Learning Conversations

#handy2012

Thanks to my friends at Get Abstract, I got an invitation to attend yesterday's Conversation with Charles Handy conference.

This was my first experience of Charles Handy, although I'd been aware of his reputation as a "management guru" for a while. I do tend to be a bit wary of anyone known as a guru, but in this case I was very pleasantly surprised.

The first surprise was that 'conversation' really did mean conversation. I've been rattling on for a long time about events that are no more than presentations being a massive waste of time and money. Learning or behaviour change is far more likely to happen when people participate and engage. Conversations rather than presentations should be the order of the day.

And that's exactly what happened. In each of the four sessions, Charles spoke for a short time, giving some key points, and telling stories. Then he set us a question to consider on our tables. After a while, he opened up the conversation by inviting people to join him on the stage. There was always an empty, third chair on the stage, this allowing a new person to pick up the conversation.

It was a little like the fishbowl method I've previously discussed, but on a smaller scale.

And it felt really effective. As the day went on (and I missed the afternoon so I'm extrapolating a little here), people became more confident and prepared to contribute. By sharing their experiences, it gave the discussion a context, and a dose of reality.

I'll pick up the content of the two sessions I attended in a couple of follow-up posts on 'The future of capitalism' and 'The changing workplace and workforce'.