I remember, long ago, a colleague arriving for a workshop with a suitcase full of equipment. But I’ve been wondering about the potential of showing up with nothing - so that we really bring our focus into what’s happening live in front of us.

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In a darkened theatre, the experience of being alone in the ghost light creates a sense of excitement and possibility. I feel that when I start working live in front of a group. There’s something relational that happens in the moment, where I feel alive to possibilities in a way that doesn’t happen in a planning process. I feel this is connected to what it really means to ‘read the room’.

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I caught some of the early morning light in Cambridge to follow up on my last video. I share a story of a sleepless night, a big challenge, and putting my trust in someone else’s judgment. Our primal need for real connection doesn’t vanish, even in the frenzy of content and contention out there.

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I aim to record these videos in a single take, not aiming for perfection. Rough edges and pauses are part of what human connection is about.

What brings conversations to life is often missed when we aim too high, or allow AI to take over. It’s often little stories that provide us with the connection we need, and to keep us grounded when there’s seems a lot of pressure to talk in grand abstractions.

The video is a bit stream of consciousness but that is connected to my point. Enjoy!

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What I learned singing to strangers on the subway, and why emotional connections matters even more in a hi-tech era.

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When we are flooded with information and advice, we risk a kind of cognitive overload. AI hallucination goes beyond errors of fact; human thinking is of wholly different quality. When facilitating, more and more I want to sense the next move at my fingertips, it’s an embodied practice of giving moment-by-moment attention.

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This is part of the space we’ll be exploring on a workshop in Cambridge in September. Details here: https://creativefacilitation.com/cfcam26/

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If we think meetings are mostly about sharing ideas and information, we may be missing something simpler than creates an important sense of belonging. A game I learnt from the world of improv theatres brings this to life in a primal and often hilarious way.

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I found myself thinking about the play I studied as a teenager - and what it tells us about managing an uncertain world of performances we can’t trust.

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Managing anxiety is a familiar challenge for facilitators. Being able to meet the unexpected with calm is usually pretty helpful.

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