Principles of a great program

I’m on a plane from New York to San Francisco now and reflecting on five straight days of facilitation. This was for two separate cohorts, and after completing each one, our client said, “That was a really great group”. And we had many participants thanking us afterwards with words like, “this has had a profound impact on me”. And, “I didn’t expect this to be transformational but it was”. And my personal favourite, “I came in quite sceptical, but this was so much better than I was expecting”. Having done twelve programs with this client in the last 18 months, and many others with our other clients, what I find intriguing is that we keep hearing similar reactions after every cohort. More accurately, we hear this after every cohort that follows some essential design elements. It makes me wonder whether we can pretty much guarantee a “great group” experience and profound individual impacts with any group we’re invited to partner with. One of our client’s hypothesised that we’re probably getting the easier participants; the highest potentials and most open-minded ones. That it would probably be different if we were getting the difficult ones; the cranky and cynical leaders. I found myself pushing back on this, suggesting that we would get these outcomes with any group, because there’s something fundamentally human about what we’re doing in these programs. Put another way, there are some core needs that we’re fulfilling because of how we run these programs. Not yet completely convinced of my own thinking on this, I’ve spent some time capturing a hypothesis on the essentials of what good development looks like, when we get the opportunity to do it really well. When we have the privilege of designing something with the right amount of time and space. Below I’ve started describing 7 essential principles of good development. With a view that when we get all of these right, we will almost always get the positive transformational outcomes I saw again this week. Which of course begs the question, if this is true, why couldn’t these be the essential principles of good work? Not just good development programs!

1. Invite stories. Personal stories from people about themselves. When we create the space and encouragement for this, something remarkable happens. People crave and cherish it. They open up different parts of their humanity, and they invite deep connections with people they didn’t previously know. It also creates a level of psychological safety that unlocks so much value for the remainder of the time we have together. And, like anything, it can be done poorly. It needs the second principle…
2. Give just enough structure. Not too much, and not too little. Just enough. This takes both discipline and restraint, along with some experimentation. The way we provide people with a map and some well-thought-through questions definitely helps the story sharing experience to start, flow and close well. And, this principle applies much more broadly. Just enough of the right frameworks for sense-making, and just enough structure in the days to keep us on track but also allow for flex. There’s an art and science to this that I think we do particularly well, but it requires something really unfamiliar for most leaders these days…
3. Slow down. More accurately the principle here is around modifying and regulating the pace. But the pace we so often sacrifice is the slower, more spacious time. It’s frightening to me how many vital conversations are had and decisions made in packed agendas with small windows of time. This is classic system one and two stuff. We have become so optimised for system 1 fast thinking, that we’re forgetting how to use vast sections of our brains. As one of our favourite CEOs likes to say, “my leaders are too busy to do their jobs”. When we design space into an experience, particularly nearer to the start and end of the days, we see better thinking, braver conversations, and richer experiences for everyone. It’s related to but slightly different to this next principle…
4. Engage more brain. I say this to also mean more emotion (heart) and courage (guts). We achieve so much more cognitive and emotional range from people when we actively do things to get people using more of their brain. This applies to how we deliver content, using a combination of science, stories, art and images. Also to how we set-up sessions with tasks, questions or other stimulus that engages a combination of creative, emotional and rational thinking. Personally, I wonder if we’re only just scratching the surface on this one. My recent travels through Italy, having been exposed to the extraordinary beauty and awe of ancient creations has caused me to think much more about the art + science opportunity in all of our work. I also wonder whether it can cause a big step towards one of our core values, amplifying the voices of many…
5. Equalise contributions. Meaning, when we do our best work with groups of people, it’s when we create a more equal balance of contributions. This doesn’t have to mean equal in every instance, because we also respect different personality styles wanting more or less airtime. It does mean intentionally designing for more equal contributions across the group, which includes variations in format to allow for multiple group sizes, along with individual reflection time. It also has us become more deliberate about drawing in the peripheral voices; modelling this so as to become more normal beyond our time with a group, which relates to the next principle around helping people to learn…
6. Let people struggle through. Actually design for some level of difficulty, because that’s how people learn best. Sometimes it’s right to make an idea simple, digestible, and cleanly packaged up to take away and remember. But when wrestling with tricky paradoxical ideas, we learn best when we’re given the space and just enough structure and support to struggle through it. This is one thing that we do better than most, and we need to keep refining this craft because it’s bloody hard and comes with a fair degree of risk. There is a much safer path, and it’s exactly the right path to staying exactly where many people are – not learning!
7. Laugh. If we can help people to laugh while they’re figuring things out, it’s good on so many levels. Whether it’s learning a new concept, problem solving or future creating, a little bit of laughter goes a long way. Two reasons this matters. Firstly, there is a growing body of evidence around the science of play and fun, creating positive impacts on productivity, engagement and connection. Secondly, and just as importantly… I like laughing! And I’m pretty sure most of you like laughing too. So, what’s wrong with having fun while we do serious work? Herb Kelleher, the legendary founder of Southwest Airlines, was once asked at a packed investor meeting why they have as their first company value, “Have Fun”. Especially given that they exist in a highly regulated industry. Herb responded by asking people in the room to raise their hands if they like having fun, to which almost everyone responded by raising their hands. Then he said, “isn’t that a good enough reason?”.

What do you think? Let me know here.