Finding New Ground
A facilitated process between people in a complex, stuck problem who have become disconnected and need each other to find surprising new ground together.
Each person leaves having been able to advocate for their views, been listened to with respect, learned from others by listening to them, and can leave feeling their integrity is intact in supporting the decision. They feel whole, real and at peace with themselves. They have found new ground together.
Consensus seeking is about inclusion, not exclusion.
Another resource for getting the flavor of the process is this series of interviews with Jeff’s mentor Bob Chadwick: https://nicaskew.com/library/consensus/ and Jeff’s experience working with an African village on what they thought was impossible.
What’s our offer?
… a conversation and recording process that ensures this community of diverse stakeholders comes to a 100% consensus.
The outcome we stand by is that your community of players, who need each other to create results in the world, will be stronger in managing their differences and thriving together.
We offer a conversation and recording process that ensures this community of diverse stakeholders comes to a 100% consensus. Consensus is when all agree 100% to a decision, freely making that choice, being committed to act on it and then … acting on it!
Our commitment is that all participants go through these layers of conversation, listening and recording and then genuinely surprise and stimulate themselves by Finding New Ground. This new ground is engaging and motivating to moving forward for each participant, and the whole community, and each person feels included and respected.
The unique elements of our process are:
Preparatory standard interviews with key players
Our facilitators and hosts are coaches who model working with inclusion and diversity by welcoming volunteer participants as partners in the facilitation roles
By the end of the process there are enough practiced and experienced hosts and recorders for the community to continue to collaborate on their tough ongoing future conversations after we have finished our assignment.
We provide clear, reliable and safe structure and support for participants to be successful hosts and recorders of their critical conversations
We provide safe and structured stages and processes to explore all possibilities of how the current situation may play out into the future.
We educate participants to have an embodied experience, individually and collectively, of playing out their scenario, constantly balancing the possibilities of the worst outcome and the best outcome.
When participants experience these insights their individual and collective creativity is triggered to collectively find new ground that may never have been a possibility before
We ensure that newly agreed behaviours, actions and strategies are operationalised by key actors and responsible parties and that ongoing progress on agreements is transparent and open to all participants and the broader community
We have processes where participants co-create their own documentation and summaries where every participant's voice is honoured and respected.
Who are our clients?
Our clients are the stewards and sponsors of complex, fraught, inter organisational and interpersonal dynamics in a specific geographic region or location involving interactions with human, natural and cultural ecosystems. These dynamics are characterised by stuckness, frustration, anger, lack of progress, confusion, draining energy and/or conflict. The stewards and sponsors of these systems have been trying for many years to find effective and sustained agreement and consensus amongst a diverse network of stakeholders operating in that region or location. These players could include: - natural resource managers, indigenous people, land developers, farmers, water managers, local, state and national government agencies, industry bodies, environmental groups, activists, residents, property owners, fishery managers, foresters, etc
Who are we?
We are a team of experienced practitioners dedicated to structures of deep listening and learning when times get tough. We design and facilitate activities and processes to navigate the chaos and friction of complex human systems. We are a committed and dedicated project team offering commercial services to clients as part of the Grove community of practice. We are particularly committed in our own learning and practice to engaging with challenges and problems that have been stuck for a long time and haven’t been able to progress effectively by other interventions. We are committed to embody a new way of being, to step boldly into the unknown, to map the path as we walk it with our partners and clients.
We wish to honour the traditions of many indigenous people’s ways of being from around the world in dealing with these complex challenges. We also wish to acknowledge our mentor Jeff Goebel and his mentor Bob Chadwick who wrote the book Finding New Ground: Beyond Conflict to Consensus
What do we stand for?
We respectfully and intentionally walk our paths on this earth guided by nature’s way. We aim to connect deeply with the land and listen deeply through heart centred enquiry. As we walk with you during this process, we hold space for transformative solutions to emerge at your pace. We invite you to be present and grounded as we navigate these interconnected processes and allow for both expected and unexpected ways of being in conversation with each other and the land.
New ground is found via changes in the heart in addition to new perspectives in the head.
Our first meeting with you
Our first meetings with you can model and demonstrate our process by starting with the interview questions. You can feel in your body the process of Finding New Ground.
Contact: hello@thegrove.net.au
