CORE Journal: The Circle
At the beginning of most if not all of my sessions (Webinars, facilitated work sessions, trainings) I go around and ask each individual the question “What do you want to get out of this session?” I ask for 3 things. The last being something personal. For them. At the end I go back and ask everyone to choose only one thing.
This exercise does 3 things; It includes everyone, it gives me an idea of what they want to get out of it and finally it shows me what is really important to . them. And finally was able to “Set the Circle.”
This is an example of setting a container for work session. But there are larger containers for projects and for entire brands. In this post I am going to explain how I see and use the world “Circle.”
What is it?
I use the term “Circle” to signify both the practical setting of the agenda for a works session in an inclusive circular fashion and also in a broader sense to signify the energy that you have to hold to guide a project, team or company in a specific direction.
For me there is both the event “The Circle” (A meeting or work session) and the larger context such as the brand “The Circle.” Both required similar mechanics to set and to hold. Both require the inclusion of the people who are going to be creating and maintaining the session or brand together.
How do I set it?
The fundamental mechanic for setting a strong circle is having everyone be heard. It’s easy (and often) that leaders exclude their people in the setting of small and large agenda for their ideas, products and companies. This leads to challenges in execution. One of the biggest challenges is lack of alignment which leads to waisted efforts. Misalignment often is based on miscommunication. But often enough it’s based on disagreement and under-minding. If your tribe doesn’t agree they will make sure it’s felt if not also heard.
In 20th business management we dealt with this by using hierarchy. Orders trickle down from someone above to someone below. The person below knowing and agreeing that they must comply with the orders. In both entrepreneurship and the fast paced business environment that we are currently this is easier said than done. Creative and entrepreneurial companies are notoriously challenged by lack of direction. Unless lead by a strong visionary leader who makes it super clear what the direction is and commands the loyalty of her people to execute.
Since the latter is rare (Though seen often in mentions of companies like Apple, Amazon and Facebook.) the demand for ways to align vision with execution by everyday leaders is high. It’s their holy grail.
Alignment on vision and direction becomes an exercise in powerful circle setting. When it comes to the larger container of “vision” or a brand or company. The CORE Discovery process is “The Circle.” The Brand Attributes Exercise alone sets clear boundaries as to what the company means. What you do, for whom, how and with what results.
How do you maintain a circle?
There are several ways to maintain containers but the first thing to talk about is closing a circle. In a work session you can close it by confirming “what did you get out of this session?” The goal is to see if it matched with what they said they wanted to get out of it. That is how I close my sessions. For a larger container such as a project or brand it’s more complicated. I will share 2 ways I do it. One is by making a tangible manifestation of the strategy. Eg. Creating a deliverable. Stylescapes are a good example of this. They provide a tangible “Close” for what brand attributes mean and set up the direction for what is next on the project. They are a bridge.
An other way to maintain the container is using sprints. This would require it’s own post. The basics of sprints is that you set up a sequence of containers back to back. (The sprints themselves have opening and closing rituals.)
Key Takeaway
The key takeaway — for those of you who are super keen on this — is that work sessions, projects and brands all need to have a defined container to move the people and ideas forward. The reason why I use “Circle” as a metaphor (Over and over and over.) is because CORE’s main feature — it’s main reason for why it works — is this. It’s helps you include everyone in the process. It’s inclusive. It’s a Circle. Get it?
Much love,
-jc
