Segue Maestro Workbook
======================
How to Conduct a Segue (tm)--a social game for solving complex
organizational problems
By Robert Bystrom and Hamilton Hayes
Purpose
=======
The purpose of the Segue is to provide a workgroup or project team
with access to a higher level of thinking ability--the combined
capacity of their experience, wisdom and imagination--in order to
solve complex problems or create new opportunities.
The purpose of this workbook is to provide step-by-step instructions
for conducting a successful Segue with a project team.
Introduction
============
It is the intention of CIS that the Segue spread globally in use. To
fulfill that intention, we are providing online support in order to
model how to conduct one. The simple structure of the Segue is the
result of extensive research and use in many divergent situations.
We wish you success and are committed to providing the finest
training possible. We would like to hear from you. Feel free to
email your results and questions.
Prerequisite
============
The applicant has participated in a Segue conducted by a Segue
Maestro.
Recommended Reading
===================
The collected articles available online.
The Basics of Conducting a Segue
================================
Out of our intention that you and your group have a successful
experience using a Segue, we have assembled a brief outline for you
to follow. We identify four stages to a complete Segue plus a
section about preparing the setting ahead of time for optimum
results. This mini-course is organized as follows:
* Preparing Yourself and the Space
* Questions for Setting up a Segue
* Rules for conducting one
* Script for the participants
* Completion
* FAQs
* Why is the Segue effective?
The universal principles on which the Segue Game is based
Preparing Yourself and the Space
================================
Typically, the Segue Maestro's job is to conduct the Segue, and not
participate in it.
To optimize results, during the Segue, people sit in a circle with no
tables or anything else between them, nothing on people's laps, no
note taking. Although we have conducted larger circles successfully,
we have found that quality tends to peak at 7 members. Setting up
multiple circles for a larger group is not a problem. Multiple
circles require some additional facilitating of feedback during the
Completion stage.
Commonly, when there is only one circle, the Maestro writes the
responses in order to free up everyone in the circle to focus more on
the conversation. When you have more than one circle, a person in
each circle is appointed as scribe. An alternative scribe takes
notes when the scribe is directly involved in speaking or listening.
You will need several copies of the script (three questions) which
will be passed around the circle. You will fill in the question
blank with the help of the group during the Setting Up stage (below).
We recommend the facilitator arrive with a possible question which
the group can adopt or tune up or choose another question altogether.
Questions for Setting Up a Segue (tm)
=====================================
The clearer and more deliberate your set up is, the more effective
will be your Segue.
1. What is the situation you want to address?
In order to avoid confusion, everyone needs to be clear about the
situation at hand and know what is at stake. This conversation
creates focus on a single subject. As an example, the funding for a
children's art project has been reduced, and you still want all the
services to be provided.
2. What is important about the situation?
Create focus on the critical issue. You might not be able cover
everything about the situation in one Segue. In the example of the
children's art project, what is important is that any changes in the
program still include all the children.
3. How can you phrase what is important as a question?
Write down the question for everyone to see. In our example, How can
we structure the new program to meet the needs of all the children we
currently serve?
4. What is the "What is one..." form of the question?
Write this question in the blank on the script page. In our example,
that would be What is one thing that would help us accommodate all
the children?
5. What will you do with all the answers?
Come back to this decision during the Completion of the Segue. For
example, "We'll write down all the answers and summarize the items
when we are complete. That will give us a picture of a possible
structure for the new program. We will decide what is next on the
basis of what we co-create."
Rules for conducting a Segue
============================
As with any game, the rules create safety and keep the playing field
level.
1. Make contact with the other person.
The Segue is a conversation between two people which travels around
the circle. Talk to the person, not to the paper.
2. Every voice is equal.
For the Segue to work, suspend rank and hierarchy.
3. Stick to the script, including using the other person's name and
"Thank you" after the third response.
Don't try to be clever or creative with the script. Be creative in
your response.
4. No cross-talk or comments, even of approval.
Judgments, critiques and evaluations tend to derail a creative
conversation, even something positive, like "That's a good idea."
5. Respond and pass it on. Speak directly the essence of your
response.
Be brief. The idea is to move the conversation quickly around the
circle multiple times and let it build.
6. You may pass if you want more time to be with the question.
A person who passes is nonetheless thanked.
Script for Conducting a Segue (tm)
==================================
* [Name], what is one __________ ?
* How is that important to you personally?
* How might that be important for us?
* Thank you.
Notes for the conducting Maestro:
* We have found that the truer the circle, the smoother the Segue.
* When first learning The Segue, some people want to make the first
question What is the one...? They need to be reminded that it is
simply What is one...?
* We commonly see a group reach a point where they believe they have
come to the end of their ideas. Continuing the Segue often
produces a significantly more effective, more imaginative series of
responses.
* After completing several rounds of the three questions, and
everyone seems to be satisfied, do a round using a single "clean
up" question, such as What might we have missed?
Completion
==========
Now, go back to what you decided during #5 What will you do with all
the answers? Ask the participants to conduct an "open conversation"
either to summarize their results or to identify three or four themes
they noticed or to solidify agreement for a course of action.
Together, choose what is next, e.g. create a plan for implementing
the vision they have built together, or whatever their Segue was
designed to accomplish. Very often, what is next includes another
question and another Segue.
Finish by asking the individuals what they gained from participating.
FAQs
====
Do you always need a Segue Maestro?
No. A family meeting or a couple planning a picnic most likely would
not have a Maestro facilitating! Also, an experienced project team
may use the full Segue protocol from time to time, rotating the role
of scribe and practice abbreviated Segues--question-driven
exchanges--in between. A common phenomena resulting from practicing
question-driven thinking and the Segue is that the members of the
project team or community action committee transform the way they
interact with each other outside of the formal circle.
What do you do when you have eight or nine people--one or two
circles?
It depends on the group. Sometimes, it is essential to keep everyone
together. At other times, seat them in two circles and after a
couple of rounds, mix the members between the groups. (Tell them
ahead that this will be happening!)
Do you always write down all the responses?
Frequently, the Segue is used as an exploratory conversation, the
purpose of which is to construct a solution one piece at a time, much
like creating a mosaic. Ideas evolve and early offerings often act
as stepping stones for subsequent inspiration. A noticeable shift
takes place after the question has circled a few times, and the
obvious answers have been given. Many groups report that the quality
of the responses deepens noticeably after people "can't think of
anything else," which is why we occasionally wait to begin recording
responses. The beginning two rounds could be considered a warm up
and the responses are recorded only after that initial phase.
In other situations, what you want is a comprehensive list, so every
idea is recorded. It all depends on what you want out of your Segue.
Do you always use three questions?
No, only when you wish specifically to include reference to values,
i.e. what is important, especially during the visioning and purpose
articulation phases of a project. A Segue-familiar team will
frequently use a single question format to develop options or explore
possibilities in other applications.
Can anyone who wants to be in the Segue participate?
Commit to wasting no one's time. Make sure the only people in the
Segue are those with a stake in the outcome.
Why is the Segue effective?
===========================
What are the universal principles of the SG?
1. Questions capture our attention and cause a response in our minds.
* Thinking is driven by questions. Questions are the mechanism which
sorts our experience into patterns and relationships and meaning.
* In lieu of deliberate questions, the mind has a cache of default
questions.
* Intelligence is the result of the questions we entertain.
* Collective intelligence is the result of shared questions.
2. People thrive when they are listened to and taken seriously.
* Talking freely about what is important strengthens bonds of
coherence.
3. A basic human need is to contribute to a purpose larger than the
individual.
4. People love playing games.
Collective Intelligence, Imagination and Wisdom
===============================================
In a typical business or organizational meeting, people's attention
is focused only partially on the subject at hand because their mental
operating capacity lacks sufficient questions to engage it fully.
The silent activity in the meeting room will be filled with questions
such as How can I hide? How can I gain position and status? When
will this be over? How can I avoid responsibility? What's for
dinner? How am I right about...? How am I better than...?
"What is the question?":
The Theory of Values-Based, Question-Driven Thinking (tm)
=========================================================
The success of the Segue rests on the discovery of the universal
principle that a person's attention always gravitates to questions.
It follows that accessing the creative power of a group of people
requires being able to focus everyone's attention on the same
question. This is the group's entry into their collective
intelligence or collective wisdom.
The theory of Q-D Thinking asserts that thinking always follows
questions. This means that the activity inside a person's mind--the
ideas, thoughts, musings, imaginings, stories, plans, memories,
judgments, the "monkey mind"--everything we would call "mental
activity"--arises as answers to questions we ask ourselves. The
questions can range from simple problem solving--What is the fastest
route to that part of the city?--to a life-long, single-minded
quest--How can the little individual make a difference? The more
important a question is, the more mental activity it will engage.
The theory says that questions organize the data of our experience
into intelligence and that intelligence is the result of the
questions a person entertains.
Two Types of Questions: Deliberate and Default
==============================================
The theory goes on to say that our thoughts respond to two basic
types of questions, deliberate, meaning that I'm consciously asking
for specific information, or default, meaning that it is a question
I'm not aware of asking, a question being asked by my mental system.
It's like this: either I formulate a deliberate question, e.g. What
is creating the brown patches on cedar trees near here?--or my mind
will select from a mental cache of default questions--e.g. How can I
look good? What's wrong?--to provide direction for the thinking
function. If the questions driving a person's thinking are not
deliberately stated, the content of the conversation in his head will
be answering an endless string of default questions. Since thinking
is the basis of everything we do and questions dictate the content of
our thoughts, then gaining leverage on the questions being answered
would be highly advantageous. Harnessing the creative power of the
mind depends entirely on a person taking control of the questions
they ask.
The default system is based on fear, protection and survival. The
more a person's thought process is deliberate, the more inclusive and
generative it is. The more default the thinking, the more isolated
and contracted. When a person feels the restriction and contraction
of fear, it is a signal that the default program is running. A
person can shift the default feeling by coming up with a more
productive, deliberate question to chew on.
Accessing the creative power of a group of people requires being able
to focus their attention on the same question. This is the entry
into the group's collective intelligence or collective wisdom.
"What is important?"
====================
This is the question which elicits the values of an individual or
project team. Clearly stating values eliminates assumptions.
"Alan, what is one ...?"
========================
Questions attract the mind, values attract the emotions and listening
attracts the being. When a team is:
1. focused on answering the same question, their values are aligned
and they know how to listen to one another, they achieve
coherence. Coherence is the quality often referred to as
teamwork.
