Try to find a location that fits the setup of the day
Such a day requires thorough design, and success lies in the preparation
Stay committed to and believe in your own approach. Only then will you stay “out of the rut.”
Form a core group that will do the preparatory work and will also serve as the “co-leaders” of the day.
The “born helper” that many consultants have often follows the shortest path to the solution. The picture of the problem is quickly formed; after all, we know our usual suspects, and we push the client aside to tackle and solve it immediately.
The model that my colleagues and I follow at WeetWatWerkt has a more complex structure. The goal is to create a learning effect so that we don’t have to keep coming back for the same trick.
Do you know who is in your sphere of influence? Are you overlooking any parties?
Do you know what they are doing and why? Are the interests of all parties aligned?
How often do you meet with the key individuals?
With a stakeholder analysis, you examine your own political-administrative, social, or official landscape: you expose your own blind spots and come up with new courses of action.
An intervision discussion is a conversation in a group of 3 to 6 people. One of them (the “questioner”) presents an issue to the others (the “helpers”). The helpers try to shed new light on that issue through questioning, so that the questioner gains new insights and possibly new courses of action.
Creative thinking is the ability to view problems, situations, or issues from different perspectives each time. It maximizes the available thinking power. Important rules include: no criticism, quantity counts, all ideas are welcome, record everything visibly, and end with a critical phase.
No thick reports. They just end up gathering dust in a drawer. But how do you write something concise and clear? So that everyone actually reads it? By creating a business plan on 1 A4 page.
These are the 8 principles of Nico Groen, my esteemed colleague from whom I learned this profession. These 8 principles can help you in your role as a change agent and when implementing interventions.
