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One of the things I enjoy most about my job is helping people become smarter together. Curiosity is perhaps the most powerful driver of learning. When a group has a shared question that they really want answered, it creates a bond and generates energy to go in search of the answer. My role is to create a setting in which you can arrive at new insights together. Sometimes that takes the form of (action) research, other times it's a conversation, a working conference, or a workshop.
I enjoy creating a smart design that helps groups have the right conversation. Which question do you focus on? How do you help people connect with each other quickly? Which working methods provide energy and focus? With a strong design, much of this happens organically, and the rest can be supported by facilitating in the moment. For example, by asking follow-up questions, ensuring that everyone has a chance to speak, helping the group to hold a silence when they don't know the answer yet, or by summarizing.
Appreciative Inquiry is an important source of inspiration for me in both designing and facilitating learning processes in groups. But my educational background and positive psychology also offer me many tools. Such as the insight that everyone has talents and knowing how you can invite these into the process.
Wealth through space for individuality
Conversations become richer by connecting multiple perspectives. So it is worthwhile to create space for everyone to share what they find important, what they know, or what they wonder about. I believe that everyone has something to contribute. That's why I recently developed a learning circle with young professionals around the theme of ‘authenticity’. How do you bring your 'whole self' to work? We all shared that question and desire, but we work in different contexts and also have different personalities. My role was to develop an atmosphere in which everyone could be themselves, to come up with powerful questions and practical working methods, and to guide the conversation so that we could arrive at new insights together. I really enjoy that, especially because it's with young professionals.
It can be quite a challenge for them to make their voices heard, which is a shame because a lot of potential is lost as a result. That's why I find creating traineeships so valuable. And I enjoy coaching: in a one-on-one setting, you can ‘listen someone into the spotlight’ in a different way and help them find their own voice and approach.
In my experience, if you invest in the connection, the group finds it easier to seek out edges and differences. And that's necessary: after all, that's often where the gains lie. It takes a little courage for people to speak up, to put a different perspective on the table, to ask a question that might feel ‘stupid’... As a designer and supervisor, you can help with that. And the more people engage in such a conversation, the richer it becomes and the more everyone learns. And that's what our work is all about.
