Tahltan ‘Welcome Home’ Booklet Released

Welcome-Home-booklet---cover-(web)

The Welcome Home gathering was hosted by the Tahltan Band Council in 2013. This booklet strives to capture the spirit and highlights of the event. (Click on image to view booklet.)

Last summer I was very fortunate to be invited to a “Welcome Home” celebration hosted by the Tahltan Band Council in Telegraph Creek, BC. The event was for former students of residential schools and their families.

Over 500 people attended this very moving gathering and ceremony. My role was to take photos and document the event, and then create a publication that would capture the spirit and highlights of the gathering.

The booklet’s introduction describes why the Welcome Home gathering was held:

Over many decades in the 1900s, Tahltan children were forced into Canada’s residential school system.Continue reading

“We use consensus… but vote if we can’t agree”

consensus imageMany non-profits I work with claim they make decisions using consensus… “unless we can’t agree and need to move on, then we vote.”

If this sounds like your group, then you are not really using consensus decision-making; you are using majority rule and should clarify that in any decision-making policies and procedures.

In other words, the decision-making approach a group ends up applying when faced with its toughest decisions is the actual model they are using.Continue reading

Message Mapping

Whether you are a business selling a product, a government or non-profit providing a service or a campaign advocating for create change, how you describe what you sell, do or act on should be clear and consistent. Staff and volunteers at all levels should all be able to represent the scope of  your work in a very short, concise blurb.

I came across this short video from Forbes that provides a potential tool you can use to help you focus on what you would say to people about your work — in 15 seconds.Continue reading

What kind of person would your group be?

What is the personality of your organization? Would you describe it as hip, trendy and creative? Polite, professional and well-educated? Nurturing and compassionate, yet also assertive?

Your group’s personality is your brand. And it should be consistent with what you are trying to accomplish!

Branding is important to non-profit success

Branding is often associated with selling products —something that can  help differentiate one cigarette or pop drink from another. There is often a negative association with the idea of branding as people see it as a superficial coating of logos, taglines and colours intended to hook consumers.

However, branding for non-profit organizations and other public services is all about how people perceive your group. And how people perceive you is important to the success of your programs and services, and to your fundraising.  Continue reading

A Good Question!

Crafting a question for a gathering to explore isn’t as simple as it might sound.

I strive to find a question (or two) that will help participants explore the depth of their topic, a question that will get at the collective wisdom of the gathering, a question that challenges people to think differently. Ideally, I am able to work with a planning group to come up with a question that will do just that.

The easy part is to make sure the question is open-ended, meaning it invites more than “yes” or “no” response. The goal is to elicit a thoughtful response that delves beyond the obvious.

The question also needs to be genuine–something that is truly intended to unveil new answers. If everyone who is part of the conversation is offering the same answer, then the question is not doing its job of spurring people to go deeper.Continue reading

Final Stepping Stones: Structure, Practice, and Harvest

In two previous postings, I began discussing “The Chaordic Stepping Stones” developed by Chris Corrigan. I described the six of nine stepping stones: need; purpose; principles; people; concept; and limiting beliefs.

This posting discusses the last three steps which offer the opportunity to start adding colour and texture to the general shape that has been taking form.

Structure

This stage involves building on the concept, discussed earlier, and adding the details needed to give it life. Discussions about the structure are discussions about time, money, energy, and commitment.Continue reading

Middle Stepping Stones: People, Concept, and Limiting Beliefs

In my last posting, I referred to a guide for planning I have been using in the last couple of years: “The Chaordic Stepping Stones” developed by Chris Corrigan. In that earlier posting, I described the first three of nine stepping stones: need; purpose; and principles.

This posting outlines the middle three stepping stones: people; concept; and limiting beliefs. As noted before, each step involves asking  questions that will help people fully explore issues related to that stage of planning. Additionally, each step should be discussed in order when planning a new initiative or perhaps looking at revising an old one.

People

Some people connected to your initiative might be core to its planning and implementation; others might be the people you want to draw into the circle or to reach out to. In this stage of planning, you can create a map of your current and desired network of people.Continue reading

First Stepping Stones: Need, Purpose, Principles

It has been two years since I participated in the “Art of Hosting” workshop on Vancouver Island, an event that provided new inspiration, ideas and tools.

One tool I have come to appreciate time and time again is Chris Corrigan’s “Chaordic Stepping Stones”. (Chaordic refers to a system that is simultaneously chaotic and orderly).

In Chris’ words, “These steps are intended to create generative structures, structures that allow us to create together, without stifling creativity and the emergence of new ideas and new ways of doing things.”

Whether you are someone wanting to convene a meetings or launch a new initiative, the nine chaordic stepping stones lead people through a series of questions. These questions can help to evoke fresh perspectives on how you might create enough order in your process for it to function while will providing enough space for chaos and the creativity and depth it can generate. Continue reading

Polishing stones

In his book “Power and Love”, Adam Kahane talks about the importance of creating a strong ‘container’ that will serve to draw out the collective intelligence of a group.  Kahane quotes Crane Stookey’s metaphor of a stone polisher:

“The image that best describes this principle is the stone polisher, the can that turns and tumbles the rocks we found at the beach until they turn into gems. The rocks don’t get out until they’re done, the friction between them, the chaos of their movement, is what polishes them, and in the end the process reveals their natural inherent brilliance. We don’t paint colours on them, we trust what’s there.” (p. 92)

For me, this quote highlights the facilitator’s role of focusing on the structure and process of a meeting and trusting that the participants have the knowledge and wisdom needed to move forward. It also emphasizes the value of ensuring a diversity of participants–with diverse and potentially conflicting views–as each is a beach rock that can add richness and colour to the final outcomes.