Facilitating Genius: Illuminating Brilliance in Your Organization

By John Lesko

Facilitating Genius: Illuminating Brilliance in Your Organization is a practical guide for leaders, executives, facilitators, and coaches on the art and science of creative problem-solving. This book is the product of 10+ years of research and the lessons learned from providing professional services to clients from private, public, and non-profit organizations.

In Facilitating Genius, the author draws on his experience as a certified facilitator and leadership coach. He briefly introduces the theory of multiple intelligences, shares 25 short vignettes of genius achievement, and offers four case studies where the reader can then test their problem-solving skills as they "consult" with the geniuses revealed in this book.

Readers are encouraged to identify the type of "smarts" they possess and can easily do so by way of the links provided in this book. Each of the eight intelligences are defined and at least three representative geniuses for each type are offered in this text. This book is well illustrated and has quotes and prompts embedded into each of the 25 sample stories of extraordinary achievement. And as an added bonus there are worksheets provided for the reader to use individually or in small groups within his or her organization.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781456624637

Book preview

advice.

PREFACE

FACILITATING GENIUS

1. Facilitating - To free from difficulties or obstacles. To make easy; to aid or assist.

2. Genius - Exceptional or transcendent intellectual and creative power. A natural talent or inclination. One who has such a talent or inclination. From mythology: The prevailing spirit or character, as of a place, person, time, or group. A guardian spirit of a person or place. A person who has great influence over another.

Reference: The American Heritage Dictionary - New College Edition, 1975.

Early in my career a mentor once hinted, There is wisdom in all organizations and your job is two- fold. First, you must help others find it. Then, you need to help the group apply this wisdom to the challenge at hand. I truly believe that my mentor was spot on in sharing this insight. There is untapped wisdom in most groups and nearly all organizations.

In my career as a Certified Professional Facilitator and Leadership Coach, I have tried to help my clients find the wisdom that is in the room. Doing so has not always been easy. Sometimes there is only the inkling of wisdom present. Wisdom evolves over time from the initial discovery to a point where it is refined and improved upon by the group. Wisdom rarely pops out of nowhere. Rather it emerges and grows organically.

Analysis and synthesis are needed. Introverts must ponder. Extroverts must talk it through. Groups many times struggle with defining their problem statement. They will cycle through divergent and convergent thinking. Individuals, groups, and teams must pass through the so-called groan zone before viable solutions emerge. True wisdom makes itself known over time and only after the hard work is done.

In my practice as a facilitator and leadership coach, I have grown to believe that there are several aha! moments uncovered during the group problem-solving process. And where an individual may not yell out Eureka! when that proverbial lightbulb is lit, I do believe that there is genius in all organizations just waiting to be released.

My application of the lessons, question sets, and problem-solving techniques found in this book have evolved. This book is over ten years in the making. I have presented many of the ideas found here in various workshops and seminars. My clients have consulted with many of the geniuses found in this book and have discovered or rediscovered their own gifts and talents along the way.

Others have written extensively about the question, What is genius? This book is NOT another dissertation on genius. Rather, it is meant to be a practical guide on identifying and harnessing the genius that is in the room. It is written in the spirit of discovery, suggesting that we maintain our curiosity, and that we try to learn something useful in our daily problem-solving.

The problem-solving techniques outlined in this book are based on the work of many others. I have tried my best to give credit where credit is due. Where possible I have shared links to my sources, cited my references, offered suggestions for where one might learn more, and supplied photo credits when and where they are available. That said, much of the text contains paraphrases from several works. You will also find throughout this book samples of my art. Some illustrations are composite images with dialog bubbles added to make a point or attempt a joke. And you will find a number of my doodles too.

You will find an extensive bibliography in the back of this book. At one time or another, I have cracked open each of these books. Many I own and they rest on the shelves of my personal library. Others you will find at a good public library.

This book is intended to be a practical guide for leaders, executives, project managers, facilitators, and coaches on the art and science of creative problem-solving. Designed for use by individuals, small groups, and teams; this book helps you when you are wrestling with both simple and so-called wicked problems.

When I call a problem wicked, I am not using a New England vernacular. Rather, wicked problems are difficult or impossible to solve. Their wickedness does not (necessarily) denote evil. But as used here, it denotes that such a problem is resistant to being resolved. Wicked problems are stubborn. They have staying power. And to solve or at least tame one requires persistence. Wicked problems exist because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. Wicked problems consist of many moving parts. And because of the interdependencies between these parts, the effort to simplify or solve one aspect of a wicked problem may reveal or create another problem.

As you read this book, I suggest that you dive into the case studies. While thinking through each case study, know that there is no single right answer or school solution. Follow the techniques outlined in this book and you should at least find yourself becoming more comfortable when faced with a wicked problem.

An alternative strategy for using this book is to read it piecemeal. Scan the theory. Orient yourself to the structure and categories of the bio-sketches. Then tap into the genius profiles and questions on an as needed basis. When a new problem arrises, open the book to another spot and call upon the intelligence of a new consultant. In other words, seek a second opinion by entertaining a new genius’ point of view.

Feel free to jump to the end of each of the eight sections. There you will find a worksheet tailored to that particular style of thinking. NOTE: These are the pages which have been purposely rotated 90- degrees to facilitate their printing. Copy and distribute these worksheets to your heart’s content. Please do copy these worksheets keeping the copyright notation intact. Yes, I am encouraging you to spread the word.

Be the genius spirit that blows like the wind over the Earth. Share your gifts with others. Help others discover their gifts. Inspire the best in others, first by discovering your own talents, and then by helping others find their strengths.

Work through the numerous question sets which follow each biographical sketch and you may discover new learning. Reverse engineer a problem, assist a group with their problem-solving needs, think like a genius, and perhaps one day others may call you a facilitating genius.

1

THEORY

If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

-- Sir Isaac Newton

ON GIANTS’ SHOULDERS

So who are the giants in your life? Who has shaped the way that you think about the world? To whom do you turn when you wish to better understand something? In other words, on whose shoulders do you stand when looking out into the future? For me, I turn many times to my family.

Call me old fashion. Call me old school. But somewhere, a long time ago, I once heard my grandmother say, Johnny, there is nothing new under the sun. This advice of course was offered after I proudly showed my paternal grandmother something brand new which I had just discovered for the very first time. Today, I cannot remember what it was that I had discovered. But I still remember her quip and later learned that she was sharing the wisdom of Solomon.

At the time I didn’t realize it, but my grandmother never did go to school. She was - well, my grandmother - and she lived just across the alley way in the little house next door. She had a cat- shaped cookie jar that was kept on the shelf just above the stove. For a while that shelf was set just beyond my reach, until I figured out how to turn the coal bucket over and use it for a step. I was a genius! Sorry, I digress, distracted by an oatmeal raisin slice of heaven.

Grandma was long retired when I first knew her. I later learned that she was a so-called granny midwife. And it didn’t surprise me that folks would come to chat with her from time to time about one thing or another. Mostly, they talked about birth’n babies or about some home remedy for some’n that was ailing you.

Years later, I heard my father