Building Belonging

We worked closely with our client to design a gathering point that would bring the whole company together in a (safe) immersive, human, generative way.

We began by making it personal: we used an upfront questionnaire based on Robin Dunbar’s theories on friendship to discover people’s interests, skills and capabilities and allocated them to the learning sessions most suited to them.  They were placed with people with whom they shared common ground: a safe landing space, especially for those new to the company.  For example, music lovers found themselves in the barn with international conductors; sport lovers were in a tent with psychologist and sportsman Gavin Weeks.

We also designed in an ‘unsafely safe’ wildcard element – inviting people to step outside their usual preferences in order to learn about colleagues, themselves – and possibly even to discover a new interest.

Then we placed people in small groups with their most ‘distant cousins’ – those with whom they had least in common, using a pack of cards specially designed around the client values combined with the challenge to find a way to build common ground together.  The best decisions are made by people with shared values and different perspectives.

Rather than having gurus on stage with large audiences, we designed the learning in small, intimate interactive groups – round the kitchen table, in the drawing room or in a tent on the lawn where everyone could have a voice.

This was not to be training: after all some were old hands, some new to the industry.  No one was to feel left out or inadequately prepared. The learning should be interesting to all – whether chairman or receptionist. We were to work with world class thinkers and doers … so, how to do it?

Some of the sessions were purposefully creative – for example with the Japanese kintsugi experts, the art of mending broken things with lines of gold - but most of the creativity came through building bridges and connections, the act of being open to the new and through the non-hierarchical energy of learning together.

We structured the learning sessions into 7 ‘streams’ – each one foundational to human culture and connection: language, image, movement, memory, space, sound and magic.  We asked our 37 faculty (including 10 Thompson Harrison facilitators) to design their sessions to be orthogonal to the client’s business – always to have an angle of relevance but not to be ‘head on’.

Food, ritual, hormones, even the breaks were all thoughtfully considered and planned.  Eating together, moving in synchrony, singing, sharing experiences all produce endorphins, nature’s bonding mechanism. In the world of remote working, engaging the five senses was important. We wanted to give this time together a human heft and feel. Colours, sound, scents, taste all played a role. It was playful. It was values-driven.