161 - Workshops are the Conflict Playground for Real Life with Ez Bridgman

Intersectionality is a fundamental part of facilitation - and a common topic on this podcast - but, usually, we discuss it in relation to other professional disciplines.

It’s high time we looked at how facilitation can influence our personal lives, in our deepest and dearest relationships.

Ez Bridgman, creative experience designer and playful vitality proponent, joins this episode to discuss playfulness, vulnerability, and conflict. And, of course, how facilitation can be a guiding light through all those complexities in our relationships.

Find out about:

• How Ez has curated a “garden of life” and how it’s helped him and those around him
• Why play isn’t always laughing, exuberance, and high energy
• Why sticking with your plan and ignoring the energy in the room can be disastrous
• How to use conflict to strengthen your relationships, not harm them
• What it means to make an agreement and why it’s critical to prove you’ll stick to it
• How to use ‘Theoretical Speed Dating’ to prepare a group for collaboration 

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Thanks to our sponsor Deckhive. Click here to find out more about the new platform for using card decks in online facilitation. Use the code workshopswork to get the first month for free.

Questions and Answers

Part one

[01:19]When did you start calling yourself a facilitator?
[03:53] What was your measure of success, that allowed you to feel comfortable with the label of facilitator?
[04:57] What would make a workshop fail?
[07:10] In corporate settings, does following energy, rather than a plan, feel like freedom? [10:08] How do you use play as a tool or method in facilitation?
[13:51] How do you create an environment in which people feel comfortable coming out of their shells?
[15:57] How do you encourage people in a corporate setting to open up when they fear being judged?
[22:47] How does clowning incorporate in your facilitation?
[24:16] Can you share your journey of 'interior expansion'?
[26:50] After your own journey of breaking out of your shell, do you find you have more empathy for hesitant or uncomfortable participants?
[30:01] How do you hold space to act in a facilitative way with your family? Is there a tension between facilitation and participation?
[35:09] What would be your advice to anyone who wants to try a 'family roasting', but wants to avoid it spiralling or becoming hurtful?

Links

Connect to Ez:

On LinkedIn

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