I’d like to spend the day with you – in October, in Melbourne
20 August 2013Sometimes I fantasize about having a real job – you know, an easily-understood job, other people around doing similar stuff, a regular income…and then I wake up. I did that for 20+ years. It was mostly good, sometimes horrible, I learnt some things, and made some friends along the way, and there’s no going back.…
Reflections on learning and reflection
11 July 2013Johnnie and I have just completed a week’s training on learning and reflection in Malawi, Africa, with 35 people from a humanitarian organisation. Bob Dick, a friend and mentor, once said “The best time to plan something is after you have done it, because then you understand it.” Too right! To say we take an…
Greetings from Malawi
30 June 2013A confluence of circumstances, coincidences and good luck means I am writing this from Lilongwe in Malawi. It’s my first visit to Malawi and so far, I’m loving it – and looking forward to a road trip today to our workshop venue, Hippo View Lodge at the edge of the Liwonde National Park. As Johnnie…
Update on planning and pickles – or, pickled planning…
23 April 2013I’ve now completed two of the five-day facilitation training that was occupying my mind (and blog). As I eventually remembered (and knew all along, it’s just that I forgot) most things became clear once I was with the group. There were a number of things I could not have known in advance. The venue is…
What a pickle
21 April 2013Goodness me, what I pickle I get myself into when I try and plan too much! (see previous post if you must) I should have just read Harrison Owen’s words about over-planning that was sitting right there on my desk-top. It wasn’t written in response to my current flurry of planning, but it might have…
Learning facilitation
21 April 2013Warning: This post will be quite rambling as I’m using it to clarify my own thinking. It helps to know someone will be reading this – encourages some level of coherence. Maybe. Here I am in Madang in Papua New Guinea, preparing to deliver a five-day facilitation skills training to local Papua New Guineans who…
Creative Facilitation – the workshop!
21 March 2013The last one was fun, so I’m doing it again. On May 1st. In Melbourne. Early bird registration closes on March 28th. (Sorry about the blatant self-promotion.) If you can’t come to the workshop you can still download the free book from here.
Creative Facilitation – the Book!
9 January 2013Exactly two years ago, I spent six weeks with my ankle in plaster after an operation. With nothing better to do, I wrote a book. This week, we’re releasing it into the wild. Johnnie Moore wrote significant parts that I’d forgotten, edited my clumsy words, challenged my thinking and was there throughout the whole process,…
Creative Facilitation Workshop February 27 – Bringing meetings to life
4 January 2013Enough people have asked, so here it is – a one day intensive Creative Facilitation Workshop. Limited to just 18 people, we’ll experience, unravel and tap into each other’s knowledge about how to bring meetings to life. I’ll be facilitating opportunities for you to learn a bunch of techniques that can transform your meetings. Importantly,…
Open Space Technology Facilitation Training – February 13
3 January 2013It’s exciting to be offering Open Space Facilitation Training again with my friend Andrew Rixon in Melbourne on Wednesday, February 13. Here’s a flyer about the training for you to download and you can book and find more information here. Have you ever been to an ‘unconference’? Or maybe just heard about them? You might have been…