Striving for the illusion of perfection can cripple our self-esteem as human beings, and completely stifle our progress as a team or organisation. Instead of being overly critical, blocking others for no valid reason or never getting out there out of fear of not being perfect enough, get into the GESET mindset!

Collaboratio helvetica is growing and we need new people to complement our team. To find the perfect fit, we used our own methods and invited five applicants to take part in a co-creation session in Berne. This gave us the opportunity to get to know each person, to see how they think and collaborate.

This is a simple method to harvest the group intelligence: A space where a “client” can ask for help of “consultants”. Can also be seen as a quick and powerful tool for coaching each other around specific and individual challenges.

Check-ins are a way for people to have a dedicated space to share on a more personal level what’s happening within them. When practiced regularly and authentically, a teams purpose, coherence and trust can increase.

Collaborating in a team and community where we want to respect and consider the contribution of everyone can be a difficult task, both in theory and even more so in practice. Often, agreements are made without considering all the important actors involved or when they are involved reaching an agreement can be a lengthy and often unsuccessful ordeal.

Taking a decision is a difficult thing to do by oneself, taking it together in a group can seem impossible. Creating an alchemy of all perspectives into a common agreement is a mastery and ensuring that the individuals then stick to the agreement is wizardry. Yet, collective decision making it is at the heart of a fruitful collaboration and we are confronted by it on a day by day basis. So how do we deal with this challenge?

In December 2017, collaboratio helvetica (cohe) began to recruit some new team members to join its core team. The process was unusual: Over one month, around 25 people were brought together in different spaces, from whom 2-3 were subsequently selected to join the team. Why would cohe do this? Cohe is an organisation dedicated to creating spaces for open dialogue, experimentation and collaboration to create the Switzerland we want to live in. It is an organisation that tries to lead by example: trying new methods and approaches, and learning as it does so. It is also a very small organisation, juggling many commitments, projects, contacts and trying to do big, complex things on a small budget. Therefore, the right team members are crucial.

When a group of people must tackle a common complex challenge you can release their inherent creativity and leadership as well as their capacity to self-organize. With the Open Space method all issues that are most important to the participants are raised, included in the agenda and addressed. With the co-created agenda people will take responsibility very quickly for solving problems and moving into action. Letting go of central control (i.e. the agenda and assignments) and putting it in the hands of everyone generates commitment, action and innovation.

A council is a way to open spaces that encourage attentive listening as well as honest and compassionate expression. It allows a new group of people to get in touch with each other very quickly and in an authentic way.

To work during holidays or go on holidays and work at the same time sounded very counterintuitive to me. I thought no way could this mix be productive or regenerative, specially not both at the same time, right? A great experience with my new colleagues taught me otherwise.

Case Clinics guide a team or a group of peers through a process in which a case giver presents a case, and a group of 3-4 peers or team members help as consultants based on the principles of the U- Process and process consultation. Case Clinics allow participants to generate new ways to look at a challenge or question and develop new approaches for responding to the challenge or question.

Every now and again we bump up against a personal learning threshold, be it more or less consciously, sometimes for what feels like the gazillionth time. At times we’re hungry to find and face the next one to level up self-awareness, other times it can leave us feeling vulnerable to share what can touch upon deep confusion, self doubt, frustration or alike.

"In their book Leading from the Emerging Future, Otto Scharmer and Katrin Kaufer describe three “openings” needed to transform systems: opening the mind (to challenge our assumptions), opening the heart (to be vulnerable and to truly hear one another), and opening the will (to let go of pre-set goals and agendas and see what is really needed and possible).