Hello All,
We are looking forward to the next meeting of the Bay Area NTL group at our home. Planning ahead for December 18th, here are possible topics:
Draft Agenda
Welcome to new
members, Craig Schuler and Carole Robin, and “quick” check-in
Brainstorm a
process and/or design to help facilitators differentiate role of member
from role of facilitator (Discussion Leaders: David Bradford, Carole
Robin, Craig Schuler)-Attached are initial thoughts on the trainer’s
role and development process from the Stanford faculty for your review.
Looking Back
& Looking Ahead: Given the time of year, harvest 2002 high
points/lessons learned and set direction for 2003
Please express your response to the agenda: what you like, ways to modify.
As usual, let’s convene for coffee and cake around 12:30 with the meeting starting at 1PM, and running to about 5. After that, those wanting to go out for dinner together can do so.
Look forward to
seeing you,
Arlene & Ted
We
met on Wednesday Dec. 18th at Arlene and Ted Scott's. Present were the
Scotts, David Bradford, Scott Bristol, Craig Schuler, Carole Robin, Flo
Hoylman, Jack Sherwood.
We began by welcoming Craig and Carole as new NTL members. We told them
something about ourselves and they did likewise. Their presence,
capabilities and energy are much appreciated.
We had a lively discussion about the trainer/facilitator role writeup
which David Bradford sent around before the meeting. People substantially
agreed with the David's draft and though it advanced our thinking about
the role. We talked about how facilitators evolve in the Stanford program
and the trainer role as practiced in NTL. Broadly, Stanford facilitators
come from a place more of being members of the group, while NTL trainers
occupy a more consciously in-but-not-of-the-group stance. The group-member
stance tends to be more oriented to expressing individual feelings and
being disclosive. The in-but-not-of stance tends to be more focused on
group dynamics and what feelings or disclosure would be in best service of
the group. A good trainer/facilitator in any case tends to notice what's
missing (what the group is not doing for itself) and points out or
supplies that, to promote awareness and group evolution. Differences were
about the extent to which trainer/ faciliators should simply promote
experiential learning or operate from a more expert role. For example, do
you more highly value letting people learn about effective feedback by
reflecting on their own behavior and its effects, or do you lay out the
four rules of effective feedback? And does what you do vary depending on
the person or group? David took extensive notes and will be getting out a
new draft.
The second part of the agenda dealt with "looking back/looking
forward," or taking stock of the year ending and looking ahead. One
of the strongest themes was about the juxtaposition of life and death,
this great and mysterious pageant in which we are immersed. On the one
hand, the new lives and joy of grandchildren; the continuing growth of
children. On the other hand, sadness and loss as parents die or members of
the older generation become increasingly frail. Another theme had to do
with professional interest and excitement about new projects and areas of
growth, notwithstanding the challenges of the economy.
We
Ted
Scott
Meeting Cancelled.
Agenda
Agenda
Hi Everyone:
I am looking forward to the next meeting of the
Bay Area NTL group at my home on September 25. As usual, let’s convene
for coffee and cake around 12:30 with the meeting starting at 1PM, and
running to about 5. After that, those wanting to go out for dinner
together can do so.
I would like your ideas for our agenda.
So far, we have two proposals. One of these is from Arlene Scott
suggesting that we spend some time discussing T-Group designs which adapt
well to business organizations. A second proposal is from David Bradford who suggests that we
each think of an especially difficult training situation we were in and
have others play with how they might handle it.
A third possibility is additional report-out
and discussion from the membership meeting, with particular emphasis on
action steps to be taken. And
finally, we may want an update on possibilities for t-group activities
with the Stanford facilitators.
Please let me know of any other suggestions.
Warm wishes to all.
Frank
Nine of us met at my house on September 25 --- David Bradford, Scott Bristol,
Frank Friedlander, Tracy Gibbons, Flo Holyman, Tony Kortens, Judith Noel,
Arlene Scott, and Jack Sherwood.
We began with each of us talking about
recent events in our personal lives, and then launched into two major agenda.
Arlene shared the design for a two-day workshop for business organizations,
and received feedback and suggestions. The innovative workshop already has
participants, and is scheduled to occur in a couple of weeks.
In the second agenda, David reviewed Bay Area training activities that have
been conducted/coordinated by Stanford staff and facilitators, and asked for
feedback concerning our feelings about these, the role we wanted to play, and
his role in coordinating the interface between the Bay Area NTL group and the
Stanford facilitators.
We expressed high satisfaction with the role David has been playing, and
encouraged its continuation. We also were appreciative of his coordination
of NTL headquarters with plans for us to staff and design additional labs for
NTL.
Further discussion followed about the future structure and purpose of our Bay
Area NTL group. Our consensus was that we wish it and our meetings to
continue as in the past. Our highest priority was that it remain an intimate
small group in which we could share openly about our professional and life
events, problems, and joys. We were not attracted to becoming a formal group
with greater structure.
T
he issue of our possible personal liability as lab trainers was brought up
and left unresolved. Those of us who are members of the American
Psychological Assn can obtain liability insurance for a modest annual fee,
and of course those working directly for a Stanford course are, we assume are
covered by Stanford.
T
he next meeting of our group is scheduled at Tony's house for November 6, at
which Arlene will report about her pilot study. It was suggested that we
share also the impact on year later on each of us of the 9/11 tragedy. What
are our intrapersonal conflicts of what is happening? What has arisen in
terms of our individual values and value conflicts?
Future meetings are scheduled for December 18 and February 5. In addition,
Dave reports that the Facilitators had a very successful meeting yesterday,
and that future meetings are scheduled for November 20th and January 15th,
both at USF.
See you all on November 6 at our next meeting.
Warm wishes to all ---- Frank
Agenda
We are holding our next meeting on Wednesday, July 31st. As our usual
practice, we will convene for coffee and cake around 12:30 with the meeting
starting at 1 and running to 5:30 (with those wanting to going out for
dinner afterwards; there are some excellent restaurants close by).
Our agenda is two-fold.
1. Richard Francisco, representing the NTL Board will discuss the various
options developed at last week's Membership meeting about the restructuring
of NTL. (It was an interesting and productive meeting). Then after a
break...
2. Building on the July 17th meeting of NTL & Stanford Facilitators, we will
talk about "where should we (Bay Area NTL/ Facilitators go from here." The
July meeting produced some interesting directions [A summary will be sent
out next week] and NTL has scheduled 3 labs in our area with us being able
to do some updating about design. As part of this discussion, we will
continue what started at Jack/Flo's last meeting about "T-groups within
Organizations."
Directions attached. Hope we get a good turnout because this should be
quite interesting.
David
Eight of us met on the 31st [Octave Baker, Richard Francisco, Flo Hoylman,
Mary Ann Huckabay, Judith Noel, Arlene Scott, Jack Sherwood & myself].
Richard led the first half of the meeting discussing the three main
proposals for reorganizing NTL.
My sense of the meeting was that most felt:
a) a tiredness about the entire issue ("how many times do we have to go
through this same dilemma"); b) a sense of deja vu (especially with the
first two proposals that seemed similar to what had been tried before); )
with the only sense of interest in being a "learning community."
Generally, there was the sense of wanting this problem fixed once and for
all. Richard also reported the excitement and energy in the newly admitted
members who were at the July 18th-21st Membership meeting. The question was
raised as to whether they knew what they were getting into and Richard
assured us that they were informed of the financial situation and that there
was no guarantee of being on a lab staff.
After a break, we discussed "where do we (Bay Area NTL) want to go from
here?" The discussion was based on the July 17th Stanford Facilitator/Bay
Area NTL Meeting (where only 4 NTL members showed up) and on NTL's offer to
hold three core labs in the Bay Area next year.
While a more detailed report of the July 17th Facilitator/NTL meeting will
be sent out shortly, the general summary is that there was a lot of energy
and enthusiasm. Plans were made to expand the T-group course to CIIS, to
see how T-groups could be used with college students to work with high-risk
high school students and the possibility of using the T-group format for
high functioning therapy patients.
In terms of the NTL labs, there will be a MWC in late January, an HI a
couple of months later and another HI in late spring. NTL has said that we
can use this to experiment with contemporizing these programs.
With this as the background, there was interest in setting up three task
forces. These would be composed of two or three NTL members and an equal
number of Stanford Facilitators who would serve as co-trainers. These
groups would review present designs and see what could be done to update
them. In addition, Arlene Scott, in responding to a client request, is
exploring the development of a 2 1/2 day within-company program using a
modified T-group fishbowl design. (She sent out a description of this, but
if anybody didn't receive it, it's included below in an attachment.)
If anybody is interested in being on any of these task forces (and thereby
staffing the labs), please contact me. If you are interested in working on
Arlene's project, contact her.
T
he next meeting of the Bay Area NTL group will be Wednesday afternoon,
September 25th at Frank Friedlander's home. (Directions to follow).
On another note, there are five slots still available for the weekend
training program that Elsie Cross will lead October 3rd-5th. If you are
interested, contact Kathleen Brown soon since they have to put in a firm
order for number of rooms to reserve. (Description attached).
David Bradford
Agenda
Hi, All... As usual we will begin assembling around 12:30pm
and convene at 1:00pm on Wednesday, June 19.
Directions to our home and parking are given below.
Agenda for June 19:
(1) Brief check-in and review of day's agenda.
(2) Brief critique and debriefing of our meeting with Stanford
Facilitators at USF on May 15. Implications for future sessions.
(2) Aging: Our own aging that is... this will offer us an opportunity
to test our interest in deepening our level of intimacy.
Jack and Flo will come with a personal list of "signs" of aging.
We trust that everyone can produce such signs--regardless of
age and we urge you to do so... If you begin your list today, we
should have lots to share by June 19...
Jack
Hello All,
Here are meeting "headlines," followed by future meeting dates with
locations and a list of new/revised email addresses.
6/19 Meeting Notes from Flo and Jack's home in San Francisco:
Six Attendees: Arlene, Frank, Tracy, Jack, Flo, and Tony Kortens.
Tony became an NTL member in the latest wave of new members.
Agenda
1. The day's "check-in" included statements from each about
their hopes/expectations from these NTL BayArea meetings.
2. The May 15th NTL BayArea--Stanford Facilitators meeting at USF
was briefly summarized.
3. Aging: The primary agenda was a personally focused sharing
about aging.
4. The roster of NTL members in California was reviewed and
several persons volunteered to contact several members and
invite them to join us.
Next Meeting Times/Places:
July 31 at David's in Berkeley
September 25 at Frank's in Mountain View
Please send suggested agenda items for July 31st to this email list:
Some ideas presently under consideration:
(a) brief summary/critique of July 17 meeting with facilitators at USF.
(b) where we want this NTL BayArea group to go.
(c) how would a T-group have to be adapted to be successfully
introduced as a learning vehicle into a corporate culture...?
Names to add to NTL BayArea email list:
Tony Kortens: tony@tkortens.com
Sheldon Hughes: capriccg@aol.com
New email for Tracy Gibbons: tracy@coastwiseconsulting.com
New email for Cynthia Scott: cscott@changeworksglobal.com
Look forward to seeing you next at David's on July 31st... jack and flo
Agenda
Hello All,
We look forward to seeing you on April 17th and will gather at 12:30 with a
1:00 start time. While directions are attached below, the agenda for the
April 17th meeting is evolving as follows:
1. Follow up from previous meeting: next steps to promote and use NTL
technology in Bay Area
2. Spirituality in Self and Work - Ted Scott - See attachment below
3. Truth Summit Dry Run (An Upcoming Conference) - Susan Campbell
After providing a rationale and personal examples, Susan will guide the
group to consider a list of questions she will pose to Conference
presenters. While a tentative list of questions can be found below, it is
likely that our group will choose the 2-4 questions they want to address in
the time available.
1. Of the big challenges facing humanity today, what is the area that your
work addresses?
2.How did you come to focus your work on this subject? (some of your
personal story)
3.What is your vision of an ideal world?
4. What do you think prevents the us from having this kind of world?
5.How does your work address or aim to deal with these forces (in #4)?
6. How do you walk your talk and sometimes fail to walk your talk? How
does
your "theory in practice" differ from your "theory as espoused" or yourvalues?
7. How do you feel about or how do you live with this gap between your talk
and your walk?
8. What are your addictions?
9. What does honesty require of us? And not require?
Warm regards,
Arlene
Hello All,
Here are meeting "headlines", followed by revised future meeting dates and
locations.
4/17 Meeting Notes from Tiburon, CA
Attendees: Ted, Judith, Scott, Jack, Flo, Susan, John, David
Agenda
1. Group discussed and validated design for the upcoming May 15 Bay Area
NTL-Stanford Facilitators meeting. The meeting is May 15 at USF. David will
issue a follow-up memo.
2.Ted orchestrated a lively discussion about spirit in life and work. Some
of the focusing questions about gifts and spirit included:
-What do you believe is your special gift in the work these days? What form
does it take?
-What's the connection between personal gifts/talents and your sense of
spirit or your essential self?
-In what ways would you like to more fully express your gifts and spirit?
3. Susan led the group in a dialogue about a possible Truth Summit (a
conference). People talked about truth vs honesty and the relationship
between context and honesty.
Next Meeting Dates
June 19 at Flo and Jack in SF
Draft Agenda: De-brief 5/15 NTL/Stanford facilitator meeting
Aging
July 31 at David's in Berkeley
September 25 at Frank's in Mountain View
More on agenda will be coming to you from the next hosts.
Arlene Scott
Phone: 415-435-0333
Fax: 415-435-1018
Agenda
Hi, All.... What follows are my ideas for expanding our
discussion with Dennis about MONEY on March 6:
If you wish to add additional thoughts, please send them
and I will bring a printed handout.
1. What is your history around money...?
Beliefs in your family of origin...?
Beliefs today...?
2. What does money mean to you...?
What does it do for you?
What does it symbolize?
3. What does your wish list look like...?
Does it include money?
4. Do you have any sense of mastery around money...?
If so, what's the basis?
If not, why not?
5. On what are you easily willing to spend money?
Where do you resist spending money?
6. Why is money so difficult for people to talk about...?
What is it about money that causes difficulty in talking
openly with others...?
Looking forward to seeing you all on March 6........ jack
J
We met at my house in the Haight.
David, Jack and Flo, Ted and Arlene, John, Judith, Scott and Frank
attending.
We had a discussion of the role of money in our lives, how it affected our
decisions and life choices, and what we were saying doing in relation to
inheritance with our kids and the community. It was a unique opportunity
for us to share stuff about a somewhat taboo topic, and we did so.
Then we got a bit more future oriented, talking about the future of the Bay
area NTL network. We asked what we could do and what would be worth doing,
and explored some ideas about getting larger. We also talked about how
David's facilitator network could be leveraged for community and
educational work, and how we as the heirs of the NTL technology could begin
to promote and use it within the bay area community.
We set several next meeting dates:
April 17 at the Scotts
June 19 at Flo and Jacks
August 14 at Davids.
More on agenda will be coming to you from the next hosts.
We ended with a nice dinner.
Dennis
Agenda
At the December 11th meeting at Frank's house, Scott Bristol and I agreed to
do some brainstorming about how to handle the topic of values for this
upcoming meeting and this is what we propose:
1. Start with each person saying what are the 3-5 core values that influence
how you act as a professional.
2. We see what is in common and we look at those values that are different.
Then to ask, "how supported do we feel in expressing those values --
especially with our NTL colleagues?
3. Then to have people talk about "value conflicts" they might have
experienced with a client.
After a break, we thought that it might be valuable to turn to the present
discussion of NTL and see whether that has some value implications. For
those who have been on the NTL e-mail list, you have noted that there has
been quite a bit of conversation on the East Coast about NTL's financial
situation and what could be done. A group is meeting at Alan Klein's place
on the 8th to discuss this. (And they are thinking of continuing to meet
following our model of regional gatherings).
We will have the results of their discussion for our meeting.
So the agenda might go:
1. Each of us talk about what is our ideal of NTL (what we would like it to
become)
2. Using the Jan. 8th discussion results as a basis, what has caused the
present dilemma
3. What, if anything, we (individually and collectively) might want to do to
move NTL toward our ideal.
All of this should be interesting and stimulating, so hope you can make it.
The meeting is at John Adam's in San Francisco, so if you need directions
and/or haven't told him that you are coming, his e-mail is
JohnDAdams@worldnet.att.net.
See you at 12:30 on the 16th.
David Bradford & Scott Bristol
Here's my summary please pass on an additions or modifications- Scott
********************************
At the recent BAY NTL meeting 7 of us spent a portion of our meeting reflecting on NTL and its present condition.
Our discussion which started with "What do we want from NTL?" Covered three general areas, our personal history, NTL's core technology, and NTL the community.
Present: John Adams, David Bradford, Scott Bristol, Joe Luft, Arlene Scott, Ted Scott, Jack Sherwood
OUR PERSONAL HISTORY.
-Each of the members present had over 20 years of personal history with NTL.
-We all reported the meaningful and significant impact NTL has had on the development of our personal and professional life.
-We all deeply appreciate what we have learned from NTL.
NTL's CORE TECHNOLOGY.
- We find NTL's core technology- T-Group, Group Process, Diversity, Laboratory Education, etc. present in our BA-NTL meetings.
- In practicing these skills on our emerging agenda we find ourselves connected and motivated in a way they keeps us going (our 6th meeting since March/01).
- We see these skill as continuing to be relevant and timely...and we enjoy practicing and teaching them.
- We are concerned about who or what will continue to make these skills available to the general public.
NTL the COMMUNITY (Organization).
- We perceive NTL as a community not a business.
- NTL serves it members first, not the market.
- NTL's governance is of a political nature that does not lend itself to business relevancy.
- We are have very little motivation for saving what we perceive as an aging community that is only seen as relevant by itself.
What do we want from NTL the COMMUNITY?
Our expectations for NTL have faded. It has lost personal relevancy for us so we find ourselves with little urgency to invest in fixing it or saving it. This saddens us.
Scott Bristol
PS. Just a note of serendipity, as I'm finishing this note the Olympic torch procession is passing about 100ft away, beneath my office window, on the Santa Cruz Wharf... wonder what it will take to keep our torch burning?