"Here is to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They are not fond of the rules and have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify them, or vilify them. But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who think they are crazy enough to change the world are the ones who do"
Apply Computers.
What is "The Evolution Lounge"
The Evolution Lounge is an innovative form of group learning that uses the environment and on-site intuition practice to create breakthrough in personal and group challenges. The uniqueness of this method is that is effectively a live training in the practice of mastering chaos and group coaching in precisely the environments that are usually not considered conducive to breakthrough thinking: airports and shopping malls, where there are stressors and plenty of chaotic disturbances. These locations would normally not be perceived as the ideal place to mine for new insights. The evolution lounge builds on ancient techniques that are recently being adopted by leading management gurus and personal development practitioners alike, such as:
Circle | Presencing | Synchronicity | Dynamic Emergent Themes | Group Coaching | Peer Learning | Action Research | Metaphor
It was developed in Germany in 2004 by Sofia Bustamante and Helga Brueggemann, has been run in a range of environments since then. The concept first made the transition from idea to reality in Dusseldorf Airport, Germany and Helga continues to run sessions there to this date.
This Evolution Lounge can, and has been applied to group and individual challenges.
SHORT TERM BENEFITS FOR INDIVIDUALS, TEAMS AND LEARNING ORGANISATIONS:
Benefit for Individuals
-Deal with immediate challenges
-Move forward with a clear action
-Reflect on complex issues
-Learn how to use your own intuition especially in the middle of chaos
-Learn how to use the invisible resources in any physical environment.
-Discover a whole new way of gaining insight for your challenges 'on the go'
Benefits for teams within any kind of organisation or network:
-All of the above and
-A key extra benefit for Learning Organisations: Stimulate the evolution of your communities of practices- the hubs of innovation within any organisation. The evolution lounge is a tool fit for the purpose of fostering healthy communities of practice. More about communities of practice at http://www.infed.org/biblio/communities_of_practice.htm
-The Evolution Lounge with added convenience: The Evolution Lounge can be carried out on the phone or in a live location near or at a distance to your place of work.
LONG-TERM BENEFITS
Inevitably any participant who attends a series of Evolution Lounge will learn a coaching and facilitative approach to supporting colleagues and peers. We have witnessed participants who are entirely new to the coaching and facilitative leadership philosophies, gain new skills and capacities to elevate the wisdom of the group. This of course is key to the innovation process of any organisation.
Any participant will learn the art of gaining solutions 'on the go'.
All though this does not qualify as a martial art practice, we believe that we apply the philisophy and skill of learning to flow with one's environment.
WHERE CAN I PARTICIPATE IN AN EVOLUTION LOUNGE?
If you want to take advantage of this emerging phenomenon that will enable you to "breakthrough and take off" in the paradoxical chaotic order of the evolution lounge, you can do so in any of the following locations and tele-spaces:
UK: The Evolution Lounge will be launched at The Tate Modern in a series of workshops in January and February 2007. If you would like to experience this phenomenon, just drop a line to Evolution Lounge@turnupthecourage.com expressing your interest in participation.
PHONE-BASED Evolution Lounge: If you want to participate from the comfort of your own room, drop a line to TELBEL@turnupthecourage.com for details of the next available TEL-BEL session.
GERMANY: Helga Bruggemann continues to run Evolution Lounge for business people in Germany: The Business Evolution Lounge takes place in Dusseldorf Airport, so if you are in Dusseldorf why not drop by. Send an emailo to hb@systemische-beratung-duesseldorf.de for more information about dates and availability or see www.systemische-beratung-duesseldorf.de
Who can run an Evolution Lounge?
We believe in applying an OPEN SOURCE philosophy and approach to the use of this method. We were encouraged to patent this method in Germany and have done so.
BUT: We are investigating the use of a Creative Commons Licence for this method, so that practitioners can build on the core ideas, and it can be openly available to facilitate the solutions that our society needs. We have been inspired by the way THE WORLD CAFE and OPEN SPACE TECHNOLOGY has been developed and knowledge shared, and want to follow in the footsteps of these innovators.
If you are unfamiliar with the Creative Commons Approach, please see www.creativecommons.org
We are in the process of training facilitators to use this method and would love to hear stories of how it is being used in different places and spaces all over the world. Please get in touch if you are interested in training or if you have stories to tell.
For example: Currently Jan Lellie (Mind at Work, Netherlands) has an inspiring plan to facilitate a renaissance in The Netherlands and will use the Evolution Lounge as part of this process.
We believe that although the way we have put evolution lounge together as a complete method is unique, it builds on ancient techniques and we have simply experimented in applying them in our own way to address the very modern day challenge of needing to gain solutions ON THE GO. This means that executives can apply this approach in their own office, at a train station when noticing stress building while waiting in a queue, or when there is need to decide on a way forward within a work team.
We are excited to see how the ideas can be further developed by a community of practitioners and will be opening a space online for sharing these ideas in the coming months.
Calling all facilitators!
If you are curious about this technique, come and see a presentation at the Global Facilitators Network Business Facilitation Forum in Birmingham, UK on 1st December.
