The World Café
Exploring questions that matter...
On the second day of the workshop, we entered the room to find the discussion tables invitingly decorated with candles, colourful markers, pipe cleaners and large sheets of paper.
Each table was assigned one of the questions that came out of our Appreciative Inquiry whole-group discussions the previous afternoon. Participants then seated themselves at a table to discuss a question that interested them.
The questions were:
- We are in transition and we may experience hard things along the way. We want to maintain our quality. What can we do together so that people will continue to trust the process?
- What can we do to support open communication and connections between BOD, Leaders, mothers and others?
- How do we create an organizational culture that encourages diversity of ideas and opinions and exploration of differences?
- We want to be congruent with what we say and do. How do we bring that to life so that others can see our work and our passions?
As we talked, we took notes on the paper that covered our tables, and played with pipe cleaners to engage the creative side of the brain.
During three "rounds" of discussion, we moved from table to table, discussing each question in turn with the table hosts, who volunteered to stay at the same table all morning. The host's job was to relate the major points of discussion during previous rounds at that table whenever a new group of participants arrived. In this way, common themes could emerge at each table, with different ideas put forward during each round, serving to show different sides of the question being discussed.
Our final task was to write a "Provocative Proposition" that evoked the most important theme that had emerged during conversation at our table. Each group wrote their proposition on a large sheet of paper and stuck it on the wall so that the entire group could vote for the proposition that they thought most important or interesting.
The proposition that received the most votes formed the basis of the next stage of the workshop - Open Space.
For more information about The World Café:
The World Cafe - Official website of the originators of The World Café method.
Visit Amazon.com to buy The World Cafe book by Brown, Isaacs, and members of The World Café Community, 1st edition, April 2005.