Page 3 - The World Cafe

Special Report – Hosting Strategic Conversations 2
the process is underway, there tends to be less hands-on involvement in the process and more a holding of the space in which the process is taking place.
Since hosting, I have learned to be much more trusting of our inherent ability to self-organize and to have the real discussions that are necessary to move our objectives, our organizations, communities and families forward.
With hosting there is also a holistic element. Not only do I host the group I am working with, I also need to be able to host myself. There is a real appeal to hosting for many people because there is a greater sense that they can bring who they really are into the process. Not that this is denied in facilitation processes, but it seems to be more intentionally invited into hosting. More and more, people are drawn to the call to be “real” or be “authentic” – something at Chrysalis we have always believed to be essential as consultants – but is something people are feeling stronger than ever.
Hosting is about having conversations that matter which move people to wise action. These conversations can happen in any organization within any structure. The idea behind conversations is that they are a two-way, or multiple-way, dialog, where people really listen and where results are produced.
As a host, I need to be fully present to be able to really listen to and hear the conversation. I must participate in conversations, speaking to add value when I have a better understanding of what the other person wants to say. It is more about listening than it is about speaking
and when I speak, it is about asking questions. Not only am I listening to the other person, I am listening for what is coming up for me in the conversation and am actively conscious of trying to discern what is their stuff and what is my contribution.
Hosting is about community and the sense that I host in collaboration with others. Not only is there community with the clients I work with, there is a community of practitioners that I collaborate with and who help me host myself and keep myself on my own learning edge – whether that is new learning or a deepening of the work I already do.
In their book, The World Café, Juanita Brown and David Isaacs present the following model for conversations as a core process:
Feedback & Assessment
Reflection & Exploration
Implement
Conversation – Core Process
Collective Insights
Action Planning
Harvesting Discoveries
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