Simon Koolwijk

In March 2011 I had the pleasure to visit the Phd Graduation ceremony of Tonnie van der Zouwen at the Tilburg University. There she presented the main conclusions of her publication "Building an evidence based practical guide to Large Scale Interventions" .  Main question in her research was "What are the key factors for having a successful Large Scale Intervention (LSI), that can contribute to sustainable change?" Factors for a successful LSI Sofar worldwide the Open Space method , Future Search and World Café are the most applied Large Scale Intervention (LSI) techniques. For her research Tonnie van der Zouwen compared a number of Open Space events where she was involved as a facilitator.  Some of the events were successful and generated sustainable results and changes. Other events were less successful and did not attribute to drastic changes or other ways of co-operation between partners.  Based on her comparison she came up with seven key factors,

Is the belief, you think you have the right answer? Or is the right answer, a belief that is challenged all the time?  Having doubts is part of our daily lifes. If I am cycling to Amsterdam,   I assume that the signboards are guiding me towards the right direction. But what if I did not notice a signboard on the road?   Or if somebody changed the directions of the signboard having the intention to mislead cyclists? Or did a thunderstorm destroy the signboard?  Or what if a roadblock leads me towards a cycling path withouth roadsigns in a forest?  Am I still  100 % sure I am heading towards my final destination: Amsterdam!?  It are the first signs of doubt.... Watch the video:  The value of doubting - a first test about dealing with certainty and doubts: The music, 'Fast legs, slow head', is produced by Omar Meza; e-mail. yoshihatsukatana@gmail.com Having doubts has a number of advantages: 1.  Connectivity :   It helps to get meaningful contact with other peop

'A question is a motor for development!'   This is the main phrase which struck me, while reading the 'Handbook Developing as Professional'    written by Carolien de Monchy.   The handbook is very useful for professionals who have a passion for learning and developing. A continuous changing world is challenging the today's professional, to update his knowledge and capacities constantly.  Three dimensions are influencing the development of the today's professional:   A dynamic environment of changing knowledge and technologies,  the changing  perspectives in the organisational working surrounding and the changing demands from clients. Talent and discipline The book starts with an interesting metaphor.  Somebody throws coffee at the floor and  calls 'All wasted talents are flowing at the floor! What a pity!'   'How come wasted talents are at the floor?'  asks the author.  'When the coffee is flowing at the floor, it is wasted.  Howev

The last couple of weeks, I have been involved in making one-minute video messages as part of the preperation of the IAF-Benelux Conference 'Facilitation as a {2nd} profession.   The conference will take place on the 23rd September, 2011 at Kontakt der Kontinenten in Soesterberg , The Netherlands. The event has 24 workshops and aims to have approximately 150 participants. My role is to make short video messages, where the workshop presenters explain in one minute what they will do and what participants can expect.  In addition, testimonials are filmed where participants from previous IAF-Benelux conferences share some inspirational stories. See video ( in Dutch)  of one of the testimonials: Conditions to be created by the client Making a short video message is an art.  There are six conditions that need to be created by your interviewee or client, before taping the video interview. 1.   A space with enough light :  Ensure that the interview takes place in a room