Using the Clean Setup for Creative thinking in difficult times

One charity finds a new application for our Clean Set-up. Local Authority cuts mean that this unique residential project, supporting older dependent drinkers with associated health problems to live in their own homes, needs to make a major switch away from reliance on local authority funding to explore other income streams.

One manager is supporting his staff team, already stretched to cover a broader workload with fewer staff, to self-model how they can contribute on a personal and project level, to the fundraising strategy of the wider organisation.

This is his unique take on the clean set-up: 

FUNDRAISING – CLEAN FEEDBACK

Using the tools learned at our session with Caitlin, please think about applying these to the issue of

fundraising at an individual, project or organisational level.

Please have a go at answering / thinking about the questions below for discussion at the meeting on

Friday and / or individual feedback over the next week.

a. For fundraising to go just the way I want, it will be like what?

b. For fundraising to be like A, you’d like to be like what?

c. What support do you need for you to be like B?

Clean Set-up in Australia Clean in Business and Practice

Lesley Symons is an expert coach who is creating a fertile space in Australia for Clean to thrive.

The following is from a skype interview with her on how she has taken our Clean Set-up and used it with a Board level group.

Watch this blog for mini-case studies of useful transferable practise!

How have you applied Clean set-up in business coaching?

Clean Set Up in a group

Last year I carried out the first of many training days with VW Group Australia. I decided to use Clean Set Up at the beginning of each day.

Why Clean Set Up?

I used this methodology because it was the first time this group had together experienced any interpersonal skills or team skills training. This group tended to be very efficient and process driven and got the job done by pushing work through. Departments remained siloed and ideas and encouragement of thinking outside of these silos did not occur.

I wanted to use this method to enable listening skills, foster recognising similarities and diversity in the group, to enable each member to have a voice in the group and the group to honour each member’s contribution to the group.

How I used Clean Set up.

I used Clean Set Up to open each morning of a three day workshop with the group. On day 1 I started with a long version of the set up and took quite a bit of time with the exercise. On  day 3 I did a short, quick version. This enabled the group to see how they could use the method in different contexts

Outcomes of Clean Set Up with this group

At the training the following outcomes were observed and commented on by the group:

·         The matches and mismatches in the group

·         Hear some voices in the group,  that had not been heard before

·         To acknowledge the different individual outcomes for the day and thus re-evaluate group outcomes

·         To have more personal comments with information about how you were feeling in the group

·         It gave them a process to hear each other

I also observed the following when experiencing this set up:

·         It was the first time, as a group, each member “heard themselves” as part of this group

·         It allowed the group to slow down and listen to each other

·         It built the start of group trust and respect for each other

·         They were able to hear and view the business and the wider context of each other’s roles/ departments within the business

·         Take responsibility for their own behaviour in the group

After the training days the group decided to take the method into the workplace and use it for opening their meetings. There are a few that have not totally bought into this method however the group dynamic is still changing and a year on some are still continuing to use this method without support.

Conclusion to VW Case Study

Clean Set Up gave permission for individuals to have a “voice” in a group. It also enabled individuals to observe themselves within the group. It engendered trust and respect and in a group where process is prized it gave them a process to “hear” each other. It enabled the group to start on a journey of greater open communication.

Using Clean Set Up for coaching.

I use Clean Set Up in my 1 on 1 coaching sessions.

Why Clean Set UP?

I start and finish each session with Clean Set Up for the following reasons:-

·         To foster an environment where the coachee takes responsibility for the session and their own learning

·         To take the “energy” away from me(the coach) to drive the sessions

·         To promote self awareness and self responsibility in the sessions and hopefully outside the session

·         Modelling how we do this as part of the session

At completion of the session we can go back to our set up and have a conversation around the learning outcome, and how the coachee wanted to be in the session and how I was to support them in the session. It encourages self awareness and self responsibility, feedback and further learning in action.

Clean Set Up in a practice group

I use clean set up to open a clean practice group session

Why?

It was my first clean practice group and I had 9 people and although I did have exercises prepared it did not feel “clean” to open up a clean practice session by telling a group what they were about to do.

What happened?

The Clean set up allowed the group to understand the expectations of the individuals in the group and their different levels of experience – everybody had a chance to hear and to model everybody else – then we could take their diversity and cleanly get agreement about the best use of our two hours together.

At the end, like in my coaching, I can say “Ok we set these desired outcomes at the beginning, what have we done – where are we? What’s gone well, what’s not gone so well? What shall we do next time?” In general people seem to be getting what they wanted. For me there’s something about cleanly modelling a clean group.

This way the group is leading their group rather than me leading it – it promotes the same philosophy you get in individual sessions – you reflect back aspects of what they want and what’s happening and they pick up the lead. The group then takes on responsibility for their own learning and development.

What are your plans for Clean Australia?

I’m becoming an accredited training provider so that I can add weight and rigour to the Australia training. I’m coming over to the UK late Summer and Early Autumn and will be doing the first four days again with Marian Way of Apricot Island then delivering the same four days in November in Australia. I hope to be offering a diverse amount of Clean Training in Australia over the coming year and continue to promote Clean in Australia.

Thank you for your time and attention

Caitlin 

P.S. Have you heard about our exciting new 12 month Clean Modelling course in London this year? Training Attention @ Work!

Advanced Clean language in the North East

That was such a great weekend. We covered

Beginnings - Lines of Site/Lines of Sight, clean set-up, clean start, hieroglyphics,
Then used these to develop metaphor landscapes
Resources
Redemptive metaphors
Maturing the change

It was fantastic to be able to work at such a high level and mix the practical workshop with the theoretical discussions. Reminded me how much there is that we learned from David that I've almost forgotten about.

Quite fancy doing another - or maybe a rolling series.

What happens just before facilitation?

I've been writing up and explaining some of the fundamentals to the Training Attention approach to some colleagues in the clean community - all those things that seem to us to be givens. It's brought up a whole range of 'balances' that we make micro-decisions about.

One is the age old question of pacing and leading.

When a client asks us to facilitate them then our attention immediately goes into modelling mode:

What would they like to have happen?
Currently it's like what?
Where do the issues come from?
What needs to be true before the changes they'd like would become everyday and 'just the way we do things around here?'
Is the way they're engaging our services an example of what they would like to have happen or an example of the issues they're struggling with?
Who aren't we hearing from?
What happens just before they can have what they want?
What will they see/hear/feel as they're changing the way they'd like to?
What would we like to have happen?

Armed with clean questions we aim to move as swiftly as possible from conflict to curiosity and from fixing problems to considering outcomes.

A big question is the balance between
practising the expertise we're being paid to bring to the company and
building rapport with and pacing the place they're at

Too fast on the former and we can't build a strong enough relationship with them to help to support them to develop a different relationship with themselves.

Too long on the latter and we run the risk of joining them in the complex issues they're experiencing and becoming a part of the model instead of the facilitating modeller.

How agile can we move between the two and how do we know when we're being most effective?
That's my question for this day.

Dyslexia Coaching Materials

Who wouldn't want to know:

When you're working at your best you're like what?
How do you make great decisions?
What environments support you to be at your best?
How do you like people to give you instructions?

and many more unique personal models

Together with the multi-talented Marian Way, we are designing our fancy new coaching materials for those with neuro-diversity - dyslexia, dyspraxia etc.
They'll be available as a product you can buy and work through on your own or for use with one of our highly skilled 'modelling' dyslexia coaches - we're also planning some on-line dyslexia coaching groups to share strategies and explore the unique brilliance of neuro-diverse thinking and abilities.
If you're in need of these resources yourself or if you'd like to discuss using these material within your organisation or practise please contact: nancy@trainingattention.co.uk

Practical Applications from the Systemic Modelling DVD

• Group: Clean Language Facilitators in business
• Discussion: Clive today encouraged us to share anecdotes about the success of Clean Language.

Hi Cáitlín, I purchased your DVD when attending a 'clean' training with the Clean Change Co. I set it up with a slight variation on how you recommend in your small work-book which came with the DVD. I have used your set-up to great effect when coaching one to one. This was the first time I used it in a group. My challenge in preparing for the workshop was to make it accessible to all the group which included people with learning disabilities, people with physical disabilities as well as job coaches & carers from the various NGO's. Due to the diversity of participants I wanted to achieve as much 'buy-in' as possible so what better way to start than with that wonderful open question; 'For this workshop to go exactly the way you'd like it to go that would be like what?' This did not necessarily elicit that many metaphors but it did give me a clear sense of the over-all expectations of the group and specific expectations of individuals.These were listed by a scribe on the flip chart. I then followed with what I like to call the 'personal responsibility' question; 'And for the workshop to go like all of that (pointing to the flip-chart) you need to be like what?'
These responses were also flip charted. The third question; 'And for it to be like that (flip chart 1) and for you to be like that (flip chart 2) I need to be like what? These comments and suggestions were also flip charted. all there flip charts were blu-tacked to the wall in a prominent position. Through this process we collectively achieved expressed rather than assumed outcomes for the workshop. Interestingly we also had established ground rules simultaneously as we moved through the three questions of the 'clean' set-up.
It allowed a really sweet process to evolve as we worked together and furthermore provided a checklist for evaluation at the end of the session. Nice one Cáitlín and nice one Maurice! (link away)
Posted by Maurice Corrigan

hatching strategic plans

We're running ourselves through our own processes:
What's working
What's not working
What would we like to have happen now?
We're taking 'niggles' and turning them into learning and happiness (after arguing - getting it wrong - starting again - changing state - separating what's presented from inferred - getting cross again etc)
and
updating ourselves, our practise and our company until we're an example of the changes we'd like to see hear and feel in the world.