Ready for Change

On December 30, 2009, I gathered together people from all areas of my life for Two Hours of Perspective, looking back on the year and decade that was, and dreaming ahead to the 2010 we wanted to see for ourselves. It was cold, we had banana bread, and cookies, and rum and eggnog and shortbread, and candles, and good conversation. Lots and lots of good conversation.

Coming out of that evening, one person set out on a healthy living goal that has just gathered more and more speed ever since, like a snowball of healthy goodness. Another person took the vision of his Future Self and turned it into a tattoo to remind himself of the force he wanted to be. I wrote down the words I wanted to guide me for 2010, and regularly revisit them and tune back into my intentions for the year.

As I look out my window now, at an explosion of greenery, at flowers running rampant, at 30+ degrees of Toronto summer, the time is ripe for Two Hours of Perspective, Redux. Mid-year, let’s gather together to reconnect with our goals and dreams for 2010, share where we’ve been, and dream about what we want as we move to summer and then to fall. Whether you were at the December Two Hours of Perspective or not, you are invited to Two Hours of Perspective, Redux, on Saturday, June 26 from 2pm-4pm (probable location: Bloor-Bathurst area).

Send me an email at readyforchangecoaching@gmail.com to RSVP and for more details. Hope to see you there. 

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During the past two weeks I’ve enjoyed running workshops on learning theory with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Junior Fellows, 40 university students who will be spending their summers volunteering in one of Ghana, Burkina Faso, Malawi, or Zambia. One of my goals in these workshops is to shift the idea of learning from a teacher-student relationship to peer-to-peer learning, or co-learning. These volunteers will be learning with and learning from their counterparts in EWB’s partner organizations overseas, and I try to model learning with and from as I lead these workshops with them.

A good development worker… or facilitator… or coach… always remains open to learning with and learning from.  Development workers who are open to learning write blog posts like this or this. A facilitator open to learning adjusts to what participants bring to the room, and brings a willingness to be surprised and a willingness to deviate from plan. A coach open to learning with and learning from is relentlessly curious about her/his coaching clients, and committed to a journey of co-discovery.

What have you already learned today from the people around you? What might they have learned from you? What learning are you thirsty for? 

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My colleague Mary Stacey and I have been enjoying the sheer pleasure of collaborating with Chris Corrigan on a project relating to conversation and dialogue amongst those with a connection to Eastern Arctic polar bears.

One of the great perks about this collaboration has been digging into the extensive facilitation and social technology resources Chris provides on his site. If you’re a facilitator, a wannabe facilitator, or just generally interested in how people can get together and have better conversations about what matters, check it out. 

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