This toe-tapping, energy-flowing, jam of a workshops work episode explores the similarities (and differences) between jazz music, strategy, and facilitation - with fabled facilitator Rich Goidel leading the beat.

Rich fell into facilitation from his career in creative planning and brand strategy and has been uncovering fascinating insights ever since, thanks in no small part to the unique intersections he finds between music, strategy, and facilitation.

We explore where these crossovers work and fall short, how we can all embody a bit more musicality in our work, and even find ourselves practicing a live activity using Rich’s industry-favourite Catalyst Cards!

Find out about:

• Rich’s accidental journey from brand strategy to facilitation
• How the need for alignment shows up in so many places in our lives
• Joining the dots between strategy, music, and facilitation – and how they can each inspire new thought in the others
• Hard skills vs. soft skills – and why soft skills are the hardest to master
• Understanding who owns the ‘blame’ if a workshop doesn’t go to plan
• Why preparation often takes twice as long as the workshop delivery itself
• The tricky debate of whether we can own creative ideas
• Why practice grants us the freedom to work with flexibility and creativity

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Questions and Answers

[01:08] When did you first start calling yourself a facilitator?

[04:32] What are the similarities and differences between strategy, music, and facilitation?

[09:05] What’s the magic ingredient in creating the space for leaders to be vulnerable?

[17:17] How do you help groups push themselves further and into discomfort – where real progress is made?

[19:57] Where do you draw the line between experimentation and taking the workshop off course?

[24:32] What does neutrality in facilitation mean to you?

[28:18] Who owns the ‘mistake’ if a workshop goes off track?

[31:43] What makes a workshop fail?

[35:50] What’s your stance on ownership of creative exercises? Can we own ideas?

[40:43] What is your favourite way to use Catalyst Cards in an exercise?

[45:34] Rich and I practice using Catalyst Cards mid-podcast!

[48:08] What would be the wrong way to use Catalyst Cards?

[51:32] If you had a hashtag, what would it be?

[52:41] What is the one thing you would like listeners to take away from this episode?

Links

dangerous.kitchen - Rich’s company website

Rich’s Catalyst Cards

Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making by Sam Kaner

Rich’s article, Racing Against The Clock (A Facilitator’s Lament)

Connect to Rich:

LinkedIn

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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