Focus Moderation -or- How to Form a Collective
“We tend to look at problems from the angles of potential solutions, and we tend to see best solutions as the best fit for a problem, like a glove perfectly fitting in the hand, made for each other. We are in fact proud of the solution.”
Leandro Herrero on “Daily Thoughts”
Whether you want to execute a new strategy or explore a new idea - You may have had that terrific idea that flickered like a candle light, and was simply not to grasp. You may have met with likeminded people to gather their input, and didn't know Where and How to start the discussion properly.
When it comes to find a solution, instead of to predict one, discussion gets a little complicated...
...and can be learned :
How to Draw out Respondents' Attitudes, Feelings, Beliefs, Concerns, and Reactions
Your Target ?
A collective operating in unison to achieve the same vision.
Your Starting Point ?
- identify & clearly communicate an area that could benefit from the feedback of your peers
- put together a collective that relies on confidentiality and the ability to discuss the most sensitive issues openly
- accomplish an initial concept of active reciprocity and investment in your fellows success
- get people to provide to educate everyone on how to put their feedback to work
- help everyone to be thoroughly prepared to contribute
- get the blunt truth when nobody else will do
Your Principles ?
- be present, right here, right now
- do a warm up
- let others do the talking
- ask, don’t tell
- get everybody to contribute
- keep everyone honest
Your Material ?
Two Whiteboards
...side by side, because they supplement each other and we can switch between them, not forgetting anything.
What is on there ?
- Topics in order, open for discussion - to be worked on ASAP.
- A list of distractions – to be collated but parked, for now.
Ideally, take a day (or more) for an off-site meeting. Otherwise – consider the » One Hour Rule
...and how those look like
|
Strategy & Execution (The Map) |
Distractions (The Recreation) |
|
The Foundation |
The Obvious Ones |
|
The Small Ones |
| The Landmarks | The “We Can’t Dismiss that Topic” |
|
The Off Track |
| The Planning | The Tangent Ones |
|
The Incredible Interesting Ones |
| The Organizing | The Collateral Angles |
|
The ones that need to be dealt with before X,Y,Z |
| The Control | The “Also’s” |
| The Finances | The Plays |
| The Quality | The Speculations |
| The Culture | The “But’s” |
|
The Virgin Island |
Those objections we hear over and over again... |
...watch them all, but staggered and prioritized.
The key to getting the hands around at any stage is the same as any other endeavor : practice, practice, practice.
Your Advantage
-
It helps you grasp the unkown.
-
By the time you get used to it. Try it !
Not sure yet what it is there for ? Here is an example !
All in all
What may sound tricky is not that bad at all as your duty is to
- gather disparate pieces of information
- process them as a group
- evaluate options
- and decide
Collectively you will make better decisions than anyone could make on one’s own.
You need to MAKE things happen – as much as needed, and as simple as possible.
Happy Moderation!
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