“The Art and Discipline of Pure-Form Thinking” by Pat McNellis Shooting down ideas seems to have replaced Baseball as “America’s favorite pastime.” Let’s face it…we’re good at it. It’s something we’ve learned to do since we were kids. Well, as kids, we were often told “don’t do that” or “that’s a dumb idea.” Maybe not [...]
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What To Do When Your Group Size Is More Than Ideal
You’ll recall from your Compression Planning Institute that we suggest you work with smaller groups when getting started. Large groups have their own unique dynamics and challenges and can be tough to deal with while you are still getting grounded in the basics. Once you get comfortable with your CP design and facilitation skills, you [...]
Brainstorming Series: Laying the Foundation for Rich Ideas
There are three “foundational aspects” that need to be present to have a good ideation session in Compression Planning. You must have the right players present. This seems obvious but it often isn’t. If you have a need for an ideation session with the Marketing Department, most sessions will be made up of “marketing people.” [...]
Brainstorming Series: Why You Should Never Brainstorm
When I say Brainstorming, people already have a concept of what I am talking about. “Labels” allow us to quickly understand a new concept and make it immediately relevant. You’ve probably participated in many idea generation sessions you’d call “Brainstorming.” The process for generating and developing ideas in Compression Planning is called “Churning” – like [...]
Effectively Leading Groups: The Invisible Facilitator
Someone observed recently that I was invisible as a facilitator in their session. I appreciated the comment because it told me I was doing my job – that is, being helpful without intruding. That started me thinking about how often facilitators get into the fun of Compression Planning and forget the client’s agenda. Our job [...]
Do You Need To Be ‘Content Neutral’ To Be An Effective Facilitator?
Turns out you CAN facilitate your own Topic! By Pat McNellis For years there has been an “Urban Legend” going around that you shouldn’t facilitate your own topic. You need someone without a vested interest in the subject matter. Hogwash…in 9 out of 10 cases. It’s not a matter of can, it’s a matter [...]
How Acroynms Can Derail Decision Making
XYZ…PDQ Acronyms…they start at such an early age and are a part of our culture – personal and professional. Everyone faces acronyms. Absolutely everyone. You can count on it. And they can drive members of your Compression Planning® (CP) sessions nuts. Most CP sessions have people from many disciplines including both inside and outside the [...]
PRO / CON Template – Don’t Miss Your Best Decision Making
Using the Compression Planning PRO/CON Template to aid in Decision Making One of my favorite Compression Planning formations is the one where you identify the Pros and the Cons of options. I’ve used this simple template in many ways in my life – both personally and professionally. It’s a simple but powerful way to make [...]
Compression Planning Pinning for Dummies: The book that was never written
Saving time by paying attention to the 101 things Okay, before I sat down to write this, I went to Amazon to make sure someone didn’t already beat me to the punch. I mean, no sense in rewriting something so worthy of rolling your eyes if someone else already wrote it! I entered “for dummies [...]