Bickford Collaboration

In my last post, I mentioned gathering a shared list of “Guiding Principles” to guide the future of a lake and park in our city. In this...

Last week, I stood at the side of the City Council chamber, mentally preparing myself to summarize two years of volunteer work. On...

What can we do to shift from unhealthy conflict to healthy conflict? I asked the participants of the course “Open Minds: Learn, Work and...

I asked the participants of my recent class (“Open Minds: Learn, Work and Achieve More Together”) what they thought were signs of healthy...

Light is coming through the fog of boring ineffective online meetings! Today, we are releasing a Manifesto for Online Collaboration that...

Everyone in the planning group expected the upcoming meeting to be contentious. "Will we continue in person or online?" "Can we try...

During 2021, I researched the challenges people are having with meetings. Through interviews and surveys, I found that their challenges...

Are you getting a little tired of that word that starts with the letter C (coronovirus)? Me too! Let's talk about other C words. Here...

People working and volunteering in non-profits and faith-based communities often face tedious and even dysfunctional meetings. You can...

Recently, I came across an article that used the word "collaboration" to describe an outcome where two parties each got some of what they...

Barb offers another example of how Liberating Structures helped a team collaborate, solve a problem and build the team, all at the same time

This organization shifted from blame to constructive action in only one hour, using Liberating Structures. Learn how!

Think outside the box of typical meeting structures! Experience "Liberating Structures" workshops in St. Paul, MN and Madison, WI.

"We are being asked to become transforming agents within human society rather than revolutionary ones acting outside it." -- Esther de...

A songwriter friend of mine says “the personal is the most universal”. In that spirit, I begin this post by saying what I’m about to...

During our recent "Transitions and New Beginnings" workshop, we examined the transitions we are going through by writing, talking and...

When I moved to Minnesota in 2018, I didn't quite realize all the ways the move would affect me. For example, I went from being...

Specifically, let's talk about the early signs of mistrust that shimmer like an oil slick on water. Recently I have had the dubious...