Another opportunity to tighten it up, thanks to Robbie Mac Iver and Houston APLN.
Posts Tagged ‘Facilitation’
I’ve put these together – XP2010 and Better Software – because they occur one after the other. So I may be insane for considering this, but I’m just so psyched that these conferences are embracing my work on Facilitation Patterns and Antipatterns.
Now to work on the second deck of cards for March (SDC2010) – I want to have two variants of the deck ready to go for all three conferences.
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I love talking about this stuff, and David Giard gave me the opportunity at the CodeMash 2010 conference.
http://technologyandfriends.com/archive/2010/02/01/tf0067.aspx
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This one has me psyched – my first time presenting at a European conference, and more validation through interest in my work facilitation patterns and antipatterns.
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I get to facilitate an Open Space in my own home town! Woohoo!
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It was sad for me – I couldn’t do it last year because I was already booked for another Open Space. I’m delighted that they’ve invited me again this year, and that I’m available. This is my people!
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Motto: That’s wrong.
Belief: It’s my responsibility to point out what’s wrong with other people’s ideas. I live in my black hat*.
Behavior: Points out the flaws and faults in everyone else’s approach. Does so without offering any balancing positives or alternatives.
Characteristics: Negative, sometimes superior, destructive, achieving satisfaction by negating others’ ideas.
The Negator sees their lot in life as poking holes in everyone else’s ideas and plans. While this is not, in and of itself, a bad thing, when exercised without the balance of alternatives or one’s own ideas it becomes a negative of its own.
The Negator may seem to be contributory and helpful at times, as their suggestions come across as helping you to see risks and dangers*. However, this behavior pattern, when exercised to the exclusion of balance, can become seen as the person’s identity, rather than one pattern of behavior among many.
* See Edward De Bono’s “Six Thinking Hats”
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Yes, this is just a brag post. 
At 2pm Central time today, I’ll be doing the first full delivery of the Facilitation Patterns & Antipatterns workshop at the Agile2009 conference.
Yes, I’m excited.
I’ve gotten great response from the folks I’ve told about it. Hopefully some of them will turn up.
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Motto: I can’t do it.
Belief: I am not capable of making decisions or taking action on my own.
Behavior: Avoids making decisions or commitment. Frequently solicits others to work together and take on leadership/responsibility.
Characteristics: Fearful, lacking confidence, seeks approval.
Helpless can be very subtle, and sometimes very overt. Helpless frequently says things like “oh, I couldn’t do that” or “I’m not ready for that kind of responsibility”. Helpless tends to avoid making commitments and taking responsibility, and is therefore quite skilled at recruiting others to participate and take on leadership and responsibility.
Helpless is only detrimental to a group in the sense that this individual doesn’t contribute fully nor live up to their potential. Other than that, they may be very positively contributory in discussions and in helping the group move forward.
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Motto: Duck! The sky is falling!
Belief: Everything is an indicator of trouble to come.
Behavior: Points out the negatives and the danger in most things. Frequently tries to prevent action out of fear.
Characteristics: Fearful, negative, reactive, active in pointing out the problems, believable, has conviction, convincing, passionate
You’re in the midst of a conversation in which you have high expectations of reaching a conclusion and moving on to action. Chicken Little says “but doesn’t that mean that someone will lose their job?” or “I’ve tried that before, and it always ends in problems.”
Chicken Little is not a bad person, by any means. Chicken Little just sees everything as a portent of bad things to come.
Just in case you’re not familiar with the tale of Chicken Little, let me refresh your memory:
The basic premise is that a chicken eats lunch one day, and believes the sky is falling down because an acorn falls on her head. She decides to tell the King, and on her journey meets other animals who join her in the quest. In most retellings, the animals all have rhyming names such as Henny Penny, Cocky Lockey and Goosey Loosey. Finally, they come across Foxy Loxy, a fox who offers the chicken and her friends his help.
Depending on the version, the moral changes. In the “happy ending” version, the moral is not to be a “Chicken”, but to have courage. In other versions the moral is usually interpreted to mean “do not believe everything you are told”. In the latter case, it could well be a cautionary political tale: The Chicken jumps to a conclusion and whips the populace into mass hysteria, which the unscrupulous fox uses to manipulate them for his own benefit, sometimes as supper.
The challenge with Chicken Little is that he/she is believable, has great conviction, is convincing, and generally brings passion to their arguments. While you might not agree or believe at the start, through these attributes, Chicken Little will often persuade others to his/her point of view, thereby stalling or derailing the team.
