouded in mystery.
Continue reading “Opening the Black Box of Decision-Making”