Virtuous Meetings: Technology + Design for High Engagement in Large Groups

354 Pages·2014·4.065 MB·English

by  Karl Danskin, Lenny Lind

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More praise for Virtuous Meetings
“Virtuous Meetings is a must-read book for anyone who wants to learn
the fundamentals of how to work with large groups to ensure that
the outcome of a gathering is clear, concrete, and actionable,
and that it represents the collective views of the participants. All of us
at AmericaSpeaks were proud and delighted to work with Covision’s
talented team to integrate their technology platform into our 21st
Century Town Meetings.”
—Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, PhD,

founder of AmericaSpeaks;

executive director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse

“When we started DTA and Whole-Scale Change consulting in the
1980s and 1990s, our thinking quickly outran the technology to do it
fully. We did magic with post-it notes and flip charts, but Danskin
and Lind are the jet engine of system change. Technology is either a
constraint (when you don’t have the right stuff) or an accelerator
(when you have it right). Covision has it right.”
—Albert B. Blixt,

senior partner,

Dannemiller Tyson Associates
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VIRTUOUS

MEETINGS

Technology + Design for High

Engagement in Large Groups

KARL DANSKIN

LENNY LIND
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Cover image by  iStock.com / Gudella
Copyright  2014 by Karl Danskin and Lenny Lind. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Danskin, Karl, 1957–
Virtuous meetings: technology + design for high engagement in large groups/Karl Danskin, Lenny
Lind. — First edition.
1 online resource.
Includes index.
Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
ISBN 978-1-118-57338-9 (pdf) — ISBN 978-1-118-57345-7 (epub) — ISBN 978-1-118-53866-1 (hardback)
1. Business meetings. 2. Telematics. 3. Decision making. 4. Information technology—Management. 5.
Organizational behavior. I. Lind, Lenny. II. Title.
HF5734.5
658.4’56—dc23
2014009978
Printed in the United States of America
FIRST EDITION
PB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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CONTENTS
Preface: The Evolution of an Idea xi
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction xxi
PartOne ChoosingVirtuousMeetings
1 REALIZING VIRTUE IN LARGE 3
GROUP MEETINGS
2 THE FIRST KEY: THE PARTICIPANT­ 29
CENTERED APPROACH
3 THE SECOND KEY: HIGH-SPEED 39
CONNECTIVITY
CASE STORY 1, LISTENING TO THE 60
CITY— REBUILDING LOWER MANHATTAN
AFTER 9/11
CASE STORY 2, A GLOBAL 67
MANUFACTURING ORGANIZATION
PartTwo AnchoringVirtuous Meetings
4 THE USE OF SMALL GROUPS WITHIN 79
LARGE GROUP MEETINGS
v
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vi Contents
5 VIRTUOUS ENGAGEMENT CYCLES: 97
CREATING A META-CONVERSATION
CASE STORY 3, LEADERSHIP MEETING 113
FOR A GLOBAL PROCUREMENT
ORGANIZATION
CASE STORY 4, LEADERSHIP MEETING 114
FOR A U.S. INSURANCE ORGANIZATION
PartThree DesigningVirtuous Meetings
6 GATHERING THE FORCES: THE PROCESS 119
OF DESIGN
7 UNDERSTANDING THE POSSIBILITIES: 137
THE DESIGN ELEMENTS
8 MAKING CHOICES: THE DESIGN LEVERS 161
CASE STORY 5, CLINTON GLOBAL 198
INITIATIVE
PartFour FacilitatingVirtuous Meetings
9 THE CRITICAL ROLES IN A 205
VIRTUOUS MEETING
10 FACILITATION IN VIRTUOUS MEETINGS 229
11 FACILITATING AS LEADER 243
CASE STORY 6, A CONSULTING FIRM’ S 266
ANNUAL PARTNERS MEETING
PartFive ScalingVirtuous Meetings
12 TAKING VIRTUOUS MEETINGS BEYOND 273
THE ROOM
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Contents vii
13 THE ELEMENTS THAT SCALE VIRTUOUS 281
MEETINGS
CASE STORY 7, ADVANCING FUTURES 290
FOR ADULTS WITH AUTISM NATIONAL
TOWN HALL
CASE STORY 8, TUNZA INTERNATIONAL 292
CHILDREN AND YOUTH CONFERENCE
ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Glossary 295
Notes 299
About the Authors 303
Index 307
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