In this Café, I look at what we can learn from the Coffeehouses of London, the Salons of Paris, and Benjamin Franklin’s Junto Club and how we might better innovate by bringing cognitively diverse groups together in conversation. I then ask the participants whether they feel inspired to start their own conversation café, salon, or club.
Theme: Innovation through conversation
Format: Knowledge Café
Delivery: Face-to-face or Zoom
Duration: 60, 90, or 120 minutes
Introduction
This Café is one in a series of Knowledge Cafés on Conversational Leadership that I run face-to-face, on Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
Each Café is themed on material from my online blook on Conversational Leadership.
If you are unfamiliar with the Knowledge Café concept, this event is participatory, though I can run it as a webinar.
Theme
The London coffeehouses of the 17th & 18th centuries, where people met to discuss business, helped drive the Enlightenment – a time of scientific, political, and philosophical discourse. Many British institutions, such as the Royal Society and the London Stock Exchange, have their roots in these early coffeehouses.
In 1727, Benjamin Franklin founded the Junto Club across the Atlantic. This diverse group met to discuss morals, politics, and natural philosophy to improve themselves and their community. The club led to innovations such as volunteer fire-fighting organizations, a public hospital, and the first public library.
In this Café, I look at what we can learn from these historical events and how we can innovate by bringing cognitively diverse groups together in conversation.
Format
In this Café, I talk about the theme for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the participants and the time available, and then pose the Café question
Do you feel inspired to start your own Conversation Club?
We then go into Café mode.
Reading Material
This post in my blook is optional reading material for the participants before or after the Café.