As published in The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
Michael Wilkinson knows 70 secrets.
Wilkinson is an internationally recognized facilitator and president of Leadership Strategies, the largest provider of facilitation training and meeting facilitation services in the U.S. His clients include top corporations and public entities all over the world.
Michael Wilkinson knows 70 secrets.
Wilkinson is an internationally recognized facilitator and president of Leadership Strategies, the largest provider of facilitation training and meeting facilitation services in the U.S. His clients include top corporations and public entities all over the world.
I just came back from his four-day intensive course in Atlanta and I’m exhausted! In four days of concentrated training and drill, I tried to learn and practice as many of these secrets as possible.
Why?
Because people try to use facilitative techniques everyday. We just don’t always know how to use them effectively.
Watch any episode of Larry David for examples of comically unskilled communication. The truth is all of that turmoil happens everyday in real life. And way worse. So much of lawyer burnout and misery is fueled by unskilled communication. But all this tumult and aggravation is very solvable with just slightly improved communication skills. Learning facilitation greatly improves communication skills.
Lawyers can use facilitative methods in dealing with each other, in firm meetings, in working with clients, in arguing to judges and juries, in dealing with difficult opponents, and in reviewing and analyzing cases.
Learning effective facilitation greatly improves the odds of getting what you want.
To give an example, one of Michael’s secrets is called, “IEEI”, which stands for Inform, Excite, Empower and Involve. Here’s what that might look like in practice.
Judges are accustomed to lawyers running up to the bench and straight away launching into passionate argument. What do they want? Who knows? Sometimes we may get clues. Then it may take even longer to find out what they really, really want. By that time, everyone’s gone around in circles. What the lawyer finally wants may not even be something the judge can do. There’s confusion and friction. Everyone is frustrated. The odds of getting anything constructive accomplished are low.
Now let’s apply “IEEI” for a better outcome.
It starts with INFORM which has two parts. The first and most important element in most human transactions is purpose. “Judge, the reason I’m here is to protect my client’s confidential information.” The second part of INFORM is product—what would the result look like? Is it an order? What kind of order? What would that order say? “Judge, we’re seeking the entry of an order of protection that looks like this.” That’s informing of purpose and product, the first “I”.
Next is EXCITE. This boils down to “WIIFM”: what’s in it for me. For a judge, that could be getting the lawyers back on track, doing something that seems fair, doing something unlikely to get reversed, or furthering a judicial policy. It may be increased confidence that the lawyers understand what they’re supposed to be doing and increased confidence that they actually will do it. Something that makes the judge want to act. This could be a proposed solution or compromise to a discovery issue or motion that might save the judge a lot of time and energy.
The concept of “WIIFM” is pretty much like the whole revolutionary “Reptile” theory of plaintiff jury advocacy. Getting the jurors to think about what’s the best result for themselves. It’s reminiscent of what Ayn Rand called the virtue of selfishness
After we inform someone of our purpose and the result we want, we need to motivate them to act with “WIIFM.”
Next is EMPOWER. As a judge or an arbitrator, I might understand what a party wants and I may want to do it. But I need to know whether I can. Do I have the authority to give that order? Once you have shown your purpose and product, and you have excited your listeners to want to act, you have to empower them. They have to know they have the authority and ability to give you the product you seek. This could be a statute or caselaw that gives the judge the authority to grant the relief requested.
The last part of this secret is INVOLVE. Your listener, for example, your judge, knows what you want, and knows the order you seek. He or she is motivated to give it to you. He or she knows they have the authority and ability to do it. Now you have to get them involved in whatever has to be done to start the process of getting it done.
Yes, you could simply say, “Great, Judge, now just sign at the X.” Better is to involve your judge. How would you like to proceed? Would you like a draft order? What do you want in the order? When would you like it? Do you have any questions you would like us to answer? What can we do to help?
Even something as simple as the purchase of a hot dog likely could be deconstructed into Michael’s IEEI paradigm. That’s the purpose of his work. Simple, clear, honest and efficient communication to solve problems. This one concept, IEEI, simply and elegantly sets out a pattern of how people can communicate with maximum efficiency. We can’t do much to improve the communication skills of others, but we can make our personal lives and our work lives much better by improving our own skills.
This illustration is a quick glimpse of Michael’s work. There are 69 other secrets. Each has valuable subparts that show how to use it. He developed an incredibly detailed and expansive system which he uses and teaches all over the world for helping groups solve problems.
The hallmark of facilitation is that all participants create, understand and accept their own solution to their problem. The facilitator is a river guide but the group does all their own paddling. The group solves their problem, always working together. There are no separate breakouts. The facilitator isn’t playing “telephone.” He or she does not weigh in or advise. That means participants leave with ownership and commitment to the solution they themselves created.
Lawyers know all about litigation, mediation and arbitration but are mostly unfamiliar about facilitation, which is entirely different.
Fortune 500 companies “get” facilitation. In this ultra-competitive legal market, can lawyers afford not to?
Why?
Because people try to use facilitative techniques everyday. We just don’t always know how to use them effectively.
Watch any episode of Larry David for examples of comically unskilled communication. The truth is all of that turmoil happens everyday in real life. And way worse. So much of lawyer burnout and misery is fueled by unskilled communication. But all this tumult and aggravation is very solvable with just slightly improved communication skills. Learning facilitation greatly improves communication skills.
Lawyers can use facilitative methods in dealing with each other, in firm meetings, in working with clients, in arguing to judges and juries, in dealing with difficult opponents, and in reviewing and analyzing cases.
Learning effective facilitation greatly improves the odds of getting what you want.
To give an example, one of Michael’s secrets is called, “IEEI”, which stands for Inform, Excite, Empower and Involve. Here’s what that might look like in practice.
Judges are accustomed to lawyers running up to the bench and straight away launching into passionate argument. What do they want? Who knows? Sometimes we may get clues. Then it may take even longer to find out what they really, really want. By that time, everyone’s gone around in circles. What the lawyer finally wants may not even be something the judge can do. There’s confusion and friction. Everyone is frustrated. The odds of getting anything constructive accomplished are low.
Now let’s apply “IEEI” for a better outcome.
It starts with INFORM which has two parts. The first and most important element in most human transactions is purpose. “Judge, the reason I’m here is to protect my client’s confidential information.” The second part of INFORM is product—what would the result look like? Is it an order? What kind of order? What would that order say? “Judge, we’re seeking the entry of an order of protection that looks like this.” That’s informing of purpose and product, the first “I”.
Next is EXCITE. This boils down to “WIIFM”: what’s in it for me. For a judge, that could be getting the lawyers back on track, doing something that seems fair, doing something unlikely to get reversed, or furthering a judicial policy. It may be increased confidence that the lawyers understand what they’re supposed to be doing and increased confidence that they actually will do it. Something that makes the judge want to act. This could be a proposed solution or compromise to a discovery issue or motion that might save the judge a lot of time and energy.
The concept of “WIIFM” is pretty much like the whole revolutionary “Reptile” theory of plaintiff jury advocacy. Getting the jurors to think about what’s the best result for themselves. It’s reminiscent of what Ayn Rand called the virtue of selfishness
After we inform someone of our purpose and the result we want, we need to motivate them to act with “WIIFM.”
Next is EMPOWER. As a judge or an arbitrator, I might understand what a party wants and I may want to do it. But I need to know whether I can. Do I have the authority to give that order? Once you have shown your purpose and product, and you have excited your listeners to want to act, you have to empower them. They have to know they have the authority and ability to give you the product you seek. This could be a statute or caselaw that gives the judge the authority to grant the relief requested.
The last part of this secret is INVOLVE. Your listener, for example, your judge, knows what you want, and knows the order you seek. He or she is motivated to give it to you. He or she knows they have the authority and ability to do it. Now you have to get them involved in whatever has to be done to start the process of getting it done.
Yes, you could simply say, “Great, Judge, now just sign at the X.” Better is to involve your judge. How would you like to proceed? Would you like a draft order? What do you want in the order? When would you like it? Do you have any questions you would like us to answer? What can we do to help?
Even something as simple as the purchase of a hot dog likely could be deconstructed into Michael’s IEEI paradigm. That’s the purpose of his work. Simple, clear, honest and efficient communication to solve problems. This one concept, IEEI, simply and elegantly sets out a pattern of how people can communicate with maximum efficiency. We can’t do much to improve the communication skills of others, but we can make our personal lives and our work lives much better by improving our own skills.
This illustration is a quick glimpse of Michael’s work. There are 69 other secrets. Each has valuable subparts that show how to use it. He developed an incredibly detailed and expansive system which he uses and teaches all over the world for helping groups solve problems.
The hallmark of facilitation is that all participants create, understand and accept their own solution to their problem. The facilitator is a river guide but the group does all their own paddling. The group solves their problem, always working together. There are no separate breakouts. The facilitator isn’t playing “telephone.” He or she does not weigh in or advise. That means participants leave with ownership and commitment to the solution they themselves created.
Lawyers know all about litigation, mediation and arbitration but are mostly unfamiliar about facilitation, which is entirely different.
Fortune 500 companies “get” facilitation. In this ultra-competitive legal market, can lawyers afford not to?