Description
Group modes other than open conversation. Mode Choice is the key card.
Patterns tagged with mode
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Take time to reflect on the issues at hand and make wise decisions. Done well, thinking things through together helps us understand a bigger picture, so we can deal capably and creatively with changing realities.
Linear discussion only takes us so far. For a more intuitive, holistic experience put on skits, write songs together, do art, listen to poetry, experiment with movement. The arts can move and teach us, inspire and engage, bringing a group to places we would never otherwise reach.
Freedom and stimulation help creativity blossom. Climb out of the box! Shake things up with brainstorming, play, improvisation, art, and unusual questions. What is possible now? Invite an abundant flow.
When the process is complete, the harvest is what you hold in your hands. Collect and disseminate what has been said, done, debated, decided, left undecided, or agreed upon as next steps. Record the collective memory of the event.
Choose to cultivate a curious attitude. Great questions frame and provoke, opening us to new pathways. Many successful methods have questions at their core, such as: "What's at the heart of the matter?" and "If you were czar, what would you do?" So what's the most powerful question we could ask right now?
Show the past, chart collated data, sketch what lies ahead. Skilful use of record-keeping, timelines, graphs, murals, videos, etc. directs our attention, helps us make sense of our experience, reinforces collective memory, and enables us to share group outcomes with people who weren't there.
Rather than default to general discussion, consider what mode of interaction—visual, auditory or kinaesthetic, formal or informal, a dialogue circle or a roleplay—is the best fit to support the group in reaching its intention. Strategically shifting formats energizes participants, accesses different ways of knowing, and advances the work.
Invite light-hearted and high-spirited interaction to exercise mind, senses, imagination and body, to engender creativity, and deepen relationships. Playfulness may be evoked through structured but fun ways to engage relevant topics, or restorative breaks that allow laughter free reign, or may simply show up as humour.
Create unscheduled times for rest, reflection, integration, and nurturing important social connections. Building sufficient "down time" into group process yields better overall results, as participants return to group sessions renewed and often with new insights and ideas.
Ceremony is primal; it grounds, connects, and deeply nourishes group spirit. Use it to mark opening, transition, cycles, milestones, or closing. Ritual is also the formal or habitual repetition of intentional practices that have proven their value.
The rests between notes make the music. Take a quiet moment to tune into yourself or the group. Invite Silence to slow the process, make space for questions, transition, or simply deepen.
Stories, metaphors, and myths convey complex ideas, context, meaning and nuance that simple data cannot. By telling personal stories we build trust and connection, encourage imagination, and express the essence of who we are. By telling cultural stories we connect ourselves to others’ experience and interact with whole systems.
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