The Stormz Team explores the field of Collective Intelligence and its impact on organisations through a series of interviews and discussions with experts from our community of facilitators. Today, we sat down with Nancy Bragard, with whom we organized several Open Forums. It's also the perfect opportunity to talk about three methodologies we love and that are key in the Art of Hosting.
- The Open Forum, also called Open Space Technology, is a method to open up both the content and form of conferences and seminars. After the presentation of the agenda, users suggest topics themselves and form working groups.
- The World Cafe is a structured conversational process designed to exchange knowledge. Participants move from one table to another, where a single topic is discussed. A host stays put the whole time to safeguard the continuity of discussions and summarize them at the end.
- The Appreciative Approach (Appreciative Inquiry) is a change management method reversing the problem-solving paradigm to focus on the successes, gains and positive energies that can be mustered. This methodology is directly inspired by the Appreciative Inquiry, which we'll talk about more in detail in our next interview with Bernard Tollec.
Understanding the Art of Hosting will help us acquire a greater perspective on those three methodologies, and that's why we contacted Nancy. Through this interview, we'd like to share with you the posture and kindliness of her methodologies that made such a strong impression on us.
Hello Nancy Bragard. Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
I've worked for a long time as a trainer for intercultural management before discovering the Art of Hosting, in 2008, during a seminar that completely changed my life. I was starting to be frustrated with my position as a trainer, which mostly consisted in giving knowledge, frameworks, and solutions from top to bottom. In other words: telling people what to do. The truth is only they know how and what to do differently: all they need to realize is that they possess that knowledge!
During the first Art of Hosting workshop I attended, I really became aware of all the benefits linked to the emergence of a group's collective intelligence, both from a personal and collective standpoint. I also realized how much the input lasted longer and was more enduring when solutions, and initiatives originated from the stakeholders themselves.
Back in 2008, the Art of Hosting didn't exist in France, and the pyramidal, the top-down structure was still widespread. But many consultants, facilitators and coaches - including myself - wanted to help people promote a bottom-up approach within companies. Since the first French Art of Hosting seminar in 2010, we've been organizing one or two workshops per year so we have hosted around 20 seminars. It's really important to differentiate our client-oriented projects, where the host might be slightly exterior and more neutral, from our Art of Hosting seminars, where the goal is to enable and empower the entire community to move forward and develop new skills. In that case, the mere concept of "client" disappears: everyone is in the same boat together and the concept of egalitarianism takes its place.
Who created the Art of Hosting? Is there any founding adventure or book?
The Art of Hosting originated from Northern Europe, and was created by Toke Paludan Möller and Monica Nissen from InterChange. But they don't really claim responsibility for it: the Art of Hosting is open source and belongs to the entire universe. It's a community of people who are passionate about how collaborative methods can bring collective intelligence to life and strive to find what makes an organization's heart beat, empowers people and implement the desired change.
The Art of Hosting is an organic organization and isn't very structured, to say the least. From a legal point of view, the community doesn't even have a definite status. It's part of our DNA not to belong to anyone in particular and to everyone at the same time. To join the community, for instance, you only need to register on the website. And whenever we organize a seminar in France, we always hand out the textbook with all our methodologies. This also helps us to improve it every time. We don't think in terms of scarcity or ownership we'd rather operate in a logic of abundance: the results of our co-exploration belong to everyone.
What's the main benefit for an organization to implement the Art of Hosting? Is it to help companies breathe, so to speak, like the Liberating Structures?
The Art of Hosting helps you round up your collaborators differently, replace top-down approaches with bottom-up and co-creation processes, and involve your teams in the decision-making process. As long as you actually follow through with the results, otherwise it's only a source of frustration and bad press for our methods. I'd say that the main goal of the Art of Hosting is to give more meaning to what your teams are doing and to enrich the life and transformation of the client's system. Let's keep in mind that, ultimately, the entire system is involved in this transformation, not only the decision-makers or outside consultants paid to tell you what needs to be done.
We're increasingly averse to this position of handing out knowledge in a top-down way. We don't "train" companies. Of course, this means that more work and effort will be needed, but most of the people we meet are truly tired of being "trained", that's why they welcome this new approach. They know they can't afford to be mere consumers of what we tell them anymore. This requires greater involvement but ultimately brings more meaning.
It's also important to accept the fact that the results won't be perfect: we're in a never-ending prototyping posture, and it's important to have room for error. Luckily, more and more companies want to try it out and experiment, knowing that it probably won't be perfect.
What's more important in the Art of Hosting? The posture of the host or the set of methodologies to implement?
A bit of both. The Art of Hosting is indeed based on a low posture and relies on humbleness and equivalence in order to favor co-exploration. Our motto is to never assume to know more than others. We say from the beginning of an event that everyone is a leader. Creating this space, this container, with a low and benevolent posture, allowing the emergence of collective wisdom, is central to what we do. It's really important to let things come naturally and simply act as the guardian of the structure to make sure everyone gets a chance to speak. I never touch at what's being said, nor at the content: this belongs to the stakeholders.
But the Art of Hosting is also the community I mentioned, as well as a set of worldviews and a practice based on four pillars: first, to "host oneself", to be anchored and centered; then, to be hosted and have active and generative listening skills; third, to be able to initiate a happening, to launch seminars or discussions, for instance; and finally, to co-create and make sure the community of practitioners gains and develops new skills and expertise.
Of course, the Art of Hosting is also a set of methodologies to host meaningful conversations, like the Circle, the World Cafe, Story-telling, the Appreciative Approach or the Open Forum. In other words, any situation that involves at least two people because, ultimately, collective intelligence is brought to life by discussions. It's preferable to give the floor to the stakeholders and people directly involved: they know better than anyone what's needed to initiate change and what works or not. To sum it up, the benefits of the Art of Hosting are two-fold: add meaning to what people do and consult with the appropriate stakeholders regarding what needs to be changed. Our approach is based on this African saying: "Alone, I go fast; together, we go further".
You mentioned the Open Forum, World Cafe and Appreciative Approach. Could you elaborate and tell us what's the most fundamental ingredient to animate them?
As a host, it's critical to co-create with the client. In the Art of Hosting, practitioners really need to see the client as a partner. You need to be two to create the themes and questions of a World Cafe or an Open Forum. From the outside, we cannot know the soul of the company, while they lack the technical skills we possess.
If the methodologies are the means on which we rely, the seminar's intent is the governing principle, the underlying question. For instance: "How to put people at the heart of the organization?" All the methodologies should serve this intent and question, broached at the start of the seminar. But we can also import this seminar within organizations: depending on the underlying question, we'll either implement an Open Forum or a World Cafe. If the question is clearly formulated, complex and requires courage from co-workers, we'll ideally opt for an Open Forum. The World Cafe, on the other hand, is slightly easier, as you're only 4 or 5 around a table, can talk about very different things without anyone being put in the spotlight. As a result, you don't need to define such a detailed framework beforehand. In any case, the boss or decision-makers need to agree to act on what's bound to surface: it makes no sense to consult with your team if their ideas are eventually dismissed. On the contrary, this can be seen as truly deceptive and impact their involvement in the long term.
We never tried to hide the fact that the Appreciative Approach is directly inspired by the Appreciative Inquiry, but it's not exactly the same thing. For instance, the appreciative approach doesn't go through the entire "5 D's" of the Appreciative Inquiry, and stops at the Discovery (of talents, resources, animating forces of the organization) by sharing inspiring stories. Moreover, it's carried out in groups of threes, not in duos, in order to keep a trace of the discussions. But all our methodologies are based on the positive, appreciative mindset. Even though the methodology isn't the same, we're constantly in an Appreciative mentality, with a specific focus on the form of questions and our position, for instance.
What are the main differences between a host and a facilitator? Don't they have a lot in common?
They do have a lot in common, yes: the host and the facilitator both need to facilitate the emergence of its audience's truth and collective intelligence. But the facilitator's posture is slightly more distant than the host's because his goal is to make sure the methodology works and to reach the deliverable required by the client. The host really has to serve the main intent and the participants: it's a very low posture when it comes to the content (which belongs to the stakeholders) but strong on the structure, of which the host is the guardian. It's absolutely critical to avoid a top-down approach.
In addition to all this, the host is also the guardian of the overall well-being: he's part of the collective, sits down with the group. This egalitarian relationship between the host and the participants is, in my opinion, the key difference between the Art of Hosting and facilitation: contrary to a facilitator, a host is deeply involved in the co-exploration with participants. Just like a host that would be having friends over for dinner, an Art of Hosting host has to prepare the environment beforehand and takes part, explores and enjoys the event side-by-side with the participants. That's why it's so important to make sure the space and venue are welcoming, and also why it's better to be two to host a collective intelligence session. We often visit the venue in advance to see what needs to be changed. We're always very mindful of the space and architecture, about the energy and well-being of the venue.
How can one train to the Art of Hosting? How can one master both the hosting posture and the various methodologies?
In fact, we do not train at the Art of Hosting ... we build up skills in the practices and posture of the host. The Art of Hosting is not a simple methodology, it is necessary to participate in a seminar "discovery" of a duration of three days to adopt this posture and know the practices. We usually encourage people to come at least twice before asking the host team to become an apprentice.
After being host several times and recognized as such, you become a Steward, in charge of giving back to the community and fulfilling the fourth pillar I mentioned: the development and upskilling of the community. This step-by-step progress from participant to Stewart in the only structured aspect of the Art of Hosting.
Practice, more than training, is key: an every-day practice because what we say and do during a seminar needs to match our daily behavior. During seminars, participants choose themselves the activities they want to facilitate. It doesn't make much sense to talk about facilitation: you have to make it happen! 'Learning by doing', of course, but most importantly practice, practice, practice!
On one hand, everything is open source; but on the other, there isn't any seal of approval or written certification. That's why it can also be interesting to follow facilitation courses, available in a growing number of organizations. They can be really useful to be a host and master one's posture. For instance, the outstanding Diploma in Collective Intelligence of Cergy University lasts for one year. I can see the trade evolving and improving year after year, as many graduates have already become facilitators. Formapart is, to my knowledge, the oldest organization of its kind and does wonders in posture training, a key aspect of the Art of Hosting.
You've already worked on several workshops with Stormz. Can you think of any way to use it within the Art of Hosting?
I was deeply impressed by what can be done with Stormz, and by how user-friendly the application is. Stormz really debunked the prejudices I had regarding digital solutions in facilitation. I thought you were very good on the technical aspects and loved how it brought life to the gathering of inputs, as well as how you were immediately able to converge towards a shared 'harvest'. One thing is certain: next time I have a project, I'll call you!
That being said, it's important to be mindful of the iPad's influence. If you start directly on a tablet, even within groups of two or three people, this kind of breaks, in my opinion, the energy stemming from the collective gathering process between participants. As we mentioned, it's better to combine a big poster and a few felt pens with a Stormz iPad to allow participants to draw and collect while taking pictures of their notes. Many unconscious feelings and ideas are conveyed through drawings and reading. One example: in a story-telling trio, one person tells a story, a second one asks questions and the third one draws the story being told as he/she sees it. Isn't wonderful for the story-teller to leave with a drawing, rather than mere notes, made by someone else to illustrate his/her own story?
If you feel like discussing this interview, don't hesitate to join our Facebook group! What's your take on the posture of the host? Would you organize an Open Forum as a client? Are there any other topics you'd like us to explore or people you think we should meet? In the meantime, you can also check out the other interviews we conducted:
- "Holacracy focuses on the structure, not the people" - Interview with Jean-Michel Gode
- "Liberating Structures can bring Agile meetings to life" - Interview with Frédéric de Verville
Stormz assists facilitators and clients in organizing huge collaborative sessions in order to foster and develop Collective Intelligence within organizations. You can find out more about our services and test our application freely.