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Kathy McGrane on Reflecting on the Past Created… Lawrence Philbrook on Healing Wounds by Sharing the… jofacilitator on Debriefing a Traumatic Ev… Kathy McGrane on Debriefing a Traumatic Ev… Kathy McGrane on Addressing Distrust in a Publi…
Author Archives: jofacilitator
About jofacilitator
On Sept 1, 2020, I celebrated 50 years of work with the Institute of Cultural Affairs, facilitating meetings, groups, communities, and organizations, making it possible for ordinary people to have a voice in decisions that affect their lives. I retired on December 31, 2021, but still volunteer with the organization.The Power of Metaphor to Shift Images: Story, Song, Symbol
(Image of the Iron Man statue in the 5th City community in Chicago) I was reminded of the event below when teaching the course The Power of Image Change. In the course, we talk about how underlying images of self … Continue reading →
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Tagged metaphors, Power of Image Change, story song symbol, underlying image
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Reflecting on the Past Created an Aha! that Changed the Future
Our underlying images of ourself and the world have a profound effect on our mental health and our behaviour. Messages that come to us in all kinds of ways can change those images. When those images change, our behaviour changes. … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, ToP Tools, Uncategorized
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Tagged image, image change, ToP methods
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Healing Wounds by Sharing the Journey
(Photo is not of this story, but it is a creative Journey Wall.) Around 30 years ago, two community service organizations were serving a similar niche in an overlapping geographical area. One of these organizations was very large, with a … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, ToP Tools, Uncategorized
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Tagged facilitation, healing resentment, journey wall, participation, ToP methods
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Addressing a Culture of Conflict within an Organization
This post was originally posted as “Organizational Transformation through Facilitation” in June, 2015. I think it may be informative in 2025, so I am reposting it. Once I had a client whose understanding of their mandate and mission was to … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, Uncategorized
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Tagged business, facilitation, ToP methods
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One Story of Integrity as a Facilitator
The memory of this story was catalyzed by a LinkedIn Post by a colleague who talked about her experience of the power of personal integrity as a facilitator in choosing work. Many years ago, after a successful facilitation with a … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories
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Tagged facilitation, integrity, leadership, management, ToP methods, values
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“No Time for Planning a Meeting”
I have heard this more and more often. Huge demands for productivity in meetings, but less and less time allotted to them. Here is a story of a team’s discovery about the impact of taking time to prepare a meeting. … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, Uncategorized
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Tagged business, facilitation, management, meeting preparation, participation
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Addressing Distrust in a Public Consultation with a Focused Conversation
A school district needed to address the fact that some schools were very old and needed very expensive renovation, and that there were new neighbourhoods in the city that needed new schools. The budget was limited and not everything could … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, Useful Conversations
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Tagged distrust, facilitation, group facilitation, participation, public consultation, ToP methods
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History of Developing the ToP Action Planning Process for Strategic Planning
In 1988, non-profit organizations were required to have a strategic plan in order to get their funding from the province for the next year. Wayne and I facilitated ToP strategic planning for each of 12 regional non-profit organizations that were … Continue reading →
Posted in Facilitation Stories, Uncategorized
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Tagged action planning, business, facilitation, leadership, management, strategic planning, strategy, ToP methods
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Listening to Polarized Viewpoints and Creating Consensus
Currently we are more and more aware of social issues facing our society – such as addictions as in alcohol, gambling, and illegal drug use; as well as unemployment and job loss, housing, etc. Many social issues trigger emotional responses … Continue reading →
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Tagged consensus, facilitation, leadership, management, polarization
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Another Story about the Organization Journey Map
Another Story of the Use of the Organizational Journey Map: (see the original post for the map) The chief of a police force in a small city was eager to get participation of all officers in decision-making. He had scheduled … Continue reading →
Jofacilitator 