storytelling

on becoming who you are

become-who-you-are

 

in times of turmoil – which recently seem to be accurate every day more, than the day before – in our private lives, with our families, in our neighbourhoods, communities, in our organisations, in our leadership roles in the world – what stories we choose to put on stage matters a great deal.
working in the field of social innovation, often i deal with realities just emerging, realities that have a breath ago been not more but a dream, realities fragile, incomplete, not consequent. yet – they want to become, they are becoming, they prototype well and they inspire hearts with hope.

a story does not need to be big, or perfect, or ready. what is sufficient is that YOU decide it is time.

take our LEADERSHIP FESTIVAL. there are sufficient people who say:
“it will not work”
“you do not really know, what you are talking about”
“this is all a fantasy, a phase, it will pass. business reality are hard facts and results”

well, i have the freedom to choose and believe whatever the heck i want to. and i choose to believe, that we ARE actually designing a NEW way of relating to each other from our leadership positions. and all them, who say it is just a fairy-tale for the naÏve ones i say “it is called visionary”.

now more than ever it is important, which stories you listen to and which you voice. which you repeat to yourself. which you share with others. and which stories you put to sleep, leave in the storage, tell them it is not their time.

so no matter how challenging it is to hold your dearest story out there, for the world to see, in all the beauty of its imperfection – i stand here with you. shoulder to shoulder. i ain’t going nowhere. whenever you feel, like the world is too much or the challenges too many, remember: you curate your own story. decide what you focus on and what you kick out. pick the story you want to live. pick the story that is YOU in your best version. get ready. go out there. and dance with the world.

visual facilitation

visual facilitation is not about only drawing. it is not a modern name for making a comic based on a situation. it is way more. it means working with a powerful combination of words, shapes and colours for recording and organising the communication and creation flows in conversations inside an organisation, a group or even in one’s own note-making for a deeper understanding and a more participatory access.

 

agile

i use visual facilitation for example when developing a concept with our customers and planning an event together. visual notes take good care that all details are transparent and we are all on the same page of what needs to be done during which of the steps of large group events.

 

BMH

 

i also find visual facilitation helpful for preparing instructions for people in a large group, in small groups or even individually. this gives them something to check with, whether they understood the instructions and what the consecutive steps should be and allows participants to relax deeper into the participation in an actual dialogue.

 

storytelling

visual facilitation allows you to put many things that belong together on one piece of paper, in a neat and clean way. below the example of a training schedule for a five-day event, including the every-day structure, topics addressed during each day, the two major focus forces and a symbol, explaining the dynamics of what the training refers to, in this case: increasing creativity in teams.

 

schedule

 

second example is a schedule of a one day event on mindfulness, including the WHAT, the HOW and the WHY of the session.

 

turbo koncentracja przy totalnym luzie

 

sharing my practice: what i use to organise my notes is a frame with two boxes: the lower, outer edge box includes the date, the upper inside box the setting (customer / event / theme). this helps me find in my notes what i am looking for easily.

 

fbb

 

 

if you want to see more examples of really diverse visual facilitation styles and some works of truly great visual practitioners, join me on a sentimental journey back to this july in berlin, on EUVIZ – european conference for visual thinkers, practitioners and facilitators. a rich HARVESTING archive you can find here.

now it’s your turn. just grab a pen and paper, listen to someone talk about a matter that intrigues you and – go visualise!

 

euviz

 

 

why audio?

wildberries
i get a lot of feedback, that you guys enjoy the recordings. that is great to hear! i love making them :) i have to admit, i did not plan to make an audio-blog, it just kinda happened. but the truth is – i love recording (e.g. audiobooks) and there is a part of me, which never really accepted that i quit the radio…

picking up the story from the “about me” page…
….i also really wanted to work in the radio. a late-night storytelling/music show preferably. i mean – who would not want that? a perfect marriage of the introvert and the social exhibitionist in me. while studying in warsaw i went to my – back then – favourite radio-station’s open day. polish radio programme III seemed like a dream, unreal and definitely out of reach. i grew up listening to it with my parents, then at the beginning of my teenage time. it was this radio-station, which brought me grunge, having me sitting breathless in front of the speakers… and suddenly years went by in a second and i was there. inside the building. witnessing the atmospheric concert-hall, glass-walls between the news-room and the technician, the microphones and turn-tables. the guy in the studio asked the visitors – “would anybody like to record a short sample of their voice, just to see how it feels?” oh, you bet i did. my whole body was shaking, but – heavens above! – i made it to the other side of the glass wall, sat in front of the microphone… it felt blissful. it felt RIGHT. ten seconds felt like years. phantasy having a feast, spinning all the scenarios i never dared to dream of…
he told me “you should come back here one day”. it took me less than a year to get an internship there. i spent three months job-shadowing people in reportage team, news department (getting up before 4am in winter in poland – that’s a hard one!) and then – yes, also in my favourite music show…
i have to admit this short affair with the media was rather disillusioning though. but i still remember the joy when friends would call me, saying “i heard you on the radio! now haven’t i?”

i am happy to be playing with audio and voice more and more. and start sharing it. a part of me has always been missing it. now it looks like i’m finding a way (or a way is finding me).
what secret dreams do you still have? what wants to get out to the open? maybe it knows a way?

this time an audio of crickets, from the beskids mountains on a summer night…

third recording – 14. august 2014 – babia góra, poland

babia

 

 

this one has been taken hiking up the highest peak of beskids, on the polish-slovak boarder, on a sunny summer day. you can certainly hear me walking up the mountain… but you can also hear the beautiful birds and rivers.

this time the recording is in english….

 

 

a word to the parts:

– “territory one” is searching for the definition

 

 

 

– “territory two” is on how territory is created based on our values. it is the first social metaphor* i present here.

 

 

 

– “territory three” is a short and sweet one on the pain of coming up with new insights

 

* social metaphors
here i work with both, the dictionary understanding of a metaphor (a metaphor as a phrase that describes a subject by asserting that it is, on some point of comparison, the same as another otherwise unrelated object) as well a situation, in which one incident triggers an exploration of what’s behind and on the meta level, and so helps one understand a broader context, also work through challenges in a creative and non-linear way.

second recording – 29. may 2014 – santander, spain

 

santander

 

this one, again in polish, is about strength. the strength you find in yourself, when others tell you: do not do it, it is not worth it, it will not work out. and you do not listen to them, but try it instead.

i am one who will always rather test and prototype. i just HAVE TO find out “what would happen, if”. i could not settle for “it probably would not have worked out”. i know no-one knows for sure. and i let my curiosity lead me. and yes, it does come at a price. i would never say it doesn’t. but this price i am willing to pay. for i always see a beauty in where it gets me. one i would not like to miss.

 

 

first recording – 28. may 2014 – santander, spain

 atlantyk

 

jogging at the atlantic coast, out of breath, with wind in my hair and sandy dunes under feet, i started recording the stories i have been rehearsing in my head for so long. i know all of them already, so i guess i was rehearsing them for you : ) here we go…

the first and second recordings are in polish, the third one is in english.

 

 

(the short story in the first one, for non-polish speakers, is on how i was not born where i was meant to lead my life. for so many reasons.)

first post.

i am starting this blog, because despite 15 years in the business of supporting team-work, deep dialogue and transformation i still get perplex by the question “who is your typical customer?”. i just recently realised that i have maybe been searching for the answer in the wrong places. seems like for me is not a sector, a type of company or a position in organisational hierarchy. it is rather the WHO, then the WHAT, relating to a complete person. i am best in working with brave people, curious ones, committed to what they do, who are tempted to go new ways and experiment, taking the risk of failing at points along the way.
my experience shows they do not “grow” certain places, but are distributed all over – in start-ups, large corporations, family businesses, networks of professionals or coincidental coffee places. so there is no one place you would go to, if you wanted to meet them. and yes, they are a gem to find. i think – to a certain extend so am i. i never worked in a large company and never belonged to any formal association of professionals. this makes me difficult to find. still, i am an entrepreneur through and through, with two companies in two countries and a couple of communities i am an active member of, and a strong international network. i know people appreciate my presence and work, when they get a chance to meet me in real life. but to a certain extend – i have to admit – i was keeping myself an offline secret. now i want to be easier to find, because i deeply wish to work more with the people and in settings, where i can put my true best into action. it is time to get out of the closet. time to get out into the world.

 

this blog is created with you in mind: people with whom and for whom i want to work, colleagues, fellow makers & social activists, other fellow humans, captivated by reflecting about the world we create.