Stories move in circles

Image Credit: Luminita Lupu

"Stories move in circles. They don't go in straight lines.

So it helps if you listen in circles.

There are stories inside stories and stories between stories,

And finding your way through them is as easy and as hard as finding your way home.

And part of the finding is getting lost.

And when you're lost, you start to look around and listen."

-A Traveling Jewish Theater

The Art of Hosting: Framing Open Questions

As we at Minnesota Rising have embarked upon planning a tour of cascading conversations to be kicked off at our upcoming 2011 Un/Conference: "Building A Network For What's Next," a number of us are in design mode to illuminate just what exactly we are seeking to learn from our statewide convening of conversations. Another tool I garnered at the recent "Art of Hosting Yourself" training includes some guidelines for asking open questions by Caryl Hurtig Casbon. Even as these become useful to the work we're engaging in, hopefully they can be of assistance to y'all in your personal and professional interactions. As the quote from Rilke below urges, living the questions may allow us to live into the answers.

Framing Open Questions
By Caryl Hurtig Casbon

Some guidelines for asking open questions include the following:

1. The best single mark of an honest, open question is that the questioner could not possibly anticipate the answer to it.

2. Ask questions aimed at helping the focus person rather than at satisfying your curiosity.

3. Ask questions that are brief and to the point rather than larding them with background considerations and rationale—which make the question into a speech.

4. Ask questions that go to the person as well as the problem—for example, questions about feelings as well as about facts.

5. Trust your intuition in asking questions, even if your instinct seems off the wall.

6. Consider holding a question rather than asking it immediately, particularly if you're not sure it's a good question. If it keeps coming back to you, ask it later.

7. Allow questions to "bubble up" or emerge, rather than force them.

8. Watch the pacing of your questions. Questions coming too fast can feel aggressive.

9. Avoid any storytelling, or behaviors that call attention to yourself.

10. The best questions are simple questions.

11. Avoid questions with right/wrong answers.

12. Sometimes questions that invite images or metaphors can open things up in ways that more direct questions don't.

13. As you listen deeply to what is being said try to allow questions to come from your heart, rather than your head.

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart . . . Try to love the questions themselves . . . Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will find them gradually, without noticing it, and live along some distant day into the answer."
-Rainer Maria Rilke

Recruiting Racial Justice Facilitators: YWCA of Minneapolis

Good conversations and questions - the ones that stir your soul or conscience and move you to immediate action or perhaps that stay with you for weeks, months, and years on end - can be hard to come by. To give myself a better shot at coming across them, I try to engage in as many opportunities that appear they would provoke them as possible. That's why I've served as a Racial Justice Facilitator for the YWCA of Minneapolis "It's Time To Talk: Forums on Race" in years past. Considering the opportunity to dig deep, stretch yourself, and talk about the stuff that matters? See more below about how you can not only participate in these discussions, but help to bring them about!

	August 2011 It’s Time to Talk: October 18, 2011 Facilitators Needed! Circle facilitation is a great skill to have for any type of conversation, especially around difficult topics like race and racism. We are recruiting returning and new facilitators for ITT 2011. You or someone you know can become a trained circle facilitator. Take the first step by completing a volunteer form. If you are a returning facilitator, please sign up for ITT 2011 and the two-hour skills training session.

Touchstones for trust and renewal

I was thankful to participate in an "Art of Hosting Yourself" workshop a few weeks ago at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It was a sunshiny summer day and with the lush foliage surrounding and deep inner reflection taking place indoors, things were in full bloom! I wanted to pass along one of the resources our facilitators, both of whom are admirers of Parker Palmer, shared with us that day.

In circle, hosted by our skilled facilitators, we worked to create a physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual space that encouraged meaningful personal renewal. Based on Parker Palmer's and the Center for Courage and Renewal's work, they used the Touchstones for Trust & Renewal to help set the tone for our day together.

• Come to the work with 100% of ourselves
• Presume welcome and extend welcome
• Believe that it's possible to emerge refreshed, surprised and less burdened than when we came
• There is always invitation, never invasion; always opportunity, never demand
• No fixing or advising
• Openness to learn from each other
• When the going gets rough, turn to wonder
• Speak for yourself
• Listen to the silence
• Observe confidentiality

Do you use these touchstones or similar methodologies for hosting events, gatherings, or conversations? What are some of the techniques or practices you view as most valuable?

Accepting Applications: Common Grounds 2011-2012 Client

As summer begins to wind down, it's time to start thinking about going back to school and getting back to work. In that vein, Common Grounds, comprised of some thirty graduate students from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and Law School, is seeking out its 2011-2012 client. Could it be your organization? To throw your name in the ring to be the beneficiary of thirty thoughtful minds seeking to support your work, sharpen your pencils and get ready to fill the Request for Proposal below!

Common Grounds 2011-2012 Client Request for Proposal

DEADLINE: September 1, 2011

SEND TO: info@CommonGroundsMN.org

The Common Grounds Steering Committee requests proposals for a consulting project for the 2011-2012 academic school year. This year, we are opening up projects for semester or year long timelines in order to better fit client and student needs.

Guided by the principle that complex problems require collaboration across disciplines, Common Grounds brings together approximately thirty students from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, and Law School. Common Grounds engages community issues from an interdisciplinary approach by providing professional research and consultation to businesses and organizations. In addition, Common Grounds provide students with a forum to develop collaborative ideas and to promote integrative leadership.

Members of Common Grounds will work together in groups to research the project over a two-month period. We will ask you to direct us to materials you think we should investigate and take our own initiative to find resources to provide the best research product.

We ask that any participant is able to attend a meeting of our whole group on a Monday morning in early October during which you can present the project and outline several areas of research for our members to pursue. We also would like to schedule a midpoint and final presentation of deliverables where appropriate.

We are happy to answer questions about past projects and our method of working, and find that gaining the basic information this form provides is a great starting place. We would also ask to have at least one meeting with your organization prior to selection so we can shape the project together and set expectations. Common Grounds does not charge for these services, but may ask your organization to contribute something of value for our members, for example a meal for a meeting.

COMMON GROUNDS STEERING COMMITTEE:

Amelia Brunelle (Chair), Astrid Brouillard, Jay Creagh, Leah Lundquist, Chris Schmitter http://commongroundsmn.org/

If you have any questions, please contact us at: info@CommonGroundsMN.org