In facilitator training, my context is: Prepare for every step; write every procedure; then when you walk into the group, be present and love them as they are. The process will flow from that marriage of deep preparation and deep presence. — : 263-264
It happens first at a very personal level. Participants say their voices are heard and their ideas treated with respect. They understand how their practical decisions affect the direction of the organization or community. They know how to have a positive effect on their own future. They have deeper respect for others in the organization. They understand their situation better, because they have integrated the perspectives of others with their own. They talk about assuming greater responsibility for the whole organization, because they have participated in determining what is necessary. They want to expand their personal capacities in ways they have not used before. Second, they see a change in other people. They notice people listening more carefully, being less fearful of new situations, and building up the confidence that comes with accomplishing goals as a team. They notice colleagues trying out creative, innovative solutions to previously insoluble problems. They recognize that the group as a whole is demonstrating values, exhibiting behaviors, and generating results. Everyone is taking more interest in their work. Third, they talk about the positive impact that the organization is having on its intended stakeholders or on society. They mention how the organization has a new story about its role, and how that story is being acted upon. They refer to a new courage in the organization’s ability to act, and how this courage is not simply vested in the leadership at the top, but is imbedded throughout the organization. It seems that the old riddle of “What comes first … personal transformation? Or social transformation?” has been solved. They occur simultaneously, with a feedback loop from one to the other. — : 328-343
“Strategic planning is not strategic thinking.” — : 346-346
Contradiction is derived from a synthesis between a positive image of an intended future (which is one’s mission, purpose, values and vision), and an analysis of the real and complex current situation that one finds oneself in. — : 363-364
On-the-ground evidence from 35 years of practice by hundreds of master ToP practitioners shows that the methods are indeed transformational—as they were designed to be. Therefore, the ToP practitioner can remain simply a professional facilitator, and use the methods as neutral planning and productivity tools—just as many clients want. On the other hand, the facilitator can admit to a transformational intent, use the methods at their full power … and take the consequences. Typically, the consequence is that the client is happier afterwards. However, if you talk about the potential for transformation beforehand, it can cause a degree of nervousness in clients. As — : 403-408
A reasonable question for every ToP practitioner is “When do I want to facilitate just what the client wants, and when do I want to ask about transforming their situation?” — : 411-412
Some make the argument that if people are given information and choices, they will react emotionally or illogically to the information and arrive at ill-considered decisions. One hears about this in relation to emergency planning, to disaster situations, and in some political affairs. However, this reasoning is somewhat of a smoke-screen because it works both ways. If one fears people will act emotionally and irresponsibly when they are informed of any given detail, the same fear exists when people find out that they have not been properly informed. — : 812-817
When people participate in decision making, they gain a better understanding of the forces at play and who will be affected in various ways. With this enhanced understanding, they are able to suggest better ways of implementing their plans. — : 846-849
The point of making decisions is to get them implemented. Some decisions will have broad implications for a large number of the people who will have to implement them. However, when people have participated in the decision making, they have already started to consider the implications for themselves and for the potential implementation. — : 863-865
ToP methods fit totally with my own personal philosophy of profound respect and inclusive participation. I am always inspired by what a group of people can accomplish when they are working together effectively, and my work allows me to feel I am contributing positively to the world. Each group that I work with is trying to do something positive. I contribute a little piece to their success, and that is what keeps me going and loving what I do. —Penny McDaniel, ToP practitioner, Denver, USA — : 903-907
Having survived the Nazi Auschwitz concentration camp, Frankl wrote: Man’s search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a “secondary rationalization” of instinctual drives. This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can be fulfilled by him alone; only then does it achieve a significance which will satisfy his own will to meaning… Man, however, is able to live and even to die for the sake of his ideals and values. — : 1025-1031
process. Strategy development From — : 1170-1172
From the business world, Michael Porter has written a number of classic books on business strategy, including The Competitive Advantage of Nations and Competitive Strategy. He stresses the importance of three different strategies, especially segmentation, cost leadership, and differentiation. Countering this approach, C. K. Prahalad, and Gary Hamel have noted how quickly competitive positions can be overturned, requiring all businesses to focus on their core competencies. ToP practitioners have paid heed to all these warnings, and generally avoid the traps of developing certain “types” of strategies as does, for instance, the Balanced Scorecard. ToP methods place energy and priority on developing “insight” and “breakthrough,” in the areas that are determined by the analysis. — : 1172-1179
Participants quickly realize that the ToP approach comes from a different paradigm from many other planning methods—one where everyone is assumed to have wisdom to communicate, where everyone is responsible for the outcome, and where the empowerment they experience during the process models the empowerment to implement the final results. From this perspective, what happens to a group while doing the planning is just as important as what the group produces. — : 1353-1356
• Everyone knows something that the group needs; everyone has a piece of the puzzle. • The members of the group or organization have something in common, a purpose for being, perhaps a mission, some objectives, individual beliefs, or some operational values. • People who have a hand in the implementation are well suited to participate in the planning. • Decision-makers will be involved in, or at least aware of, the planning so that it has a genuine possibility of implementation. — : 1357-1363
“People who thought they wouldn’t like the use of facilitation sometimes suddenly discover they didn’t realize it was in use in situations where they were participating, and since it worked, they now see its usefulness.” — : 1376-1379
This mental model of vision, contradiction, strategy and action plan describes how people often make everyday decisions, especially when they are being deliberate about it. — : 1430-1431
Early connections found in the philosophy explore the relationship between objectivity and subjectivity, and the transformations that exist between them. Another early foundation is the nature of unlimited human potential found in the existential philosophy foreshadowed by Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, establishing the basis for willing transformation. Paul Tillich’s Systematic Theology includes important contributions on personal transformation. Ethics, contextual ethics, and indicative ethics are all rich grounds where Kant and Bonhoeffer describe the tensions between the internal world of the individual and the world of external relationships, and between freedom and obligation. The Courage to Lead, by Brian Stanfield, describes these in detail. — : 1540-1546
The most useful description of contradiction for understanding ToP methods is the conscious naming of the tension between current reality and the desired future state. Conscious awareness is paramount: you must be conscious of the actual details of your current reality and how those details differ from those envisioned in the future state. You must be especially conscious of the tension that exists between the present and future, especially of the drives that are pulling you toward the future state, and of the opposite drives that are maintaining the inertia of the current reality. Then, to ensure that you understand the real contradiction, you must consciously put a name on that tension. — : 1549-1554
ToP methods not only transform the situations where they are used, they also help the people who use them to grow. There are four such life stances. They are: • Disciplined lucidity and being comprehensive. • Continual affirmation. • Inclusive responsibility, being ethical: freedom and obedience. • Courageous style: pro-, dis- and trans-establishment style. — : 1558-1564
What you are affirming is that those behaviours, sometimes obvious and sometimes secretive, that no one is proud of and that are now roadblocks to moving ahead, were once the very behaviours that served the group and got them this far. — : 1611-1612
you cannot practice continual affirmation, you may have difficulty remaining a practitioner. — : 1618-1618
As Brian Stanfield describes it, responsibility is a “tension between being 100% free and 100% obligated.” — : 1631-1633
you may have to check with the client in advance to find out exactly how far that inherent freedom to think can honestly become freedom to act. — : 1642-1644
The recognition of the tension between freedom and obligation is an important stance of ToP practitioners. — : 1657-1658
A ToP practitioner ensures that the participants have looked at their obligations, alternatives, and implications, and that they have freely chosen the course of action, knowing who is responsible for implementation and who is empowered to do each part. While a consultant might recommend a course of action, a ToP practitioner guides the group to decide a course of action that they themselves will follow through on. This tension between freedom and obedience creates the energy to move implementation forward immediately. — : 1659-1662
When person A advises person B, “You should try this approach,” you might ground the point of responsibility by asking person A, “Excellent. Now what specific part of that approach would fall within your range of responsibilities or would you be free to work on?” This dialogue strikes a balance in the creation of strategy, which needs to be rooted in responsibility or nothing will come of it. — : 1664-1667
As Brian Stanfield puts it, “One lives in that nether-world between the no-longer and the not-yet.” However, with the knowledge, and indeed the certainty, that the group has everything it needs to be able to plan for the future and move into it, you can operate out of a courageous style that generates courage for transformation in others. — : 1707-1710
The triangular form models a recursive pattern of the drives operating within any social system: foundational or sustaining drives (economic), ordering or organizing drives (political), and meaning-giving or significating drives (cultural). — : 1729-1731
Variants have emerged, such as the Corporate Process Triangles that use language more familiar to the private sector. The dynamics screen triangles, in Priscilla Wilson’s book The Facilitative Way, have further descriptions that make them even more useful in general organizational settings. — : 1740-1743
The organizational journey map is a tool developed by ICA to help people in an organization gain quick insight into their own journey of transformation and to develop strategies to guide that transformation. The map incorporates the spiral process without explicitly referring to it or using its language. — : 1815-1818
In many situations participation and involvement is an assumption, not a choice. The issue is how to structure the involvement. Without structure, involvement and participation remain tough routes to increased ownership and better decisions. —Linda Alton, ToP practitioner, Minneapolis, — : 1895-1898
The ToP practitioner needs to find out the type and scope of change the client has in mind for the strategic planning exercise. For instance: a) Is the purpose of the planning related primarily to enhancing operations and prioritizing initiatives, so that everyone can “work from the same page or sing from the same song sheet?” b) Is there an intention that some major new initiatives will be created or launched from this planning? If so, what level of commitment exists to direct resources to the new initiative? c) Is the leadership team expecting that some structural changes will be needed to implement the strategic plan? Do they want to formalize some structural changes during the planning itself, especially changes to the organization chart? d) Is the external environment putting large new demands and pressures on the organization, so that major systems change is needed? Is the organizational leadership prepared to undergo a systems change? e) Is the purpose of this strategic plan to get the staff and leadership to create and operate out of a joint set of new values, and embed behavioral changes throughout the organization? Is the leadership conscious of the size and scope of these shifts? — : 1948-1961
The overall framework for participation that supports ToP strategic planning unfolds in four “stages”: I. Preparing for strategic planning II. Developing the planning context III. Creating the strategies (using the spiral process) IV. Implementing the plans — : 1933-1938
the leadership team has to decide how much time and emphasis to put here, and whether stage II work is really needed to enhance participation in stage III, the spiral process. — : 2031-2032
One reason often mentioned for doing participatory strategic planning is to “get buy-in from staff on a predetermined outcome.” The president of a food processing company and two vice presidents were very enthusiastic about widespread participation throughout the plant. The president was delighted and said, “This is really great! Once we get their buy-in on managing the plant floor more efficiently, we can turn our attention to our real priority, which is selling the company.” It was easy for me to turn down this exercise in token participation. — : 2092-2097
Use of the ToP framework-building tool is a best practice for participative stakeholder analysis and helps determine core, involved, supportive, and peripheral stakeholders in each sector. See page 206. — : 2260-2262
The biggest problem with projecting data to analyze trends is that every trend has a countervailing force. Sometimes that countervailing force can be just as visible as the trend itself, causing confusion in the data. For example, there seems to have been an inescapable trend toward global trade over the past 30 years. At the same time, there seems to be a countervailing force toward trade protectionism. Numbers will prove both. — : 2282-2286
Trends always raise the question of values: which side do you want to be on? This is a valuable clue in participatory strategic planning. — : 2290-2291
Five key questions the facilitator can ask in reflecting on a past plan are: 1. What actually happened that was supposed to happen? 2. What did not happen, even though it was supposed to happen? 3. What else happened that was not intended? 4. What did we learn about how to do things? 5. What did we learn about how not to do things? A previous — : 2381-2388
For clients who equate strategic planning with a SWOT analysis, the facilitator must spend time getting further clarity on the client’s real motivation for doing a strategic plan. — : 2417-2419
If a SWOT analysis is being done immediately before a strategies session, or immediately before determining measurable accomplishments, it is helpful to do the SWOT in the order of strengths, weaknesses, threats, and only then opportunities—which will lead directly into a form of positive strategic or tactical thinking. — : 2440-2442
Stating the purpose of an organization clarifies its reason for being. It answers the question, “Why are we in existence?” Stating the organization’s mission clarifies its role or task. It answers the question, “What do we do to fulfill our purpose?” Stating the philosophy of an organization articulates the values it holds in carrying out its mission and purpose. This answers the question, “How do we do things here?” — : 2445-2452
write, rehearse, re-examine, and sometimes revise their mission and philosophy. — : 2455-2456
A mission does not have to be practical; it only has to be important. — : 2495-2496
There are many examples of organizations that espouse particular values because they look good in their promotional material. When there is a gap, it is not because the organization does not believe that their stated values are important. More likely, they just don’t know how to make them real and alive. — : 2530-2532
ToP practitioners are biased toward implementation, — : 2536-2537