(* or any other organization ... )
The people working in an organization are its greatest asset. Together they possess an extraordinary amount of untapped knowledge throughout the organization.
The "magic duo" of CONVERSATIONS and CONNECTIONS serve to make this collective knowledge tangible and accessible. These World Café conversations enable individuals all over an organization to unleash their creative know-how and potential.
What issues would benefit from your people gathering together in conversation to discover a novel approach to your current challenges?
For thousands of years, people have gathered in a circle to hold a group discussion around a fire. Through the ages, practices how to honor each person's voice emerged from a broad spectrum of indigenous communities which are observed up to this day.
A World Café conversation celebrates this shared tradition. Envision a room full of round tables each with 4 people sitting across from one another. Imagine the energy emerging from a mindful exchange of their collective thoughts and ideas.
This is a tradition which we all share. Let's embrace this practice to discover the solutions for the wicked problems of our time together.
It's the level of attention which we give to everything we do. It makes the seemingly impossible, possible.
Imagine being bold enough to bring a group of individuals together to envision a shared future - whether it be addressing climate change, digital transformation or social inequity.
The emergent collective wisdom about these (or any other) issues will amaze you! This wisdom provides a powerful source of motivation to take action. NOW
Be inspired by the following example
Even the authors of the Agile Manifesto state that "The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is FACE-TO-FACE conversation." :-)
Bringing employees and stakeholders together in a large scale conversation not only busts silos between departments but also encourages them to co-create new solutions together. The rich spectrum of ideas which emerge from a World Café conversation is a reflection of the diversity of experience and know-how of the participants.
Take a look at a case study which successfully tapped into the collective wisdom of an entire region: https://www.worldcafe.eu/en/metropolregion-nuremberg/
World Café Europe has been experimenting with new ways to plan, design, facilitate and analyze the results of impactful World Cafés for over a decade. To date, we have had the privilege to collaborate with passionate individuals all over Europe in 21 countries and 18 languages.
With this unique online course, the co-founders of World Café Europe aim to share our know-how and insights. We aspire to empower the course participants to facilitate powerful change in their communities, organizations and businesses.
Take a look at how this interactive online experience will change the way you understand the role of dialogue to promote true change. Here's a complete overview for your inspiration.
The first English language cohort starts September 20th 2022
This causes traditional planning efforts to be unsuited to address this rapid change in a timely and effective manner.
Imagine a group of employees - ranging from 40 to 200 individuals - identifying solutions for a strategic issues for your organization with each other in real time.
The result? A rich collection of novel ideas to tackle the issue(s) in question.
After a reflection on the organization's strategic priorities, the proposed ideas can be put into action - in days, not months (or even years).
A World Café dialogue provides a nimble process to accelerate ideation for an ever changing business environment.
https://www.worldcafe.eu/en/generative/
But how can it be truly realized throughout an organization?
True agility requires effectively mobilizing people to focus on working out creative solutions for a specific task at hand. A World Café conversation brings a diverse group of individuals together and energizes this collective mobilization.
The result? Enhanced motivation, engagement and emergent innovation.
Through an exchange of diverse perspectives and ideas, the World Café process provides everyone a voice. This encourages each member of the conversation to become an integral partner and co-create original solutions.
Embracing the use of a World Café dialogue cultivates an organization's ability to THINK and ACT from an agile perspective.
Discover how this approach can make a difference to your organization's creative and innovative capacities.
How is this achieved?
By focusing the group's awareness and attention on a common issue which matters to the group. As a result, new insights and creative ideas emerge from questions, reflection and group conversation.
This power of the collective focus embodies the unique "magic" of the World Café process.
Take a look at the 7 different types of World Cafés which World Café has developed:
Eight World Cafés were held throughout the city of Dresden as part of a Festival of Conversation which was initiated by a World Café Europe team. As these conversations were being conceived, World Café Europe wanted to experiment with the World Café format and try something unusual.
The initial idea was to integrate music into the design as a kind of choir-like experience in which participants would become choir members. World Café Europe went to the Director of the University of Music Carl Maria von Weber Dresden for his advice. Since he had participated in a previous World Café which World Café Europe had designed for the cultural sector, he immediately understood the concept idea.
Photo Festspielhaus Hellerau (c) Samira Hiam Kabbara
He thought that a choir was too hierarchical for the non-hierarchical, bottom-up spirit of the World Café. Instead he recommended considering the use of Rhythmics which was developed by Emile Jacques Dalcroze in Dresden in the early 20th century. Dalcroze conceived Rhythmics as a way of teaching music via movement. After discussing the concept with Christine Straumer and Johannes Bönig, two professors of Rhythmics at the University of Music, the idea of Keturi – a World Café type which includes conversation, music, art and physical movement - was born.
Participants from all over the world experienced the prototype Keturi
People came from all over Europe as well as a few from Asia and the United States were participants of the 1st World Café European Gathering which was held in Dresden (Germany). One of the founders of the World Café, Juanita Brown was there to experience the launching of Keturi. World Café Europe named this multi-sensory World Café “Keturi” which is the proto-Indo-European word for the number 4. This new type of World Café enjoyed its premiere with an audience who literally came from all over the world.
“The World Rhythmics Café offers the possibility to incorporate more of the person into the conversation through the use of the body, arts, sound, music and silence.“
Juanita Brown, Co-Founder of The World Café
The setting for the debut of Keturi was a very special one. It was held at the Hellerau Festival Theater which was specifically designed and built in 1911 to support Dalcroze’s work and the Rhythmics movement. World Café Europe was privileged to use one of the side rooms in the Festival Theater for the Keturi premiere. These rooms are still being used for warming up and practice prior dance performances today.
What "Big Idea" informed the design of a Keturi World Café?
World Café Europe wanted to explore how the introduction of non-verbal communication – music, movement and art – would enrich the impact of the World Café. As a result, the premiere of Keturi was both an experiment and a prototype at the same time. World Café Europe entered into a creative phase which brought World Café facilitators, specialists from the Rhythmics discipline and musicians together to explore new possibilities. The music which was used was written specifically for this Keturi prototype was based on the rhythms of the human heart.
What learnings were gathered from the Keturi World Café experiment?
The participants were captivated by the experience which was definitely a repeat experience for all.
“I definitely think there is physical intelligence which we can integrate with the emotional and mental intelligence… and there is even spiritual intelligence that we can integrate….World Café has those dimensions that we can tap into.”
World Café Europe has continued to experiment with variations of this innovative form of a World Café and has been continuing to develop this approach ever since.
