I was thinking about a course I attended a few months ago. The facilitator asked me for feedback. It was a good course and offered solid information. The facilitator did a fine job and the participants seems satisfied. Good. Solid. Fine. Satisfied.
I told her that I thought she missed two opportunities. First, the course was not designed to deliver any ah-ha moments - the potential for a mind blowing epiphany was zero. A wise man once asked me, challenged me, what my big idea was for a book project I was proposing. I had no big idea. This course offered no big ideas. Miss.
The second miss was that the course started slow, warmed to medium, and ended medium. There was no narrative arc. Courses can benefit from using the principles of story construction. The flow helps you manage and generate energy. This course was perfectly fine but draining. All whimper, no bang. Miss.
And what about your next staff meeting. Ah! Gottcha! You thought I was talking about a training class and since you don't lead training classes that I was not talking to you - right? Well consider this. I see the same two misses in meetings. That they offer no big ideas - there is no or low potential of an ah-ha moment. And they are not designed to generate and retain energy. Miss. Miss.
Don't have another meeting until you think about this. Even if you have a meeting coming up in two hours, you can do something to make it better. Bring in a big idea. Share something that has the potential to make people think anew. You might fail, but no problem, try again next week. No attempt = no potential. It breaks my heart.
The facilitator - who is a friend - felt frustrated and devastated, I could tell. She had done a good job but had let habit shroud her determination as a teacher and catalyst. I am glad she was devastated because she is talented, special, and can do better. She needed the dissonance to reconnect with why she teaches. Whenever we get people together, we need to strive for better.
