Future Search

We had the group facilitation of Future Search (FS) this week, which helped the IFC members figure out the solution for their marketing problems. Also, I have learned a lot about Future Research and facilitation skills in the process.

According to Dr. Hurst's introduction last week, the gist of FS is to recall the memory of the past, focus on the situation at present, and envision the solution in the future. I thought the three parts would be clearly separated, which I found is not true in practice. In our discussion with the IFC member, the three parts were closely connected with each other, and form the whole picture of the organization. For example, in the discussion, the stereotype of the fraternity was a big historical issue. It had significant negative impact on people's perception of the chapters, as well as how those members portrait themselves. Currently, there are a series of factors that relate to this issue, including the posts on social media that disgrace the fraternity. One of the solution to this issue is that, in the future, they will create a shared online platform where all the chapters will post the picture of their events to demonstrate their spirit. Since those online information will be easy to share by those members, it will help spread the real spirits of the fraternity.

The beauty of FS is that it makes people think seriously and differently. By breaking down the timeline and focusing on each part individually, group members are more likely to notice the details. Meanwhile,  when presenting and sharing the discussion in mind-map, all the ideas connect with each other and make much more sense. Without those well-designed stages, it is hard to achieve the concreteness and the generalization of the thoughts. Also, mind-map serves to invite every members into the conversation. No voice is isolated or eliminated because they are all interwoven into a big picture. It helps flat down the hierarchy in a group so that every idea get the attention it deserves.

Personally, I have learnt a lot about fraternity and FS through the facilitation. It is very successful and inspiring in general. In terms of facilitation skills, I think it was a brilliant and sweet idea to prepare several note sheets for each participant so that we had something to write on in the discussion and take away after the meeting. This detail was so crucial to the success of the facilitation. I could not imagine how could the group share so much if we did not take notes during the discussion. Also, when each participant make notes, he was constructing the knowledge for himself,  which could be the best "take-away" for him. If there is something I would do differently, I may try to make the ice-breaking activity more relavant to the topic of the meeting. For example, when using AI, which focuses on the positive side, the ice-breaker could be "to describe your life in ten years if everything is perfect". After sharing, we will sense the optimism and reflect on it a bit. Then, based on the positive energy, we would start AI.

To sum up, it was an impressive learning experience last class, and I am looking forward to our facilitation with AI.