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Learning more about the four fold practice

April 14, 2012 By Art of Hosting, Collaboration, Facilitation, Leadership, Practice

At our art of hosting water dialogues this morning, several insights on the four fold practice of hosting:

  • on hosting ourselves, one of the participants who used to work in emergency medicine shared his team’s mantra: in an emergency the first pulse you take is your own,
  • participating means coming to any situation with curiosity and an ability and desire to learn something
  • the practice of hosting doesn’t mean you need to be an expert. To convene you simply need the desire and courage to call and hold.
  • the practice of co-creation is born from generosity and sharing resources, skills, opportunities and knowledge.
  • as we move through the four fold practice we evolve from a learner to a community of learners to a community that learns. This last shift is often the hardest.
  • at the core of this practice is intention. To come to the practice with intention is to activate it.
  • it is surprising how quickly we can move to co-creation when we have practiced together once, we did a signing exercise that took the group through two rounds of co-creation and we quickly moved to creating music together that was unimaginable 10 minutes before.

I love how groups just spark insights. You can teach this stuff dozens of dozens of times and there is always something new to learn.

The Four Fold Practice

April 12, 2012 By Art of Hosting, Practice One Comment

This video on  The Four-Fold Practice was made by Kevin McKeever for InCommons, the initaitve we were working with last month in Minnesota.

This video really captures why we feel that this simple four folded practice lies at the heart of what the Art of Hosting is.  Everything we teach and practice under the name “Art of Hosting” springs from an integrated practice of these four things.  Enjoy.

How to make a learning journey

April 11, 2012 By Art of Hosting, Learning, Practice

Yesterday I was giving a webinar and talking about some core Art of Hosting practices. We spent a while covering the four fold practice and then looked at the way in which various archetypal organizational paradigms play out in different organizational settings. I was trying to emphasize the idea of “practice” so that the participants would know that there is no right way of doing this work but rather the work itself is engaging in a constant practice, a constant searching for mastery.

Towards the end of the call a participant reflected that all of this was rather too much to take in all at once. She wondered aloud how she would be able to implement it all.

This is a common problem with learning, I find. Somewhere along the line many people imagine that being in a learning situation – a class, a course, a webinar or so on – means that they will receive a direct transfer of skill which they can then go and apply. While there are some kinds of learning that work like this, most learning, especially as it applies to leadership or facilitation is rather an invitation to practice, meaning that you begin and develop a competence over your craft in application.

So how to begin?

The advice I gave our participant yesterday was to begin by noticing first of all. Take two weeks and notice where the four fold practice appears in your own life, what you do unconsciously to become present, to participate in conversation, to host space and to co-create. Make a list of places whee you do this and notice how you do this. Raise your own natural practice to the level of conscious practice so that you can use that as a basis to extend it in new ways.

Beginning a learning journey helps to set a learning cycle into practice. It starts with noticing, with acting and then with reflecting before repeating again. I sometimes think that beyond any particular skill that can be learned, the skill of active reflective learning is perhaps the most important. It is how we create a learning journey for ourselves that has the possibility of taking us to mastery.

Can you make amends?

April 9, 2012 By Uncategorized


What is it like to make amends? Can you find a reason to apologize to someone? What does that take in you?

I apologized to someone today for an unwise speech act. I did it because these two – my partner and son – among other on my home island matter to me. Because small instinctive it’s can have a long term impact on relationships.

Feels good to apologize and I hope it’s accepted. The sacrifice of pride and ego has its return in a feeling of peace.

Renewal

April 8, 2012 By Uncategorized

Sailing to town

A time of renewal of the spirit, for crossing thresholds, sustaining goodness and returning to life. The weather has been glorious over the past couple of days and yesterday Caitlin organized a trip into Vancouver for our little local improv group. We loaded up a friend’s sailboat with food and cheer and set sail for Granville Island where we took in a Theatresports game. Coming home an incredible moon rose behind the Vancouver skyline and as we rounded Point Atkinson an outflow gale got started. We sang songs, told stories, recited poetry and snuggled under fleece blankets, welcoming the wind that indicated a pleasant day to come.

And indeed we have that pleasant day today. Bright sun, birdsong and the smell of soil, the promise of new life sprouting in the garden and in the forest all around us.