- Connection before Content
People are more willing to share their knowledge and expose their
thinking when they have built a trust relationship with others. If a group is going to concentrate on a difficult issue, they first need to learn who others are, the skills they bring, the experience they represent, and the values they hold.
So we start meetings with “small talk,” that is, getting to know more about one another, not just the
weather, but what is important in their work right now, or what they have done recently that they are most proud of. “Small talk” is not really small at all, it is how we acknowledge the value of our relationship to the other. When a group has come together many times, the period of connecting can be brief, but not neglected altogether.
- Circles Connect (applicable when the virus is over and we are again able to meet in person)
Circles represent unity. They help individuals in the group view themselves as part of the whole. For example, the United Nations meeting hall is designed in concentric circles to provide a visual representation of what the UN stands for – unity among nations. A circle represents equality - there is no “head of the table.” The circle shows that all voices are equally valued. A circle is also a clear indication to those in the room that they will be expected to actively participate.
It is a useful symbolism to begin and end a meeting with chairs in a circle. It can be a big circle of up to 35, or many small circles of 5. Ideally it is a circle of just chairs, without a table. Participants have a profoundly different experience when they converse in a group without a table. Tables put us across from each other in a position reminiscent of negotiation. Conveners and even some participants will feel a bit awkward for the first few minutes without a table, but that feeling goes away quickly as people get connected. Circles also allow everyone to see everyone else’s eyes. It is difficult to have a conversation with someone whose eyes you cannot see.
When a group is too large to have everyone in one circle, I often make concentric circles and have even made a circle three and four layers deep. Although concentric circles limit seeing those sitting directly behind, they still have symbolic value and provide the best compromise between having too large a circle where it is difficult to hear others.
In many meetings a U shape is set up to enable seeing a screen placed at the opening of the U. But a large U has a very different feel, because the focus is on the screen rather than on each other. And of course a U is open, which loses the sense of boundary that a circle provides. The straight sides of a U make it difficult to see those that are on the same side. Even if there is to be a PowerPoint presentation at some point in a meeting, it is better to start with a circle and then open it to a U during the time the group is viewing the slides.
- Knowledge is Both Created and Shared in Conversation
Knowledge is created when diverse perspectives are brought together in conversation - when people are able to build on each other’s ideas. Dividing members into small mixed groups that are made up of multiple levels, different disciplines, or mixing customers with employees, legitimizes having different views and makes possible giving voice to a diversity of views.
Learning from others is also best done in conversation. If you need help from others about a problem you are facing, you get the best help if you pick up the phone so you can explain your situation and they can respond, not in generalities, but to your specific situation. You might start with an email, but if it is a difficult situation, it probably needs to move to a phone or Zoom call.
Conversation is not so necessary if the knowledge you are seeking is about a technical problem, for example, “What software do your use for tracking donors?” But if it is a more complex issue you need to be able to ask questions of the other and to share your context.
- Asking Opens the Door to Knowledge
Whether it is through an email or in person, asking is a little risky; we are often fearful that others will think we are less competent or will be offended. That is the reason for “connection before content” – so that others build enough trust know how we will react and to use and our competence.
Asking also means when someone says something we don’t agree with, rather than explain why they’re wrong, we ask what their reasoning is. We seek to understand their thinking. Stephen Covey famously said, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
When we are offering our knowledge to others, we first ask about their context, so we can provide answers that are specific to their situation, not generalized information. And the person seeking answers might explain, “In your situation you have five doctors and it’s an urban area, but I’m work with only two doctors and most of the patients live miles away. So how could I could apply your process in my context?”
- Small Groups as the Unit of Learning
Small groups produce the richest and most in-depth thinking – they are the unit of learning in organizations. When I say small group, I mean a group of four to seven people. The group needs to be large enough to contain diverse views, yet small enough for members to engage each other. Engaging each other implies that members have time to fully state their ideas and the reasoning behind them. And then time enough for others to ask questions that will gain them a deeper understanding of what has been said.
If a group exceeds seven, it tends to no longer be in conversation; rather the exchange becomes more like turn taking, with each member declaring his or her own perspective to the others.
Moreover in groups with more than seven, members become concerned about “air time,” that is, thinking they should not talk too long or too often in order to give everyone a chance to offer their views. Although concern about air time is well meant, it prevents members from engaging each other. For example, what too often happens in a larger group, is that when a member hears something he or she disagrees with, rather than inquiring into the other’s reason or asking how the other came to that idea, the member simply offers his or her own contradicting view. That response tends to polarize positions rather than moving the group toward the integration of ideas.
- Learn in Small Groups – Integrate Knowledge in Large Groups
After small groups have been in conversation their ideas are brought together in a large group setting to integrate their insights into the thinking of the whole. There are lots of ways to do this:
- Write in a shared Google Doc
- Popcorn (request that anyone that has an idea to speak)
- Report outs (my least favorite)
- 1-2-4-all, a Liberating Structures process
- Go arounds (asking every member to speak in turn)
In a lengthy meeting, small and large group discussions regularly alternate.
- We Learn When We Talk
This is an interesting phenomena. We usually think of learning as a listening activity. But two researchers at the University of Minnesota have done research that shows that we organize information differently when we talk, than when those ideas are just swimming around in our heads. And by mentally organizing the information in preparation for speaking, we create greater understanding for ourselves. It’s the old adage about teaching a subject if you want to really understand it. I do a lot of interviewing in my consulting practice and consistently, at the end of an interview, the interviewee remarks that the interview was helpful to clarify some of the issues they had been thinking about.
This principle is also central to transferring knowledge. Listening to an expert provides us new ideas; but as long as those ideas are just in our heads, they are neither fully formed nor implementable. It is only when the listener puts an idea together in a way that allows them to explain that idea to others, that the idea takes shape. Keep group small enough so that everyone has an opportunity to put their thinking into words.
- Learning From Experience Requires Deliberate Reflection
Reflection is an invitation to think deeply about our actions so that we are able to act with more insight and effectiveness in the future. Reflection is useful at 4 levels: 1) Individuals: evaluating or processing one’s experiences in the interest of self-development. 2) A team or community: reflecting together to improve the work of the team and improve the way team members work together. 3) An organization: reflecting to consider the organization’s strategy and it’s culture, and 4) intra-organizational: focusing on enhancing the organization’s relationship with partners and clients and with equally with the community in which it is located and natural environment.
Characteristically, reflecting is more effective if it is done with others.
- Different Types of Knowledge Needs to Be Shared in Different Ways
Explicit knowledge is “know what,” the facts and algorithms that can be written down so others can both understand and make use of the knowledge. Examples are SOPs, job aids, and well-documented process steps.
Implicit knowledge is ‘know how” that is, knowledge gained through experience, e.g. the rules of thumb a person uses in designing a meeting or insights about how to approach a difficult client. Implicit knowledge is most effectively shared through conversation. We tend to call on our implicit knowledge when we are faced with a problem or when asked a question by another.
Tacit knowledge is deep knowledge, what a person knows, but often cannot articulate; it is what is often referred to as judgment. Tacit knowledge can only be learned through observation of a master or being coached by a master. Examples of tacit knowledge are, what makes one speaker more engaging than another, how a conductor acts to get the best from an orchestra, what a skilled facilitator does to help a group reach agreement, or how an experienced physician makes a diagnosis. Perhaps as much as 90% of the critical knowledge in an organization is either implicit or tacit.
- Knowledge Sharing is Sustained by Reciprocity
The basic idea of community is reciprocity. That is, if I help others, then when I need help, they will help me. It is of course not a one to one reciprocity, but a generalized reciprocity – meaning that I may not receive help from the specific person I helped, but I will from someone in the community.
Receiving help from others also requires expressing appreciation for their help; and with more than a simple “thanks” in an email. Real appreciation includes acknowledgement of the helper’s extra effort, their kindness, and even how what they offered was of use to us. The three actions of knowledge sharing are Share, Ask and Appreciate.
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