Reflection
Focused Conversations & Reflective Processes
REFLECTION
Conversations and Reflective Practices
There are many ways to approach reflecting on one’s life or for a group to reflect on a shared experience or interest. This section of the Facilitation Methods Collection focuses on EI/ICA’s numerous practices developed over decades of experimentation.
THE CONVERSATION METHOD
The Conversation Method is a focused conversation process. It has four levels: Objective, Reflective, Interpretive, Decisional which are used to guide individuals and groups through in-depth conversations. It is a way to: observe, form an opinion about, consider options, come to a decision, and take action.
THE CHARTING METHOD
The charting method is a process of ordering information to create an opportunity for self-consciously bringing order to life as it comes to us in various forms. It is a mapping process, a way of ordering information to better understand various forms of reality. This method can be applied to individually grasping the whole and the parts of a written piece (articles and books), or doing so quickly with a group (especially for books and large quantities of data), and also as a form of timelining some piece of history (an organization’s past, an individual’s life, etc.)
THE COMPREHENSIVENESS SCREEN
A comprehensiveness screen is useful to expand thinking, either for an individual or a group. It consists of categories of thinking that push whoever is using it to go deeper and to wonder about the subject matter from a variety of perspectives. Comprehensive attention facilitates more effective decision-making.