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Reviewing for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Roger Greenaway's Active Reviewing Tips 10.2 ~ ISSN 1465-8046
A free monthly publication from Reviewing Skills Training

ARTips 10.2   Reviewing for Peace and Conflict Resolution

 

The previous issue 'Reviewing for Leaders' is now at
<http://reviewing.co.uk/archives/art/10_1.htm>

~ 1 ~ EDITORIAL: ARE YOU A PEACE MAKER?

In this brief editorial I want to achieve two things:

1) Tempt you to visit https://www.youtube.com/user/rogerreview
so that you can view a brand new video about active learning.
(3 minutes 20 seconds. Free to view. Feedback welcome)

2) Convince you that you are a 'peace maker' and that the
article. book review and tips in this issue are relevant to the
work you do.

Does your work involve negotiation, conflict resolution,
reconciliation, healing relationships or working with volatile or
diverse groups? If so you should find something of value in
'Reviewing for Peace' below as well as in my review of Adam
Kahane's 'Solving Tough Problems'.

Did you know that The Society of Friends (the Quakers) are
credited by Christine Hogan (author of 'Understanding
Facilitation') as being the founders of facilitation?
Historically, and in the present day, there are strong
connections between facilitation and the peace movement. Of
course, peace is not the only thing you can facilitate. Although
in many situations creating peace and understanding is the
foundation from which facilitation of other kinds of learning
becomes possible.

In peace - because that is where good work begins.

Roger Greenaway
roger@reviewing.co.uk
Reviewing Skills Training
<http://reviewing.co.uk>

PS Comments, Feedback. Enquiries are always welcome.

~ 2 ~ REVIEWING FOR PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION

certainly something you find yourself doing as part of your job.
Trouble and conflict on any scale drains energy away from the job
in hand, whereas harmonious relationships can make things so easy
and enjoyable. 'Peace' in the article below includes topics such
as conflict resolution, reconciliation, healing relationships and
working with volatile groups.

These are huge topics to which some people dedicate their lives
and careers. (You will find many such people via the links at the
end of this article.) I am simply skimming the surface and giving
you a few ideas about how reviewing methods can be used to help
bring peace where there is trouble. The article revisits some
familiar reviewing methods and introduces you to some new ones.
The first few methods involve writing, after which they get a bit
more active.

I will start with a beautifully simple approach to mending
relationships that I learned from a teacher at Girls and Boys
It involves naming strengths....


2. NAME THREE OF THEIR STRENGTHS

Think of someone you do not get along with and write down three
of their strengths.

Strength 1:

Strength 2:

Strength 3:

Have you ever communicated these strengths to that person? Maybe
the act of writing down these strengths is enough to change the
way you think about that person? But the act of telling them face
to face (or texting them right now) could make a real difference
to your relationship in future.


3. NAME THREE OF YOUR OWN STRENGTHS - DAILY, PRIVATELY

To get along with others it is helpful if you can first get along
with yourself. This simple exercise (for people who lack
confidence in themselves) involves writing down three things that
went really well at the end of each day and then thinking about
why these things went well. This is Martin Seligman's '3
Blessings Exercise' - described in full at the comprehensive
website of the Centre for Confidence and Well-Being.


4. A SECRET STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING DIFFICULT MEETINGS

I have promised myself never to write an article about the '10
Secrets of ...' but this really is a secret strategy because
participants keep their private notes to themselves.

If a meeting is already difficult, then it can be even more
difficult to review the meeting process because of the risk that
the same difficult pattern will continue into the review.

So at the beginning of one such meeting I asked everyone to
reflect (privately) on the kind of meeting that they would find
satisfying and enjoyable. I then asked each person to write down
up to 5 things that they could do before, during or after
meetings to help create the kind of meeting that they had
pictured. At the end of the meeting I asked everyone to take out
their secret lists and reflect on them - privately.

There is a chance that these private strategies may not be
compatible with each other. But in my experience, people seemed
to become more self-aware, more considerate and more responsible.
And it side-stepped the need to have a 'meeting' about the
meeting process. I do not recall whether this simple strategy was
inspired by Brief Therapy, but it follows similar time-saving
principles.

Using any such strategy you are deliberately trying to upset the
status quo and their is no guarantee that the transition to
better meetings will be a smooth one. If someone suggests sharing
their secret notes and there is a willing consensus to do so, I
would welcome such a move because it is the group taking the
initiative and responsibility to sort things out.


5. GOOD NEWS: AN OPEN STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING DIFFICULT MEETINGS

Each meeting begins with an unashamedly positive review of what
has happened since the last meeting. Four flipcharts (or similar)
are placed just outside the circle in which the meeting is to
happen, and as people arrive they are invited to write up good
news. When I first encountered this idea each chart was for
different categories of good news (something like this: 'What I
have done well', 'What we have done well' , 'What others have
done well' 'Good news from outside work'. My personal preference
is to be non-specific and to welcome any kind of good news that
people wish to share - on any chart.

Once everyone has arrived, or the time allocated for the exercise
has expired, leave these charts on display. Do a quality check
and ask if anything important is missing. This also encourages
people (if needed) to look around and appreciate the good news.
Of course, it would be a tasteless exercise if the purpose of the
meeting was to announce bad news. But such a positive start does
help to redress the balance (if meetings have been a negative
experience). A positive start also increases the chances that
difficulties will be approached in a more harmonious and
constructive way.


6. FOCUS ON SUCCESS

There is a lot of mileage in using success-focused approaches for
learning from experience - whether your purpose is to establish a
balanced approach or to go the whole way down the success-
focused route. I have presented many success-focused reviewing
techniques at <http://reviewing.co.uk/success> and you will find
many more in the fields of Solution Focused (Brief) Therapy and
Appreciative Inquiry (AI). Here is an example of the application
of AI specifically for  resolving conflicts: 'Using Appreciative
Inquiry to Reframe Conflict and Solve Problems'


For a more balanced approach to conflict resolution you may wish
to try some of these active reviewing methods...


7. 121 (MATRIX)

Underlying this family of methods is the recognition that people
can spend a lot of time together in the same group without
necessarily spending time together one to one, nor even
conversing one to one. Whether or not such avoidance is
deliberate or 'just happens', such remoteness is not good for
developing mutual understanding nor for developing any kind of
relationship. 121 helps people overcome barriers by giving every
possible pairing the opportunity to do things together, or at
least talk together. (Tip: imagine the two least compatible
people doing a task together, before choosing to use this
method.)

The most active version of 121 is where you have n-1 different
paired activities available (in which n is the number of people
in the group). For a group of 10 you would have 9 activities
taking 10 minutes each (for a 90 minute session). 5 of the 9
activities would be taking place at any one time. In odd-numbered
groups, either the facilitator joins in or you have one solo
activity available.

The activities can be games, fun activities, challenging
activities or reviewing activities. Every ten minutes everyone
has a change of partner and a change of activity. Have a few
spare activities is helpful as in the later stages partners may
not be able to find a new activity (unless you, or they, happen
to have made a foolproof masterplan or 'Matrix').

You can change the balance and mix of activities to suit the
group and the purpose. For a big, serious topic you can have just
one activity and one purpose, but you stay with the principle of
changing partners every 10 minutes (or whatever time you decide).

If there is a quiet park or open space nearby (and the weather is
'facilitative') you can harness the tranquility of nature to
assist the quality of reflective conversations. Choose a central
location in the middle of a big open space as your base. For this
'out and back' version of '121', pairs walk away from your
central location in all directions for 5 minutes, turn around and
walk back. You can place turnaround markers at a suitable
distance, or ask listeners to be timekeepers. The role of speaker
and listener is swapped over at the turnaround point. If the
topic merits the attention, the briefing can be identical for
every paired conversation. But even if you stay with the same
topic it is likely to be more interesting and productive if you
provide a series of (n-1) sequenced questions.

One such sequence is the Active Reviewing Cycle which moves
through:

facts

feelings

findings

futures


A similar sequence is an integral part of Marshall Rosenberg's
Nonviolent Communication:

observations

feelings

needs

requests


For most groups you will need to provide more than single word
prompts. Alternatively you can co-create or negotiate suitable
questions at the outset of the exercise. If this is achievable
most people will give greater commitment to answering questions
that they have had a say in producing. It spoils the surprise,
but your purpose is conflict resolution not springing surprises.

If 121 (Matrix) seems too carefully choreographed you may prefer
the more random nature of 'Simultaneous Survey' - described in
previous issues of Active Reviewing Tips. The survey method
involves a lot of fairly brief one-to-one conversations with
ever-changing partners, but it does not guarantee that each
individual will talk with everyone else.


8. ACTION REPLAY

I have found that Action Replay (see item 5 below) is a method
that has frequently had a healing effect in groups that were
split or in conflict.

I once started a programme with an overnight exercise that was
intended to have a group building effect. The result was very
clear: we had created two groups - which was half as good as
building just the one. An action replay the following morning
allowed each subgroup to reenact their own story to each other.
Subgroups alternated as performers and audience. It was the
replay that brought the subgroups together as one.

On another occasion an individual had a dominant and isolated
position in the group - largely as a result of his selfish
behaviour. The replay allowed the whole group to enjoy their high
points again. And when it came to the selfish incident that no-
one would talk about, the individual decided it was time to pause
the replay, explain his behaviour and apologise to the group. The
replay served as a means of confronting selfish (and abusive)
behaviour.

I once worked with a young management team who were so proud of
their achievements they found it difficult to welcome new members
to their team. Putting aside my usual enthusiasm for success-
focused approaches, I asked the team to replay an occasion where
they had interviewed for a new management position while giving
the impression that they didn't want their cosy team to change. I
asked them to exaggerate the worst aspects of the real incident,
while one of them took the role of the applicant. I paused the
action, checked that the 'applicant' was feeling suitably
unwanted, and then asked the team to rewind and switch to a more
welcoming approach - in a positive replay of the negative replay.

A variation of action replay happened following an inter-group
competition in which our group believed that one of the other
groups had cheated. We challenged them not by replaying our own
performance, but by replaying what we thought the other team had
said and done when out of sight from us. The other group then
performed their version of events - which we accepted. In the
interests of balance, the other group challenged us using the
same method and invited us to show the real version of events
which they had guessed.

Confronting people with different versions of reality could be
explosive. But I have only ever found that action replay sets the
stage for an honest sharing of events not known to all, or for an
honest sharing of thoughts and feelings underlying actions. The
manner in which the replay is directed sets the tone for how
people are likely to respond. In a 'review' the set up is along
the lines of "let us learn from what happened".

For more about Action Replay see item 5 below.



9. EMPATHY EXERCISES

Getting people to understand what it is like to be in the shoes
of another, is a strategy that seems to be an indispensable part
of peacemaking - whatever the scale you are working at. But how
do you achieve this?

The 'simple but not easy' answer is talking and listening - which
is discussed in the review of Adam Kahane's book below. While
simple is best for many people, you may find that some groups are
more likely to see with new eyes if the method is more active and
participatory. Regular readers of Active Reviewing Tips will know
of Empathy Test (back to back guessing), and of Egoing (speaking
as if you are your partner), and of Turntable (formerly known as
Revolver).

In the classic use of Turntable there is a debate between two
sides. During the discussion people change sides while moving
round the circle. This gives practice in arguing from both
positions and it can also lead to some 'aha' moments as a result
of people finding themselves in shoes they are not accustomed to
wearing. But for peacemaking you can create a valuable
opportunity for practising such skills by creating an extra two
sides. One extra side is for listeners and clarifiers. The other
extra side is for 'creative compromisers' or 'bridge builders'.

Turntable allows people to explore an issue of common interest,
to view the issue from familiar and unfamiliar viewpoints and to
practise the skills of a peacemaker. It is a role play exercise
for use in a training setting and it may be too 'game like' for
situations where 'bigger' games are being played out. But
experience of Turntable in a relatively safe environment can help
facilitators or participants develop conflict resolution skills
that can serve them well in conflicts of greater seriousness.


10. SEEING THE SYSTEM

In many situations the conflict involves more than those who
happen to be present. There is a larger system to understand. You
can try to understand systems by talking about them, but it is
often much easier if you can 'see' the system (and your own role
in the system) by using suitable visual aids.

My two favourite tools for 'seeing the system' are Metaphor Map
and Moving Stones. A short description of Metaphor Map is at:
<http://digbig.com/4xhca> A fuller description will appear in a
future issue of Active Reviewing Tips.

Stones / Moving Stones is described at:
and is presented in a short video at:



11. ARE YOU LOOKING FOR TROUBLE?

Maybe you spend time designing (or looking for) training
exercises that simulate work by putting people under pressure and
stress, with problems to solve or challenges to overcome. The
team that was happy and smiling during your energisers now
encounters your cunning exercise and obligingly fall out with
each other. So during your review you try to distance people from
the conflict enough so that they can reflect on it
dispassionately. Unfortunately there is still so much conflict in
the air that the 'team' are not so obliging when you want them to
step out of the conflict and learn from it. What do you do?

I'll leave that as an open question. My point is that
facilitators in a teaching or training role are both
troublemakers and peacemakers. And whenever things seem too
settled, tidy or certain, I (for one) will want to ask a
provocative question to keep the learning process going. Do you
ever stir up trouble?



12. PEACEMAKING RESOURCES FOR ALL WALKS OF LIFE

Some internet resources about peacemaking in business, crime,
relationships, school, higher education and between nations.

Recommended Reading For Conflict Resolution in Business

Peacemaking & Crime: exploring alternatives to the war on crime

Using Appreciative Inquiry to Reframe Conflict and Solve Problems

The Conflict Resolution Education Connection

Conflict Resolution Resources for Teachers

Conflict Management in Higher Education Report: Tools Index

The Conflict Resolution Information Source

The Association for Humanistic Psychology: links
<http://www.ahpweb.org/involve/websites.html>

Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford
"the largest and, we like to think, the leading academic centre
for the study of peace and conflict in the world."

The Center for Nonviolent Communication

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Compassion
Giving from the Heart, the Heart of Nonviolent Communication
by Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D.

RESOURCES ADDED SINCE PUBLICATION OF THIS EZINE

Fostering Dialogue Across Divides (a free 188 page guide) and other free resources at the Public Conversations Project website:
http://www.publicconversations.org/resources/guides


A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT REVIEWING FOR PEACE
Maybe you have some favourite methods or stories you would like
to share with readers of Active Reviewing Tips? Maybe you wish to
comment on what you read in this issue? Please write to me at
<roger@reviewing.co.uk> with your thoughts. I appreciate that
some comments are private and not for publishing, so I always
check for permissions before exposing your thoughts to the wider
world.


~ 3 ~ ACTIVE LEARNING MANUAL: Another New Video

If you visited https://www.youtube.com/user/rogerreview and left
feedback on the three short videos - Action Replay, Moving Stones
and Talking Knot - thank you. There is now a 4th 'introductory'
video which includes clips of more techniques illustrating key
points about the value of active learning. Here is an edited
version of the script ...

The Active Learning Manual is a collection of techniques for
facilitators of active learning - such as teachers, trainers,
consultants or coaches. In fact, this manual is for anyone who
helps people learn from what they do.

So what's so special about active learning? Well, quite simply,
in active learning the learner is an active participant, not a
passive recipient. Active learning clearly involves a much wider
range of learning skills - which helps people become more capable
and versatile learners.

These videos show you how to keep participants motivated and
involved when you are facilitating active learning. When viewing
these videos, notice who is using, holding, making or moving the
various communication aids. You will see that these aids are
tools for participants to use - once you have demonstrated how
they work.

The first video shows participants performing action replays of
the most interesting or most critical moments. They use a dummy
remote control and a dummy microphone to bring out more
information, or to ask challenging questions of each other.

Another video shows how holding onto a rope keeps everyone
connected. The knots moving round the circle give everyone
frequent opportunities to speak up and join in.

In fact, ropes have many uses in active learning. Another example
is Storyline where the storyteller creates a wiggly timeline
showing their ups and downs. The storyteller then walks along
their rope while telling their story. This method helps to make
everyone a better storyteller.

Another useful story-telling aid is Moving Stones. This method
helps people talk about how a group changes over time. People
touch and move the stones as they tell their story. Moving Stones
improves the quality of communication about how a group (or team)
grows and develops.

For improving the quality of group discussions you can use 'Where
Do You Stand?'. Participants show where they stand on an issue by
choosing their place on a curved spectrum. After talking with a
friendly neighbour, everyone is well prepared for a lively group
discussion - during which everyone's point of view is clearly
visible.

Another lively group discussion method is Turntable. This method
allows people to view things from two or three different
perspectives. Everyone gets a chance to speak on all sides of the
discussion as they move around the circle.

You can even use active methods for feedback. Spokes, for
example, starts with each person rating their own performance by
how far they move along a spoke towards the centre of a giant
wheel. People who seem to have undervalued their performance are
invited by others to move closer to the centre of the wheel. This
invitation to move in is a powerful form of positive feedback.

As you can see,  active learning uses many senses, skills and
intelligences. Active learning makes learning more inclusive,
while also developing everyone's learning skills. Active learning
helps people learn more, and remember more. It also makes the
transfer of learning far more likely.

Future editions of the Active Learning Manual will help you grow
and develop your own toolkit - whether you are an active learner
or a facilitator of active learning, or a bit of both.


4 ~ 10 TIPS: THE LANGUAGE OF NON-VIOLENT COMMUNICATION

10 TIPS: THE LANGUAGE OF NON-VIOLENT COMMUNICATION


The Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) would like there
to be a critical mass of people using Nonviolent Communication
language so all people will get their needs met and resolve their
conflicts peacefully.

10 Things We Can Do to Contribute to Internal, Interpersonal, and
Organizational Peace:

(1) Spend some time each day quietly reflecting on how we would
like to relate to ourselves and others.

(2) Remember that all human beings have the same needs.

(3) Check our intention to see if we are as interested in others
getting their needs met as our own.

(4) When asking someone to do something, check first to see if we
are making a request or a demand.

(5) Instead of saying what we DON'T want someone to do, say what
we DO want the person to do.

(6) Instead of saying what we want someone to BE, say what action
we'd like the person to take that we hope will help the person be
that way.

(7) Before agreeing or disagreeing with anyone's opinions, try to
tune in to what the person is feeling and needing.

(8) Instead of saying "No," say what need of ours prevents us
from saying "Yes."

(9) If we are feeling upset, think about what need of ours is not
being met, and what we could do to meet it, instead of thinking
about what's wrong with others or ourselves.

(10) Instead of praising someone who did something we like,
express our gratitude by telling the person what need of ours
that action met.

2001, revised 2004 Gary Baran & CNVC. The right to freely
duplicate this document is hereby granted.
Source: <http://digbig.com/4xgys>
The Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC)


~ 5 ~ DYNAMIC DEBREIFING: ACTION REPLAY

Dynamic Debriefing is the title of the chapter I wrote for Mel
Silberman's 'Handbook of Experiential Learning' (2007).

Here is Part 5:

Action Replay highlights key moments and brings them alive in
ways that enable focused questioning and new insights.


Recommended uses:

Action Replay is best suited to the debriefing of exercises in
which there is plenty of action involving the whole group. If the
'action' was repetitive, it may be too difficult for participants
to synchronise their replay. Games that involve getting the whole
group from A to B are often well suited to Action Replay. Games
in which there is little movement (such as mental puzzles or
board games) are less suitable.

Resources:

Dummy microphone and dummy remote control (real or improvised)


Action Replay is a classic example of Dynamic Debriefing as well
as being a challenging team exercise in its own right. Action
Replay involves re-enacting an activity as if a video of the
activity is being replayed. Just as on TV, the action is played
back to examine an incident more closely or to replay an event
worth celebrating. In the age of TV and video, Action Replay is
readily understood and needs little explanation.

Compared to video work, Action Replay is much quicker to set up,
edit and replay (no technical problems!); it is more convenient
and versatile - it can be used almost anywhere; it keeps
involvement and energy high; it is an exercise in memory,
creativity, and teamwork; it brings out humour and honesty; it
provides opportunities for leadership, interviewing and
commentating; and it can be used as a search technique to find
incidents or issues to debrief more thoroughly.

Variation:

A dummy microphone adds extra purpose (and interest) to the
replay. Any group member (actor or audience) can pick up the
dummy microphone to interview someone involved in the action.
They can ask questions from any point of the learning cycle:

* to clarify what was happening

* to give people a chance to express their feelings (especially
if unknown to others)

* to analyse the situation (Why were you doing that? How did that
happen?)

* or to look to the future (How could you build on what worked
well? What could you take from this experience into the
workplace?)

Variation:

Introduce a dummy remote control before the replay starts. You
(or participants) can preselect which moments to replay by
requesting 'Selected Highlights' or you can just ask for the
whole activity to be replayed. While taking part in (or viewing)
a replay anyone can ask for the remote to slow down the replay at
a particular moment or to see it again. Remind people about
useful buttons on the remote and warn that you may invent some
new buttons that no-one has ever heard of before. Once you have
demonstrated the possibilities of using the remote control,
participants can take it in turns to direct the action. The dummy
controls are not only fun to play with, they also provide
opportunities for some very focused and controlled debriefing.
Action Replay is also readily adapted for rehearsing future
scenarios. This is strictly 'preplay' rather than 'replay' but
why send people back to their seats as soon as you start
discussing the future?


'Action Replay' (above) is the 6th of 11 instalments from
'Dynamic Debriefing' - a chapter I wrote for Mel Silberman's
'Handbook of Experiential Learning' (2007). The first five
instalments were:

1: What is Dynamic Debriefing?

2  The Role of the Facilitator

3. Models of Debriefing

4. The Experience of Debriefing

5. The Sequencing in Debriefing


The remaining instalments of 'Dynamic Debriefing' will provide
further examples of debriefing methods.

NEXT: The next instalment of 'Dynamic Debriefing' provides more
examples of debriefing methods.



~ 7 ~ BOOKS AND BOOK REVIEWS ABOUT ACTIVE LEARNING


BOOK REVIEW: SOLVING TOUGH PROBLEMS

Nelson Mandela recommends this 'breakthrough book' by Adam Kahane
- which is not surprising given Kahane's role in helping to bring
about a peaceful transition from apartheid to multiracial
democracy in South Africa. But you do not have to be an
international peacemaker in order to use the ideas and insights
from this book because ...

"Solving Tough Problems offers a new approach to addressing
peacefully our most complex and conflictual challenges - at home,
at work, and in the larger world" (William Ury).

Kahane states that the way to resolve complex problems is
"simple, but not easy". So do not expect to find much that is new
- but do expect to enjoy the stories of brinkmanship and
breakthroughs in resolving apparently irresolvable conflicts. If
Kahane's approach is effective in some of the worst troublespots
around the world, then maybe you will find renewed confidence and
inspiration to tackle problems in your own particular
troublespot.

One interesting insight is that 'best practice' in solving COMMON
problems does not work for solving complex, UNCOMMON problems.
Therefore we have to find new ways of solving tough problems. I
used to work with young people who had been on the receiving end
of 'best practice' from parents, teachers, youth workers, social
workers, police ... and still they committed offences. We had to
find a way of turning things around, and it seemed unlikely that
we would have any greater success using the same 'best practice'
strategies. We needed patience, determination and new thinking.
Most of our 'innovative' ways were actually quite simple. And
that is also what I find here in Adam Kahane's work - with very
different kinds of tough problems. The solutions are "simple, but
not easy" - and as Kahane's stories show, despite some remarkable
successes, success is by no means guaranteed.

Here are Adam Kahane's 10 suggestions for unlocking our most
complex, stuck problem situations.:

1. Pay attention to your state of being and how you are talking
and listening.

2. Speak up. Notice what you are thinking feeling and wanting.

3. Remember that you don't know the truth about anything. (So add
'in my opinion' to any statement of certainty.)

4. Engage with and listen to others who have a stake in the
system. (Seek out people who have different, even opposing
perspectives from yours.)

5. Reflect on your own role in the system.

6. Listen with empathy. (Imagine yourself in the shoes of the
other.)

7. Listen to what is being said not just by yourself and others
but through all of you. (Listen with your heart. Speak from your
heart.)

8. Stop talking. ("Camp out beside the question and let answers
come to you.")

9. Relax and be fully present. ("Open yourself up to being
touched and transformed.")

10. Try out these suggestions and notice what happens.

You come to these 10 suggestions at the end of the book, at which
point these 'simple' suggestions have special significance
because they come out of the powerful stories within the book. I
actually value the book more for the inspiration of the stories
than for Kahane's distillation of these experiences into '10
suggestions'. Distilled learning is of little value unless it is
grounded in experience - preferably your own, but if not then
from the well told stories of those who have 'been there'.

One of my favourite stories was were Kahane could not get
everyone to agree to meet in the same room. The compromise was
that one group participated by speaker phone. Kahane noticed how
those in the room kept a safe distance from the speaker phone.
I also recall how in South Africa all parties took time out from
a crucial meeting to watch a rugby international - something they
could agree upon. But the real story is Kahane's courage,
commitment, patience and hope.

Tough Problem Solving is not a story of 'clever' facilitation,
but there is one particular technique that Kahane has used well.
He has taken Shell's 'Scenario Planning' into political disputes
where the parties cannot initially agree about what SHOULD
happen, but they ARE able to work together on creating scenarios
of what MIGHT happen. During the meetings at the end of the
apartheid era, each of the five most plausible scenarios was
given a nickname. This gave participants (and then the general
public) a common language through which to discuss their options,
and where each option might lead. Scenario planning can clearly
play a helpful role in conflict resolution. At the very least,
'scenario planning' is a kind of high level 'icebreaker' because
it is a task on which parties in conflict can work together.

I was tempted to conclude this review in the manner of 'Active
Reviewing Tips' by associating specific reviewing methods with
each of Kahane's 10 suggestions. Although I have made my list, I
have now thought better of it because Kahane's approach is
remarkably free of method and is admirably full of heart. To
convert his suggestions into methods would, on reflection, be
missing the point.


ACTIVE LEARNING BOOKSHOP

Please support SAVE THE CHILDREN by buying your books (and any
other Amazon goods) via the ACTIVE LEARNING BOOKSHOP.


EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
<http://reviewing.co.uk/reviews/experiential-learning.htm>

EVALUATION AND TRANSFER
<http://reviewing.co.uk/reviews/evaluation-transfer.htm>

LEARNING TO LEARN
<http://reviewing.co.uk/reviews/learning-to-learn.htm>

REVIEWING AND REFLECTION
<http://reviewing.co.uk/reviews/reviewing.htm>

TRAINING GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
<http://reviewing.co.uk/reviews/training-activities.htm>

FULL INDEX
<http://reviewing.co.uk/reviews>


Roger's Active Learning Bookshop has raised over £900 for Save
the Children since January 2006 - thanks to everyone who has been
shopping at the Active Learning Bookshop.


If you have other purchases you want to make at Amazon (co.uk or
.com) please go there via <http://reviewing.co.uk/reviews> Not
only do you get a good deal, so do children around the world who
need our help. I worked for Save the Children for 4 years so I
know about the value and quality of the work they do.




~ 10 ~ About Active Reviewing Tips

EDITOR: Dr. Roger Greenaway, Reviewing Skills Training
9 Drummond Place Lane STIRLING Scotland UK FK8 2JF
Feedback, recommendations, questions: roger@reviewing.co.uk
phone (UK office hours): +44 1786 450968



The Guide to Active Reviewing is at http://reviewing.co.uk
'One of the best training sites I've ever seen' Training Journal

COPYRIGHT: Roger Greenaway  Reviewing Skills Training

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