Sometimes listening is an act of patience. It can be like going to your partner’s family reunion and realising you don’t have much in common with your in-laws. Maybe you want to give up. Maybe you want to walk (or even run!) away, but instead you breathe deeply, sharpen your focus and...
Taking time out during mid-year is a wonderful practice. When you step back from the rush of your life it gives you time to see it from a new perspective. As one of my colleagues likes to say, if you stay on the dance floor and never make it to the balcony, you’ll never know who’s...
Suddenly here we are — at the midpoint of the year. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere you might be sinking into the lazy days of summer. In the Southern Hemisphere, I’m hearing of mid-winter Christmas celebrations aimed at keeping the cold out and the fire warm.
Whatever...
Last week I was in Moscow at the 10th Russian Faciliators Conference as one of the international guests. Although I never dreamed I would stand in Red Square, I had a fabulous time of teaching and learning in a field hungry for tools, techniques and ways to touch the heart.
In our planning, I...
During the 10th Anniversary Faciliators Conference in Moscow last week I had the opportunity to work in a new language field. I actually like working with translators. Rather than tripping me up, I find that simultaneous translation makes me slow down. My expression naturally becomes more...
This is traditionally the time of year when people take a pause to reflect, reset and renew. It is a time for new year’s resolutions, a time when hope springs eternal about the potential and possibility of the new.
And small wonder. In the Northern Hemisphere, December equinox marks...
Here is Part 3 of my new book chapter on the six perspectives and three waves of story. Find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.
Story as a Resonance Tuner & as the Art of Practicing Humanity
In these days of social media likes, fake news and alternative facts, it’s easy to see...
Story as a Learning Practice & Process Partner
The human mind is organised around stories. We capture our experiences and make sense of the world through the stories that form our lens on reality. Since our knowledge is captured in story form, it makes sense to use stories as one...
This is my rewrite of a series of blogposts from 2017, formulated into a chapter for a new book being published in 2019. It comes in three parts, covering six perspectives I’m working with on the power of stories and what colleagues David Hutchens, David Drake and I call “The...
It was really only about three weeks ago that I finally learned how to spell the word privilege. It may take me much, much longer to really unpack the privilege I have. And it wasn't that I was unaware that I had any, but that my life and work are bringing me new ways to shine a light...
Have you ever felt embraced by a person or a place? I have that sense about Aotearoa/New Zealand, a place I came to originally in 1983 and spent almost 30 years discovering. I feel a deep connection to this land and she has a great sense of aliveness for me. I call her "she"...
It was an unexpected and heartfelt invitation from my friend and colleague Holger Scholz last year: "Let's do something together!". And somewhat later on: "I've really been feeling that we need to focus on what is underneath all the tools and methods. I think our retreat...