DYNAMIC FACILITATION: LARGE-SCALE APPLICATIONS...
THE CREATIVE INSIGHT COUNCIL
What is the purpose of a “Creative Insight Council”?
A Creative Insight Council helps communities address difficult issues creatively, to move beyond polarization and conflict. By eliciting creative possibilities and specific plans that take all perspectives into account, it helps people build trust and find a shared way forward.
What does a “Creative Insight Council” look like?
In a Creative Insight Council, a diverse microcosm of the community comes together to creatively explore a difficult issue, with each person contributing their own perspective to the larger whole. The Creative Insight Council can be composed of a purely random sample, a stratified random sample, or people chosen intentionally to reflect the broad diversity of the larger community. It can be sponsored by a non-profit organization, a coalition of community groups, or a local government agency.
How does a “Creative Insight Council” work?
Key to the process is the use of Dynamic Facilitation, designed to tap the power of diverse perspectives and heart-felt passion, develop a systemic appreciation of the issue, and generate a profound sense of shared purpose. The outcome often includes a reframing of the original topic, as well as breakthrough possibilities for action. Afterward, the Council shares the story of their journey with the larger community. Two basic types of Creative Insight Council (CIC) are:
- Advisory: where the microcosm reports back to the leaders or organizers of the community.
- Community: where the microcosm reports back to the community members.
Creative Insight Councils help people grow toward a more systemic understanding of the issue, by listening deeply to the various perspectives reflected in the group. As needed, Creative Insight Council can draw upon the specialized knowledge of experts, stakeholders or leaders. However, instead of “lecturing,” these experts present their views within the context of a dynamically facilitated conversation.
How is a Creative Insight Council different from a Wisdom Council?
Creative Insight Councils are similar to Wisdom Councils in that they both use Dynamic Facilitation with a microcosm of people to address key issues and bring back shared creative understandings. However, the Creative Insight Council comes together to work on a specific topic for a limited amount of time, while Wisdom Councils are part of a larger, recurring process and select their own issues to work on. These two processes are complementary: for example a Wisdom Council could identify a particular issue that requires more study and propose that a Creative Insight Council be convened to explore that issue in more depth.
Learn more about this process by:
- Reading an article on it entitled, “How Citizen Participation Can Solve Impossible Problems”
- Listening to a 60-minute conference call featuring Dr. Manfred Hellrigl sharing his experiences with the Creative Insight Council to address community issues in Austria
- Calling us at (360) 385-7118
