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.
On purpose, not by default || 🎙️ Episode 327 on Building Facilitation from the Inside Out with Matt Homann
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Dear Reader, Last week, I spontaneously moved in with my partner. This might sound normal, especially since we just got engaged. But for a long time, I believed that the best relationships lived in two separate homes. That the magic was in choosing time together, not defaulting into it. And I still think that matters. The choosing does. What I’d forgotten is that cohabiting doesn’t mean letting go of choice. It just means you have to design for it. Not once, but continuously. You don’t just move in and tick the box. You keep moving toward each other, with intention. When we stop choosing, we start assuming: Assuming we’re on the same page because we sleep in the same bed. Assuming our team is aligned because we're in the same Zoom. Assuming someone’s fine because they haven’t said otherwise. It hit me when I read in Beau Lotto's book Deviate: Assumptions are the obstacles to seeing differently. When we change our assumptions, we change our perceptions. We all hold assumptions about how we do things. Moving in together is supposed to look a certain way and mean a certain thing. The same applies to leading a team. Facilitating a session. Showing up at work. Being professional. These defaults make us lazy by default because they limit our perceptions as we stop seeing other possibilities. When there’s no script — as is often the case in queer relationships — we have to stay in dialogue. Keep designing. Keep asking: What works for us now? What needs adjusting? It’s messier, yes. But it’s also more alive. More honest. So no, we didn’t plan it. But we’re learning how to live it — on purpose. 🎙 Meanwhile, on the podcast…Stale, stuffy boardrooms, awkwardly arranged furniture, and scratchy marker-pens that have nearly run dry. A facilitator’s lament – and perhaps, our worst enemy. Tired of the constant shapeshifting to squeeze into spaces that were never meant for facilitation, Matt Homann moved into the business of hosting people – in his own space. He built Filament, a facilitation space with a codified approach at its core, to help people to meet, think and learn better, freeing creativity from logistical limitations, and making sure a terrible workshop never has to happen again. We talk about how space liberates us, the structures that spark the best conversations, and why simplicity always wins over complexity. Join us! 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 the courage to notice your assumptions — and the freedom to design your own way forward. I’ll 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.
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Dear Reader, The sound of silence is filled with the whispers between our ears. The silence after sharing our strong opinion or a simple story that felt meaningful to us. The silence after asking a question. The silence before a breakthrough. The silence before we speak our truth. The silence before a laugh (the second of uncertainty whether we were funny or just weird). Sometimes, the silence can become so loud that it's difficult to ignore. The silence when we expected a reaction. And often...