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Meet smarter, not harder!
Cooking up a storm
Wednesday, 02 March 2011
Last year I spent several hours watching Master Chef, Jamie Oliver and the like. Then it struck me that running a meeting or a workshop is a lot like cooking.
So, why is running a workshop like baking a cake?
Well, many folk only see facilitation as a set of tips, tricks, tools and techniques. This is like saying that cooking is only about nutrition, recipes or “five new things you can do with eggs”. If you only follow recipes, you are limited in what you can do. And of course, there is a lot more to cooking than that.
To make a cake – we decide what kind of cake, we get all the ingredients, add them together in the right sequence, processing as we go. The finished product looks nothing like the ingredients did. Even in the mixing bowl they don’t look like they did to begin with and they certainly don’t look like the finished product.
You can see the metaphor I’m creating here. From deciding the topic ➠ brain-storming information ➠ organising that information ➠ shaping up the product ➠ getting the final result.
If we think of producing a multi-course meal – then we can potentially have the same thing several times in a row. Additionally, there is a ‘proper’ flow to these things with dessert following the main course and so on.
Finally, and at the risk of extending the metaphor too far, we also need to care for the kitchen, our working space and our tools. (Hot tip: always sharpen the knife – it’s much safer and saves time in the long run…)
In short, it’s what you help make happen for the group and within yourself. It’s not just the content that changes. People can get changed too! You take the group on a journey: from now/here & I/me through the unknown to then/there & we/us.
So,
Go well!
