business planning

Post-it notes are great!

Post-it notes (and index cards) on a wall sometimes get a bad rap as a facilitation method. It’s not deserved if they’re facilitated properly using a process such as the Technology of Participation (ToP) Consensus Method, which follows patterns of

“If we hadn’t done that, I couldn’t have done this.”

“That” was a Historical Scan activity; “this” was goal setting during a strategic planning session. The individual who said this pointed to the wall chart showing four decades of their nonprofit organization’s history and said that knowing their history helped

Structure and flexibility in strategic planning

Facilitating strategic planning with nonprofit and corporate organizations is a large part of my business. At the heart of my strategic planning approach is the Technology of Participation (ToPTM)’s participatory strategic planning methodology. ICA Associates in Toronto, Canada taught me

Saying yes or no. Passion, Purpose, Performance, Profit – a balancing act!

Self-employed facilitators, trainers, and consultants work with great passion and a strong belief in the benefits they can bring to individuals, organizations, and communities. At the same time, we must remember we run businesses and need to make money. Occasionally,