Surface and breathe

Checking in with the Ropes Game :) 

World Cafe

Introducing The World Café, a method for creating a living network of collaborative dialogue around questions that matter in real life situations.  We explored three rounds of questions at Cafe tables, moving to new places each round and sharing insights as we went.​

Round 1: What time is it in the world?

Time for:
  • Chaos and order
  • Change; individual, family, community, nationally, globally
  • Sensible action
  • Social connectedness
  • Social isolation

Time to:
  • Know where you are from, where you belong, where you are going
  • Decide which voice we listen to; ours or theirs?
  • Reconsider individual and collective perspective
  • Look at acceptance of the way it is
  • Reword ‘the question’
  • Ask: if not now when? If not us who?
A time of:
  • Chaos vs hope and opportunity
  • Nurturing
  • Fear

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  • How do I host others to take the organisation forward?
  • Today is the day; don’t lose the opportunity of this time
  • Things are not working; we need new ideas to do things differently
  • Different ideas doesn’t mean we have to fight all the time
  • Positives and shadows walk hand in hand
  • Does time end?

Round 2: What time is it in your organisation or community?

Time for:
  • Collective action
  • Growth
  • Change
  • Balance > yin/yang
  • Endless opportunities
  • Connection, sharing and need
  • Innovation
  • The ‘World Village’
  • Change by turning upside down
  • Participation, collaboration, leadership and purpose
  • Community-driven decision making
  • Consciousness raising
  • Change = pain = groan zone
Time to:
  • Embrace change
  • Keep the passion and heart
  • Refresh, rebuild and commit
  • Ramp it up; step it up
  • Not be a resistor to change

    ​

  • What do we long for?
  • Who is asking the question? 
  • The answers depends on how the question affects me
  • The role of the host helps foster the magic in conversation

Round 3: What time is it in your life?

Time for:
  • Self development
  • Personal honesty
  • Change, the only constant is change
  • Hosting ourselves; refocus our interpretation of the word
  • Hosting others: I can be kind to others
  • Collaborative and inventive action
  • Challenges and choices
  • Communication,connection,sharing and listening
  • A new ‘normal’
  • Self care
  • Commitment
  • Purposeful living   
  • Eclipse - despite the dark the light is still there

Time to:
  • Find time for me, a selfish need​
A time of:
  • Sadness about the world and what is happening 
  • Work focused but not income focussed    
  • Personal change
  • People in transition
  • Uncertainty


  • Learning time
  • Family time; in the good, in the bad
  • Life lesson: change is not negative if I am kind to myself
  • What is the connection with time and purpose?
  • Time relative to where you are in life
  • Ripple effect - float, sink or swim? 
  • What is happiness?

Need, purpose and powerful questions

Mel shared a little about the 'power triangle' of need, purpose and a powerful question, and a little insight into what makes a powerful question.

Beachcombing

Over 2 rounds, Beachcombing was a chance to explore ideas, practices and stories in more depth with hosts in smaller groups. Participants let their passion and feet do the choosing:
  • Circle practice - Jan
  • Flow Game - Pam
  • The Work - Jane
  • Applying this in my work - Mel
  • Powerful questions - Frank
  • A taste of graphic recording - Mel
  • The story of Weeroona - Susie, Trish and Kerry​

Appreciative Inquiry and Triads

Jan introduced Appreciative Inquiry and the 5 D's model. Instead of taking a problem-solving approach, Appreciative Inquiry offers a possibility focus, a move from “what is” to “what could be”.  Based on a powerful, affirmative question, people share stories to uncover experiences that resemble what we want to create. 
This was followed by an AI experience, using Triads.

Triads: Tell about a time when you brought your best self...  

Reflections:
  • Discovered my best self
  • My best self turned up more than I thought
  • Everything we have thought about our best selves we’ve done with other people
  • Journey from what is my best work to what is my best self
  • The power of the observer in the triad to take the eagle view of what shifted and when it happened
  • I learned I do bring my best self, that gives me heart
  • It took a while to drop from what is my best work self to who is my best self
  • Blown away by people sharing stories with vulnerability

Open Space Technology

Open Space is another tool where participants drive the agenda of a meeting, workshop or conference, around topics that matter most to them. ​Here are the conversations our participants wanted to have:
  • What role could Nonviolent Communication play in the workplace? David
  • What makes a good organisation? Travis
  • What will it take to wake up the world? Jordan
  • How do we create inclusive communities through conversations with children? Geoff
  • How do I know when change can no longer be ignored? Ron
  • What can we do to increase awareness on racism? Swi

Check out: what popped or shifted for me today?

  • World Cafe
  • My comfort zone shifted
  • Anyone can do that! (graphic recording)
  • Gratitude for willingness to be vulnerable
  • Being true to myself, hosting myself
  • Love after a day and a half!
  • The Work of Byron Katie
  • Yesterday made more sense
  • I can’t hate someone whose story I know
  • Integrity of consciousness
  • Posing questions for myself
  • Jigsaw falling into place
  • How comfortable we are
  • Hearing and sharing
  • Stories and common threads
  • Sense of trust and honesty
  • Doing it together