Gurteen Knowledge

The kind of conversation I’m

interested in is one in which you start with a

willingness to emerge a slightly different

person.

Theodore ZeldinConversation

Theodore in an Oxford Historian

Gurteen Knowledge

The Gurteen The Gurteen KnowledgeKnowledge

CaféCafé

The birth of the The birth of the Gurteen Knowledge Gurteen Knowledge CaféCafé

London, September 2002

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Begin with the end in mindBegin with the end in mind

• To teach you about Gurteen Knowledge Cafes and how to run them

• Raise awareness of the role of conversation in your organizational lives

• Encourage you to create more opportunities in your organization for creative conversation

Gurteen Knowledge

AgendaAgenda

• 09:00 – 09:30 Business is a Conversation (30 mins)• 09:30 – 10:00 Knowledge Café Process (30 mins)• 10:00 – 10:15 Conversation + Q&A (15 mins)• 10:15 – 10:30 Coffee (15 mins)• 10:30 – 11:30 Knowledge Cafe (60 mins)• 11:30 – 12:00 Knowledge Circle (30 mins)

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Business is a ConversationBusiness is a Conversation

Business is a conversationBusiness is a conversation

Business is a conversation because the defining work of business is

conversation - literally.

And 'knowledge workers' are simply those people whose job consists of having interesting conversations.

David WeinbergerThe Cluetrain Manifesto

• Conversation is central to all that we do

• Its our job!

Conversation is a meeting of mindsConversation is a meeting of minds

Conversation is a meeting of minds with different memories and habits.

When minds meet, they don't just exchange facts: they transform them,

reshape them, draw different implications from them, engage in

new trains of thought.

Conversation doesn't just reshuffle the cards: it creates new cards.

Theodore ZeldinConversation

• Theodore in an Oxford Historian

• Conversation is creative

KM is about understandingKM is about understanding

For all our knowledge, we have no idea what we're talking about.

We don't understand what's going on in our business, our market, and our world.

KM shouldn’t be about helping us to know more. It should be about helping us

to understand.

So, how do we understand things? It's through stories that we understand how

the world works.

David Weinberger, The Cluetrain Manifesto

• Its about understanding & sense making

• Through conversation & storytelling

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Conversation is dialogueConversation is dialogue

The kind of conversation I’m interested in is one in which you

start with a willingness to emerge a slightly different

person.

Theodore ZeldinConversation

Theodore in an Oxford Historian

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Principles of DialoguePrinciples of Dialogue

• Suspend assumptions, do not judge• Observe & listen to one another• Welcome differences & explore them• Allow taboo subjects to be raised safely• Listen to your inner voice• Slow the discussion• Search for the underlying meaning

Dialogue is based on the work of the physicist

David Bohm

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SummarySummary

• Business is a conversation

• Conversation is creative

• Understanding is more important than knowing more

• Dialogue is the key to quality conversations

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Conversation is a learning technologyConversation is a learning technology

Conversation is the most powerful learning technology ever invented.

Conversations carry news, create meaning, foster cooperation, and spark innovation.

Encouraging open, honest conversation through work space design, setting ground

rules for conversing productively,

and baking conversation into the corporate culture spread intellectual capital, improve

cooperation, and strengthen personal relationships.

Jay Cross, Informal Learning

• Jay Cross is a champion of Informal Learning

Gurteen Knowledge

Conversation is our Conversation is our most effective KM toolmost effective KM tool

Our most effective KM tool is conversation.

The words we choose, the questions we ask, and the metaphors we use to explain ourselves, are what determine our success

in creating new knowledge

as well as sharing that knowledge with each other.

Nancy Dixon Nancy Dixon

Common Knowledge Associates

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The Gurteen Knowledge CafeThe Gurteen Knowledge Cafe

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What is a Gurteen Knowledge Café?What is a Gurteen Knowledge Café?

• A Gurteen Knowledge Café brings a group of people together to have an open, creative conversation on a topic of mutual interest to surface their collective knowledge, to share ideas and to gain a deeper understanding of the issues involved.

• Ultimately leading to action in the form of better decision making and innovation and thus tangible outcomes.

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The Gurteen Knowledge Café is fundamentally different to other forms of knowledge café or the World café.

• No table hosts or leaders• No reporting back• No capture of outcomes• No group summarisation• Less controlled

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Principles of the Gurteen Knowledge Principles of the Gurteen Knowledge CafeCafe

• Relaxed, non-threatening, open conversation• As close to a pub or dinner conversation as possible• No manipulation of people; no hidden agendas• Everyone is equal; no table leaders; no reporting back• No one is forced to do anything – OK to just listen• Trust people to talk about what is important to them• OK to go off-topic – that’s what good conversations do• No group summarization or attempt to reach consensus• No capture of outcomes; no flip charts in the room• Principal outcome: what people take away in their heads

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What are the outcomes?What are the outcomes?

• Real outcomes are what you take away in your head– A deeper understanding of the issues discussed– A deeper insight into other people’s perspectives– A better appreciation of your own point of view– Engagement with the subject– Better relationships– Better position to make more informed decisions

and to take action!• Intangible outcomes but valuable nevertheless

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The ProcessThe Process

• Set the context – normally a speaker• An open-ended trigger question• Small group conversations at tables• Whole group conversation in a circle• Share actionable insights

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Sharing actionable insightsSharing actionable insights

• Pass a talking-stick around the circle• When you receive it - share an actionable-

insight from the café• A thought, an idea, an insight, something

learnt – preferably an action• OK to pass

Recording OutcomesRecording Outcomes

The Gurteen Knowledge Café is best used when outcomes do not need to

be captured or are captured as part of a larger process.

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Recording OutcomesRecording Outcomes

• Café is about the transfer of tacit knowledge – not about making tacit knowledge explicit!

• Recording group outcomes can free people from a sense of individual responsibility

• Recording can stifle and disrupt conversation• Café often best as part of a larger process

• Participants should not record group notes• OK for personal notes

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Recording OutcomesRecording Outcomes

• Why?– That’s what we always do!– As a record– To share with others who were not there– To justify to boss– For a good business purpose

• If nothing will be done with the record then don’t capture it!

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Ideas for recording outcomesIdeas for recording outcomes

• Appoint an external person to take notes– Direct capture to laptop!

• Capture 1 item from each person & collate• Encourage people to blog the session after

the event

• Avoid audio or video capture

Applications of the CaféApplications of the Café

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Reasons you might you use the CaféReasons you might you use the Café

• Alternative to traditional presentation• Alternative to an after-action-review• Surface hidden problems & opportunities• Encourage knowledge sharing & informal learning• Spark action• Improve decision making and innovation• Address disengagement and lack of voice• Help people make sense of the world• Help people feel ownership of things

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Café ApplicationsCafé Applications

• As a concluding session to a workshop or conference

• As part of a merger• Expert talks• To transfer knowledge from retiring workers• Management training• To surface problems and issues• To surface ideas for an initiative

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Conversation/QuestionsConversation/Questions

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Lets run a Knowledge CafeLets run a Knowledge Cafe

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Café ConversationCafé Conversation

What is the role of conversation in our organization and how do we encourage it?

• What is your actionable insight that you will share at the end of the Café?

Gurteen Knowledge

David GURTEEN Gurteen Knowledge Fleet, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 7774 178 650 Email: david.gurteen@gurteen.com

www.gurteen.comwww.gurteen.com

Gurteen Knowledge

LicenceLicence

• You may use these slides under the following Creative Commons Licence

• Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

• http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/uk/