Category Archives: Uncategorized

My Working Assumptions as a Facilitator

Posted on February 5, 2026 by jofacilitator

I have recently read reflections by several facilitators on group norms, facilitator neutrality, and “facilitation as manipulation”. I think that this is an important topic, especially in these times. Thirty-two years ago a group of people (I was a part … Continue reading →

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Facilitating Your Family 2: Another story about facilitating one’s family

Posted on January 16, 2026 by jofacilitator

In 1992, Wayne and I and our 2 sons were living in a small apartment belonging to the organization we worked for, after having lived in many places around the world in our married life. We had already decided to … Continue reading →

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Facilitating Your Family

Posted on January 12, 2026 by jofacilitator

A couple of colleagues mentioned in social media posts before the holidays that it is very challenging to facilitate family members – that chaos can erupt very quickly.  I was reminded of a story of facilitating my family years ago.  … Continue reading →

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The Power of Metaphor to Shift Images: Story, Song, Symbol

Posted on December 3, 2025 by jofacilitator

(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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Reflecting on the Past Created an Aha! that Changed the Future

Posted on November 21, 2025 by jofacilitator

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 →

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Healing Wounds by Sharing the Journey

Posted on November 13, 2025 by jofacilitator

(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 →

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Addressing a Culture of Conflict within an Organization

Posted on November 6, 2025 by jofacilitator

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 →

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“No Time for Planning a Meeting”

Posted on October 23, 2025 by jofacilitator

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 →

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History of Developing the ToP Action Planning Process for Strategic Planning

Posted on October 7, 2025 by jofacilitator

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 →

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