229 - Mastering Facilitation to Navigate a Fractured World with Jo Nelson

Jo Nelson is one of the founders of ICA Associates Inc. and the International Association of Facilitators, as well as an IAF Hall of Fame inductee. All of which is to say, this episode is special. To speak with a founding mother of the organised practice of facilitation is a rare privilege.

As a result, this episode is one that zooms out a little, so that we might trace the growth of facilitation as a movement. Jo walks us from facilitation’s roots as a modular component of training to its blossoming as a unique and powerful resource for leaders in every corner of the world.

We didn’t just stay in the macro view, though. We had (and enjoyed) plenty of opportunities to talk about some micro learnings and specific takeaways. There’s lots to learn, reflect on, and enjoy in a conversation with Jo — it’s a delight to share it with you. 

Find out about:

• Jo’s view on the evolution of facilitation, having been involved from the earliest days
• Why listening is fundamental to facilitation and how it touches so much more than our work
• How Jo learned to leave her ideas and preferences at the door — and how that improved her facilitation
• What it means to master the art of facilitation
• Why a binary search for ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ is incompatible with facilitation
• Jo’s five Working Assumptions that guide her workshops and approach to facilitation
• Examples and resources from ICA and Jo’s own toolkit

Links:

Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube.

Jo’s website.

ICA Associates website.

More on ORID/ Focused Conversation Method.

Working Assumptions resource.

Connect to Jo:

On LinkedIn.

Support the show:
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👉 What happens when being “professional” gets in the way of being human? My new podcast Unprofessionalism explores the rules we’re taught to follow at work, and what happens when we break them. Listen here: https://unprofessionalism.buzzsprout.com/  👈