Why so many facilitators fail
Bruce Holland
Organizational Expert specializing in Strategy, Culture and Leadership Development. Increasing focus & energy throughout
There is a beautiful story in the book "Solving tough problems" by Adam Kahane. He was describing a particularly difficult situation where two sides were quite adversarial and couldn’t agree on a solution.?
One of the participants said: “It reminds me of when my husband had a terrible accident. He was swimming in a lake when a motorboat ran over him. We rushed him to hospital, but the doctor said the wound was too large to be sewn up. The only thing we could do was to keep the area clean and dry. "The two sides of the wound will reach out to each.” he said. "The wound wants to be whole".
Lesson:?
Our job as facilitators and leaders is simply to help create a clean, safe space. Then the healing will occur. We need to trust that all living things want to be whole. Conflict and adversity are painful. Facilitators and leaders that fail, try too hard to manage the solution they think will make the most difference.
Life Coach| Learning Strategist| Consulting |#IamRemarkable Silver Tier Facilitator
2 年Good one Bruce! Any tips on how to start as a facilitator?
Logistics Manager - Coroplast Tape Corporation
3 年I agree with the role of the facilitator and it is not always easily done since many companies expect the decision makers and leaders to facilitate. I struggle when I see put into the role of jury, judge and executioner.