Creating a level playing field for collaboration

Craig Freshley is an expert in neutral facilitation and guiding good group decisions. He shares his experiences with Make-Shift Coffee Houses, designed to bridge divides between differing political views. He gives criteria and techniques for engaging diverse perspectives and creating a welcoming and safe conversation space. He emphasises the importance of a neutral venue, welcoming live music, and providing a set of ground rules. He describes the neutral facilitator as a 'referee' who ensures equitable participation. Additionally, Craig explains how he encourages involvement from underrepresented groups and addresses power imbalances in conversations and decision-making. Transcript.

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 00:00 The Story of Make-shift Coffee Houses     

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Nancy Bragard is an expert in intercultural consulting and collective intelligence. She shares a compelling story about the workshops she led for Dutch and French HR teams who were facing cultural misunderstandings. Through creative activities like developing cultural DNA profiles, she helped them uncover and appreciate their own cultural values as well as those of each other. The Dutch and French teams learned to navigate their differences, such as the Dutch tendency toward directness and the French preference for nuanced communication. She emphasizes the importance of creating safe spaces for open dialogue and highlights the value of diversity within teams.  Nancy also explores broader themes of intercultural sensitivity and the benefits of embracing cultural differences to foster more effective collaboration. She advocates for practicing the Art of Possibility. Transcript

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Tova Averbuch shares insights from her extensive experience as a consultant, teacher, and facilitator of Organizational Development. Opening space on a level playing field means sharing leadership and power, which must have a good reason. She provides striking examples of when and how this works, even better in hierarchical organizations. Consultants/facilitators adopt the role of a midwife, fostering authentic participation of the formal leaders and inviting everyone needed in ever-widening circles in the system. Transcript

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Peggy Holman talks about the importance of purpose and of diversity and inclusion in change processes. She shares insights from her extensive experience in journalism and facilitation, emphasizing the need for open spaces where all voices can be heard and valued. In her examples, she highlights the significance of purpose, the role of diversity in collective ownership, how deep listening breaks through tensions, and the ethical responsibility of facilitators to create hospitable environments that encourage authenticity and belonging. Read Transcript

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Jane Lewis talks about collaborative spaces and creating an environment where everyone can feel successful. She tells the story of how this works in Studio Tainan, in Taiwan—a self-organizing space for co-creation. It starts with listening and understanding what people feel passionate about so creative energy can lead. Jane is an experienced facilitator and researcher, having lived and worked in Taiwan for over 30 years. Transcript

Music: "Morning" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Chapters

• Introduction
• The importance of listening and understanding
• Learning to think for yourself in African communities
• Listening to what a client needs, not what she asks for
• Studio Tainan, a permanent self-organizing Open Space

• The Five Lines of ICA and creating an environment where everyone wins
• Helping to think new thoughts by asking questions

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• Open Space World. Books, examples, and global community of facilitators
• Jane E. Lewis
• Studion Tainan