A constant, unchoreographed dance of tension and harmony, of structure and emergence, of psychological safety and sincerity, of client and group: facilitation is an artful balancing act.

And my guest this week Dr Jason Fox, is a master of equilibrium. A wise and mercurial keynote speaker and facilitator, he straddles the opposing realms of speaker presence and facilitator invisibility with shapeshifting ability, fusing deep philosophical thinking with meaningful future action.

We ride the facilitation see-saw in episode 266, exploring the alchemic balance of the facilitator, soaring from beautiful philosophies and the ideal conditions for achieving progress, dipping into Vipassana learnings and the potential of a spacious agenda.

Jason fills our conversation with such wisdom, charm and intrigue, I hope an hour with him leaves you feeling as inspired as I was.

Find out about:

• Why the alchemy of cooking is like that of facilitation, both requiring acuity, synthesis, and intuition
• The difference between meaningful progress vs. delusional progress
• Psychological safety: is there such a thing as too much? Can it lead the group into a state of toxic sincerity?
• The importance of seeking healthy conflict from a place of psychological safety
• Striking the balance of imperfection and friction, from the tools we use, to the environment we choose
• Jason’s teachings from meta-modernism, meta-rationality, Vipassana, and Indigenous Australian philosophy

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Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Jason Fox:
On LinkedIn
https://foxwizard.com
https://drjasonfox.com/

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From free jazz and the musical echelons of piano concerto, to indigenous beats and the didgeridoo, this week’s episode is an invitation into the wondrous world of Music Thinking.

Christof Zürn is the inventor of this mindset; his storied background in musicology, creative direction and service design became the symphony to his brainchild. He now helps organisations to apply the principles of music to their daily lives, offering a new lexicon with which to interpret and understand business, leadership - and of course, facilitation!

Hear all about Christof’s musical mindset, how to apply it, and why it can be an inspiring scoresheet for effective work, collaboration, and productivity. Episode 265 is guaranteed to be music to your ears.

Find out about:

• The power of Music Thinking in helping to navigate organisational dynamics
• What the analogy of music means for business, leadership and facilitation
• Why the workshop is not a performance, but a rehearsal for the real-life production, allowing room for mistakes and exploration
• How music can help us to hear and understand simultaneous perspectives in an organisation
• The notion of ‘Design Thinking Theater’ and why it is a facade to endorse established organisational ideas

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Christof:

Jam Cards

The Power of Music Thinking

Templates download

Epiphany Story 2024

Workshop with Leadership positions

Sonic Meditation / Pauline Oliveros

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It is wonder, curiosity and imagination wrapped up in one. It is both a suspension from reality and way of navigating the world, a problem solver, a flow of creativity, a creative outlet, a language and a state of mind. It is: play!

And true to its nature, we cannot possibly box play into one definition. Lily Higgins, Pauline McNaulty and Jules Gilleland join me in my digital playground this week to unpeel the many layers of play: purposeful play, play without agenda, play as the essence of human connection, and play as a curious and unexpected vehicle for conflict resolution.

Gather around for our special fireside conversation!

Find out about:

• Lily, Pauline and Jules’ multifaceted definitions of play, and why it is simultaneously a mindset, tactic, strategy, and metaphor
• The complexities and contexts of play as a facilitation tool
• How play can be used to navigate conflict, creating a safe space that diffuses risk
• How play can help us challenge our stories, and encourage us to see new perspectives 
• The difference between purposeful play, play as the experience itself, and play without agenda

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to guests:

Lily Higgins LinkedIn

Pauline McNaulty LinkedIn

Jules Gilleland LinkedIn

Find out more about our Facilitation Academy:

Live online courses with podcast guests

Support the show:
Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

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Support the show

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We are all made of stars. The elements of our bodies were first forged in celestial matter across the cosmos billions of years ago. As humans, we tend to think of ourselves as separate from nature, but we are of course, nature itself.

So when Life Guide, astrologist and founder of Happiness U, Alice Inoue introduced me to her fascinating psychometric assessment based on the five elements of ancient traditional Chinese medicine - water, wood, fire, earth and metal – I knew this conversation was going to be filled with earthly, enlightening wisdom for both facilitation - and life!

Alice teaches us about finding our natural superpowers in the elemental system, how to foster deeper group harmony, and how to see ourselves and others in a new dimension. Intrigued? Tune in to your element – and this week’s episode!

Find out about:

• Alice’s psychometric assessment Master Your Superpower
• The elemental archetypes, their qualities and challenges, and how each element might interact with another
• How to use the language of elements in the workplace
• What we can learn about facilitation from astrology, Feng Shui and traditional Chinese medicine practices
• The importance of getting comfortable with silence and asking the right questions

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Alice Inoue:

LinkedIn

Website

Master Your Superpower Assessment 

Find out more about our Facilitation Academy:

Live online courses with podcast guests

Support the show:

Make a one-off donation and contribute to the ongoing costs of running the podcast.

Share your thoughts about our conversation!

Support the show

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Earlier this year, SessionLab published the second edition of their State of Facilitation report, surveying the ever-evolving landscape of our profession. 93 countries, 372 hours spent answering the survey and a generous 975 respondents later, and the NeverDoneBefore community joins together with the SessionLab community to put the 2024 report findings under a facilitation magnifying glass in our very first fishbowl conversation!

Together, we dissect three juicy and provocative, yet important questions: Do accreditations, or a lack of, harm or expand our profession? Do facilitators hide behind their tools? And how valuable is community in our world? Episode 262 is a special one, join us!

Find out about:

• Key findings from the State of Facilitation 2024 report
• The presence, weight and validity of accreditations in facilitation - can we learn on the job or do we require a professional certification?
• The role that tools play when facilitating small vs. large groups and how they can help us to navigate conflict
• Whether digitally-assisted facilitation is transforming the face of the profession – for the better or worse
• An exploration into how facilitators continue to learn

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

IAF Accreditation process

Connect to:

SessionLab

State of Facilitation Report 2024

Share your thoughts about our conversation!

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From her debut in episode 53, to episode 261 many years later, my guest this week Tanja Murphy-Ilibasic makes her return to the podcast this week! Tanja is a corporate coach, facilitator and communications specialist - and a master at manifesting potential.

But potential, the capacity for future success, is only possible with the right conditions at play and the energy to propel it forward. We unravel the dynamics of effective facilitation, the necessary conditions and questions we must ask, to design workshops that will outlive the confines of the workshop walls. After all, it is our duty to give the group the wings to make their potential possible – otherwise, we fail not only the group, but our entire profession.

Join us for learnings from workshop failures, the art of the gradually-invisible facilitator, the nuances of equal voice, and the importance of withholding our opinion.

Find out about:

• How to find the right approach for the best outcome and collaboration
• Navigating the client conversations needed for success; from budget availability, to motivations and post-workshop support
• Why you shouldn’t go into a collaboration with assumptions or predefined expectations
• How to physically manoeuvre a space so that the group is given agency
• Why facilitators should rarely disclose their own opinion to avoid being a guiding voice that would anchor the group
• How to acknowledge equal voice in a group, giving recognition to quick and slow thinkers

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Tanja Murphy-Ilibasic:

LinkedIn

Website

Share your thoughts about our conversation!

Support the show

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The act of naming something gives it presence, it makes it visible. So how then, do we navigate something as infinite and nameworthy as facilitation, when invisibility is so often its modus operandi?

Scrum-master, agile-coach and chief explorer of Exploration Labs, Charles-Louis de Maere joins me this week for a juicy, macro-to-micro exploration into facilitation as we toy with this question. We discuss the power of surrender: why stepping back, ditching the instructions, and detaching ourselves from the rigidity of the process, can help us to co-create a playground that prioritises the outcome.

We cover a lot of terrain in this episode! From the deeper purpose of the facilitator, to practical try-it-yourself exercises, facilitating in different cultures, and why we can sometimes be magicians in disguise…

Find out about:

• Why the art of invisible facilitation abandons agendas in favour of co-designing towards a shared outcome
• Why the strongest tool in our toolbox is the question, and why vague questions
• The power of playing with ambiguity
• A lack of instructions can facilitate trust in a group through the discomfort that emerges
• Finding the right level of appropriateness for exchanges in different cultures
• How to navigate the wants and needs of the group, with the expectations of the hiring client

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Charles-Louis de Maere:

LinkedIn

Website

Share your thoughts about our conversation!

Support the show

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This week we take a look through the iridescent, rainbow lens of leadership, with Dr Steve Yacovelli, aka ‘The Gay Leadership Dude™’, to ask the question: what does it mean to be a truly inclusive leader?

Well beyond the DEI acronym and its all too often tick-box allyship mentality, we explore the essence of inclusive leadership and what every impactful leader can learn from the six competencies that naturally show up in the LGBTQ+ community: being authentic, leading with courage, having empathy, effective communication, building relationships, and influencing organisational culture.

We talk all things pronouns, bringing your full self to work, managing your unconscious bias, and finally, we pull at the seams of diversity, to reveal a single beautiful truth: every single human on this planet is diverse!

Find out about:

• Learnings from Steve’s 25 years in the leadership, development, change management, and diversity and inclusion consulting space
• What it means to lead with a Pride Leadership mindset
• Why inclusive leadership must go beyond the superficial celebration of the DEI acronym to foster belonging for all
• The five dimensions of diversity and what it means for leadership
• Why a feedback-rich culture is critical to creating belonging in the workplace
• Why learning in a group of 3 can have greater success than learning in pairs

Don’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player.

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Connect to Steve Yacovelli:

LinkedIn

Website

Share your thoughts about our conversation!

Support the show

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Can I get your attention? Because this week, I have none other than Colonel Walt Holmes with me on the show, Air Force Commander, author, and master facilitator of community-based education.

Walt has been helping individuals to progress through the ranks of military units – and of life – since the 1999s, designing the systems for success in both soldiers and students. His 5 levels of achievement offers a unique gamified approach to change: encouraging meaningful metric-based accountability, collaboration and autonomy in his squadron of students. His belief: if we can impact someone’s behaviour, we can change their attitude.

Walt’s passion is undeniable - it radiates through the airwaves of our conversation and I’m positive you will feel it too! Tune in to learn all about community, attitude, behaviour and the cogs of organisational change.

Find out about:

• Learnings from Walt’s military career as a cultural change facilitator
• What it takes to change an entire organisation through the introduction of structure, autonomy and collaboration
• Why the success to community-based education lies in a marriage of individual outcomes and metrics
• The inner-workings of community models: why people taking ownership creates a system that is self-enforcing
• What Walt’s book ‘Lead From The Middle, Lead From Behind’ can teach us about leading groups in disarray

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Connect to Walt Holmes:

Website

Email

Website

Share your thoughts about our conversation!

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Dominant, supportive. Immediate value, gradual value. Explicit, implicit. Scarcity, abundance. Consultant, Facilitator.

It might be tempting to view the roles of a consultant, and that of a facilitator, through these opposing dichotomies, but nothing is ever really that black and white. And as Benjamin Taylor and I speak about this week, there’s a great deal to be learnt from the intersection of the two!

This episode takes a look at facilitation through the meta-lens; from afar, we inspect it as a movement and dig up some uncomfortable clichéd truths, and up-close, we unravel the intricacies of manipulation, shallow vs deep facilitation, and the most daring tool of all in our toolkit.

Find out about:

• Where facilitation shows up in consulting and the interplay between the two disciplines
• What Benjamin has learnt from decades spent as a consultant in the public sector
• The distinction between shallow and deep facilitation and why it is critical for an effective outcome
• Why the key to impactful facilitation lies in fostering an environment of connection, collaboration and empowering each participant’s strengths
• Why consultants must resist the urge to prove instant value; instead taking a more measured, facilitative approach to collaboration

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Connect to Benjamin Taylor:

LinkedIn

RedQuadrant

Share your thoughts about our conversation!

Support the show

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