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.
Taking our own medicine | 🎙️ Episode 323 about The Art of Curation in an Age of Overload
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Dear Reader, The shoemaker’s children go barefoot, the saying goes. And when I think of myself, I realise how often I forget all the coaching and facilitation skills the moment I take off my facilitator hat. I forget to ask questions. I stop listening to understand. Instead, I assume — and even interrupt. Oops. While this can hurt our relationships with others, they’re often rather forgiving. But what about the self-harm — the kind that happens when we talk to ourselves and call it “constructive feedback” after we’ve delivered work? We judge. We assume. We evaluate. And we forget the very models we offer others. Like the good-old SBI model. It was actually a coaching client who reminded me of the simple trick of applying the SBI (Situation Behaviour Impact) model to herself. When she gets caught in a loop of critical self-talk, she pauses, checks the facts, and asks what behaviour she’s actually responding to. Is it something objectively observable — or just a judgement? I spoke too much! What did I say that was unnecessary? Whom did I exclude? What exactly did I observe that affirms this judgement? More often than not, once we take away the judgement, not much remains. Maybe a sentence that landed awkwardly. A comment that lingered. Most likely, just a moment of being human. The rest is just noise dressed up as feedback. Familiar, persuasive, and not particularly helpful. Maybe after all, the shoemaker’s children don’t have to go barefoot forever. 🎙 Meanwhile, on the podcast…Curation is far more than an artistic act – it is a political one! It’s what’s to leave in, what to take out, what to filter and what to frame. And through this sense-making assembly, it becomes an invitation: to pay attention, to expand our minds, and to stumble into serendipitous encounters. And nothing masters this quite like TED. Curator of ideas, and a 20-year shaper of the TED conferences, Bruno Giussani helped make the cultural institution what it is today – he joins me to dissect the art and science of facilitation’s dear cousin, and why now, more than ever, curation is so necessary. Hear the creative workings of the Ted stage, the evolution of TedX, and why Bruno believes ‘content’ is a wrecking ball to culture. This is a conversation you won’t want to miss! 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 gentleness in the moments after showing up. 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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