Dan Newman, a seasoned consultant and facilitator, shares insights from his nearly 30-year career in solving complex organizational problems. He discusses the transformative power of facilitation, advocating for creativity over traditional consulting methods. The conversation delves into the significance of cultural communication and how music can enhance group dynamics. Dan also emphasizes overcoming organizational constraints and the importance of sponsor engagement in workshops, all while playfully suggesting he might fine clients for breaking their own rules!
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insights INSIGHT
Consultants vs. Facilitators on Complexity
Consultants focus on complicated problems solvable by expert knowledge and best practices.
Facilitators handle complex systems where cause and effect emerge only in hindsight.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Epiphany: Facilitation as a Game
Dan Newman had an epiphany during a 1996 workshop where they had to play other teams' games with their own rules.
This revealed facilitation as playing other people's games by our rules, a concept that shapes his work.
insights INSIGHT
Escape Culture to Innovate
Organizations’ rules often inhibit their ability to solve complex problems.
Facilitators help extract teams from their culture temporarily to uncover new solutions.
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In this book, James P. Carse distinguishes between finite and infinite games. Finite games are instrumental activities with clear rules, boundaries, and winners, such as sports, politics, and wars. Infinite games, on the other hand, are authentic interactions that aim to continue the play, changing rules and boundaries as needed. Carse explores how these concepts apply to various aspects of life, including culture, religion, sexuality, and self-discovery. He argues that finite games offer wealth, status, and power, while infinite games provide something more subtle and grander, such as true freedom and endless possibility. The book offers insights into how approaching life as either a finite or infinite game affects one's choices, satisfaction, and success[2][4][5].
In the autumn of 1996 in Palo Alto, Dan Newman had a career-defining epiphany: facilitation is playing other people’s games with your own rules. It’s something that has stayed with him on his journey from consultant to facilitator, as he solves complex organisational problems by asking: how are their rules preventing them from winning?
We cover a lot of ground from Dan’s storied career in this brilliant conversation, dancing from the debate of the neutral facilitator, to cultural communication traits, the psychology of music, and why he will happily fine his clients for breaking the rules!
Full to the brim with facilitation lessons to learn, try and apply yourself.
Find out about:
Tips, insights and anecdotes from Dan’s nearly 30 year career
The key differences between the role of the facilitator and the consultant
How to rebuild people’s ‘finite games’ into ‘infinite games’, with a positive-sum outcome
How to use Dave Snowden’s Cynefin framework to aid decision-making and de-complexify problems
How to take a company out of their culture to see new perspectives
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