KM Australia Knowledge Cafe Workshop July 2011

1. The kind of conversation I’m interested in is one in which you start with a willingness to emerge a slightly different person. Theodore Zeldin Conversation Theodore is an Oxford Historian

2. The birth of the The birth of the Gurteen Knowledge Cafe Gurteen Knowledge Cafe London, September 2002

3. Global Knowledge Cafés Global Knowledge Cafés • Have run them all over the world • In many different cultures • Some interesting cultural issues • Format always works • People love to talk

4. Speed networking Speed networking

5. Gurteen Knowledge Café Workshop Gurteen Knowledge Café Workshop

6. Agenda Agenda • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 09:30 – 09:45 Introduction (15 mins) 09:45 – 10:10 Business is a Conversation (25 mins) 10:10 – 10:30 Knowledge Café Process (20 mins) 10:30 – 10:45 Conversation + Q&A (15 mins) 10:45 – 11:00 Coffee (15 ins) 11:00 – 12:30 Knowledge Cafe (90 mins) 12:30 – 13:30Lunch (60 mins) 13:30 – 13:45 Selling to Senior Management (15mins) 13:45 – 14:00 Recording Outcomes (15 mins) 14:00 – 14:45 Types of Café & Applications (45 mins) 14:45 – 15:00 Coffee (15 mins) 15:00 – 15:15 Tips and Techniques (15 mins) 15:15 – 15:30 Cultural Considerations (15 mins) 15:30 – 15:45 Informal Conversation (15 mins) 15:45 – 16:30 Action Circle (45 mins)

7. Photographs Photographs

8. Our job is to have interesting Our job is to have interesting conversations conversations

9. Business is a conversation Business is a conversation Business is a conversation because the defining work of business is conversation - literally. And 'knowledge workers' are simply those people whose job consists of having interesting conversations. David Weinberger The Cluetrain Manifesto

10. Conversation is a meeting of minds Conversation is a meeting of minds Conversation is a meeting of minds with different memories and habits. When minds meet, they don't just exchange facts: they transform them, reshape them, draw different implications from them, engage in new trains of thought. Conversation doesn't just reshuffle the cards: it creates new cards. Theodore Zeldin Conversation

11. KM is about understanding KM is about understanding For all our knowledge, we have no idea what we're talking about. We don't understand what's going on in our business, our market, and our world. KM shouldn’t be about helping us to know more. It should be about helping us to understand. So, how do we understand things? It's through stories that we understand how the world works. David Weinberger, The Cluetrain Manifesto

12. Dialogue Dialogue The kind of conversation I’m interested in is one in which you start with a willingness to emerge a slightly different person. Theodore Zeldin Conversation

13. Principles of Dialogue Principles of Dialogue • Suspend assumptions, do not judge • Observe & listen to one another • Welcome differences & explore them • Allow taboo subjects to be raised safely • Listen to your inner voice • Slow the discussion Dialogue is based on the work of the physicist David Bohm • Search for the underlying meaning

14. Conversation is our most effective KM tool Conversation is our most effective KM tool Our most effective KM tool is conversation. The words we choose, the questions we ask, and the metaphors we use to explain ourselves, are what determine our success in creating new knowledge as well as sharing that knowledge with each other. Nancy Dixon Common Knowledge

15. Conversation is a learning technology Conversation is a learning technology Conversation is the most powerful learning technology ever invented. Conversations carry news, create meaning, foster cooperation, and spark innovation. Encouraging open, honest conversation through work space design, setting ground rules for conversing productively, and baking conversation into the corporate culture spread intellectual capital, improve cooperation, and strengthen personal relationships. Jay Cross, Informal Learning

16. Summary Summary • Business is a conversation • Conversation is creative • Understanding is more important than knowing more • Dialogue is the key to quality conversations • Conversation is a powerful learning tool

17. Conversation and Q&A Conversation and Q&A

18. Gurteen Knowledge Café Process Gurteen Knowledge Café Process

19. What is a Gurteen Knowledge Café? What is a Gurteen Knowledge Café? • A Gurteen Knowledge Café brings a group of people together to have an open, creative conversation on a topic of mutual interest. • To surface their collective knowledge, to share ideas and to gain a deeper understanding of the issues involved. • Leading to action in the form of better decision making & innovation & thus tangible outcomes.

20. What resources are needed? What resources are needed? • Not a lot! • A group of 20 – 30 people • A speaker and a facilitator • A room or other venue • Tables & chairs to seat 4 or 5 people per table

21. What do you need in the room? What do you need in the room? • Unthreatening and hospitable environment • Good ambience, small cosy, good acoustics • Small round tables and 4 – 5 chairs • Optional: paper table cloths, felt tip pens, toys • NO flip charts • Refreshments

22. What’s the process? What’s the process? • Speaker makes a short presentation 5 – 10 mins • Poses a trigger question • Small group conversations at tables • Three rounds 10 – 15 mins • Whole group conversation in a circle 15 mins • Share actionable insights 15 mins • Two hours in total

23. What subjects are covered? What subjects are covered? • Any subject can be addressed • Explore questions that matter to the participants • Explore only one theme & question

24. What’s the role of the facilitator? What’s the role of the facilitator? • Need not be a specialist • Should not take a lead in the discussions • Wander around and listen into the groups • Resolve any issues

25. What’s the role of the participants? What’s the role of the participants? • To be prepared to emerge a slightly different person • To listen more than speak • To welcome differences • To withhold judgment • To avoid position taking

26. How do things work in small groups? How do things work in small groups? • No leader or chairperson • No reporting back • Everyone is equal • No group note taker • Can make own notes

27. How does the large group sit? How does the large group sit? • In a circle • Takes 2 minutes to move chairs • Facilitator & speaker sit in circle • Everyone can see & hear each other & are equal

28. How does the circle work? How does the circle work? • Group talks, minimal intervention from facilitator • No reporting back • Facilitator may need to encourage participation • Facilitator gently ensures that no one person or group dominates the discussion • Connects diverse perspectives

29. Sharing actionable insights Sharing actionable insights • Facilitator goes around the circle • Each person in turn shares something • A thought, an idea, an insight, something learnt • Preferably an action • OK to pass

30. What are the outcomes? What are the outcomes? • Outcomes are what you take away in your head • Deeper understanding of the issues discussed • Deeper insight into other people’s perspectives • Better appreciation of your own point of view • Position to make more informed decisions • Improved relationships

31. Café Principles Café Principles • Relaxed, non-threatening, open conversation • Close to a pub conversation as possible • No manipulation of people; no hidden agendas • Everyone equal; no table leaders; no reporting back • No one forced to do anything – OK to just listen • Trust people to talk about what is important to them • OK to go off-topic • No summarization or attempt to reach consensus • No capture of outcomes; no flip charts in the room

32. The Café is NOT about The Café is NOT about • Making decisions • Gaining consensus • Capturing stuff • Making plans • Manipulating people in some way

33. Café Magic Café Magic • No explicit or hidden agendas • No command and control • No desired outcomes • No push for consensus • OK to go off topic • Freedom to speak your mind

34. Questions and Discussion Questions and Discussion

35. Lets run a Knowledge Cafe Lets run a Knowledge Cafe

36. Café Conversation Café Conversation What is the role of conversation and how do we encourage more conversation in our organizations?

37. Lunch Lunch

38. Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken

39. More on the Café More on the Café • Selling to Senior Management • Recording Outcomes • Forms of Café • Café Applications • Tips & Techniques • Cultural Considerations

40. Two common questions Two common questions • How do I get my manager to permit me to run a Knowledge Cafe? • How do I capture the outcomes?

41. Selling to your manager Selling to your manager • Start with the purpose not the Café • Focus on an important issue • Adapt the Café to help address an issue • Don’t assume no buy-in if not a hard outcome • Find reason to run a Café for the managers!

42. Recording outcomes Recording outcomes • Café is about the transfer of tacit knowledge • Not about making tacit knowledge explicit • Recording can kill the conversation • Avoid disrupting the conversation • No leader to record group notes • Personal notes OK

43. Reasons for Recording outcomes Reasons for Recording outcomes • That’s what we always do • We need a record • To share with others not here • Justify to boss • For a good “business purpose” • If nothing will be done with the notes then don’t do it!

44. Ideas for recording outcomes Ideas for recording outcomes • External person takes notes on laptop • Capture 1 item from each person & collate • Encourage people to blog the session • Audio capture and transcription • Visual capture

45. We have a deeply held belief that the way to make a difference in the world is to define problems and needs and then recommend actions to solve those needs. We are all problem solvers, action oriented and results minded. It is illegal in this culture to leave a meeting without a to-do list. We want measurable outcomes and we want them now. What is hard to grasp is that it is this very mindset which prevents anything fundamental from changing. We cannot problem solve our way into fundamental change, or transformation. This is not an argument against problem solving; it is an intention to shift the context and language within which problem solving takes place. Authentic transformation is about a shift in context and a shift in language and conversation. It is about changing our idea of what constitutes action. Peter Block

46. Café Applications Café Applications

47. Forms of Café Forms of Café • Traditional Knowledge Café • World Café • Gurteen Knowledge Café • Gurteen Action Café • Other conversational tools

48. World Café World Café The World Café is a methodology for hosting conversations about questions that matter. These conversations link and build on each other as people move between groups, cross-pollinate ideas, and discover new insights into the questions or issues that are most important in their life, work, or community.

49. How is the Gurteen Knowledge Cafe How is the Gurteen Knowledge Cafe different from the World Cafe? different from the World Cafe? • World Café 1995; Knowledge Café 2002 • More business oriented • Usually shorter • For smaller numbers of people • No table leaders • No reporting back • No capture • Less preparation required • Paper & pens on tables optional • Possibly less controlling

50. Conversational tools Conversational tools • Knowledge Cafes • Knowledge Jams • Peer Assists, After Action Reviews, Retrospects • (Learn before, learn during, learn after) • Anecdote Circles • Ritual Dissent • Reverse Brainstorm • Open Space Technology • Unconference, unworkshop and Barcamps • Conversation Dinners and Walks