We have identified 4 main processes in relation to a person’s professional growth and need of support/sharing in the workshop setting. Each process is then paired up with one or more process-structure/format. Please read on and this will become clear.
Incubating: in this phase a person or a group wants to work on something, but they are still unclear as to what this something is. We want to set up a process that opens and protects a space of subtle explorations, of careful sensing into impulses and ideas so that slowly out of non-form some kind of form (or process, or content, or structure) will arise. The incubation lets something NEW emerge and find the next steps toward development and materialization. We have found that Focusing partnerships are the best process-structure for this phase of the creative process.
Stimulating: in this phase a person, or a dyad or small group offers a stimulation for further exploration. The “stimulator” acts as an initiator and catalyst, offering a process or an inquiry to a small group of experimenters. A stimulation can be structured into two phases: an offering phase, in which the initiator provides a stimulus to the group, and an explorative phase in which the group takes time to process the stimulation and contribute further exploration. A workshop format is the best process-structure for this phase.
Collaborating: a trio or a group of four to eight people sets out to explore a process or a theme together. The collaboration can start at the incubation phase, or at a more definite stage. A mixture of focusing partnerships and group process is the best process-structure for this phase.
Documenting: in our previous MAE gathering we have found the need to document the arising insights of the processes we are engaging in, so as to be able to share these insights outside of the MAE event, taking them back to our communities. We have found that the process of documenting and journaling together actually creates new insights, giving us the opportunity to slow down and integrate what we are discovering and learning. We will ask for your creative collaboration in finding ways to introduce this mode of processing in our meeting.
