Stephanie brings her model of writing for collaborative inquiry to the business world
GroupThinking allows groups to use collaborative writing to resolve complex problems. In a world where the loudest voice rather than the most insightful generally dominates discussion, where the rush to produce outstrips the need to reflect, where novelty overshadows inquiry, and where novelty eclipses knowledge, the immersive opportunities informal writing can provide can be transformative.
As a consultant and facilitator, Stephanie introduces techniques for using informal writing to collaborate generatively and generously, engage diverse perspectives, and formulate new ideas for meaningful change. Whether they’re in the same room or working remotely, she can show you how to use writing to do work that is substantial, inclusive, complex, and inventive with actionable results.
GroupThinking is an experiential approach that can be adapted to serve myriad purposes and address the needs of varied audiences. But it is particularly effective
- for those who appreciate the value of collaboration and communal learning
- for those who want to get things done but want to move beyond simple iterations of the status quo
- for those who hope to engage workers in meaningful ways for substantive results
- for those struggling to introduce new ideas to factions that are resistant to, complacent about, or suspicious of change
- for those who value the contributions of everyone at the table
- for those who realize that 3x3-inch solutions are not enough
Available Services
Facilitation
To use GroupThinking, you don’t have to start from square one. Interventions can meet you where you are. Share some context for the work your doing (e.g., your project objectives, what’s worked well so far and what’s fallen short, pre-existing dynamics of your work group, etc.) and Stephanie can design activities that propel your efforts organically.
Workshops
Great for team building, launching new initiatives, introducing new policy, or bringing new life to a stalled project, a day-long workshop is an opportunity for your work group to lay groundwork for sustained collaboration. Stephanie can generate dynamic writing activities to rally a roomful of people around a common challenge, invest in the wisdom of others, and generate actionable solutions that not only resolve real problems but genuinely reflect the collective.
Training
It’s all well and good to have someone from outside an organization come in and shake things up for a day or two. The challenge is sustaining that change, insight, energy after the consultation has ended. To that end, Stephanie can provide training in GroupThinking principals so that members of your organization can not only replicate the techniques but continue to adapt them to meet your evolving needs
Consultation
Maybe you’re interested in GroupThinking but aren’t quite sure how to make best use of the approach in your office or organization. In that case, Stephanie can serve as a consultant observing and absorbing your particular workplace culture to provide a framework for applying the practices. This might provide a foundation for later workshops or simply set a template of guidelines that you can initiate independently.
Staff Retreats
If you’re ready to set a new standard of staff cooperation and deep inquiry, a multi-day GroupThinking Retreat can transform your workplace. Over the span of the event, Stephanie can introduce a comprehensive range of practices to serve multiple projects or to provide focus on singular core challenges. The results can mark significant changes in the ways your team collaborates, in part because of the intensity of the work but more substantially because each participant gains profound appreciation for the contributions of their colleagues.
Testimonies
"I was impressed by the agility of her approach. She seemed to effectively adapt in the moment to whatever we threw her way without losing focus."
"I was surprised that writing could be used in so many ways to bring people together."
"We like to use Stephanie as a kind of closer....Her approach is perfect for helping people reflect and synthesize all the information we've covered and also great for laying out plans to move forward."
"Within an hour, she moved us from talking past each other to really hearing and engaging with one another."
"At the end of the day with Stephanie, our team was re-energized about our project and invested in one another."
"I loved the quiet in the room when people were writing and the enthusiasm of the discussions afterward."
"I think that this was the first time we really got equal input from everyone at the table. And we all benefited from that."
"It wasn't just what we did while working with Stephanie, it was the improvement in the ways we worked together afterward."
"The work we did today was playful without being silly. I mean, I think we all had a good time, but there was no doubt that we were doing serious work."