The Knowledge Café is a conversational method that gathers a group of people to share knowledge and experiences, learn from one another, build relationships, and make better sense of a rapidly changing, complex, less predictable world. The aim is to improve decision-making, innovation, and collaboration.
The Knowledge Café is a conversational method in which small groups of people come together to have open, creative conversations on a topic of mutual interest, surface their collective knowledge, share ideas, and gain a deeper understanding of the issues involved. It can be adapted for various purposes and, at its best, is a powerful sense-making tool.
The Knowledge Café is a simple but flexible conversational method that almost anyone can run. You do not need to be a professional facilitator.
The Café, at its purest, brings a group of people together to have a conversation on a topic of mutual interest to understand an issue better. Still, it can be easily adapted for various purposes and, at its best, is a powerful sense-making tool.
The aims of the Café include the surfacing of the group’s collective knowledge, learning from each other, sharing ideas and insights, gaining a deeper understanding of a topic and the issues involved, and exploring possibilities.
It also helps connect people, improve interpersonal relationships, break down organizational silos, and improve trust and engagement.
What is different about the Knowledge Café than similar methodologies is that no attempt is made to make decisions or reach a consensus as part of the Café itself.
Often, nothing is captured in a Café. The real outcomes are what people take away in their heads and the relationships they develop.
A central tenet is that anything that gets in the way of the conversation’s free flow should be avoided.
At its best, a Knowledge Café adheres to principles that help create a relaxed, informal, conversational environment conducive to open dialogue and learning.
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Conversation is king.
Content is just something to talk about.
The key principles are:
- Knowledge Café Principle: Conversation Is Sovereign It's all about the conversation
- Knowledge Café Principle: Everyone Has an Equal Voice Everyone is an equal participant
- Knowledge Café Principle: Create a Safe Space Where conversation can flourish
- Knowledge Café Principle: No Preconceived Outcomes The outcomes are emergent
- Knowledge Café Principle: Preserve the Flow Conversational flow should not be interrupted
- Knowledge Café Principle: Engage in Small Groups Real conversation takes place in small groups
- Knowledge Café Principle: Dialogue Not Debate Be prepared to emerge a slightly different person
In a Knowledge Café, conversation is SOVEREIGN.
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- Action: If you like the concept, learn some more and get started. You do not need to be a professional facilitator.
Posts that link to this post
- Knowledge Café: No Report-outs There is nothing more boring than a report-out
- Wisdom of Crowds of Crowds Crowds within a crowd outperform 'wisdom of the crowd'
- Creating Marvelous Conversations with David Gurteen A "Because You Need to Know" Podcast
- The Case of the Vanishing Café Participants Challenges from a virtual Knowledge Café
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