š«µš¼ My Monday reflection, clarification and Invitation š…
Join the revolution of facilitated collaborations!
Before I proceed with the invitation, a quick *reflection* and a sort of self-disclosure *clarification*:
The reflection š¤
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FINALLY, people are really waking up to the power of #facilitation. Between the boom in āfacilitator communitiesā #NDB [https://neverdonebefore.org/] being one of my absolute favourites), the recognition of the need for these skills, the multiplication of books and other resources about it online and analogue, the discourse of people around me is really changing towards appreciating and investing in the value of facilitation. Itās one of the silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic which had us face big questions about our collaborations when we all had to learn to structurally move these online (I blogged about this here).

The clarification ā
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So here is the self-disclosure piece before really getting on to my invitation:
People might see me as a āLiberating Structuresā practitioner and only that. Itās not true. I actually borrow from various ideas and approaches (particularly Community At Work / Sam Kanerās school of participatory decision-making) but also a bit from the art of hosting, Deep democracy and the various bits and bobs Iāve gleaned along the way observing the giants in that field.
šš½ But the reason why I keep banging about #liberatingstructures (LS) is that itās really an incredible repertoire that helps you shake your collaboration, communication, engagement, leadership etc. in various ways, even your personal life (as I posted last week).
LS donāt require 10 years of facilitation experience to pay off. They are plug and play and they transform the way we think, talk and work together. And they are very versatile. I mean, itās a no-brainer to invest in them and the return is manifold, also because they bring a much deeper transformation than just using another toolbox.

The invitation š«“š¼
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So here is my invitation: get curious, read about LS (on the LS Slack group, on the LS website, in local communities) but even more so, practice with them, explore them, immerse yourself in them. Join the many organisations that have tried it and have been changed forever. Only with my partners Nadia and Ruben we have brought it to the The Global Water Partnership (GWP), the University of Utrecht, NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, ResultsinHealth, Amideast, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and other CGIAR centres and programmes, World Wide Fund (WWF), Feedback Training & Consulting, and obviously in less overt ways in pretty much all the events and collaboration processes Iām involved in.
š” The best way to get a good hang of it?
- Immerse yourself, preferably with one or more colleagues, by joining an immersion workshop. We offer one starting 3-4 November and continuing on 24-25 November ā more info here: https://thecreatorscompany.com/product/liberating-structures-immersion-workshop-november-2022/
- Get a chance to bring LS to your team, company, network. Nadia von Holzen, š± Ruben Klerkx – Createur and myself are all open to discuss how we can help you with that, and an in-house immersion workshop within a group that shares a common context is even more powerful, wide-ranging and deeper than a public one!
And the best of it? After the training, we are personally happy to help you in myriads of ways to keep the fire going.
šŖ Itās time to liberate our structures, structure our liberation and give this magic a shot. Join the cruise!
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Read more about Liberating Structures on this blog.