Leadership is often portrayed as direction, authority, or control.

But the world we live in today—complex, interconnected, and constantly evolving—requires a different kind of leadership.

Not the leader as a commander.
Not the leader as the hero.

But the leader as a gardener.

Leadership Is About Cultivating the Conditions for Growth

A gardener does not pull plants to make them grow faster.

A gardener focuses on the conditions that allow life to flourish:

• Soil

• Water

• Sunlight

• Space

• Care

In organizations, these conditions translate into the systems leaders create:

• Processes

• Technology

• Culture

• Structures

• Meetings

• Decision-making environments

• Psychological safety

These are the garden beds of the organization. When they are healthy, people grow.

Conscious leadership is therefore less about managing people and more about cultivating the environment where people can do their best work.

Every Tree Is Different

A good gardener also knows something essential:

Every tree and plant is different.

Some trees are just beginning to appear from the ground.
Some are growing strong trunks and expanding their branches.
Some are mature and starting to bear fruit.

Each one requires something slightly different.

• A young tree needs protection and support.

• A growing tree needs space and nutrients.

• A mature tree needs care so it can keep producing fruit.

The gardener pays attention.
Observes.
Adjusts.

Leadership works the same way.

Conscious leaders understand that people develop at different speeds, with different needs, motivations, and strengths. They take the time to care for each person individually, creating the conditions that allow them to grow into their potential.

Not by forcing growth.

But by nurturing it.

The Leader Makes the Invisible Visible

Another important role of the gardener leader is helping people see what they cannot easily see.

In organizations, many forces shape what happens:

• Hidden assumptions

• Unspoken tensions

• Structural barriers

• Cultural habits

• Misaligned incentives

• Invisible dependencies between teams

Most people are too busy doing their work to notice these dynamics.

A conscious leader helps make the invisible visible.

They help teams see:

• What is really happening

• What patterns are shaping their work

• What obstacles are slowing them down

• What opportunities are emerging

Once people see it, something powerful happens.

They can take responsibility.

And most importantly:
they can do something about it.

Making the Complex Simple Enough to Act

Modern organizations are incredibly complex systems.

Too complex, sometimes.

When complexity becomes overwhelming, people freeze.
They disengage.
They assume change is impossible.

The gardener leader does something crucial.

They make the complex simple enough to act on.

Not by oversimplifying reality, but by:

• Clarifying priorities

• Breaking big challenges into manageable steps

• Creating shared understanding

• Designing good conversations

• Facilitating alignment

When people understand the situation clearly enough, something changes.

They begin to believe:

“Maybe we can actually do something about this.”

And belief is the beginning of action.

Facilitation: The Core Skill of Modern Leadership

This is why leadership today increasingly looks like facilitation.

The leader is not the person with all the answers.

The leader is the person who creates the space where the best answers can emerge collectively.

Just like a gardener does not create the plant—but creates the conditions where growth becomes inevitable.

Facilitating leaders:

• Ask powerful questions

• Design meaningful conversations

• Create psychological safety

• Align perspectives

• Enable collective intelligence

They help the garden organize itself toward growth.

The Garden Is Never Finished

A garden is never “done”.

It is always evolving.

Seasons change.
New plants appear.
Old ones fade.
The ecosystem continuously adapts.

Organizations are the same.

Conscious leadership is therefore not about reaching a perfect state.

It is about continuous care, attention, and cultivation.

Observing.
Learning.
Adjusting.

Helping the garden keep growing.

The Leadership the World Needs Now

The challenges we face today—organizational, societal, environmental—cannot be solved by command-and-control leadership.

They require leaders who can:

• See systems

• Care for people

• Enable collaboration

• Facilitate collective intelligence

• Cultivate sustainable environments where people thrive

In other words:

The world needs more gardener leaders.

Leaders who understand that their job is not to control the forest…

but to cultivate the conditions where the forest can flourish.

A Final Reflection

If leadership is a garden…

What kind of garden are you cultivating?

What conditions are you creating for the people around you to grow?

And what might become possible if your role as a leader was not to push harder…

but to cultivate better soil?

If you would like support designing leadership environments, workshops, or facilitation processes that help teams grow, align and flourish, feel free to reach out.

That is exactly the kind of garden I love helping organizations cultivate.

In coaching, a coach supports one person — the coachee — in gaining clarity, insight, and forward movement.

In facilitation, the same thing happens.

The only difference is that the coachee is a group of people.

At their core, coaching and facilitation share the same philosophy:

The answers do not live with the expert. They live with the people in the system.

The role of the coach — or facilitator — is to create the conditions where those answers can emerge.

The Shared Foundation

Both coaching and facilitation are built on a profound shift in leadership thinking.

Instead of telling people what to do, the practitioner helps people think better.

This approach draws from decades of research in coaching psychology, organizational learning, and collective intelligence.

Two foundational ideas are particularly relevant:

1. People are more committed to solutions they help create.

2. Groups can think better together when the right conditions are present.

Both coaching and facilitation are practices designed to unlock those conditions.

Coaching: Supporting One Mind

In coaching, the process focuses on an individual.

The coach:

• Asks powerful questions

• Listens deeply

• Reflects patterns and insights

• Helps the person see new possibilities

This approach is strongly influenced by Edgar Schein’s concept of Humble Inquiry, which suggests that meaningful change begins when leaders shift from giving advice to asking genuine questions.

In this model, the coach does not provide answers.

Instead, the coach helps the coachee access their own insight and clarity.

As coaching pioneer John Whitmore, author of Coaching for Performance, famously wrote:

“Coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximize their own performance.”

The key word here is unlocking.

The wisdom already exists in the individual.

The coach helps reveal it.

Facilitation: Supporting Many Minds

Facilitation works in the same way — but at a different scale.

Instead of helping one person think better, the facilitator helps a group think better together.

The facilitator:

• Designs the thinking process

• Structures the conversation

• Creates psychological safety

• Encourages equal participation

• Surfaces different perspectives

Here, the group becomes the coachee.

The facilitator is essentially coaching the collective intelligence of the room.

Research on Collective Intelligence

This idea is supported by research on collective intelligence.

A landmark study by Anita Woolley and Thomas Malone at MIT found that groups possess a measurable collective intelligence factor — often called the “c-factor.”

Interestingly, the research showed that group performance was not driven by the smartest person in the room.

Instead, it depended on factors such as:

• Social sensitivity

• Equal participation in conversations

• Psychological safety

These are precisely the conditions that facilitators and coaches help create.

When a facilitator structures a conversation well, they are not just managing time or activities.

They are increasing the intelligence of the group.

Psychological Safety: The Hidden Ingredient

Another important research stream comes from Amy Edmondson’s work on psychological safety at Harvard Business School.

Her research shows that teams perform better when people feel safe to:

• Speak up

• Share ideas

• Admit uncertainty

• Challenge assumptions

Coaches create this safety for individuals.

Facilitators create it for groups.

Without psychological safety, both coaching conversations and facilitated workshops fail to unlock deeper thinking.

Real Examples: Coaching vs Facilitation in Practice

To make the connection clearer, here are a few real-world examples.

Example 1: A Leader Coaching an Employee

A manager notices that one of their team members feels stuck in their role.

Instead of giving advice, the manager asks questions like:

• What part of your work energizes you the most?

• What would success look like for you in six months?

• What options do you see?

Through this conversation, the employee realizes they want to take on more responsibility in a new area.

The insight did not come from the manager.

It emerged from the employee’s own thinking.

This is coaching.

Example 2: A Facilitated Strategy Workshop

A leadership team needs to decide on strategic priorities for the next year.

Instead of presenting a finished strategy, a facilitator designs a process where leaders:

1. Individually reflect on emerging trends.

2. Share perspectives in small groups.

3. Cluster themes together.

4. Debate priorities openly.

5. Converge on a shared direction.

The facilitator does not define the strategy.

They design the thinking process that allows the group to discover it together.

This is facilitation.

Example 3: Improving Meetings Through Facilitation

A department complains that their meetings are ineffective.

Instead of telling them how meetings should work, a facilitator asks the team questions like:

• What decisions actually need to happen in meetings?

• What information do you need from each other?

• Which meetings create value and which ones waste time?

Through structured exercises, the team redesigns their entire meeting structure.

The facilitator did not impose the solution.

The team co-created it.

Example 4: Innovation Workshops

In innovation work, facilitators often run design thinking workshops.

Participants might explore a challenge by:

• Mapping user needs

• Generating ideas

• Prototyping solutions

• Testing assumptions

The facilitator does not invent the ideas.

Instead, they create the environment where participants generate better ideas together.

This is collective coaching in action.

The Real Skill Is Not Answers — It Is Process

Both coaching and facilitation are often misunderstood.

Many people assume the value lies in expertise or advice.

But the real skill lies somewhere else.

It lies in process design and presence.

Great coaches and facilitators know how to:

• Ask the right questions

• Hold space for reflection

• Surface assumptions

• Guide conversations without dominating them

• Help people discover insight themselves

They are not solving the problem.

They are helping others become capable of solving it.

From Individual Insight to Collective Intelligence

Where coaching unlocks individual insight, facilitation unlocks collective intelligence.

This distinction matters enormously in organizations.

Most complex challenges today cannot be solved by a single expert or leader.

They require:

• Multiple perspectives

• Shared understanding

• Alignment

• Ownership

Facilitation helps groups move from fragmented thinking to shared clarity.

It transforms meetings into thinking environments.

The Facilitator as a Group Coach

Seen through this lens, facilitation becomes easier to understand.

A facilitator is essentially a group coach.

Someone who helps a team:

• Clarify what really matters

• See blind spots

• Align around priorities

• Make better decisions together

Instead of coaching one mind, they are coaching the intelligence of the system.

Why This Matters for Leaders

Modern leadership increasingly requires facilitation skills.

In complex environments, leaders cannot rely solely on authority or expertise.

Instead, they must enable the intelligence of the people around them.

Leadership today is increasingly about:

• Asking better questions

• Creating space for thinking

• Structuring productive conversations

• Aligning people around shared understanding

In other words:

The best leaders are often the best facilitators.

A Simple Way to Think About It

You can summarize the relationship like this:

Coaching = Facilitating the thinking of one person

Facilitation = Coaching the thinking of a group

Different scale.

Same philosophy.

Same intention.

Same impact.

References and Influences

This perspective draws on several influential research streams:

• John Whitmore — Coaching for Performance

• Edgar Schein — Humble Inquiry

• Amy Edmondson — Psychological Safety research

• Anita Woolley & Thomas Malone (MIT) — Collective Intelligence research

• David Clutterbuck — Team coaching research

Together, their work reinforces a powerful idea:

Better questions and better conversations lead to better thinking — individually and collectively.

Want to Go Deeper?

If you are interested in facilitation, leadership, and collective intelligence, I regularly share ideas, frameworks, and practical tools in my newsletter.

Subscribe to Facili-Station and join a growing community of leaders, facilitators, and change-makers exploring how better conversations create better organizations.

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By Jose Manuel Redondo Lopera

And if your organization wants to strengthen its ability to think, align, and decide better together, feel free to reach out. I’d be happy to help.

Transformation is not a project.
It is a shift from now to future — across strategy, structure, processes, technology, and culture — with people at the center.

The sketch above captures a powerful truth: transformation is multi-dimensional. If you over-focus on one element, you destabilize the whole system. If you hold them together, you create momentum.

Here is how I think about leading transformation journeys and where leaders should focus.

1. Start With Direction: Strategy and Revenue

Transformation without direction creates noise.

Before launching initiatives, clarify:

• What future are we moving toward?

• What strategic choices are we making?

• How does this create value — for customers, society, and the business?

• Where will revenue or impact come from?

Too many organizations jump into tools and restructuring without strategic clarity. Transformation must answer the “where and why” before the “how.”

Clarity reduces resistance. Ambiguity increases it.

2. Put People at the Center — Not as an Afterthought

At the center of the drawing is one word: People.

Not technology. Not process. Not structure.

People.

Transformation succeeds or fails based on:

• Psychological safety

• Trust in leadership

• Ownership and engagement

• Capability and competence

• State of mind

You cannot impose transformation. You can only invite people into it.

That requires listening, involvement, and co-creation. When people understand the purpose and feel part of the solution, energy replaces resistance.

3. Align Leadership and Culture

Strategy may be written on slides.
Culture is lived in meetings.

If leadership behavior does not match the transformation narrative, credibility collapses.

Ask:

• Are leaders modeling the change?

• Are incentives aligned with the new direction?

• Are we rewarding collaboration or protecting silos?

• Is experimentation safe?

Culture is not changed by communication campaigns.
It shifts when leadership behavior shifts.

4. Redesign Processes for Flow, Not Control

Transformation often exposes friction:

• Slow decision cycles

• Handover bottlenecks

• Redundant approvals

• Lack of clarity in roles

Instead of layering more governance, redesign for flow:

• What decisions can move closer to the frontline?

• What steps create no real value?

• Where are we optimizing locally but harming the whole?

Efficiency is not about doing more.
It is about removing what no longer serves.

5. Clarify Organizational Structure

Structure should support strategy — not resist it.

If you are aiming for customer-centricity but your organization is siloed by function, friction is guaranteed.

Transformation questions:

• Do we organize around customers, products, or internal departments?

• Are roles and mandates clear?

• Is accountability visible?

Structure communicates priorities more loudly than strategy documents ever will.

6. Use Technology as an Enabler — Not the Driver

Technology appears in the drawing as tools — databases, systems, devices.

Technology should enable:

• Better decisions

• Simpler workflows

• Improved user experience

• Scalable value creation

But technology alone never transforms an organization.

Digital transformation fails when it becomes a system implementation instead of a behavioral shift supported by technology.

7. Manage the Journey Between “Now” and “Future”

Transformation is a journey across tension:

• Stability vs. change

• Efficiency vs. experimentation

• Short-term performance vs. long-term direction

Leaders must hold this tension without overreacting.

Progress rarely looks linear. There will be confusion, fatigue, and pushback.

The key is rhythm:

• Clear milestones

• Visible quick wins

• Ongoing communication

• Continuous feedback loops

Transformation is less about one big launch and more about sustained movement.

8. Integrate — Don’t Fragment

The biggest risk in transformation is fragmentation:

• Strategy team working separately from operations

• HR driving culture initiatives disconnected from business goals

• IT implementing tools without user insight

• Leadership talking change without redesigning processes

The drawing reminds us: all elements are connected.

Transformation leadership is about integration.

Seeing the whole system.

Designing across boundaries.

Connecting dots others don’t see.

Final Thought: Transformation Is Human Before It Is Structural

Organizations don’t transform.
People do.

If you focus only on structure, you get compliance.
If you focus on people, clarity, and alignment, you get commitment.

Transformation journeys are complex — but they become manageable when you work systemically:

• Strategy gives direction

• Structure gives shape

• Process gives flow

• Technology gives enablement

• Leadership and culture give energy

• People make it real

And that journey — from “Now” to “Future” — is where true value is created.

Ready to Lead a Transformation — But Want to Do It Right?

If your organization is:

• Navigating restructuring or downsizing

• Redesigning processes for efficiency and impact

• Clarifying strategy and direction

• Strengthening leadership and culture

• Implementing digital or service transformation

• Trying to move from silos to collaboration

… you don’t have to do it alone.

I am currently available and actively looking for new professional challenges where I can contribute as a Senior Service Designer, Innovation Lead, and Transformation Facilitator.

I help leaders and teams:

• Align strategy with execution

• Simplify complexity

• Improve processes and decision flows

• Build engagement and ownership

• Design transformation journeys that actually stick

If you are leading or preparing for a transformation journey and want to approach it in a more integrated, human-centered way and you need someone who can connect strategy, people, structure, process, and technology — and turn ambition into movement — I am always open for a conversation.

📩 Send me a message.
☕ Book a coffee.
🤝 Or introduce me to someone leading change who could use support.

Transformation is too important to approach randomly.

Let’s design it intentionally — together.

In a world obsessed with clarity, dashboards, foresight and predictive analytics, I have been thinking about an unlikely leadership metaphor: Mr. Magoo.

Mr. Magoo is famously near-sighted.
He misinterprets situations.
He walks confidently into chaos.
He mistakes construction sites for golf courses.
And somehow, he keeps moving.

At first glance, this looks like incompetence.

But in a VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) perhaps there is something surprisingly relevant in his approach.

The Illusion of Perfect Vision

Modern leadership culture tells us:

• Anticipate everything

• Analyze all risks

• Forecast scenarios

• Eliminate uncertainty

But VUCA environments do not reward perfect prediction.
They reward adaptability.

Leaders today face:

• Shifting markets

• AI disruption

• Geopolitical instability

• Continuous organizational restructuring

• Emotional fatigue in teams

No one sees clearly.

The myth is that some leaders do.

They don’t.

They simply move anyway.

What Mr. Magoo Gets Right (Accidentally)

Mr. Magoo does three things surprisingly well:

1. He moves forward despite incomplete information

He does not freeze.

In many organizations, paralysis is more dangerous than error.
Over-analysis creates delay. Delay creates decay.

2. He trusts his internal map

Even when the external world is chaotic, he acts from an inner certainty.

Not arrogance, but orientation.

In leadership, this translates to:

• Clear values

• Clear intent

• Clear direction of travel
  Even when the path itself is unclear.

3. He doesn’t collapse psychologically

He misreads situations constantly, yet he remains calm.

This is not about ignorance.

It’s about state of mind.

Leadership Is Not About Seeing Everything

In VUCA conditions, the leader’s job is not to eliminate uncertainty.

It is to:

• Create psychological stability inside uncertainty

• Provide direction without pretending to control outcomes

• Normalize ambiguity instead of fighting it

The leader who waits for perfect clarity will always be late.

The leader who acts recklessly without reflection will create damage.

The leader who acts with grounded presence, that is different.

The Real Lesson: Internal Clarity > External Certainty

In complex environments, the most important “vision” is not external forecasting.

It is internal clarity.

When leaders:

• Understand their own thinking

• Are not hijacked by fear-based assumptions

• Separate facts from interpretation

• See that experience is created internally

They become less reactive and more responsive.

They don’t need perfect sight.

They need grounded awareness.

From Change Management to Change Presence

Traditional leadership asks:
“How do we manage change?”

VUCA leadership asks:
“How do we stay steady while everything changes?”

That steadiness is not about strategy.

It is about state of mind.

A calm nervous system scales better than a detailed PowerPoint.

The Danger of False Confidence

Of course, Mr. Magoo is a cartoon.

In real leadership, blindness without awareness is dangerous.

The point is not to ignore reality.

The point is this:

You will never see the full picture anyway.

So the question becomes:

• Can you act without illusion of control?

• Can you hold direction without rigidity?

• Can you admit uncertainty without losing authority?

That is modern leadership.

A Question for You

Where are you waiting for perfect clarity before moving?

And what would shift if you accepted that clarity often emerges after action — not before it?

If this resonates with you, explore how your state of mind shapes your leadership capacity more than your strategic plan ever will.

VUCA is not going away.

But grounded leaders can thrive inside it.

And maybe, just maybe, Mr. Magoo would make a surprisingly resilient CEO.

I hope this post, made sense and you found it useful.

If “HELL YEAH!”, please like it and share it in social media so more people can get can also benefit from it :-)

I would also appreciate if you subscribe, and give some comments here if you wonder something and want to give me some feedback. I would love to read your input here!

If you have a Substack yourself and like my content, I would love for you to recommend “Facili-station” to your subscribers.

Have a nice one!!

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you’re stepping into management, leading an entire organization or wondering about your career, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer a tailored 1:1 or team coaching quarterly program to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a no-strings attached, no-obligation call to talk about your needs and see what I can offer that will fit you the best. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

You should see the cost of a life and work that you don’t love... sometimes one good conversation can change your life and your career forever.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.

There was a time when leadership meant having the answers.
Clear direction. Decisive action. Strong opinions.

That time has passed.

Today’s leaders are navigating complexity, ambiguity, and constant change. Problems don’t arrive neatly packaged, and solutions rarely come from a single perspective. In this landscape, leadership is less about control and more about creating the conditions where people can think well together.

That’s where facilitation quietly steps in.

From “Leading the Way” to “Holding the Space”

Facilitation isn’t about standing back or being neutral.
It’s about being intentionally present.

A facilitative leader knows how to:

• Slow the conversation down when clarity is missing

• Surface what’s not being said — without forcing it

• Invite multiple perspectives without losing direction

• Guide a group through uncertainty rather than around it

This kind of leadership doesn’t demand attention. It earns trust.

Why Facilitation Is a Human Skill. Not a Soft One

Facilitation is often misunderstood as a “nice-to-have” capability. Something useful in workshops, but secondary in real decision-making.

In reality, it’s one of the most strategic skills a leader can develop.

Why?

Because facilitation is about:

• How decisions are made, not just what decisions are made

• How people feel in the process, not just the outcome

• How ownership is created, not just alignment

When people are involved in shaping the path forward, commitment follows naturally. Not because they were convinced but because they were included.

The Invisible Power of Psychological Safety

Great facilitation creates something subtle but powerful: psychological safety.

Not by setting rules or naming values, but by:

• Asking better questions than giving better answers

• Making room for uncertainty without rushing to closure

• Treating disagreement as information, not resistance

When people feel safe, they don’t just participate, they think. And thinking together is where real progress begins.

Practical Impacts of Facilitative Leadership

When leaders adopt a facilitative mindset, organisations benefit in multiple ways:

• Better decision-making because diverse viewpoints are surfaced and integrated.

• Stronger engagement because people contribute from their strengths.

• Greater innovation because psychological safety encourages risk-taking and creative thinking.

• More resilient collaboration because teams can navigate conflict and uncertainty together.

Facilitation isn’t about relinquishing leadership. It’s about elevating it — from being the person who decides to being the person who enables the team to decide well together.

Shifting Mindsets: From “Leader as Expert” to “Leader as Enabler”

If you want to broaden your leadership impact today, one of the most effective shifts is this: see your role not as offering all the answers but as creating space for collective insight.

That doesn’t mean being passive or neutral about outcomes, it means being intentional about process: designing conversations, guiding thinking, and harnessing human energy toward shared goals. The facilitative leader doesn’t just lead work, they lead the way people work together.

Facilitation in an Age of AI

As AI takes over more analytical and operational tasks, the uniquely human aspects of leadership become even more valuable.

Facilitation lives right there:

• Reading the room

• Sensing energy shifts

• Navigating emotions and meaning

• Helping groups find clarity without being told what to think

These are not tasks that can be automated. They require presence, judgment, and a calm state of mind.

The Shift That Changes Everything

The most powerful mindset shift for modern leaders is this:

My role is not to provide the answer, but to design the conversation where the best answer can emerge.

That’s facilitation.

Not as a technique.
Not as a workshop format.
But as a way of showing up.

And once you see leadership through that lens, everything changes — including how people experience working with you.

I hope this post, made sense and you found it useful.

If “HELL YEAH!”, please like it and share it in social media so more people can get can also benefit from it :-)

I would also appreciate if you subscribe, and give some comments here if you wonder something and want to give me some feedback. I would love to read your input here!

If you have a Substack yourself and like my content, I would love for you to recommend “Facili-station” to your subscribers.

Have a nice one!!

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you’re stepping into management, leading an entire organization or wondering about your career, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer a tailored 1:1 or team coaching quarterly program to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a no-strings attached, no-obligation call to talk about your needs and see what I can offer that will fit you the best. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

You should see the cost of a life and work that you don’t love... sometimes one good conversation can change your life and your career forever.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.

Organizational culture is often described as something intangible.
A feeling.
A vibe.
“The way things are around here.”

But culture is not abstract.

Culture is the result of thousands of small, concrete choices made every day — especially by leaders.

If you want to understand a culture, don’t start with the values document.
Start by observing how people talk, decide, and behave.

What culture is really made of

Culture shows up in four very practical places:

1. The conversations you allow and the ones you shut down

What can be said out loud?
What needs to be whispered?
Who is allowed to challenge, disagree, or ask uncomfortable questions?

Silence is not neutral.
What remains unspoken shapes culture just as much as what is openly discussed.

2. How people speak to each other

Tone matters.
Curiosity matters.
Listening matters.

A culture of fear is built through interruptions, defensiveness, and rushed conclusions.
A culture of trust is built through presence, openness, and genuine inquiry.

Micro-behaviours compound into macro-culture.

3. How decisions are made and by whom

Decision-making reveals the true culture faster than any survey.

• Who is involved?
• How transparent is the process?
• Is the “why” explained or hidden?
• Is disagreement welcomed or punished?

People don’t disengage because decisions are unpopular.
They disengage because decisions feel arbitrary or unsafe to question.

4. The behaviours that are rewarded, tolerated, or ignored

People behave according to what the system encourages.

If speed is rewarded over quality, corners will be cut.
If control is rewarded over trust, initiative will disappear.
If loyalty is rewarded over honesty, silence will grow.

Culture is the shadow cast by your reward systems.

So who actually designs culture?

Not HR.
Not posters.
Not external consultants.

Leaders do.

Leaders are culture designers for two fundamental reasons:

1. Leaders design the systems people operate within

Structures, processes, incentives, meeting formats, reporting lines.

Systems shape behaviour more powerfully than motivation ever will.
Change the system and behaviour follows.

Trying to “motivate” people inside a poorly designed system is like blaming drivers for traffic jams.

2. Leaders model what is normal and acceptable

People don’t copy values.
They copy behaviour.

If leaders avoid conflict, others will too.
If leaders admit uncertainty, curiosity increases.
If leaders listen deeply, psychological safety grows.

Culture spreads through imitation, not instruction.

How leaders can intentionally change culture

Culture change does not start with a big announcement.

It starts with small, visible shifts:

• Different questions in meetings
• Different reactions to mistakes
• Different people invited into decisions
• Different behaviours being acknowledged and rewarded

Most importantly, it starts with self-awareness.

Because the leader is the system others adapt to.

A final reflection

If you want to change culture, ask yourself:

• What conversations am I enabling or preventing?
• What behaviours am I rewarding — intentionally or not?
• What do my decisions teach people about what truly matters here?

Culture is not what you say you value.
Culture is what your organization experiences every day.

And leadership is the art — and responsibility — of designing that experience.

I hope this post, made sense and you found it useful.

If “HELL YEAH!”, please like it and share it in social media so more people can get can also benefit from it :-)

I would also appreciate if you subscribe, and give some comments here if you wonder something and want to give me some feedback. I would love to read your input here!

If you have a Substack yourself and like my content, I would love for you to recommend “Facili-station” to your subscribers.

Have a nice one!!

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you’re stepping into management, leading an entire organization or wondering about your career, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer a tailored 1:1 or team coaching quarterly program to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a no-strings attached, no-obligation call to talk about your needs and see what I can offer that will fit you the best. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

You should see the cost of a life and work that you don’t love... sometimes one good conversation can change your life and your career forever.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.

Most leaders don’t fail because they lack competence.
They fail because pressure exposes how their inner system is running.

Under stress, the question is never “Do I have the right tools?”
The real question is: What state of mind am I leading from — right now?

When the mind is noisy:

• Decisions become reactive

• Conversations lose presence

• Stress quietly spreads into the organisation

When the mind is clear:

• Priorities surface naturally

• Creativity returns

• Leadership feels lighter — not heavier

This difference doesn’t come from another framework, model, or skillset.

It comes from understanding how the human experience actually works.

The Invisible Architecture Behind Every Decision

Most leadership development focuses on what leaders do:

• Skills

• Behaviours

• Techniques

But leaders don’t act from skills.
They act from their state of mind in the moment.

Before strategy.
Before experience.
Before competence.

There is an inner operating system shaping:

• How you interpret reality

• How you respond under pressure

• How you show up in conversations

• How others experience your leadership

And yet, this operating system is almost never explored.

Not because it’s complex —
but because it’s invisible.

Until you see it.

State of Mind Oslo: The Human Experience OS

State of Mind Oslo is a learning community for executives, managers, and leaders who want to lead from clarity — not pressure.

Our first gathering introduces The Human Experience OS:
a practical, insight-based understanding of how human beings really experience reality.

This is not therapy.
This is not mindset hacking.
This is not motivation.

It’s a grounded exploration of:

• What truly runs your leadership beneath strategy and competence

• Why pressure changes how you think — and how to interrupt that

• How clarity emerges before effort

• Why leadership effectiveness is limited by state of mind, not intelligence

This session sets the foundation for everything that follows:
decision-making under pressure, difficult conversations, burnout, creativity, and change.

All are expressions of the same operating system.

Why This Matters Now

If you feel:

• Busy but not always clear

• Highly competent but mentally overloaded

• Responsible for others while running on empty

This is not a personal flaw.

It’s a design issue in how leadership is currently understood.

Clarity is not something you manufacture.
It’s something you uncover.

Join Us — Only 4 Spots Left

This first State of Mind Oslo gathering is intentionally small.
We want depth, not noise.

📍 Oslo — Mesh Youngstorget
🗓 Wednesday, 28 January | 08:00–09:00
👥 Executives, managers, and leaders

👉 Only 4 spots remain.

If this resonates, don’t overthink it.

Request your spot here:
🔗 https://luma.com/z7v5s2vu

Leadership isn’t about fixing the mind.
It’s about understanding it.

Hope to see you in the room.

Most leadership training is built on a simple promise:

“If you do X, you’ll get Y.”

If you set the right goals, apply the right framework, make the right decisions, and execute with discipline, results will follow. And in many situations, that logic works.

Linear leadership thinking is effective when:

• the problem is known

• the environment is stable

• the path has been walked before

But modern leadership rarely lives there.

Leadership today is rarely linear

Leaders are increasingly asked to navigate:

• uncertainty without clear answers

• change without proven playbooks

• complexity without clean cause-and-effect

Culture change.
Strategic pivots.
Organisational redesign.
Innovation under pressure.

In these situations, linear logic quietly breaks down.

There is no straight line.
No guaranteed sequence.
No plan that survives first contact with reality.

Yet many leaders respond by doing what they know best: planning harder, controlling more, thinking faster.

That’s usually when clarity disappears.

When pushing harder makes things worse

Under pressure, it’s tempting to believe that:

• more effort will produce better thinking

• more control will reduce uncertainty

• more certainty will calm the system

But experienced leaders know this isn’t true.

Pressure narrows thinking.
Stress reduces perspective.
Control often creates resistance instead of alignment.

The harder leaders try to force clarity, the further away it seems.

This isn’t a competence problem.
It’s a state of mind problem.

A different leadership blueprint

When linear leadership logic runs out of road, a different approach becomes available, one that looks less impressive in PowerPoint, but works far better in practice.

It starts with movement.

Step one: Move in the direction of what matters.

Not with full certainty.
Not with perfect answers.
But with integrity and intent.

Leadership doesn’t require having everything figured out, it requires taking responsibility for the next honest step.

Then comes the part many leaders skip.

Step two: Pay attention.

Notice what changes when you move.
Notice how people respond.
Notice the ideas that emerge once motion replaces rumination.

Movement generates information.
Stillness under pressure rarely does.

Finally:

Step three: Continue with what has life and let go of what doesn’t.

This is not about being reactive.
It’s about being responsive.

Good leadership is less about sticking rigidly to plans and more about recognising when reality is offering new data.

The leadership fork in the road

Every leader eventually reaches a fork.

One path offers predictability.
The other offers possibility.

The predictable path prioritises:

• control

• certainty

• explainability

The other path asks for:

• presence

• curiosity

• trust in thinking that hasn’t appeared yet

This doesn’t mean abandoning strategy.
It means recognising that strategy alone cannot create clarity.

Leaders who can tolerate uncertainty without panicking create space for better thinking in themselves and in others.

Effortless leadership is not passive leadership

This is often misunderstood.

Effortless leadership is not about doing less.
It’s not about avoiding responsibility.
And it’s definitely not about “going with the flow.”

It’s about doing what fits now.

It’s about recognising when effort is aligned and when it’s just noise.
It’s about understanding that forcing decisions in a low state of mind often creates more work later.

Calm doesn’t make leaders weak.
It makes them accurate.

Sometimes leadership doesn’t need a better plan

It needs:

• a clearer mind

• a willingness to pause before deciding

• and the courage to listen after acting

The most effective leaders are not those with the fastest answers,
but those who create conditions where good answers can emerge.

That doesn’t come from pressure.
It comes from perspective.

And perspective appears when the mind settles.

A quiet invitation for leaders

In early 2026, I’m starting a small leadership community in Oslo called State of Mind Oslo.

It’s a space for leaders who carry responsibility, complexity, and expectations and want to explore how clarity, better decisions, and healthier leadership emerge from the inside out.

No techniques.
No fixing.
No performance.

Just thoughtful conversations about how leadership actually works when the mind is clear.

If this resonates, you’re warmly invited to stay close.
More details about the first gathering will be shared soon.

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you’re stepping into management, leading an entire organization or wondering about your career, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer a tailored 1:1 or team coaching quarterly program to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a no-strings attached, no-obligation call to talk about your needs and see what I can offer that will fit you the best. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

You should see the cost of a life and work that you don’t love... sometimes one good conversation can change your life and your career forever.

As facilitators, our craft lives and dies in the meetings we hold.
They’re the stage where collaboration happens — or fails. Every agenda we design, every question we pose, every silence we hold shapes whether a meeting becomes a space for meaning or just another calendar slot to survive.

We’ve all been there — those meetings that make you quietly question your life choices. You join because it’s in your calendar, not because you expect anything meaningful to happen. Forty-five minutes later, you leave with less energy, more confusion, and a vague sense that you’ve been robbed of time you’ll never get back.

Why do we keep doing this to ourselves?

The truth is: meetings are not the problem — badly designed meetings are.
When done well, meetings can align, inspire, and create clarity. When done poorly, they drain attention, motivation, and trust.

Let’s look at what separates the two.

Bad Meetings Feel Like This

• No clear purpose. You don’t know why you’re there. The conversation drifts, and nothing gets decided.

• The wrong crowd. Too many people… or missing the ones who matter.

• Dominated by a few voices. The loudest wins, while good ideas die silently.

• Low energy and participation. People multitask, turn cameras off, or hide behind their coffee mugs.

• Information overload. Endless slides and updates that could’ve been an email.

• No closure. You end with “let’s circle back” — but never do.

In short: no focus, no flow, no follow-through.

Good Meetings Feel Like This

• Clear purpose and outcomes. Everyone knows why you’re there and what you’re aiming for.

• Right people, right size. Small enough to talk, diverse enough to think.

• Skilled facilitation. Someone is guiding the flow, balancing voices, and keeping time sacred.

• Psychological safety. People dare to disagree, ask questions, and build on each other’s ideas.

• Energy and engagement. Visuals, stories, whiteboards, or simple pauses keep minds awake.

• Decisions and accountability. Clear next steps, owners, and deadlines before anyone leaves.

• Respect for time. Starts and ends on time — and everyone feels it was worth it.

In short: clarity, contribution, and commitment.

The “4-Question Rule” Before Every Meeting

Ask yourself:

1. Why are we meeting?

2. Who really needs to be there?

3. What outcome do we want?

4. How will we know it was worth it?

If you can’t answer these four, maybe — just maybe — you don’t need a meeting at all.

The Facilitator’s Edge

As facilitators, we hold the power to transform meetings from time sinks into sense-making spaces.
It’s not about fancy tools — it’s about intention, attention, and design.

Bad meetings happen by default.
Good meetings happen by design.
And great meetings?
They happen when we design for meaning.

How to Design a Good Meeting

If you want to move from “we always meet” to “we meet with purpose,” here are some practical steps to design better meetings:

1. Start with purpose, not format.
Ask: What needs to happen that requires people to be together? Decision? Alignment? Ideation? Relationship-building?
Your purpose determines the shape, length, and format of the meeting.

2. Define the outcome.
Imagine the sentence you want to complete at the end: “By the end of this meeting, we will have…”
This sets direction and helps everyone focus.

3. Design the flow.
Think in phases: opening (set tone and purpose), exploration (generate ideas or insights), and closing (make sense and decide).
Use time blocks and transitions intentionally.

4. Choose the right methods.
Select facilitation techniques that fit the purpose — from silent reflection to breakout groups or decision matrices. Don’t just talk; structure interaction.

5. Create psychological safety.
Set norms upfront: curiosity over judgment, building on each other’s ideas, and time for reflection.

6. Prepare your space.
Whether physical or virtual, design for focus and engagement: good lighting, visuals, tools ready, and fewer distractions.

7. End well.
Close with clarity. Review key insights, decisions, and next steps. Confirm who owns what and by when.

8. Reflect and iterate.
After the meeting, ask: What worked? What didn’t? What should we change next time?
Continuous reflection builds meeting culture.

What a Good Meeting Agenda Looks Like

A good agenda is more than a list of topics — it’s a shared map of purpose, flow, and outcomes.
Here’s an example of what a well-designed agenda could look like:

Meeting Title: Redesigning our Onboarding Experience
Date: Tuesday, November 12
Time: 09:00–10:30
Location: Teams / Room 3A
Facilitator: José Redondo
Participants: HR, Service Design, and Team Leads

Purpose:
To align on key pain points in our current onboarding process and define next steps for improvement.

Expected Outcome:
By the end of the meeting, we will have:

1. A shared understanding of current challenges.

2. A prioritized list of 2–3 improvement areas.

3. Clear next steps and owners.

Agenda:

Preparation (Before the Meeting):

• Read the onboarding survey results (link attached).

• Reflect on one story from your first month at work — what helped or hindered your start?

Follow-up (After the Meeting):

• Summary and action tracker shared within 24 hours.

• Next check-in: December 3 at 09:00.

A good agenda shows the flow, clarifies responsibilities, and signals intentional design. It tells participants, this time matters.

Try This Next Week

1. Pick one recurring meeting you attend.

2. Before the next session, ask yourself (or the organizer) the 4 questions above.

3. Make one small change — shorten it, change the invite list, or clarify the outcome.

4. Observe what happens to energy, engagement, and clarity.

Facilitation doesn’t start when the meeting begins — it starts when you design the invitation.

Join the Conversation

If you experiment with redesigning one of your meetings, I’d love to hear how it goes.
What changed? What surprised you? What did you learn about your team?

Share your reflections or your best meeting agenda examples with the Facili-station community.
Together, we can turn meetings from moments of frustration into spaces for alignment, creativity, and connection.

I hope this post, made sense and you found it useful.

If “HELL YEAH!”, please like it and share it in social media so more people can get can also benefit from it :-)

I would also appreciate if you subscribe, and give some comments here if you wonder something and want to give me some feedback. I would love to read your input here!

If you have a Substack yourself and like my content, I would love for you to recommend “Facili-station” to your subscribers.

Have a nice one!!

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you’re stepping into management, leading an entire organization or wondering about your career, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer a tailored 1:1 or team coaching quarterly program to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a no-strings attached, no-obligation call to talk about your needs and see what I can offer that will fit you the best. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

You should see the cost of a life and work that you don’t love... sometimes one good conversation can change your life and your career forever.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.

Most of us grew up with the same assumption:

First you succeed.
Then you’re allowed to be happy.

So we push.
We chase outcomes.
We delay joy until the milestone is reached, the promotion secured, the project delivered, the numbers achieved.

Happiness becomes a reward, something conditional, something postponed.

But when you look closely at real life, something else becomes obvious.

Happiness doesn’t follow success

It precedes it.

Look at people who are truly thriving, not just performing, but living well.

They’re not only getting results.
They’re enjoying the work while doing it.

And something subtle happens around them.

They lift the energy in the room.
They calm nervous systems.
They make collaboration easier.
They create space where thinking flows.

Not because they’re trying to be positive, but because of the state of mind they’re operating from.

This isn’t about forced optimism.
It’s not about pretending everything is fine.
And it’s definitely not about motivation hacks.

It’s about understanding something much more fundamental.

State of mind changes how thinking works

When people feel good — not euphoric, just settled — something shifts naturally:

• Thinking becomes clearer

• Decisions become wiser

• Resilience increases

• Creativity shows up without effort

From that state, goals stop feeling heavy.
Progress becomes sustainable.
Momentum builds without forcing.

This is why pushing harder so often backfires.

Stress doesn’t sharpen thinking, it narrows it.
Pressure doesn’t create clarity, it clouds it.

We don’t access our best ideas, judgment, or common sense by tightening the grip.
We access them when the mind settles.

Success doesn’t create clarity

Clarity creates success

This is one of the biggest misunderstandings in work and leadership today.

We assume:

“Once we figure it out, then we’ll feel calm.”

But lived experience shows the opposite:

When the mind calms down, figuring it out becomes possible.

Clarity isn’t something we manufacture.
It’s something that appears when mental noise drops.

And that clarity — not effort — is what drives meaningful, lasting success.

Why this matters now

We live in a time of constant change, uncertainty, and complexity.
More tools. More frameworks. More pressure.

Yet very little attention is given to the inner operating system we bring into our work, leadership, and relationships.

We talk endlessly about what to do.
Rarely about the state of mind we do it from.

And that’s exactly the conversation I want to open.

A shared exploration, not a method

This is what my small new community in 2026 “State of Mind Oslo” is all about.

It’s for leaders, professionals, and curious minds who want to explore together how the human mind actually works, what becomes possible when we operate from more calm, perspective, and presence and how clarity, creativity, and better decisions emerge naturally, without force

No techniques.
No fixing.
No self-improvement agenda.

Just space to slow down, reflect together and think more clearly, especially in a world that keeps asking us to speed up.

If this resonates, you’re warmly invited to follow along or reach out.
More details about the first gathering will be shared soon.

Because sometimes, the most powerful move is not doing more… but seeing more clearly.

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you’re stepping into management, leading an entire organization or wondering about your career, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer a tailored 1:1 or team coaching quarterly program to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a no-strings attached, no-obligation call to talk about your needs and see what I can offer that will fit you the best. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

You should see the cost of a life and work that you don’t love... sometimes one good conversation can change your life and your career forever.

There’s something powerful about the way we begin our days.
Before the meetings, the messages, the notifications…. there’s a moment that belongs only to us.

How we use that moment can shape everything that follows.

Morning rituals are more than just routines. They are small, intentional acts that remind us who we are, what matters, and how we want to show up in the world. They help us move from automatic to aware, from rushed to ready.

Why Morning Rituals Matter

When we start our mornings with intention, we take back ownership of our time and energy. Instead of jumping straight into reacting — to emails, tasks, or news — we pause to reconnect with ourselves.

That pause is not wasted time; it’s found time. It creates space for clarity, focus, and purpose to emerge.

As facilitators, leaders, or anyone working with people, our energy sets the tone for others. A grounded morning ritual doesn’t just benefit us, it radiates into the rooms we hold, the conversations we guide, and the decisions we make.

“Win the morning, win the day” — not by doing more, but by beginning with meaning.

The Core Elements of a Meaningful Morning Ritual

1. Mindfulness: Start with Stillness

Begin the day with presence. This could be a few minutes of quiet breathing, journaling, or simply sipping your coffee without screens.
Stillness helps you listen inward before the world starts speaking outward.

Why it helps: It reduces stress, builds awareness, and cultivates gratitude — a foundation for calm and clarity.

2. Intention: Set Your Direction

Before diving into the day, ask yourself:

• “How do I want to show up today?”

• “What’s truly important?”

Write a short intention something like “Today I’ll stay curious and open” or “I’ll focus on listening deeply.”

Why it helps: It transforms your to-do list into a to-be list. You move through the day guided by purpose, not pressure.

3. Movement: Activate Your Energy

Your body is your first instrument of facilitation. Moving it, through stretching, yoga, or a walk outside, awakens your energy and focus.

Why it helps: It increases alertness, boosts mood, and reconnects you to your body before your brain takes over.

4. Learning: Feed Your Curiosity

Read a few pages of an inspiring book, listen to a podcast, watch a video or revisit notes from something you’re learning. Let something spark your thinking.

Why it helps: It sets a creative tone and nurtures growth, essential for anyone guiding others in change and collaboration.

5. Connection: Anchor in Meaning

Start your day with kindness to yourself and others. Send a message of appreciation, share breakfast mindfully, or simply greet yourself with compassion.

Why it helps: It builds emotional warmth and empathy, qualities that ripple through every interaction during the day.

The Benefits of Morning Rituals

When practiced consistently, morning rituals help you:

• Feel calmer and more centered

• Focus on what truly matters

• Bring energy and intention into your work

• Strengthen emotional resilience

• Lead and facilitate with authenticity

In short: your morning shapes your mindset, and your mindset shapes your impact.

Designing Your Own Morning Ritual

1. Keep it simple. Even 10–15 minutes can change your day.

2. Protect your first hour. Delay screens, messages, and news.

3. Make it sensory. Light a candle, play soft music, or step outside.

4. Stay flexible. Not every morning will be perfect. Consistency matters more than perfection.

5. Reflect weekly. Notice the difference it makes in your focus and mood.

A Simple Ritual Example (20 Minutes)

1. Sit quietly with your coffee and breathe (3 minutes)

2. Stretch or move your body (7 minutes)

3. Write a daily intention (2 minutes)

4. Read or listen to something inspiring (8 minutes)

That’s it. Short, simple, powerful.

Tips: Remember to schedule it in your calendar as a daily recurrent event

Closing Thought

Your morning is not just the start of your day, it’s a daily rehearsal of how you want to live. Approach it with care, attention, and intention.

Because how you begin matters.

If this post made you go “hell yeah, that makes sense!” — I’m so glad 🙌
Give it a like, share it with someone who’d enjoy it, and let’s keep the ideas flowing.

I’d love to hear your thoughts — drop a comment, ask a question, or just say hi 👋
And if you’ve got your own Substack, a recommendation for Facili-station would mean the world 💛

Thanks for reading — and see you in the next one ✨

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you’re stepping into management, leading an entire organization or wondering about your career, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer a tailored 1:1 or team coaching quarterly program to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a no-strings attached, no-obligation call to talk about your needs and see what I can offer that will fit you the best. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

You should see the cost of a life and work that you don’t love... sometimes one good conversation can change your life and your career forever.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.

Let’s be honest, giving feedback upwards can be one of the most uncomfortable things we do at work.
It’s easy to share thoughts with a colleague or a peer. But when it’s your boss, the person shaping your priorities, your growth, and sometimes your sense of safety, it suddenly feels a lot more personal.

Yet, great leaders don’t grow without feedback.
And brave teams don’t thrive without honesty.

So how can you give feedback that strengthens trust instead of creating tension?
Here’s a simple, human approach.

1. Start with Intention, Not Frustration

Feedback is not a confrontation, it’s a contribution.
Before you speak, take a breath and ask yourself:

“What do I want to make better by saying this?”

If your intention is to improve collaboration or clarity, your words will sound more constructive and they’ll be received that way too.

💬 “I’d like to share something that might help us work even better together.”

2. Ask for Permission First

Feedback lands better when it’s invited.
It’s a simple gesture of respect to ask if it’s the right time.

💬 “Would it be okay if I share an observation?”
💬 “I have some feedback that might be useful. Is it now a good time?”

This opens the door to a conversation instead of a confrontation.

3. Talk About Behavior, Not Personality

Avoid general or personal statements because they trigger defensiveness.
Focus on what you observed instead of who the person is.

❌ “You’re too controlling in meetings.”
✅ “In the last few meetings, decisions were made quite quickly, and it felt like there wasn’t much space for input.”

You’re describing a pattern, not assigning a label.

4. Share the Impact

Context gives meaning.
Explain why this matters and how it affects you, the team, or the results.

💬 “When decisions are made before we discuss them, I find it harder to take ownership of the follow-up work.”

This turns your feedback from complaint to contribution.

5. Offer a Way Forward

Good feedback looks toward the future.
Don’t stop at the problem and suggest a next step.

💬 “Maybe we could agree on a few minutes in each meeting to collect team input before deciding.”

This shows collaboration and shared ownership.

6. Keep It a Dialogue, Not a Delivery

Feedback is a two-way street. Keep curiosity alive.

💬 “How does that sound to you?”
💬 “Is that something you’ve noticed too?”

When you stay curious, you turn feedback into learning, for both of you.

7. End with Appreciation

If your boss listens, acknowledges, or engages, say thank you.
It reinforces the culture you want to grow.

💬 “Thanks for being open to this. It means a lot that we can talk about these things.”

A Final Thought

Giving feedback to your boss isn’t an act of rebellion.
It’s an act of partnership.

It takes courage, but courage, when done with care, strengthens trust.
And when leaders and teams both learn to speak honestly and listen openly, that’s when true collaboration begins.

So next time that knot appears in your stomach before saying something difficult, remember:
You’re not speaking against your boss.
You’re speaking for a better way of working together.

Over to You

Have you ever given feedback to your boss?
How did it go and what did you learn from it?

Share your reflections in the comments below.
Your story might be the encouragement someone else needs to speak up.

And if you found this useful, feel free to share it forward. It’s how better conversations spread.

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you’re stepping into management, leading an entire organization or wondering about your career, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer a tailored 1:1 or team coaching quarterly program to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a no-strings attached, no-obligation call to talk about your needs and see what I can offer that will fit you the best. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

You should see the cost of a life and work that you don’t love... sometimes one good conversation can change your life and your career forever.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.

A few months ago I was invited to support a senior management team in a large public organisation. Nine leaders. All competent. All dedicated. All tired.

They weren’t dysfunctional.
They weren’t fighting.
But they also weren’t a team.

They were a group of individuals who met every week, shared updates, and left with the same frustration: “We have important responsibilities, but we’re not pulling in the same direction.”

In the introduction, I briefly explained that teams naturally move through phases of development (some call it Tuckman’s model). But theory wasn’t the point. What mattered was this:

They had skipped the emotional work of becoming a team.

A retreat wasn’t a “nice-to-have”.
It was the only responsible thing to do.

The Real Reason Senior Teams Need a Retreat

Because meetings don’t create trust

A calendar full of back-to-back meetings gives leaders contact, not connection.
What this team needed was something different:
Time
Distance
Honesty
A chance to see each other as human again.

When leadership teams don’t get that space, small tensions become large ones, small misunderstandings crystallise into silos, and the entire organisation feels the consequences.

A Leadership Team on the Edge of “Almost Working”

Competent individuals ≠ a high-performing team

Here’s what was really happening beneath the polite surface:

• Two directors were quietly competing for influence

• A newly arrived leader felt invisible

• The acting leader was carrying disappointment from months of uncertainty

• Several were unsure about their shared mandate

• Everybody was avoiding the difficult conversations

On paper, the team looked “stable”.
In reality, they were functioning at 40% of their collective potential.

This is precisely when a retreat becomes powerful.

Not to “fix people”.
But to create the conditions where people can finally tell the truth and rebuild trust.

Inside the Retreat: A Journey From Politeness to Partnership

Day 1 – From Professional Masks to Real Conversations

Morning: Re-introducing each other as humans

Instead of diving into strategy, we went backwards.

Each leader shared:

• why they chose leadership in the first place

• one moment that shaped them

• one thing they were carrying that nobody saw

• what they needed from colleagues but rarely asked for

For the first time, the room breathed.

People cried.
People laughed.
People saw each other again.

The acting leader said, “I didn’t realise I was holding so much resentment until I heard myself say it out loud.”
Someone else whispered, “This is the first time I feel like I belong here.”

Afternoon: Naming the elephants

We mapped tensions.
We explored communication habits.
We held a structured dialogue between the two directors who had mutual discomfort.

Nothing exploded.
But everything softened.

Honesty, not harmony, was the goal.

Day 2 – Designing a Team That Works (Not Just Meets)

Morning: Creating clarity

Now that the emotional dust had settled, the team could finally design their future.

Together, they defined:

• their true shared mandate

• their leadership principles

• how decisions should be made

• how disagreements should be handled

• how they wanted to show up for the organisation

The transformation was visible.
Less defensiveness.
More curiosity.
More shared ownership.

Afternoon: Building momentum

We shifted from repair to ambition.

The team worked on:

• strategic priorities

• cross-functional dependencies

• early-warning signals when things slip

• shared routines and leadership behaviours

• commitments to each other

By the end of day 2, one leader said:
“This is the first time I understand what it actually means to lead together.”

When Is a Leadership Retreat Necessary?

Use these signals as your early-warning system

A retreat is essential when:

• The team is changing (new roles, new structure, new people)

• Politeness hides the truth

• Leaders work more “next to each other” than “with each other”

• Strategy requires alignment that doesn’t exist yet

• Tension, fatigue, or frustration sit beneath the surface

• Everyone is busy, but nobody feels progress

If any of these resonate, the team is ready.
Or rather, they can’t afford not to be.

When a Retreat Won’t Work

A useful dose of honesty

A retreat is not the solution if:

• Leadership is not willing to participate fully

• The team is in deep psychological conflict

• The CEO doesn’t support the process

• People see it as a checkbox exercise

• There is no follow-up afterwards

A retreat accelerates courage, not avoidance.

Three Months Later: Proof That Space Changes Everything

After this retreat, the organisation reported:

• clearer, faster decision-making

• fewer escalations

• improved cross-department collaboration

• renewed trust within the leadership team

• a more confident leadership narrative toward employees

They didn’t become perfect.
They became aligned.
And that changed everything.

Final Reflection: Teams Don’t Become Teams by Accident

A senior team becomes a team when they have:

• space for truth

• courage for tension

• structure for collaboration

• and the humility to reset

A retreat is simply the container.
The real work happens when leaders choose to see each other fully — and start leading like they mean it.

Ready to Design a Leadership Retreat That Actually Makes a Difference?

Most leadership teams don’t need another off-site with flipcharts and polite discussions. They need a carefully designed space where they can speak honestly, rebuild trust, align around what matters, and step into the next chapter with clarity and confidence.

This is the work I specialise in.

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspac

If your leadership team is approaching a transition, carrying unresolved friction, or simply needs a reset to move forward with intention, I can help you design and facilitate a retreat that creates real movement and not just a well-organised agenda.

If you’d like to explore what your next leadership retreat could look like, reach out.
Let’s talk about your team, your context, and the outcomes you want to create and build a retreat that makes the time, travel, and investment truly worth it.

Please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

“People need feedback.”
We hear this mantra endlessly in workplaces, leadership programs, and coaching sessions. Feedback has become a kind of sacred ritual, ask for it, give it, collect it, live by it.

But here’s a bold thought:
What if feedback isn’t the holy grail of growth we’ve been led to believe?

What if, in fact, it’s holding us back?

The Problem With Feedback

Most feedback isn’t the clear, actionable, truth-seeking mirror we wish it were.
Instead, it’s often:

• Vague: “You could be more strategic.” What does that even mean?

• Biased: Colored by the giver’s preferences, blind spots, or even their mood that day.

• Sugar-coated: So softened that it hides the real message.

• Unsolicited: Advice you never asked for from people you don’t trust.

And that last one is crucial: if you don’t trust the competence, experience, or integrity of the person giving feedback, why should their words carry weight?

Everybody can talk.
That doesn’t mean it’s worth listening.

Feedback Fixates on Weakness

Feedback usually focuses on what went wrong, what’s missing, and what to fix.
In other words, it drags your attention toward your weaknesses.

And while that may sound noble, it often traps people in the pursuit of becoming “well-rounded.”

But here’s the truth: Nobody ever became great by being average at everything.

When we spend our lives patching gaps, we dilute our strengths. We iron out our uniqueness. We flatten excellence into mediocrity.

Attention Beats Feedback

People don’t need more feedback.
They need more attention.

Feedback says: “Here’s what you did wrong.”

Attention says: “I see what you’re doing. Let’s build on it.”

Feedback is usually about the past.
Attention is about the present and future.

People grow when leaders notice their efforts, highlight what’s working, and amplify strengths. Coaching, support, and recognition unlock potential far more than endless loops of “fix this, fix that.”

Strengths Over Weaknesses

The best people, teams, and organizations don’t succeed by ironing everyone into the same mold. They succeed by unleashing individuality.

Great teams aren’t made of clones who are “good enough” at everything.
They’re made of people who double down on their strengths and collaborate to cover each other’s blind spots.

Real excellence comes from focus, sharpness, and unapologetically becoming great at something, not from being mediocre at everything.

A Different Question

So next time you think,
“I need to give them feedback,”
try asking instead: “How can I give them attention, coaching, and support to help them get even better at what they do best?”

Because feedback flattens.
But attention elevates.

And the future of growth won’t come from fixing weaknesses.
It will come from amplifying strengths.

I hope this post, made sense and you found it useful.

If “HELL YEAH!”, please like it and share it in social media so more people can get can also benefit from it :-)

I would also appreciate if you subscribe, and give some comments here if you wonder something and want to give me some feedback. I would love to read your input here!

If you have a Substack yourself and like my content, I would love for you to recommend “Facili-station” to your subscribers.

Have a nice one!!

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you’re stepping into management, leading an entire organization or wondering about your career, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer a tailored 1:1 or team coaching quarterly program to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a no-strings attached, no-obligation call to talk about your needs and see what I can offer that will fit you the best. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

You should see the cost of a life and work that you don’t love... sometimes one good conversation can change your life and your career forever.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.

We live in a world that celebrates action. We’re constantly told to do more, hustle harder, stay busy. But not all action is created equal. Some action leads us closer to who we want to be, while other action leaves us drained, distracted, or even further away from our true path.

So, what makes an action “good”? Beyond productivity and efficiency, good action has three essential qualities: it is inspired, purposeful, and intentional.

1. Inspired Action: Moving from a Place of Energy and Motivation

The most meaningful actions often come from inspiration, not obligation. Inspired action is fueled by a sense of possibility, excitement, or alignment with our values. It’s the difference between forcing yourself to push through a task versus feeling drawn toward it because it lights something inside you.

Ask yourself before acting:

• Am I doing this because I want to, or because I feel I “should”?

• Does this action energize me?

• Can I connect it to something I’m genuinely curious or excited about?

2. Purposeful Action: Aligning with What Truly Matters

Even inspired action can drift into distraction if it isn’t guided by a deeper sense of purpose. Purposeful action connects to the bigger “why” of our lives, our meaning, values, and vision of who we want to become.

Ask yourself before acting:

• Does this move me closer to the life I want to create?

• Is this aligned with my core values?

• Will this still matter to me in a year?

3. Intentional Action: Guided by Goals and Growth

Finally, good action is intentional. It’s not just about reacting to circumstances, but about choosing actions that align with our goals and growth areas. Intentionality ensures that we are moving deliberately, not just drifting.

Ask yourself before acting:

• What outcome do I want from this?

• How does this connect to my goals or growth areas?

• Is this the best use of my time and energy right now?

A Practical Checklist for Good Action

Here’s a simple guide you can use as a quick filter before taking action. Run your decision through these three checkpoints:

✅ Inspiration – Does this feel energizing or meaningful to me?
✅ Purpose – Is this aligned with my bigger “why”?
✅ Intention – Is this a deliberate step toward my goals?

If the answer is yes to all three, you can be confident you’re moving with “good” action.

Bringing It All Together

Good action is not about being constantly busy or checking endless boxes on a to-do list. It’s about moving in ways that are:

• Inspired by energy and motivation,

• Purposeful in alignment with meaning, and

• Intentional in service of growth and goals.

When these three qualities come together, action stops being a burden and becomes a powerful force for transformation. Every step you take becomes a step that matters.

P.S. One more filter I’ve recently added.

After a deeply insightful and energizing conversation with Dee Scarano, a facilitator and coach full of life, clarity, and presence, I realized there’s a fourth quality that matters just as much:

Fun & Joy.

Before taking action, I now also ask myself:

• Is this fun or joyful?

• Am I actually enjoying this?

Not superficial fun.
Not forced positivity.

But the quiet, grounded joy that comes from being in the right state of mind, doing something that feels alive, human, and worth showing up for.

If an action is inspired, purposeful, intentional and joyful — chances are, it truly matters, and you should be doing it. Regardless the final outcome.

✨ Pause before your next move. Run it through the checklist. If it’s inspired, purposeful, intentional and FUN…. you’re not just acting. You’re growing.

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you’re stepping into management, leading an entire organization or wondering about your career, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer a tailored 1:1 or team coaching quarterly program to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a no-strings attached, no-obligation call to talk about your needs and see what I can offer that will fit you the best. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

You should see the cost of a life and work that you don’t love... sometimes one good conversation can change your life and your career forever.

Why Choosing the Right Canvas Matters

In innovation projects, selecting the right framework is critical. Two of the most widely used tools are the Business Model Canvas (BMC) and the Lean Canvas. Both help teams structure ideas, but they serve different purposes and work best at different stages of innovation.

Business Model Canvas (BMC): Strategic Big Picture

Best for established organizations refining or scaling their business.

The Business Model Canvas, created by Alexander Osterwalder, helps teams visualize how a business creates, delivers, and captures value. Its nine building blocks are:

• Customer Segments

• Value Propositions

• Channels

• Customer Relationships

• Revenue Streams

• Key Resources

• Key Activities

• Key Partnerships

• Cost Structure

When to use BMC:

• Scaling or optimizing an existing service.

• Aligning internal stakeholders on strategy.

• Planning long-term sustainability and operational efficiency.

In innovation projects, I often introduce BMC after validating key assumptions to refine the operating model and plan for scaling.

Lean Canvas: Problem-Focused Innovation

Perfect for startups and early-stage projects testing assumptions quickly.

The Lean Canvas, created by Ash Maurya, adapts the BMC for early-stage innovation. It replaces some internal-focused blocks with startup-critical ones:

• Problem

• Customer Segments

• Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

• Solution

• Channels

• Revenue Streams

• Cost Structure

• Key Metrics

• Unfair Advantage

When to use Lean Canvas:

• Exploring new product or service ideas.

• Testing assumptions quickly to reduce risk.

• Focusing on real problems for early adopters.

• Iterating fast and staying flexible.

I introduce Lean Canvas at the discovery stage, helping teams focus on problems before solutions.

Lean Canvas vs. BMC: When to Use Each

My Process: Start Lean, Then Scale

In my work with innovation teams, we start with the Lean Canvas to validate assumptions quickly. Once we gain traction, we transition to the Business Model Canvas to refine the business model for operationalization and scaling.

Key takeaway: Innovation is about solving real problems for real people. Lean Canvas helps explore, BMC helps scale.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right canvas at the right stage saves time, reduces risk, and maximizes impact. Start lean, validate early, and scale smart.

Call to action:
🧭 Have you used Lean Canvas or Business Model Canvas in your projects?

Which one worked best? Share your experiences in the comments!

I hope this post, made sense and you found it useful.

If “HELL YEAH!”, please like it and share it in social media so more people can get can also benefit from it :-)

I would also appreciate if you subscribe, and give some comments here if you wonder something and want to give me some feedback. I would love to read your input here!

If you have a Substack yourself and like my content, I would love for you to recommend “Facili-station” to your subscribers.

Have a nice one!!

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you’re stepping into management, leading an entire organization or wondering about your career, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer a tailored 1:1 or team coaching quarterly program to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a no-strings attached, no-obligation call to talk about your needs and see what I can offer that will fit you the best. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

You should see the cost of a life and work that you don’t love... sometimes one good conversation can change your life and your career forever.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.

In many organizations, we still live by a familiar rhythm: define the goals, track the KPIs, and measure success by how well we stick to the plan. We call them OKRs, SMART targets, strategic goals. They give us direction, alignment, and accountability. Or so we hope.

But here’s the hard truth: in the complex and fast-changing world we live in, what many call the VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous), these fixed goals often become more of a trap than a guide.

They offer a false sense of control.

Sailing with a Map that Doesn’t Match the Sea

Let me offer a metaphor.

Imagine you're on a sailing boat in open water. You’ve planned your course carefully. The map says "north," so you set your sails and prepare to head in that direction.

But then the wind shifts. The sea currents pull differently. A storm is forming to the east.

Now, what do you do?

If you insist on going north no matter what, if you fight the wind, ignore the current, and grip your sails with white knuckles, you might make some progress. But more likely, you’ll get stuck. You’ll burn energy, time, and morale, all for the sake of a direction that no longer fits reality.

And worst of all, you’ll stop learning.

The Agile Sailor Thinks Differently

The experienced sailor doesn’t force the boat to follow the plan at all costs. They work with the environment, not against it. They observe the wind, read the sea, and adjust the sails accordingly without losing sight of the broader purpose.

They remain responsive, curious, and adaptive.

That’s exactly what we need in organizations today.

Instead of obsessing over whether we hit 90% of last quarter’s OKRs, we should be asking:

• What has changed since we set these goals?

• What are we learning as we move?

• Are we still headed toward our purpose, or just ticking boxes?

• Are we using the wind we have now or still waiting for the wind we wanted?

From Control to Curiosity

Fixed goals make sense when the world is stable. But in complexity, the most effective leaders and teams don’t just set a destination, they learn their way forward. They stay curious. They pivot when needed. They embrace emergence.

This doesn’t mean drifting aimlessly. It means letting go of control in order to gain momentum.

It’s about building a culture where sense-making, feedback, and adaptation matter more than compliance to a plan written months ago.

So… What If We Sailed Differently?

What if we treated strategies more like hypotheses, and goals more like flexible compasses?

What if we rewarded navigators, not just plan-followers?

What if we let go of the illusion that control equals progress—and instead trusted our ability to learn, adapt, and flow with the wind?

The next time you’re in a goal-setting meeting, pause for a moment.
Look around. Ask: What’s the wind right now? Where is the current trying to take us?

Because in the end, success is not about following a map, it’s about moving forward.

Even when the route surprises us.

I hope this post, made sense and you found it useful.

If “HELL YEAH!”, please like it and share it in social media so more people can get can also benefit from it :-)

I would also appreciate if you subscribe, and give some comments here if you wonder something and want to give me some feedback. I would love to read your input here!

If you have a Substack yourself and like my content, I would love for you to recommend “Facili-station” to your subscribers.

Have a nice one!!

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you're stepping into management or leading an entire organization, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer tailored 1:1 or team coaching to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a free discovery call. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.

When organizations talk about change, efficiency, or improvement, the conversation often gets stuck in what’s wrong:

• “Our processes are too slow.”

• “Collaboration is broken.”

• “We spend more time in meetings than doing real work.”

Focusing only on problems can be exhausting. People lose motivation, and teams struggle to see the path forward.

This is where the Miracle Question comes in. Originally developed in therapy (Solution-Focused Brief Therapy), it’s a deceptively simple but powerful tool for shifting perspective, from what’s broken to what’s possible.

What is the Miracle Question?

The classic version goes like this:

"Suppose tonight, while you are asleep, a miracle happens. The miracle is that the problem that brought you here is solved. But since you were asleep, you don’t know the miracle has happened. Tomorrow morning, what will be the first signs that tell you the miracle has happened? What will be different?"

In therapy, this helps people move from problem-thinking to solution-visioning.

In organizations, it works the same way: it helps teams imagine success, define what “better” looks like in concrete terms, and create energy for change.

Why use it in change projects?

When applied in a business or organizational context, the miracle question:

• Shifts focus from fixing problems to designing solutions.

• Aligns stakeholders around a shared picture of success.

• Clarifies success criteria in observable, tangible ways.

• Builds motivation by showing that change is not only possible but desirable.

Instead of abstract goals like “improve efficiency,” teams start talking about practical signs of improvement:

• “Meetings start and end on time.”

• “We have clear priorities instead of juggling ten at once.”

• “Information flows without chasing people.”

• “Customers get answers faster.”

That’s when the abstract vision becomes something concrete and actionable.

How to Use It: A Workshop Format

Here’s a step-by-step exercise you can run in your organization to apply the Miracle Question in practice.

Step 1 – Set the Stage (5 min)

Frame the session positively:

“We’re not here to complain about what’s broken. We’re here to imagine how things could look if our challenges were already solved.”

Step 2 – Ask the Miracle Question (10 min)

Adapted version for organizations:

“Suppose tonight, a miracle happens. All the issues that slow us down or block our collaboration are solved. Tomorrow morning, when we come to work, what’s the very first thing we notice that tells us this miracle happened? What will be different in how we work, collaborate, and deliver value?”

Everyone reflects silently and writes down 3–5 observable changes.

Step 3 – Share in Pairs (10 min)

Participants share their answers with a partner, focusing on specific, concrete behaviors.

Step 4 – Group Harvest (20–30 min)

Bring answers together on a board or wall. Cluster them under themes like:

• Collaboration & teamwork

• Processes & efficiency

• Customer experience

• Leadership & culture

Look for overlaps → these are shared priorities.

Step 5 – From Vision to Action (20–25 min)

For each theme, ask:

1. “What’s one small step we could take tomorrow that would move us closer to this miracle?”

2. “What existing strengths can we build on to make this happen?”

Capture actions and owners.

Step 6 – Closing (5 min)

End with commitment:

“This isn’t about waiting for a miracle. It’s about creating it step by step.”

Why this works

This exercise works because it:

• Creates hope and energy (instead of problem fatigue).

• Surfaces a shared vision of success.

• Makes the vision practical and actionable.

• Helps teams see that they already have the capacity to create change, no miracle required.

The next time your organization is stuck in problem-talk, try asking the miracle question. You may be surprised at how quickly it unlocks clarity, alignment, and motivation for change.

I hope this post, made sense and you found it useful.

If “HELL YEAH!”, please like it and share it in social media so more people can get can also benefit from it :-)

I would also appreciate if you subscribe, and give some comments here if you wonder something and want to give me some feedback. I would love to read your input here!

If you have a Substack yourself and like my content, I would love for you to recommend “Facili-station” to your subscribers.

Have a nice one!!

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you're stepping into management or leading an entire organization, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer tailored 1:1 or team coaching to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a free discovery call. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.

1. Competence-based departments (resource pools) – where people with similar skills are grouped together, led by managers responsible for building competence, career development, and resource allocation.

2. Interdisciplinary product teams – where people from different competence areas come together to build, deliver, and improve products.

This dual structure is meant to combine the best of both worlds: strong professional development and customer-focused product delivery. But in practice, it creates unique leadership challenges.

The Tension Between Two Worlds

Leaders in such organizations face a built-in tension:

• Competence leaders focus on skills, growth, and professional standards. They want their people to deepen expertise, share practices, and develop mastery.

• Product leaders focus on outcomes, speed, and customer value. They want their teams to be empowered, autonomous, and delivery-driven.

Employees end up living in two worlds. They belong to a home (competence department) but spend most of their time with a family (product team). If these two worlds are not aligned, people feel stretched, confused, or even pulled in opposite directions.

Leadership Challenges

1. Who’s the Real Leader?

Employees often ask: “Who do I listen to?” The competence manager tells them to prioritize professional development, while the product manager pushes for product deadlines. Without clear communication and aligned priorities, employees can feel torn.

Leadership task: Establish clarity on who owns what — development vs. delivery — and make sure both leaders are in sync.

2. Competing Loyalties

A designer may feel loyalty to their craft and professional peers, but also to their product team. If recognition only comes from the competence pool, the product work can feel undervalued. If recognition only comes from product success, skills development may stagnate.

Leadership task: Celebrate contributions in both spaces — the craft and the product impact.

3. Resource Allocation Battles

The competence leader often controls who goes where. But product teams want stability and continuity. Constant re-allocation can break trust, slow down learning, and create frustration.

Leadership task: Minimize churn. Protect team integrity. Treat resource allocation as a strategic choice, not a quick fix.

4. Career Development vs. Product Delivery

Competence managers want employees to grow, rotate, and expand their skills. Product leaders want long-term stability to maximize team performance. The tension is real: moving people around helps careers, but hurts team cohesion.

Leadership task: Create a shared development plan where growth opportunities align with product needs.

5. Double Communication Lines

Feedback, priorities, and expectations often get lost between the two leadership structures. Employees can end up with double one-on-ones, conflicting feedback, and a diluted sense of direction.

Leadership task: Synchronize leadership conversations. Ensure competence and product leaders speak with one voice, not two competing ones.

How to Make It Work

The dual structure is not a flaw — it’s a strength, if led well. Here’s how:

• Shared leadership model: Competence and product leaders should see themselves as co-leaders, not competitors.

• Explicit agreements: Clarify “who decides what” and communicate it openly.

• Stable teams, flexible growth: Keep product teams stable but create space for competence building inside the team (learning circles, mentoring, practice guilds).

• Unified recognition: Reward both product impact and professional mastery.

• Employee-centered perspective: Design the system from the employee’s point of view. If they feel supported, clear, and valued in both worlds, the organization thrives.

Final Thought

Leading in a product development organization that mixes competence pools and interdisciplinary teams is like walking a tightrope. Lean too far one way, and you risk weak professional growth. Lean the other way, and you risk fragmented, underperforming teams.

Great leaders know how to balance the two — creating an environment where people grow in their craft and deliver meaningful products together.

I hope this post, made sense and you found it useful.

If “HELL YEAH!”, please like it and share it in social media so more people can get can also benefit from it :-)

I would also appreciate if you subscribe, and give some comments here if you wonder something and want to give me some feedback. I would love to read your input here!

If you have a Substack yourself and like my content, I would love for you to recommend “Facili-station” to your subscribers.

Have a nice one!!

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you're stepping into management or leading an entire organization, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer tailored 1:1 or team coaching to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a free discovery call. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.

After a full month away from the office, laptop, and Teams notifications, returning to work can feel like stepping into another world. You’ve spent weeks in a different rhythm, slow mornings, late sunsets, real conversations, and space to think. Then suddenly, you're back.

And it's loud.

Your inbox is bursting. Your calendar is filling. Your to-do list is long… and blurry. You're expected to jump in at full speed, but your brain is still somewhere between a coastal breeze and the second espresso of the morning.

So how do you make the first week back work, without letting it wipe out all the good your holiday gave you?

Here’s a guide to ease back into work with clarity, energy, and intention.

1. Don’t try to “catch up” in one day

This is the biggest trap. Many people return from holidays and feel they need to prove their productivity immediately. So they attempt to clear all unread emails, accept all meeting invites, and take back every task they handed off.

Stop. That’s not re-entry, that’s self-sabotage.

Instead, block out your first 2–3 days for what I call a re-entry sprint. This time is sacred for reading, reconnecting, reviewing what’s changed, and most importantly, reframing your role and focus going forward.

2. Start with people, not emails

You’ll get far more useful context from a 20-minute coffee chat with a colleague than from 200 unread emails. Emails may tell you what happened. People will tell you why, how, and what matters now.

Reconnect with your team. Ask what’s shifted. Listen more than you talk. Trust that relationships will always reorient you faster than documents will.

3. Revisit your priorities

The world didn’t pause while you were away—and your priorities probably shouldn’t just resume where you left them.

Ask yourself:

• What’s still relevant?

• What can I let go of?

• What’s now most important for the team, and for me?

Even better, schedule a short 1:1 with your manager or key collaborator to validate this. Alignment now saves a month of misdirection later.

4. Protect your focus time

It’s tempting to say “yes” to every meeting, request, and decision the first week back. But that can quickly destroy any sense of focus you’ve built during your time off.

Block time for deep work. Reclaim calendar space before it gets booked. Prioritize impact over visibility. Remember: you’re back to work, not back to chaos.

5. Bring the holiday mindset into your workday

Your holiday isn’t something you need to shake off. It’s something you can build on.

Use the clarity and distance you’ve gained to:

• Challenge old habits or routines that don’t serve you anymore

• Introduce a slower, more intentional rhythm into your week

• Question the “musts” and reconnect to the “whys”

That sense of openness, reflection, and perspective you had on holiday? That’s still within you. Use it.

Final thought: Start slow to go far

Your first week back isn’t about proving you're "back on track." It’s about setting the new track.

Return with presence. Be curious. Choose your pace. And lead by example—others might need permission to do the same.

What’s your go-to ritual or strategy for your first week back after a long holiday?
Let’s share tips below 👇

I hope this post, made sense and you found it useful.

If “HELL YEAH!”, please like it and share it in social media so more people can get can also benefit from it :-)

I would also appreciate if you subscribe, and give some comments here if you wonder something and want to give me some feedback. I would love to read your input here!

If you have a Substack yourself and like my content, I would love for you to recommend “Facili-station” to your subscribers.

Have a nice one!!

Looking for a coach?

In service of those who serve others.

Leadership is hard. Whether you're stepping into management or leading an entire organization, the challenges are real: confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes isolating.

I offer tailored 1:1 or team coaching to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. I’ve walked in your shoes, and I’ll work with you to build the resilience and relational skills needed to lead well, beyond just the work.

If this sounds like what you need, let’s talk. Email me at jose@facilistation.com to book a free discovery call. Because coaching isn’t expensive. Staying stuck is.

Looking for a facilitator and workshop designer?

If you need a workshop designer and facilitator to help you or your team to solve challenges, find solutions, make decisions, and to be more effective an perform better and faster, or a trainer to teach your team on how do this, please contact me at jose@facilistation.com

My workshops are designed to provide the structure required to quickly align and move forward with a plan or idea so you can reclaim time, energy and headspace.