Controlling Discussion

List of Steps

If you wish to experiment with a meeting of the sort I have been describing, here is a list of the basic steps involved

1. State the problem.

2. Discuss it, with possible solutions.

3. Restate the problem as each participant understands it.

4. Select one of the restatements.

5. Take the group on vacation.

a. Select one key element (a striking image, say).

b. Pick out an area in which to concentrate (weather).

c. Then ask for examples of the key element (striking images in weather).

6. Select one example (“thunderhead”) and ask for further examination.

7. End the vacation and ask for possible solutions to the original problem.

8. When a solution is reached, or when the wells have run dry, relinquish the chair to another member of the group.