I'm a recovering academic who uses her insights from behavioural economics to develop methods that facilitate collaboration. In my weekly newsletter, I share the summary of my latest interview on the "workshops work" podcast along with an application of facilitation as a life and leadership skill.
New Skills Teach Old Skills || 🎙️ Episode 339 on 1-Page Plans and the Discipline to Stay the Course with David Greer
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Dear Reader, Have you ever learned something completely new, only to realise it was teaching you more about the things you already knew? I signed up for a novel-writing course that hammers one point over and over: show, don’t tell. Don’t say a character is nervous. Let their twitching eye, their shallow breath, their bitten nails speak instead. Trust the reader to make sense of it. What a challenge. My instinct - shaped by academia, running a training business, and wanting to write non-fiction - is to explain. To line things up neatly. But the more I practise, the more I realise: show, don’t tell applies to the trainings I host and the coaching I do more than I ever thought. When I shifted my Unprofessionalism project from non-fiction to fiction, I didn’t expect that learning a new skill would reshape my old ones. Instead of explaining a theory, I now have to create scenes where the theory is lived, trusting that readers will understand by feeling it. It’s the same with facilitation. We call it experiential learning: instead of telling participants a theory and hoping they follow, we create experiences that make them feel what we mean. And in embodiment coaching (something I explored recently with Mark Walsh) it goes one step further: Speaking about a challenge is one thing. Showing how it manifests in our body is another. As a small experiment, we mirrored the body language, walking and facial expression of a peer and then shared back how it felt to be them: I was flabbergasted by what my partner had to share about how she experienced being me and how accurate it was. I would have never been able to communicate those insights about myself through words alone. So instead of asking someone how they feel, we can adopt their embodiment for a while and feel for ourselves! Sometimes the body knows what the mind hasn't yet found words for. And I had to learn how to write fiction to apply the skill back to facilitation and coaching 🤷♀️ And by the way, if you are interested in adding embodiment to your skillbox, you may want to consider Mark's certification course. Since they just started, you can get a discount with this code: CEC25SPECIAL 🎙 Meanwhile, on the podcast…Fuzzy goals, misaligned cultural values, and the allure of shiny object syndrome holds even the best entrepreneurs back. So what’s the secret to success? David Greer’s strategic one-page plans! Coach and facilitator of strategic planning, David coaches high-performing business owners to get unstuck, rekindle the joy of their business, and get crystal-clear on their goals. Backward-engineered from the future, the plans become a comforting quarterly rhythm that keeps business owners fully focused on their dreams. We explore his one-page plans, how to set better goals, and why David’s 16 years of sobriety is his single biggest achievement in life. A daily commitment to show up in presence and honesty, and a beautiful reminder of what’s possible when we stick to the plan! Find out about:
🎧 Click here to listen to the interview📥 Check out my 1-page summary 👀 Watch the unedited interview on Youtube 📌 Find podcast episodes that match your needsDid you know? You can search all episodes by keyword on our Buzzsprout page to find exactly what you need. Click here to find the episodes by keyword. 🔖 Inspiration at Your Fingertips: Get the Podcast Summary eBooksAre you looking for inspiration for your next workshop or guidance on which podcast episode to explore next? Discover the eBooks compiling summaries of all 300 “Workshops Work” podcast episodes—a rich collection of facilitation insights and practical tips. These digital coffee table books are perfect for sparking new ideas or delving deeper into workshop best practices. Click here to get your copies. That’s it from my side! I hope you enjoy the content and find inspiration in the stories and the podcast. I wish you moments where a new skill reshapes how you see the old ones—see you next week! Myriam
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How can we facilitate collaboration?
I'm a recovering academic who uses her insights from behavioural economics to develop methods that facilitate collaboration. In my weekly newsletter, I share the summary of my latest interview on the "workshops work" podcast along with an application of facilitation as a life and leadership skill.
Dear Reader, What if growing smaller actually meant growing stronger? This question came to mind when my newsletter provider announced a significant fee increase (based on the number of subscribers). I've been obsessed with numbers believing that more is merrier and more followers or subscribers means more reach. But just because we are sending a message doesn't mean someone receives it. I've learned from years of facilitation that just because we're sending a message doesn't mean someone...
Dear Reader, Do you have a sense of community in your work? Working solo can feel isolating, which is why many freelancers seek out peer groups. But even in a team, it’s easy to feel lonely. Most conversations are about the what: what needs doing, by when, by who. Important, yes, but not very connecting. Today, in an All Hands meeting with my associates, all freelancers, I was reminded what community feels like. And it wasn’t because of icebreakers or formal bonding. It came from what we...
Dear Reader, Nothing tests a fresh insight faster than walking through your own front door.... I literally just stepped through the door, coming back from a week-long retreat with Mr Embodiment, Mark Walsh (you might remember him from podcast 282). As I was writing, it struck me: I was doing the exact opposite of what I’d taken away from the retreat, and what I was about to write about 🤯 Instead of arriving properly - making tea, changing into comfortable clothes, maybe just breathing for a...