It has been quite a whirlwind of a weekend, between organizing a trip to Venice and going on an epic hike/walk today to a Basilica overlooking the entire area surrounding Bologna.
I wanted to first share an important part of my previous academic week by posting what I wrote for the official IPSI blog. Each of us is asked to write a blog post throughout our tenure here to note what stood out for us during our lessons. I decided to write about our Facilitation Training through two brilliant members of Search for Common Ground-- Micahel Shipler and Rajendra Mulmi.Here is the post for your proper enjoyment!
http://ipsinstitute.org/category/bologna-2013/
Facilitation Training: The Art of Perception
By Lauren Hershey, USA, 6/21/2013
Any
avowed art aficionado has, at some point, viewed the famous perceptual
illusion of the “Young Girl-Old Woman” and has more naturally seen one
image over the other. Personally, it doesn’t matter how many times I
view the illusion; on every occasion, I immediately see the old woman
and need someone near me to specifically point out where the young girl
comes into the picture.
This was the manner in which our mentors from Search for Common Ground,
Michael Shipler and Rajendra Mulmi, began our facilitation training
this past Wednesday. Despite introducing this image early in the morning
when some of us were still bleary-eyed from a lack of proper
caffeination, Michael and Rajendra immediately acquired the rapt
attention of the room. We were all somewhat entertained and perplexed at
the illusion before us, wanting to make sense of the oddity.
Another
question of perception was introduced, as Rajendra took a sheets of
paper with a number on it, placed it on the floor and asked candidly,
“Is it a 6 or a 9? Which is right?”
Due
to my spot on the back-right side of the room, my mind immediately
stated, “9. It is a 9...” before any other mental gears began turning.
Numerous peers of mine shouted out “6...” and some eagerly “9...” but
then the room became silent for a moment as the visual illusion began to
sink in.
Rajendra
cracked a half-smile and explained that depending on where you stand,
this number-- this glyph-- could be either and both 6&9. “But,” he
continued, “what’s important is how you bring the two together to merge
understanding from both sides.”
These
visual illusions transformed into a poignant metaphor for the process
of facilitating and detailed the diverse perceptions that occur within facilitated dialogue.
Michael
& Rajendra introduced the concept of knowing the facilitated ‘self’
and the facilitated ‘other’, which led to the questions:
-
How does one reconcile and remove themselves from their personal
biases, triggers, and core opinions in order to more objectively listen
to the full concerns of the parties they are helping?
-
Is it possible to reach a place of pure objectivity, of becoming
dispassionate or removed from a deep issue in order to best draw out the
interests of the parties or group at hand?
-
What role do you play as facilitator? Do you question consistently and
play ‘devil’s advocate’ or listen attentively and comment only when you
notice an extreme behavior begin to emerge within the dynamic?
- What is the best way to approach and frame the issues at hand?
-
How will the ‘other’ view you-- what will their perceptions (no matter
how illusory) be of you as a facilitator? Are you credible, compelling,
and trustworthy?
Like
the images shown to us upon arriving that morning, perception proved to
be the key factor is answering any of these vital questions. In
facilitation, your self-perception and the keen awareness of how others
perceive you becomes essential to initiating the facilitative process,
to getting to know the parties in conflict, and in building trust
between them and the facilitator.
Rajendra
& Michael demonstrated this intricate lesson through another social
exercise. “Close your eyes. We are coming around to put a colored
sticker on your forehead.” After getting a round sticker stuck onto the
middle of my forehead, I opened my eyes and saw that my peers had one of
three stickers--yellow, green, or red-- placed on their own foreheads.
Our mentors handed out a small slip of paper detailing the instructions
of the exercise and told everyone not to share what the paper said with
anyone else.
Mine
read, “Seek out the yellows and try to speak to them for as long as
possible, say hi to the greens, and do not approach the reds. If they
speak to you, ignore them.”
We
were given five minutes and walked around, interacting with everyone...
well, mostly everyone. I felt terrible ignoring those of my peers with
red dots on their heads, so I gave an awkward wave and smile as an
acknowledgment but did not verbally say hello and proceeded to locate as
many yellows as possible.
At
the end of the exercise, Michael and Rajendra asked us to reflect on
what we witnessed occur. They passed the microphone to
members of each sticker color and asked them what color they perceived
themselves to be and why. Some people were spot on with their colors,
saying
things like “I thought I was red because when I would approach people to
say hello, they would physically turn their backs to me or would avert
my gaze. I kept trying but eventually felt really sad and isolated and
just sat down.”Some others thought they were in a different
category than they actually were (which elicited some giggling from the
group).
The
yellows said that they felt really strange just talking to other people
with yellow dots on their forehead, but they were happy to belong to a
group, to at least experience a sense of closeness to some others. The greens
felt like wallflowers, like “that kid who is invited to the party but then
isn’t talked to by anyone there.” They received ambiguous messages
that prevented them from really forming any conversations-- and
consequently-- relationships with others.
We
all discussed this perception strata that happened in the room, a fake
construct that emerged from a single slip of paper-- and then applied it
to societal relations. The exercise provided clarity on social
interactions within societal bounds, the kinds of subtle discrimination
and biases we carry out in our day to day interactions with others. How
many times do we turn away from the ‘red dot’ people and
subconsciously place them in an out-group?
As effective facilitators, it proves paramount to recall these lessons of the ‘facilitated other and self’ and remember to be as impartial and objective as possible with others-- to try and see the young girl and the old woman, to visualize merging the 6 and the 9. Our perceptions very much shape the contents of our reality, especially when we try to truly understand the essence of others.
************
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