RealityCharting e-book .pdf - SERC Home Page

Facilitation Skills
Let the storyteller go until you hear some causes. As you hear the
causes, write them down. As long as causes are coming from the story,
let it continue; but if the story digresses to discussion of people, places,
and things as a function of time, stop it. Put the causes on a Realitychart
and ask the team to help you put them in order using why and “caused
by.” When you get all of the causes placed, pick one at the end of a chain,
and ask the storyteller, “Why this cause” Continue this process until you
run out of causes.
Is fostering goodwill worth it
Fostering goodwill may seem like an extra step not worth taking, but
problem solving is a continuous part of doing business and anything to
promote goodwill is worthwhile. Always send a copy of the final report to
everyone who helped in the problem-solving process and thank them for
their help. Give special thanks for extraordinary help. Celebrate all major
successes by letting everyone know the value added by the solutions. If
you had a problem that had occurred ten times over the past five years
and it cost $10,000 for each failure, calculate the savings that the solution
is going to create and publish it to the broadest audience you can.
Facilitating Groups
The RealityCharting problem-solving process is most effective when
used in a group. Facilitating a group to find effective solutions can be
challenging, but it is very rewarding when you arrive at corrective actions
without conflict and argument.
The best advice I can give for anyone engaged in group facilitation of
the RealityCharting process is to have faith in the process. It will work if you
just follow the first three steps: define the problem, create a Realitychart,
and identify effective solutions. Within each success, we always have
small failures, such as someone who doesn’t want to participate or the
proverbial storyteller who won’t quit talking, but if you are reflective, you
will learn from each incident and get better with time.
With each new incident, you will be presented with the vast collection
of human perspectives. Wisdom will lead you to better understand the
notion that there is no such thing as one right answer, but because there
is an infinite set of causes, you can always find an effective solution.
173