Category: Methods

  • TEDxTalk on Open Space Technology

    Here is Harrison Owen’s TEDxTalk on Open Space Technology and self-organization from September 2013. Harrison Owen says (5 min from start) “If human systems are fundamentally self organizing, then control as we have sought it is impossible, and management as we have practiced it is questionable.” Related posts: Pre-conditions for self-organization Self-organization is the real…

  • Future Search for product line redesign

    Future Search is a planning meeting setup which has been in use since the early 1980s. IKEA has used Future Search for product line redesign as described in Faster, Shorter, Cheaper May Be Simple; It’s Never Easy by Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff. I find the approach interesting. Here’s a short summary: IKEA sought to…

  • Creative forces of self-organization

    After reading We the People: Consenting to a Deeper Democracy by John Buck and Sharon Villines, I have become very interested in sociocracy, a.k.a. dynamic governance. Gerard Endenburg, who started pioneering and applying dynamic governance, has recently written an interesting article about the Creative Forces of Self-Organization together with John Buck. In this article, they…

  • You cannot be happy and sad at the same time

    Matt Smith demonstrates the Failure Bow on a Bellevue TedX talk. It’s a technique for moving from shame and embarrassment to celebration and availability, fostering openness and trust. The technique builds on the fact that you cannot be happy and sad at the same time.

  • How to succeed vs. fail with any method

    Tobias Fors describes how to succeed vs. fail with any method, guaranteed. It boils down to that you need to consider the context, learn from the results, and make necessary adjustments regardless of the method used.

  • Contrasting Sociocracy and Holacracy

    Sociocracy is an interesting dynamic governance method which is described in We the People. Aspects of sociocracy are incorporated into Holacracy. This video contrasts the underlying intentions and practical differences between the two methods. I think this is an example of where the same principles, but with different intentions, leads to different practices. I would…

  • When software developers embrace visual facilitation

    Øredev is an annual software development conference held in Malmö Sweden. The program staff at Øredev were so excited about visual facilitation that they invited ImageThink be conference speakers and teachers. Here’s the story: ImageThink in Sweden. One of the conference participants thought that ImageThink’s workshop was probably the most useful event at the conference.

  • Management is designed to get compliance

    Daniel Pink talks in this Stoos Connect video about management as a technology from the 19th century. It’s designed to get compliance. We need engagement instead, but people cannot be managed into engagement. Engagement must be built around the principles of self-direction. It’s a big and urgent challenge!

  • Visual facilitation training (continued)

    I have had two fantastic days with Fran O’Hara in her Graphic & Visual Facilitation Training at Wallace Space in London. Visual recording is a very effective way of capturing the essence and key messages of a meeting. It became very clear during the training that Fran has many, many years of experience. She has…

  • Visual facilitation training

    I’m currently participating in a Graphic & Visual Facilitation Training with Fran O’Hara at Wallace Space in London. It’s so nice when a Twitter connection becomes a real life one. Just had a lovely first day of the training.