Barb Bickford
Appreciative Questions for Earth Day
I'm a "glass half-full" type of thinker, so I love appreciative questions. What's to appreciate about appreciative questions? Lots!...
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Barb Bickford
- Mar 9
- 3 min
Humans beat chatbot, 59 to 5
How do YOU use questions in meetings?
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Barb Bickford
- Feb 26
- 3 min
What's essential for an agenda?
Are meeting agendas even necessary?
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Barb Bickford
- Feb 10
- 2 min
Listening skills are rooted in curiosity
Listening skills are not simply behaviors. The mindset of curiosity is an essential part of listening.
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Barb Bickford
- Jan 26
- 2 min
How can leaders get just a little more rest?
Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? I usually don't. But this year, I made an exception. I resolved to get more rest. While outwardly my...
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Barb Bickford
- Jan 12
- 1 min
The Why, How and What of Planning
A simple description of the strategic planning process. #leadershiptraining #strategicplanning
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Barb Bickford
- Dec 21, 2022
- 3 min
Use Ecocycle Planning to leverage what isn't working
A story of how the liberating structure Ecocycle Planning helped a group shift a frustration into deeper insight.
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Barb Bickford
- Dec 16, 2022
- 3 min
Long-winded report-outs got you down?
How do you deal with people who have the floor, but take more time needed for their purpose (e.g., a treasurer giving a 20 minute expense...
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Barb Bickford
- Dec 5, 2022
- 3 min
You can sing "1-2-4-All"
I use Liberating Structures a lot, because they foster lively group interaction while generating effective results in less time than...
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Barb Bickford
- Nov 21, 2022
- 2 min
Leading with gratitude
How leading with gratitude can improve meetings
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Barb Bickford
- Nov 6, 2022
- 2 min
Feeling stuck? Ecocycle can help!
I’m a gardener. I love spring, with all its lush smells, seeds bursting with life and the anticipation of warmer days. Winter? I’d rather...
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Barb Bickford
- Oct 24, 2022
- 2 min
The impact of trust
Recently I recommended to the leaders of a non-profit board that they look more closely at how trust impacts their operations. They were...
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Barb Bickford
- Oct 9, 2022
- 2 min
How do you get people to think outside their boxes?
The answer: Ask Wicked Questions! A Wicked Question is a question that poses seemingly contradictory yet equally desirable ends. Here...
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Barb Bickford
- Sep 11, 2022
- 3 min
What leadership qualities matter most for making collaborative decisions?
When making group decisions -- what qualities of leadership matter most? First, let’s examine the question “What is leadership?” Is it...
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Barb Bickford
- Aug 28, 2022
- 4 min
How do you evaluate hundreds of ideas at once?
In a previous blog post, I promised to share how we gathered and evaluated ideas proposed during a public visioning process. To recap...
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Barb Bickford
- Jul 17, 2022
- 1 min
What makes a meeting "heavenly"?
We’ve all heard of "meetings from hell." You know, meetings that never end and have unfocused discussions or nasty conflicts. Or worse....
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Barb Bickford
- Jun 24, 2022
- 3 min
How do you gather shared public input during a pandemic?
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...
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Barb Bickford
- May 13, 2022
- 2 min
From Community to City
Last week, I stood at the side of the City Council chamber, mentally preparing myself to summarize two years of volunteer work. On...
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Barb Bickford
- Apr 22, 2022
- 2 min
How can conflict be healthy? (Part 2 of 2)
What can we do to shift from unhealthy conflict to healthy conflict? I asked the participants of the course “Open Minds: Learn, Work and...
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Barb Bickford
- Apr 5, 2022
- 1 min
How can conflict be healthy? (Part 1 of 2)
I asked the participants of my recent class (“Open Minds: Learn, Work and Achieve More Together”) what they thought were signs of healthy...
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