My partner, Ginger Lordus has been encouraging me to upgrade my FacilitatorU.com logo for the past several months. I agreed that I'd like to make it more professional and more reflective of my values and philosophy, however, it remained a low priority in my mind. Further, though I could have hired a professional artist, who, through trial and error, would probably render something close to what we wanted, I hated the idea of paying a lot of money for the gamble that someone outside of my industry could fully grasp and translate the essence of facilitation in a picture.

Ginger would often get visions of possible logos and attempt to sketch them on paper. Not being an artist either, she would often become frustrated trying to clearly express on paper what she saw in her mind's eye.

Then early last week, after reviewing her latest sketch on the refrigerator, I began dabbling on the computer with another logo concept. I found a piece of clip art that had a hint of what I was after and started playing with ideas. I came up with something rough that was at least in the ballpark.

Ginger thought it was a great start and started making suggestions and sketching changes to improve it. I got on the computer and began rendering these changes. Little by little, our new logo began to take shape. The interesting thing is, for the logo to evolve, we were required to embrace our values and concept of facilitation and translate it into something tangible...into a visual image.

Once we thought it was perfect, Ginger said, "Wouldn't it be great if we could make it move?" Oh boy, just when I thought I was done, she asks for a deeper cut. I knew how to make it move but I also knew it would require several more hours of work to make that happen. Well, I spent those hours and the movement added even more to this logo's message.

Here are some things we learned about facilitating change in a group (of two in this case) using an external focus--a physical model--as a metaphor. In our case, we used a logo. In your case, you may be working with a group attempting to improve their teamwork and communication, or something else all together.

So pick a metaphor that can be tailored to represent where you want to be as a team. It might be a collection of flowers and weeds, complete with bugs and butterflies. Or it might be a toolbox, a box of office supplies, or the very room you're working in.

Start somewhere. With our logo, we started with a rough piece of clip art that had a faint resemblance to what we were after. It gave us a starting point to talk about and refine from there. Anything can be used as a model as its function is that of a screen for you to project onto. A blank screen however, is much harder to comment on than one filled with something you can change.

Keep it simple. It seems to me that the best logos are those that say the most with the least. Our most universal symbols are very easy to understand and remember. The more you can say with the least amount of information, the better. So as you develop your physical metaphor for your group, only add those objects that represent an essential element of the dynamic you seek to model.

Handle the details. The development of our logo required lots of very subtle little changes. Little curves on the hands and feet, straightening jagged lines, a little tip of the foot to "kick off" the "U", signifying the fact that sometimes we need to help our participants "let go" of their need for our leadership. Fine-tuning the details allows us to clean up all those little twigs that over time, become a huge beaver dam in the way of the change we want to make.

It's about U. At Facilitator"U", the "U" stands for "University" but it also stands for "you." We believe the act of facilitation is greatly impacted by your ability to facilitate yourself. Your inner state is always reflected in some way by your group. If you're at peace, you'll contribute to the group's peace of mind. If you believe in the brilliance of your group, their brilliance is more likely to show up. Hence our logo shows the facilitator lightly holding and letting go of the "U", providing only the support needed to help "you" on your way toward the next version of yourself you seek to become.

Be patient. Two weeks ago, our article explored the "Theory of the U," from the book, "Presence." Briefly, the "U" in the model represents "Sensing," or deep observation free of assumptions; "Retreat and Reflect" to allow inner knowing to emerge; and "Realizing," acting swiftly with a natural flow. As we interact with our metaphors, this theory applies. Every metaphor is a mirror telling you something about "you." The deeper you travel down the "U", observing and reflecting, the more knowing shows up around the issue you're reflecting about. So invite your group to stay with their metaphor, mining all the meaning available, much of which may be unconscious at first, to get the most from this exercise.

Stay in your heart. All the fancy strategies, methods, and models in the world can be used to orchestrate fantastic possible futures, but if these futures lack the heart and commitment of the group, they'll never be realized. The work we do as facilitators and as participants must have heart to be realized. Further, as facilitators, we'll be most effective when we are coming from our hearts and connecting with our participants on this level. We've got to "care" about them and their work to truly be of much help. One of the little details on our logo, though almost imperceptible, are little hearts in each of the graphical elements. We thought this added a nice touch and an accurate rendering of the relationship between facilitator and client.

Now what? So you helped your group find something tangible they can use as a metaphor for their work--a room, a drawing, a collection of tools, etc. You've helped them to tailor, sculpt, and fashion it to represent as closely as possible the change they seek to embody. When everyone can say "Yes, that's it!" They will have done the work required to make a change together. When they're stuck, use discussion or hands-on work with the model to help them find out what's in the way and to find a way through it. Having worked together to make the changes necessary to reach consensus on their model, have your group identify the things about the process they used that contributed to their success. Then help them strategize how they can apply this process to another change they seek.

Facilitation Expert Series