CornerStone Consulting AssociatesElectric Maze Facilitator Workshop
Electric Maze - Action Learning
Electric Maze Facilitator Workshop
Workshop Description

October 26-29, 2003
Jiminy Peak Resort -- Hancock, MA


Download a PDF version of the workshop brochure (suitable for printing and distribution).
(Rent a Maze -- Or purchase your own)


”Pilots train in simulators,
why not leaders and teams?”




The Power To Transform

There are many reasons to own an Electric Maze Learning System. You may appreciate it as a neat piece of technology, or you may have had a fun Maze experience in the past. But the Electric Maze has the unique potential to transform. It lets you experience the principles of leadership and teamwork, with emotions and automatic behaviors in full play. You can’t stop real life, but you can suspend time on the Maze. You can freeze the action, become intentional about choices, and consciously practice new behaviors.

Yet the real power of the Maze is in its ability to provide insights and to surface conversations that might not otherwise take place. When you hear people say they were awake all night thinking about their experience on the Maze, you begin to realize how deep the learning reaches. The Maze transforms you from a spectator into a player. Instead of reacting to change, you can assume a creative role, both in your organization and in your own life.



Workshop Format
  • We’ll constantly weave between concept, experience, and practice -- an experiential workshop about experiential learning.
  • You’ll design, facilitate, debrief, and make application.
  • Capitalize on multiple streams of learning of your own choosing.
  • Regardless your level of experience, you’ll feel at home.
  • You’ll learn to design and facilitate Maze sessions that are:
    • Fun, yet professional;
    • Familiar, yet fresh;
    • Practical, yet deep;
    • Immediately applicable, yet far-reaching.
  • Videotaping will be available for self-feedback.


”Tap the Electric Maze's
potential as the heart of a
unique system of learning.”




Workshop Content
  • Participant needs & expectations.
  • Preparing the room and the Electric Maze.
  • Facilitator preparation and grounding.
  • Individual styles, participant and facilitator.
  • Creating a generative learning environment.
  • Building context.
  • Designing and selecting the right patterns.
  • Matching facilitation to participant needs and capabilities.
  • Facilitating alone and as a team.
  • Multiple Mazes.
  • Creating realistic instructions and boundaries.
  • Stretching teams with new scenarios.
  • Tailoring sessions for context and terminology.
  • Linking the debrief to real issues.
  • Debriefing as scenario/strategic planning.
  • Effective dialogue & catalyzing lively conversations.
  • Handling tough questions and comments.
  • What “not” to say when giving instructions.
  • The unspoken structure of Maze experiences.
  • When things go “wrong,” and making them “right.”
  • Sentinel add-on and other new enhancements.


”Sometimes the best way to move
into the unknown is to take familiar
steps, small steps. To do ordinary
things to deal with something that
is in no way ordinary.”




The Challenges We Face

These are times of great opportunity and blessings. Yet so many people remain troubled at the seemingly insurmountable challenges before them, not only in their work, but in their personal lives as well. Solid leadership and effective teamwork always seem just beyond our grasp. Learn to facilitate the Electric Maze to it’s fullest potential so you can be a calm in the eye of the storm and help people more clearly see a brighter horizon. You can make a great positive impact on the people you facilitate as well as on your own personal life.

What troubles us? We’re unsure how to cope as familiar things shrink or reach the end of their life-cycles. All we’ve known up till now is unprecedented growth. There’s a hesitance to trust. We’re insecure because we aren’t sure what or who we can depend on. There’s increasing fragmentation, more but poorer communication, and too little shared understanding. Few can agree on the best approach to move forward, and patience is at a premium. We keep pulling up the tree to check the roots. We’re reluctant to be mentors. We’re not developing the ability to establish and tend relationships. Our organizational structures have become unforgiving. The concept of “zero-defects” in manufacturing is showing up as zero-tolerance for people -- and this in a time when our future depends so much on cultural diversity. Instead of being guided by hierarchy of purpose and goals, we’re limited by hierarchy of power and privilege.
Even if only a portion of this resonates with you, join with us in finding new paths across the Maze of life. Learn to facilitate soundly designed Electric Maze sessions that have the capability to build a better future.



”Ask ten people to define a
team and you'll get twenty
meaning to teamwork.”



Customizing Your Designs
  • Planning and preparation.
  • Shared vision.
  • Leadership & followership.
  • Evaluating leadership and team effectiveness.
  • Leadership and team limitations.
  • When strengths become weaknesses.
  • Types of teams and their purpose.
  • Stages of team development & team life-cycle.
  • Effective communication.
  • Developing trust.
  • Valuing co-workers.
  • Change management, change acceptance.
  • Conflict resolution.
  • Cross-functional teams.
  • The new boss.
  • Integration of new team members & loss of key personnel.
  • Hiring and firing.
  • Roles and responsibilities.
  • Establishing appropriate ground-rules and boundaries.
  • Appreciating, preserving and utilizing cultural diversity.
  • Giving and receiving feedback.
  • Shifting priorities & evolving strategy.
  • Violation of shared values.


Beyond Paradox
  • Can we learn to see age-old paradoxes in a new light? -- leaders/followers, managers/employees, competitors/partners?
  • As conversation spans the globe, can we learn to communicate and trust?
  • In a knowledge-based economy, how do we retain and share information spread among diverse workgroups?
  • When goals change midstream, what skills do we need to adapt?
  • Even if the path to the goal changes, what have we learned to help achieve the next success?
  • How can we get off the Leadership/Teamwork treadmill and seed change that lasts?
  • How can we help people embrace needed change?


| Invitation | Content | Facilitation | Meeting Site | Accommodations | Registration |
| Electric Maze Facilitator Workshop | Something Quite Different | Bringing Systems Thinking To Life |


CornerStone Consulting Associates
Bringing Systems to Life
2761 Stiegler Road - Valley City OH 44280 - US

www.ourfuture.com
800-773-8017
330-725-2728

fax: 330-725-2729
Email
cca@ourfuture.com