Getting to the Bottom of Top: Foundations of the Methodologies of the Technology of Participation

By Wayne and Jo Nelson

People demand authentic participation in decisions that affect their lives. ToP methods answer that call because they reflect how humans think, growing out of reflective inquiry into what works in real life and the study of phenomenology and existentialism. This book explores the foundational understandings of this body of knowledge and its practice.

Getting to the Bottom of ToP works at two levels: as a guide to processes that elicit participation to bring insights to the surface and ensure participants collaborate to bring the resulting plans to fruition and as a theoretical basis drawn from the field of phenomenology—an answer to any of us who have pondered what principles or theory about personal and group change underlie those processes.
—Peter J. Taylor, Critical and Creative Thinking Graduate Program, UMass Boston

I have longed for decades for this book, a profound and helpful exploration of the phenomenology of practice of ToP. In this breakthrough work, the Nelsons expose the philosophical foundations of the ICA’s ToP methods in ways that scholars and facilitators alike will find useful. By tracing ToP’s ancestry to the existentialist’s insights of Kierkegaard and Sartre and the phenomenological methods of Husserl and Heidegger, this book not only provides conceptual clarity but releases a deep wellspring of motivation and skillfulness for practitioners of ToP. I will definitely use this book in teaching my NYU Wagner grad courses on innovative leadership.
—Robertson Work, author of A Compassionate Civilization, NYU Wagner professor, and UN consultant

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Dec 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532033698

Wayne

Wayne and Jo Nelson worked with the Institute of Cultural Affairs globally from 1970 until Wayne’s death in 2014. Together they used their degrees in sociology, religion, anthropology and education to guide their work in participatory development and group process facilitation in villages and organizations in many cultures. Jo continues to work with ICA Associates, Inc. in Toronto as a trainer and mentor. The Institute of Cultural Affairs has over 50 years of experience in participatory development in more than 35 nations. For over four decades the Canadian Institute of Cultural Affairs has promoted positive social transformation.

Book preview

Getting to the Bottom of ToP™

Foundations of the Methodologies

of the Technology of Participation

WAYNE AND JO NELSON

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The Canadian Institute of Cultural Affairs

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GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF TOP:

FOUNDATIONS OF THE METHODOLOGIES OF THE TECHNOLOGY OF PARTICIPATION

Copyright © 2017 Canadian Institute of Cultural Affairs.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-3368-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-3369-8 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 12/06/2017

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Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Section 1 Theory and Background of the Technology of Participation (ToP)

1.   Understanding Phenomenology, the Root of ToP Methodology

The foundations, intentions and practices of phenomenological inquiry, and the methodological roots of ToP

2.   The Journey toward ToP Methodology

The key conceptual steps in the formation of ToP methodology

3.   The Technology of Participation

The roots and evolution of various ToP approaches, revealing ToP methodology as a phenomenology of practice.

Section 2 Core ToP Applications

Design patterns and variants for each core application and how they apply the phenomenological method

4.   Introduction to the Core ToP Methods

5.   The Focused Conversation Method

6.   The Consensus Workshop Method

7.   Participatory Strategic Planning

8.   Action Planning

9.   The ToP Journey Wall

Section 3 ToP Facilitation Design

The process of designing a complex ToP facilitation approach, and a practical process for applying ToP in responding to client needs

10.   The ToP Design Eye

Section 4 Study Methodologies

The two core study methodologies for study and deep learning

11.   Charting

12.   ToP Seminar Methodology

13.   ToP Foundations Conclusion

Appendix

•   Figure 27   Working assumptions poster

•   Figure 28   Focused conversation method worksheet

•   Figure 29    Focus question worksheet for a consensus workshop

•   Figure 30   Consensus workshop method worksheet

•   Figure 31 . Frameworking worksheet

•   Guided daydreaming script for visioning exercise

•   Obstacles conversation

•   Figures 32-35 . Task force action planning workbook

•   Figures 36-39 . Action planning workbook

•   Figure 40 . Design Eye worksheet

•   Figure 41 . Seminar planning template

•   Figure 42 . Social process triangles

•   Figure 43 . Organizational journey map

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

Hundreds of people have been involved in the development of ToP methods over the past 50 years, far too many to name. Their contribution, whether through academic research or applying the methods, reflecting and refining them, has been invaluable.

Many colleagues also supported Wayne’s research into the early origins of ICA methods, helped him clarify philosophical perspectives, and edited very early versions of the book.

Our colleagues at ICA Associates, Inc., Duncan Holmes, Jeanette Stanfield, John Miller, Bill Staples, Christine Wong, Darlene Fisher and Jerry Mings contributed editing and support through the long process of book research and creation.

Ronnie Seagren provided incisive final editing. And Ilona Staples designed the cover and layout.

Thank you to everyone for all you have contributed to the enduring legacy of profound and useful methods.

Foreword

Wayne Nelson began writing Getting to the Bottom of ToP on behalf of the Institute of Cultural Affairs in order to capture and communicate the deep wisdom behind what is known as the Technologies of Participation so that present and future generations could use and build on the methods with deep understanding and consistent integrity. ToP Methods are a rich body of knowledge, not merely a collection of tools and tips for group facilitators. By connecting the dots between theory and practice ToP Methods will become more widely appreciated. Think of reading this book as an invitation to dialogue.

New generations of practicing group facilitators may not know whose shoulders they stand upon. Many of us in ICAs around the globe shared a concern that the intellectual giants who created ToP Methods were aging and dying. They were involved in ICA when it was a social movement from the 1960s through the 1980s. Some began earlier through the Ecumenical Institute. Capturing the origins and history of Top Methods was complicated by an early norm of not documenting specific sources or giving specific credit to individuals in favour of attributing the group for the work.

Wayne had to go back to the sources. He spent every spare moment for several years interviewing the remaining old hands who were around when ToP Methods were developing. He read and re-read Heidiger, Husserl, Kierkegaard, Bultmann, and other (Phenomenologist and Existentialist) philosophers to disentangle their influential concepts and insights and translate them into language that might be accessible to today’s reader. That was the hardest part of the book.

In January 2014 Wayne completed the chapters on phenomenology in a form that I could understand for the first time. Then, sadly, he died of a sudden heart attack. Practically speaking, the book project was stalled. Ironically, another intellectual giant was lost. And personally, our lifetime together came to an end.

The rest of the book, the practical application section, existed mostly in outline form. Luckily my strength has always been on the practical applications and teaching about how and why facilitating participatory processes using ToP Methods works. I decided to complete the rest of the book on what I know best. Therefore Getting to the Bottom of ToP became a serial collaboration. It includes sections from Wayne and myself, and articles written by Brian Stanfield too. Brian was a wise and inspiring colleague of ours at ICA Canada who wrote three books on ToP methods and practices through the 1990s. I hope you discern and enjoy the differences in writing style throughout the chapters.

You don’t have to read this book in linear order after the introduction. It starts with the heavy work of identifying the intellectual and philosophical foundations and then explores their application in increasing detail. Just for fun I’d like to recommend that you chart the book using the method described in Chapter 7, to get a picture of the flow, and then choose where you’d like to enter the dialogue. Let the dialogue begin!

—Jo Nelson

Introduction

The things that we describe so carefully are called phenomena….The word phenomenon has a special meaning to phenomenologists: it denotes any ordinary thing or object or event as it presents itself to my experience, rather than as it may or may not be in reality.

—Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café¹

Why did we write this book?

Across the world many people have taken facilitation courses from the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) and are using the Technology of Participation (ToP) methods in organizations. Many others have participated in facilitated sessions and seen these methods at work to turn their organization around, put them on a fresh footing, develop a new spirit as a team, and form an operating consensus about the future.

People keep asking us questions as they sense there’s more behind the methods than they see. They want to understand the underlying integrity that makes them work. They ask:

• What makes these methods effective?

• Where do they come from?

• What is the deeper set of ideas behind them?

• Is the style of the facilitator as important as the method?

• I use these methods, and they don’t work as well as I think they should. What do I need to learn?

• What is the plus factor I need to understand and use to get the results I know these methods can deliver?

The answers are long, but the long way is often more scenic. ToP methods of facilitating participation are much more than a neat way to get meetings to go somewhere. They aim to build off the deep undercurrents of history, deal with some major contradictions of our day, create a new paradigm of participation, and bring about profound transformations in people and society.

This book intends to address these questions and articulate the underlying patterns that form the integrity of the methods. This understanding will enable practitioners to adapt the methods to a continually changing environment, while staying true to the underlying patterns of thinking that form the magic that makes the methods work.

What are ToP methods?

ToP methods are the core tools developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs over the last 50 years, based on a body of knowledge derived from exploration of the insights from a wide variety of sources from philosophy, theology, sociology and cognitive theory as well as application in action research. These methods are firmly rooted in phenomenology.

Although many tools have been developed from this rich experience, five core methods are presently formally acknowledged by ICA internationally as ToP methods. These are the focused conversation method, the consensus workshop method, participatory strategic planning, action planning, and one that’s variously called journey wall/wall of wonder/historical scan (one method with different names in different countries).

These five methods are extraordinary in their ability to respectfully guide groups through clear thinking to create results in a short period of time. They have the potential to transform the way people work together in groups.

This introduction explores the broad context of the development of ToP methods and their larger impact.

Section 1 of this book is about the theory and background of ToP practice.

Chapter 1 explores the roots of ToP participatory methods: the understanding of phenomenology as the study of that which appears to us, as people grasp meaning through reflection on their actual life experience. Chapter 2 describes the formation of ToP methodology through the application of phenomenology.

Chapter 3 explains how the phenomenological method is applied to ToP methods, and Chapter 4 thoroughly introduces the five core methods.

Section 2, which covers chapters 5 through 8, provides an in-depth explanation of each of the five core methods, including the state-of-the-art steps of each method, common adaptations, and the consequences of changes.

Section 3, in Chapter 9, investigates the design aspects of applying the phenomenological method in the structure of facilitated events.

Section 4, in chapters 10 and 11, examines two additional ToP methods for depth study.

Finally, the conclusion summarizes the book and takes us into the future.

Four stories: How are ToP methods used?

A focused conversation

A colleague was asked to facilitate a conversation to resolve a dispute between two companies, in a last ditch attempt to reconcile before legal action. First he asked each person in the room for the facts about the situation to get all the viewpoints heard. Then he asked which part of the situation upset each person, what bothered them the least, and what past experiences were triggered. Next he asked them to explore possible causes and implications of the situation. Only after that did he seek possible solutions and discuss the pros and cons of each. and what values were important to hold in an ultimate solution. Finally, he asked them to draw the possibilities together into a solution that would work for everyone. In just two hours of guided discussion, the two companies had worked out a solution they could both support and saved the time, cost and acrimony of legal action.

A consensus workshop

A city planning department and a developer had been at odds over the details of redeveloping a mall for several years, and decided to try a different approach to come to an agreement on the details. They brought together department people, the developer’s organization, and community representatives for a workshop on the values they wanted to hold in the project. Each stakeholder brainstormed the values that were important to them. Then they clustered all of the individual values together to find the larger patterns. When they named each of the clusters, they realized they had a set of common values that they all agreed on. Then they were able to create a model for the redevelopment based on those shared values. The developer, who had been resistant at first, commented, We should use this process for all our projects.

A strategic planning retreat

A community health centre decided to involve staff and community members with their Board and executive in creating a strategic plan. They started with an historical scan or journey wall of their history, which involved everyone and created a story of success in the midst of sometimes formidable obstacles. The next step was to capture their hopes and dreams for the organization and the community’s health in a shared vision. Next, they identified obstacles and the underlying contradictions that were prevented the vision from being realized. They were able to identify, for example, that their incredibly cramped space and the chronic lack of funds was caused by an overreliance on a single funding source.

Then they were able to create strategies to address all the obstacles. One strategy was to involve the board in raising funds from new sources to build a new health centre. Action plans were created for each strategy, and within just five years the new building was underway. Community people became actively involved in the work of the centre as a result of having taken part in the planning.

A long-term change project

Sometimes it takes a while for a client to trust the facilitator to deal with the real issue. In one case, the client was a private school with a specific philosophy. The initial request was for strategic planning with the Board and staff members, which gave everyone a common direction to move in. But even in the initial interviews it was clear that people really wanted to deal with a different topic: Were they as a school tied to an old understanding of their school’s philosophy, or were they moving forward into an understanding that responded to today’s realities? Some people were very attached to a traditional view, and others were trying to move it into a more modern context. Discussions felt like walking on eggshells, and the tension easily ratcheted up. Some foundational work beyond the strategic planning was necessary if the school was going to break through the impasse.

They began the next session with a gallery walk, as small groups walked around the room to see flipcharts with different questions that focused on What is our philosophy and how does it impact the school? Each group added information to each question. The summary of that work objectified their common understandings and how their disagreements were affecting the school.

Using that information the group engaged in an image change exercise in another gallery walk. This time they asked a new set of questions:

The current reality

• What are the present behaviours that we are not pleased with?

• What is our current image that is responsible for this behaviour?

• What messages keep this image in place?

• What set of values lock this image in place?

The desired future

• What new behaviours could replace the behaviours we’re not pleased with?

• What positive qualities do we already have that can help us shift our image?

• What is the image that will generate new behaviours to move toward our new vision?

• What are the values that will hold the new image in place?

• What messages do you need to beam at yourself to hold the image in place?

When they had answered their questions they did a physical exercise to ground the old and new images and experience how they were different on the other side of the exercise, ending with a reflective conversation about what it would take to live out of the new image in the midst of the day-to-day stresses of running the school.

The staff realized through this process that they were not really opposed to each other about the direction of the school and the role of their underlying philosophy. The shift in understanding raised questions for some individuals whether they in fact wanted to shift their usual stance and stay at the school or whether it might be better to move elsewhere.

The actual change was noticed two months later at the beginning of the next school year when the whole mood of the school was palpably different. Any hints of dissention around their philosophy had evaporated. They now found themselves able to co-operate in all kinds of new ways.

What was the social context where this discipline developed?

Group process facilitation as we know it today has its origins in Kurt Lewin’s work in the 1940s as one of the first to study the social psychology of small group communication. His work with group dynamics, creativity, brainstorming, and action research led to the realization that working in participatory groups led to better decisions, greater commitment and improved results². In their organizational development work, many management consultants cultivated skills in leading groups and experimented with ways of improving group work through participation. It was during this time that many now common approaches, methods and techniques were created, such as nominal group technique.

ICA was heavily influenced by this early work, initially in group study methods and then in using facilitation to elicit participation in community development work in the 1960s and ’70s, under the banner of participatory development.

The term facilitation began to surface broadly in the 1980s as what had been one of the skills used by management consultants started to evolve into a profession. Many consultants adopted a facilitative approach and some began placing their focus entirely on facilitation.

After 1984, ICA began to use the term and focus on organizations and companies as facilitation clients. Some ICA offices began to do formal training in using methods to facilitate groups. In 1988 the first annual meeting of facilitators who used ICA methods was held to share experiences and insights. In 1989 ICA published its first book on facilitation, Winning Through Participation, and trademarked the process as the Technology of Participation™. In the early 1990s facilitation began to be recognized as a profession, separate from consulting or training. The number of people working full-time as facilitators increased dramatically during the mid ’90s and professional firms began to emerge.

The professional organization International Association of Facilitators (IAF) was established in 1994 and several other facilitator and training associations were formed around that time. Both IAF and ICA developed professional standards of competence and evidence-based assessments for professional certification. Thousands of professional facilitators are now practicing in every sector around the world. Participation has become a common tenet of organizational planning, strategy development, implementation and decision-making in organizations as well as the core of public consultation and engagement efforts.

What can ToP Methods do for a community or organization?

At the simplest level, the ToP focused conversation and consensus workshop methods help a group to think through their topic clearly and come up with the wisest result. Individuals in the group hear others and feel that they have been heard. Often this changes how they participate, from aggressive pushing of their positions to co-creating solutions together. A frequently heard comment at the end of a workshop is I’m not alone–there are other people who think like me!

At a deeper level, the ToP strategic planning process allows a group to appreciatively acknowledge how they are a part of whatever holds them back, and frees them to create useful solutions that they are committed to. This experience can transform a group culture from victimization and paralysis to grounded hope that they can collectively change their situation.

A longer intervention with a group also incorporates thinking through the underlying images that hold their group back, and changing these images through successful action. For example, an image that community initiative is always dependent on outside funding can be changed when a community holds a local workday that costs next to nothing and cleans up the streets and vacant lots, creating a vibrant environment.

How do ToP methods address some major challenges of our time?

The revolutionary force of this century is the awakening of a deep human capacity that is connected with generative social fields. The revolutionary force in our time is the I-in-we or I-in-now awareness that can help us navigate our journey … that can activate generative social fields … . It’s a power of presence that we can activate and bring into being wherever we are. It operates from the present moment, from the now … . Every human being and social system can wake up and cultivate this deeper source of creativity and consciousness. It also helps us to be more practical: The more we develop this source capacity of the I-in-now, the greater our ability to deal with the high-pressure,