When I facilitate in-person sessions, I frequently tell participants that I cannot guarantee that we’ll co-create a “safe space” together. They looked shocked. I go on to explain that the pre-existing power dynamics that will outlast our time together are outside of my control and inevitably affect people’s sense of safety in the room. What I can promise, however, drawing on the work of Amy Edmondson and others, is a session where people treat each other respectfully and have roughly equal airtime — two elements that do contribute to a psychologically safe session. Necessary but not sufficient conditions. Continue reading “Psychological Safety on Zoom”
Co-Creation
Do you have something you’d like to launch but you aren’t sure if there’s an appetite for it or whether the details of your offerings are quite right?
Ask your audience.
It seems basic, but too often we behave as if we need to have all the answers when in fact, we have but one opinion and are often not representative of our own target market anyway. Continue reading “Co-Creation”
Minimum Viable Platform
I’m learning that a well-led workshop is not primarily about using the software platform with the best meeting features.
Believe me, I’ve spent some time over the past four months learning the ins and outs of various applications, ranging from Zoom to MS Teams to WebEx to Mural to Miro to Lino to Stormboard…all in search of the best visual collaborative tool.
But once again, it comes back to people, not products or features. Continue reading “Minimum Viable Platform”
A Default of Privilege
Become comfortable with discomfort.
It might sound good as a hashtag or on a T-shirt, but the above statement is utterly impossible. Discomfort is of course, by definition, not comfortable.
It’s one of the reasons we have default settings. They are comfortable. They save us time and mental energy. They eliminate conscious choice. To move away from them requires deliberate decision. As Dr. Jason Fox explains, our default is “selected automatically unless a viable alternative is specified.” Continue reading “A Default of Privilege”
Spaciousness
On February 27, 2020, I was sitting in a workshop in Melbourne, Australia and wrote this in my notebook:
That’s what I was craving at the time. Some breathing room, both in real and symbolic terms.
Be careful what you wish for! Two weeks later, my calendar was virtually empty. Ten trips cancelled; more than twenty projects postponed. Continue reading “Spaciousness”