Knowledge Café Outcomes The outcomes are what you take away in your head

The outcomes of a Knowledge Café are not tangible outcomes such as decisions, plans, or consensus. The outcomes are what the participants take away in their heads. 

In its unadapted form, the Knowledge Café is not about traditional tangible outcomes.

• It is not about answering a question.
• It is not about making a decision.
• It is not about agreeing to a plan.
• It is not about reaching a consensus.

The Café is almost 100% about the conversation.

The outcomes of a Café are what the participants take away in their heads, regardless of the purpose or the conversation topic.

Outcomes such as:

• A deeper understanding of the issues discussed.
• A deeper insight into other people’s perspectives.
• A better appreciation of one’s own point of view.

If you are looking for more tangible outcomes, then the Knowledge Café may not be the right vehicle, although it may play a part in decision-making.

A conversation serves two functions.

1. To address the purpose of the conversation.

2. To better understand and build deeper relationships with each other and, in doing so, to increase engagement and deepen the feeling of responsibility and commitment to each other and the organization.

Ultimately, a Knowledge Café puts individuals in a better position to make more informed decisions.

One additional, optional outcome is to share (and possibly capture) actionable insights.

Making sense of a complex issue or better understanding each other is not a soft outcome – it is a hard one. It leads to better decisions regarding the right thing to do and how best to achieve those aims.

Posts that link to this post

•  Innovation Café The Knowledge Café as an innovation tool
•  Knowledge Café: Measuring Success The outcomes are what you take away in your head - note taking is a distraction
•  Gurteen Knowledge Café: Entrenched and Entrained Thinking A blog post by Conrad Taylor
•  Brainstorming A group discussion to produce a list of ideas or solutions to a problem.

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