Deliberate Practice

In 2005 I participated in a Forum Theatre workshop at OISE’s Transformative Learning Centre. Before the workshop I didn’t know anything about Augusto Boal and the “Theatre of the Oppressed“; but after discovering this new world I knew it was possible to combine my two passions: leadership and theatre.

In Forum Theatre, the participants share stories about situations they want to change, conflicts that were not resolved in a fulfilling way or any other issue. In some contexts participants look at issues of oppression, but the way I’m using Forum is to practice conflict resolution and facilitation skills. Once stories are shared, participants vote on what story to play,  the story-teller becomes the director of the scene and also gets to play and replay the scene several times. When someone has a suggestion for this character (the one who told the story, the one we can change) then the person with the suggestion comes into the scene and plays it. Participants become spect-actors.

(If this doesn’t make sense please click on the link above)

A couple of weeks ago I facilitated a workshop on Conflict Resolution and we didn’t have enough time to practice the skills (active listening and raising concerns) so I decided to provide a space for people to practice, using their real-life challenges.

Overall it was a good experience and I hope participants benefited from it. However as a facilitator I think that something was missing. I think that it is very important to dedicate enough time for warm-up, maybe do some image theatre and then go into the Forum. I found that it was difficult for all participants to direct and cast and their stories were not very specific. It’s possible that the space wasn’t safe enough to address more specific issues or that the technique and purpose were not clear.

Actually, now that I’m thinking about the implementation, I missed the part in which we have to rehearse a random scene in a bus, as a way of modeling the technique…

I suppose I need to do more Forum Theatre facilitation to become really good at it!

During the past years I have learned a lot about the ways a person can be energized. Through taking the Myers-Briggs (MBTI) questionnaire and the work-styles inventory I have realized the challenges that introverts face when surrounded by extroverts.

Extroverts…

Are seen as “outgoing” or as a “people person.”
Feel comfortable in groups and like working in them.
Have a wide range of friends, know lots of people, like meeting people
Sometimes jump too quickly into an activity and don’t allow enough time to think it over.
Before they start a project, sometimes forget to stop and get clear on what they want to do and why.

Introverts…

Are seen as “reflective” or “reserved.”
Feel comfortable being alone and like things I can do on their own.
Prefer to know just a few people well.
Sometimes spend too much time reflecting and don’t move into action quickly enough.
Sometimes forget to check with the outside world to see if my ideas really fit the experience.

Retrieved from the Myers & Briggs Foundation

I want to share an article that has helped me understand more about the needs of others. It was written by Vicky Wilson from Inneract. (They have a newsletter with monthly insights and weekly inspirations).

Are you quiet by nature? Are you surrounded by extroverts on your team or in your organization? Do you find it difficult to be heard in meetings as others talk over you or interrupt you? Do you have things to share but just don’t know how to get them out?

In my coaching I have come across many individuals who say they “feel invisible” in a group or on their team.  They often find it a challenge to speak up and get heard, so they just give up trying.  And that is a shame!  This means the organization or team is missing out on hearing some great ideas and the opportunity to share in their expertise, while the team member slowly but surely disengages.

So I ask: “What role do you play in this?” Yes it is YOUR responsibility to ensure your colleagues hear you, but “how” is the question.  Here are a few tips that might help:

1. Speak to the meeting facilitator to share your challenge in speaking out or being heard. Let him/her know you have something of value you would like to add to the discussion and request that they call on you specifically. Only use this approach when you are confident you have something of value to share.
2. Have a discussion with the meeting facilitator and share your feedback on how you find it difficult to be heard and that you would like to work on strengthening this skill, ask them to share how they manage the extraverts on the team and determine if you could try any of their strategies.
3. Whenever possible request advance meeting agenda’s or connect with the meeting facilitator to get an idea of the meeting objectives and goals and what they see the role of the attendees to be.  This way you can think and plan your contributions and comments in advance.
4. Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone;
5. Try practicing what you want to say in advance of the meeting; out loud in front of a mirror if possible.  This way you will have the time to tweak it until you get it to sound the way you want it to.
6. Bounce your ideas off of a colleague to get their feedback.  Again this will give you the opportunity to make it more succinct if necessary.
7. Don’t sit where you always sit.  Sit in a different position around the table, preferably close to the facilitator, that way others will naturally be looking your way. Or alternatively sit beside someone you know contributes a lot and has the respect of the other attendees, someone they listen to.
8. Use a gesture of some sort to get the attention of others indicating that you have some thing to add, or contribute.
9. And finally, sometimes there is no other way to get heard than to interrupt, but do it nicely! Something like “I am sorry to interrupt…” or “I feel the need to interrupt at this point to ask/share…”

Excerpt from - ‘Seizing the Opportunity: Redefining the Challenge of Climate Change’.

“To contribute to this important discourse, we assert that the principle of the oneness of humankind must become the ruling principle of international life. This principle does not seek to undermine national autonomy or suppress cultural or intellectual diversity. Rather, it makes it possible to view the climate change challenge through a new lens – one that perceives humanity as a unified whole, not unlike the cells of the human body, infinitely differentiated in form and function yet united in a common purpose which exceeds that of its component parts. This principle constitutes more than a call for cooperation; it seeks to remold anachronistic and unjust patterns of human interaction in a manner that reflects the relationships that bind us as members of one human race. The earnest consideration of the place of this principle in international relations should not be seen as an abstract exercise; it is precisely this level of analysis that must be undertaken and this level of commitment secured in order to forge a coherent ethic for the resolution of the climate change crisis. In order to progress beyond a world community driven by a largely economic and utilitarian calculus, to one of shared responsibility for the prosperity of all nations, such a principle must take root in the conscience of the individual. In this way, we come to recognize the broader human agenda – which subsumes those of climate change, poverty eradication, gender equality, development, and the like – and seeks to use both human and natural resources in a way that facilitates the progress and well-being of all people.”

J who attended Power Shift shared the info above along with the following comment/question:

I found that many of the participants this weekend felt that effective change happens when we can present the benifits that change has to the individual, community, or institution. If we percieve reality through a lens driven by the principle of economics, of which most of the world is shaped, would not our thoughts and solutions be shaped in the same fashion?

What lens is needed to effect change? Do we need to suspend our current mental model and reach new mental spaces where we can innovate and create? Should we expect everyone to do the same? Or do we maintain the status quo lens in order to effect change in a way that belongs to the model that we operate in?

Maybe those who know more about climate change can provide some insight…

I wonder if Roger Martin’s integrative thinking approach is of value to address this concern.

Modern leadership needs integrative thinking. Integrative thinkers embrace complexity, tolerate uncertainty, and manage tension in searching for creative solutions to problems.

(The Art of Integrative Thinking, 2009)

From my perspective, integrative thinking is related to systemic thinking. During the CACUSS conference where Roger Martin gave a presentation I asked what was the connection between these two types of thinking. If I remember well, he said that systemic thinking could happen before engaging in the integrative thinking process.

Anyway, I wonder if it’s possible to integrate different frameworks in effecting change? If so, how does it look like? Sometimes I think we need to focus less on the philosophical debate and more in the actions, but do we really know what skills, knowledge and attitudes are needed?

Being aware of mental models is a good step towards resolving a complex problem -any problem. Awareness is related to reflection/feedback. And both awareness and reflection are part of a learning process. And this learning of making change (leadership) has to be practiced, intentionally.

On a second email, J mentioned something that I strongly agree with:

An attitude myself and many others have tried to adopt in our work for social change has been an attitude of learning. How would an attitude of learning guide our actions? How does one learn from the differing perspectives of others? What role does reflection play in our learning process towards effective social change?

And I will leave it there. With continuous learning, unlearning and reflection…

Last October I volunteered at the Learning Democracy by Doing Conference and learned a lot about community organizing and the issues of the global south. This year, I had a great learning experience facilitating three workshops at the Power Shift Conference in Ottawa.

There were two main reasons to be there: First, to contribute. To facilitate learning on topics such as collaborative leadership, conflict resolution and effective group facilitation skills. Second, to learn more about the issues and connect with those knowledgeable and active about sustainability and climate change.

It was very fulfilling to see so many young people at the conference. During the Perspectives on Leadership workshop participants brought to life the Social Change Model of Leadership Development (SCM) by talking about themselves, describing their organizations (mostly campus organizations) and how they’re benefitting their community.

Here is the model:

The biggest challenge that Power Shift participants are facing is what some of us call “The Big C”: Commitment.

Commitment is the psychic energy that motivates the individual to serve and that drives the collective effort. Commitment implies passion, intensity, and duration. It is directed towards both the group activity as well as it´s intended outcomes. (HERI, 1996)

For some reason, talking about commitment during the workshop made me think of the Popcorn metaphor: people pop at different times (we usually apply this metaphor to learning but it goes well with commitment). We should not expect others to act as passionately as we do regarding a cause; we need to find what their leadership stage is and what fires their passion, in order to be fully committed.

During the workshop we briefly engaged in a conversation about our expectations of others, different values and passions that group members have and ways to engage meaningfully with others. It seemed to me that those who share their stories about lack of commitment and lack of ownership were very frustrated.

I remember once Barry Posner said that we all care about something, in response to a question related to commitment. So it’s not that people don’t care, they just not care about the same issues that we do…

One of the most valuable aspects of the SCM is the impact and interconnection of the first 3 C’s:

Without commitment, knowledge of self is of little value. And without adequate knowledge of self, commitment is easily misdirected. Congruence, in turn, is most readily achieved when the person acts with commitment and knowledge of self.

If we don’t know what fires our passion, if we don’t know enough about ourselves and what’s important to us, it will be quite difficult to develop commitment –or any of the C’s.

Today I learned about Donald Schon and his ideas about reflection:

The practitioner allows himself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion in a situation which he finds uncertain or unique. He reflects on the phenomenon before him, and on the prior understandings which have been implicit in his behaviour. He carries out an experiment which serves to generate both a new understanding of the phenomenon and a change in the situation (Schon, 1983, 68).

More than half of my work involves designing and facilitating workshops for students at the University of Toronto. Today I was delivering a workshop on “Facilitation Skills” to a very difficult group. From the very beginning I could tell something was off. During the workshop my level of frustration was increasing at the same rate as their level of disinterest. At some point, while giving feedback to a group who was doing a presentation to their peers, I Iost it and my feedback came out as an euphemism.

At that point I felt that my credibility as a facilitator disappeared and obviously the group’s vibe completely changed to confusion, maybe anger.

Interestingly, the topic on “vibes watching” was part of the curriculum and I decided to turn my mistake into a teachable moment, what a great way to talk about group vibes and the role of a facilitator!

I stopped the activity to talk about what was going on and why we had gone to that point; after being the target of students’ rants and actively listening to what they were saying (”you didn’t give clear instructions”, “you didn’t ask us if we knew this topic”, “you didn’t give constructive feedback”, “you could have done another breathing exercise to calm us”, etc.) I asked them to be objective, take responsibility for their behaviour and to explain what they thought was going on with me as a facilitator.

Accurately, they explained that I might have felt disrespected, frustrated and distracted with their chatting; they failed to see that my frustration was also fueled by the absence of critical thinking while doing the activity. They provided good feedback and good suggestions for improvement and for the first time in an hour they were quiet and engaged. I really hope they got something out of this reflection in action.

I certainly got a lot out of what happened and learned a great deal. Being through a challenge like today’s was a good reminder that there is always room for improvement!

Mike had an opportunity to volunteer in Africa through Engineers Without Borders during the summer and I loved reading his reflections.

Here is an excerpt of one of his posts:

A major component of CLTS is leadership – and we talk about finding natural leaders within communities. Makes me wonder what are the core qualities of a leader – not only amongst the participants of triggering meetings here in rural Zambia, but also in students in Canada, in politicians internationally. In CLTS we look for people who speak up, who actively participate, who have influence over other people. The spark that really reveals it is when people get outraged – they say this is NOT acceptable, and we have to do something about it. Their sphere of responsibility extends beyond just their own household and family, and includes the entire community. At the core, I think this comes down to caring. It takes mental and emotional energy to care about people, and it’s too easy to just disassociate yourself from something so that it doesn’t matter. The next piece of leadership is speaking up – like the women in Choonza village today who challenged their own village headman after his quoted price to build a local toilet was ridiculous. They spoke their mind loud and clear, and let it be known that they care, despite what their friends might think. Finally, it takes action to be a leader. Spend the time, spend the energy – sink yourself into the task at hand. It’s a simple way of thinking, but I’m not convinced that the world needs another 400 page book on the depths of leadership theory. I think it needs people who care deeply, and are willing to put themselves out there to create the change that’s needed.

It’s beautiful and I’m so proud of Mike!

As a leadership educator, I’m very interested in advancing leadership as a field of study and learning more about it. I believe that at least those who have leadership development in their titles or in their job description should be constantly learning about leadership.

Here are some of the little things I do that are helping me learn more about leadership:

1. Have a feed reader, like Google Reader or Bloglines (If you have no idea of what this means, learn about it).

2. Subscribe to the leadership blogs that are of interest to you. Here is my leadership related list (I’m always looking for more, so please suggest):

http://leadershipasafieldofstudy.blogspot.com/

http://leadershipchallenge.typepad.com/leadership_challenge/

http://pius7.slu.edu/leadership/

http://ccl.typepad.com/ccl_blog/

http://effective.leadershipdevelopment.edu.au/

http://www.thepracticeofleadership.net/

http://whats-needed-in-these-times.blogspot.com/

http://leadershiplearning.org/blog

3. Become a member of an association or sign up to their listserv: ILA, NCLP, Centre for Creative Leadership, Leadership Learning Community, etc. By receiving their newsletters you will know what topics are the most current and you’ll learn about different points of view. You can also contribute with these associations.

4. Subscribe to Jossey’s Bass listserv. You will get the updates of higher education and leadership development books, among other topics.

5. Read the books. Buy the books for your department. (I will add a list of the books that we have at our department in a different post)

6. Write a blog. It may look as a time-consuming task but it helps you reflect and you can share your ideas with others, you are making a difference with your words!

7. Talk about leadership. Help position the concept differently.

Now, what I’d like to do in the short-term:

Advocate for the creation of a knowledge community in Canada, through CACUSS. Connect with those around me. Get together. Know each other.

Publish a paper. Publish an article.

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Please share what is it that you’re doing!

The Practice of Leadership Blog published very interesting information on reflection:

A simple way to start the practice of reflection is by asking questions, questions about how we feel, about the results we are getting in our life, and what we can do differently to get different results. For example, find a quite place where you are not going to be disturbed then, take an issue that’s important to you, and ask yourself the following questions:

• What happened?
• What was I trying to achieve?
• What went well and why?
• What didn’t go so well and why?
• How did it affect me?
• How did it affect others?
• What were the consequences (positive or negative) for myself and others?
• What could be done differently next time?

Would this change improve the consequences?

It’s that time of the year again, when we can see the coloured t-shirts, purple skin, new faces and with all that new hopes for a great academic year!

This is the busiest time of the year for Student Life, we are running a lot of programs, training many different groups and also preparing for a new year. We hope that we can be better at engaging the new generation of students, at providing the resources needed and to be intentional about the learning that happens outside of the classroom.  It’s so exciting, can’t wait to see all the campus groups at UTSU Day tomorrow!

I was very excited when the Student Affairs/Student Services restructuring started at the University of Toronto a couple of years ago. I believed that a change was needed and I was curious to experience it and to contribute to the process (oh, I was so naive). Two years have passed and after thorough reflection and revision of the notes that I have written during this time, I have come to the conclusion that the restructuring has had an unexpected impact on me.

Although I’ve learned A LOT about organizational dynamics, power, resistance, organizational politics, ethics (or lack of), team morale, communication, fear, layoffs, perceptions and more, I think that my naivete has completely disappeared and was replaced by disappointment and cynicism instead.

Looking back, the past two years have been full of peaks and, sadly, very low troughs, mostly when there was uncertainty within the organization and when people I know and respect were bulldozed by the process.

I’ve also realized that part of the problem is that most (all?) restructuring processes are task-oriented and not people-oriented. The purpose of these processes is to become more effective, to disappear tasks that do not add value, to save money, etc. However, it would be more effective, maybe easier, if part of the purpose was to make sure the organization had motivated employees with high morale and an awareness of how they fit in the larger vision. A sense of contribution.

Sometimes I wonder how these feelings, along with the uncertainty and the resistance to change, can be adequately managed. That’s when I start dreaming: imagine a role with the only responsibility of taking care of people (the human beings, not the employees). The person in such role would ensure that communication is flowing, probably she would help communicate difficult decisions and would excel at “speaking human”. This person would also provide feedback to unit heads, based on input from lower levels in the hierarchy. (It is truly amazing to see how managers tend to be oblivious to what’s going on in their teams or don’t want to do anything about it.)

Unfortunately, that’s just a dream. There is no perfect organization, low morale exists and so do disappointment, uncertainty and all those things that take our good energy away. So what to do?

Here are some ideas:

1) If the environment is unbearable and you are not enjoying anything about your work or the people you work with, you are doing more harm than good. Those in power and other colleagues will perceive your response and energy and very likely single you as “difficult” or a “bad employee”. Don’t expect the organization to get you out of the hole. The solution: Quit. Look for another job or get counseling and try again.

2) Speak up, voice your concerns. But beware! No one likes to be challenged (but always remember the 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership). If you voice your opinions or concerns, people with big egos or low self-esteem will not like it (and if you stay silent and follow orders you’ll probably be rewarded). If you care about your reputation, how others perceive you, or advancing your career, don’t do it. Otherwise, good luck!

3) Make it your resiliency journey. A restructuring might be nothing compared to all the problems that humanity will eventually face. So, if you can go through a restructuring without letting it have an impact on you, KUDOS! More about resiliency.

4) Do not care. Just do your job, earn a salary, go home, have a life outside of work. It looks like many people do this, but for those that deeply care about their job and their contribution this is not an option at all. Though you could at least disengage and avoid all gossip or conversation (venting) about the organization.

5) Make it a learning experience, deliberately. Write about it, objectively, include reflections and see what you learn about yourself and what you need from an organization.

6) Focus on the good things and make an effort to enjoy your job regardless of the insanity around you.

7) Write a blog post, see what happens.