Gurteen Knowledge Letter
Issue 263 – May 2022
Each day this week, for six hours on Zoom, John Hovell, Donita Volkwijn, Saule Menane, and I are running our Conversational Leadership workshop.
One of the unique features of the workshop is a daily C-Group session.
The C-group is an innovative, experiential, and transformative learning methodology that enables a small group of people to practice and develop their interpersonal and conversational skills. The following is what makes it somewhat challenging for the participants:
A C-group does not have an explicit agenda, structure, or expressed goal.
The conversations are self-led by the group and not by the host. This procedure contrasts with many workshop formats where the facilitator pre-defines the content, questions, or activities.
As the group starts to discuss the problems caused by a lack of direction, they tend to act in characteristic ways; some stay silent, some become aggressive, some consistently try to initiate discussions, while others attempt to provide structure to the conversation.
The host does not intervene in what might seem like chaos at times but draws attention to events and behavior in the group by occasional interventions in the form of judgment-free observations.
It is up to the group to resolve their issues and learn from the conversation.
Contents
- We need to put ourselves in order
Perhaps we will do the same for the world - We learn by talking
When speaking we organize cognitively what we know - Empowering managers, generating ideas & building a sense of community
Knowledge Café in Taiwan - Event: Is this our Gutenberg Moment?
Conversational Leadership Café - Event: Global Bridging
KM/OD/D&I - Tweet of the month April 2022
April 2022 - Help Keep My Work Alive
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We need to put ourselves in order
Perhaps we will do the same for the world
I write a lot about the need to take responsibility for the changes we would like to see to bring about a better world. It is one of my Conversational Leadership Principles - Take Responsibility. So it is good to see Jordan Peterson making the point too.
The more people sort themselves out, the more responsibility they will take for the world around them and the more problems they will solve.
If we put ourselves in order, perhaps we will do the same for the world.
We learn by talking
When speaking we organize cognitively what we know
We exchange information, conclusions, reasoning & questions with others. Although the benefits to the receiver are apparent, surprisingly, there is evidence that the speaker makes the greatest cognitive gains from the exchange.
Empowering managers, generating ideas & building a sense of community
Knowledge Café in Taiwan
I was delighted to receive the following email recently. Take a look at the video the author mentions. The recording was made at a KM conference in Hong Kong 16 years ago and does a great job of capturing the engagement and energy of a face-to-face Knowledge Café.
The groups are a little larger than the 3 to 4 people I usually recommend, but in this case, it seemed to add energy to the conversations.
Dear David,
I’m looking forward to attending the Café next week. Thank you for the invitation. I’m in charge of Learning and Development within HR at xxx in Taiwan.
I was introduced to the Knowledge Café concept only two months ago by a senior colleague and have spent hours studying videos of your previous session (especially the session in Hong Kong) and following the detailed instructions on your website.
We have been looking for a way to empower our middle management, generate ideas and build a sense of community. We are so glad we discovered the Café concept. We ran our first café last month for all our managers in the organization.
The concept is flawless and met all our needs. It’s been one of the best activities I’ve facilitated and your instructions made it effortless for the facilitator.
We have made it a quarterly event in our learning calendar. I just wanted to thank you for kindly sharing this concept. Have a wonderful day and see you next week!
Event: Is this our Gutenberg Moment?
Conversational Leadership Café
In the history of knowledge, the refinement of the printing press in Germany by Gutenberg in 1436 had a massive impact on the world.
Not only did it help lead to the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment but also the Protestant Reformation that, in turn, led to the Thirty Years’ War, considered one of the most destructive wars in European history.
With the invention of social media, are we going through a Second Gutenberg Revolution leading to a possible second Enlightenment?
My next Conversational Leadership Café is at the end of May on the theme "Is this our Gutenberg Moment?" My Cafés are held on Zoom & are free. You can find more information and register here.
Event: Global Bridging
KM/OD/D&I
The Global Bridging event is a free online 24-hour series of conversational activities spanning Knowledge Management (KM), Organization Development (OD), and Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
The event runs from 12 noon GMT on 23 May 2022 to 12 noon on May 24.
You can join for just half an hour or the full 24 hours as the event follows the sun.
Check it out - it looks like an innovative event and is organized by my good friend John Hovell and several others. You will find more information and can register on the registration page.
Tweet of the month April 2022
April 2022
Here is my top tweet for April 2022.
Michael Lewis on why Americans don’t trust experts buff.ly/3EHpCdQ /An interesting article/interview that gives some insight into this problem
Help Keep My Work Alive
Sustaining 25 Years of shared learning and conversation
For almost 25 years, I've been sharing the Gurteen Knowledge Letter each month, and many of you have been reading it for five years or more. My Knowledge Café also reached a milestone, celebrating its 20th anniversary in September 2022.
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David Gurteen
Gurteen Knowledge
Fleet, United Kingdom
