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Developing Resource Metaphors

17th May 2010 by Marian Way in Metaphor

Practice Group Report

Our topic this month was Developing Resource Metaphors and we started with a discussion about what is a resource, concluding that anything could be a resource, depending on how it is used / perceived. Next we looked at how to develop a resource metaphor, including finding the source of the resource and discovering the effects of knowing that. The group worked in threes with a facilitator, client and observer in each group, which took most of the evening, with time for a just a mini-debrief at the end.

Some ‘client’ learnings were:

that I have got resources
that I often use cliches, which can be developed into metaphors
that I think differently from the way I thought I thought
how powerful it can be to take the time to develop personal resources in this way

And as facilitators, learnings were:

that asking ‘where does x come from’ repeatedly is different from modelling a sequence
that sometimes a client’s metaphors can shift dramatically
that I need to stop writing notes and have more of a conversation
focussing on a certain aspect of facilitation like this, reminds me to keep an eye on it when I am facilitating my clients
I sometimes lose the flow when I am in a practice environment

These last two comments led to a brief discussion about whether it is better to have a topic for the evening or just to come together to practice facilitating desired outcomes. We agreed that a bit of both is good.

Image by Ben Kerckx from Pixabay

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About Marian Way

A highly skilled facilitator and trainer, Marian, who founded Clean Learning in 2001, has developed and delivered training across the world. She is the author of Clean Approaches for Coaches, co-author, with James Lawley, of Insights in Space and co-author, with Caitlin Walker, of So you want to be… #DramaFree.

Marian is an expert Clean facilitator, an adept modeller, a programme writer and an inspirational trainer. She has a natural ability to model existing structures, find the connections between them and design new ways for people to learn. Marian was a leading innovator within the Weight Watchers organisation, which included developing the “points” strategy, a local idea that went on to become a global innovation. She is a director of both Clean Learning and Training Attention CIC, world leaders in clean applications for corporate, educational and community development. She designs our programmes and workbooks, leads workshops and teaches on all our courses. She’s trained people in Great Britain, Russia, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Japan and the USA. Marian is also a recognised Clean Assessor.

Developing Resource Metaphors

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