I'm looking forward to running my Facilitation for Suprise workshop next month. Those who've commited so far sound very enthusiastic which is great, and there are still places left.

I'm recognising my increasingly familiar pattern in preparing for these sorts of events. I don't formulate a detailed plan, but I find my mind wanders to the subject at various times of the day, and I rehearse a variety of fantasies about what will happen. These vary from the disastrous (people hate it and hate me) to the pleasant and satisfying. In some ways, it might be better not to think about it at all: my intention is to respond in the moment to whoever is there and whatever they bring and want on the day. What seems to work, though, is to do this type of daydreaming, imagine various possibilities, and then let go of them. I'll probably blog some of my thinking here as the day approaches.

My intention is talk about facilitation as a spontaneous process which is not about techniques or formulae, but which is optimistic in its expectations of how people can collaborate together to create what they want. I'll be drawing on some improv exercises to illustrate this potential, as well as talking about approaches like World Cafe and Open Space.

I'm also rereading The Power of Now, which I really enjoy as a prompt to enjoy the present moment. As someone (probably many people) said, the best way to prepare for the future is to be really good at showing up in the present. I believe this kind of showing up is a vital, but often overlooked, element in succesful meetings and encounters. It's more valuable and inspring than many of the more complicated "tools" put forward for making stuff happen.