Category Archives: Leadership

Appreciative Facilitation Invitation to join an on-line action learning set

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Cathy Sharp

“I believe that emotions urge us to action, so action learning has to dive into the emotional landscape of the present at all times. If we stay in denial of our emotions, we are susceptible to endless anxiety and stuckness”. … Continue reading →

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Grow As We Go

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Cathy Sharp

It’s exciting to announce a new initiative – Grow As We Go originates in and builds from the legacy of My Home Life, a highly successful relationship-centred leadership programme to enhance the experience of those who live, die, visit and … Continue reading →

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“Everything I’ve ever done has ultimately failed”

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Cathy Sharp

One of the positive experiences to come from the pandemic is the chance to connect with people across the world with common interests in systems change.  In many webinars and video conferences, it’s pleasing and affirming to find that there … Continue reading →

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Collective Leadership – Exploring new territories for evaluation

Posted on November 9, 2018 by admin

I spent time this summer writing about evaluation.  It’s been good to immerse myself in reading and thinking about what complexity and collaboration mean for how we evaluate public programmes and interventions. The focus has been Workforce Scotland’s Collective Leadership … Continue reading →

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“The cynicism that passes for sophistication”

Posted on March 7, 2018 by Cathy Sharp

I’m not sure when or how I first encountered Appreciative Inquiry.  But I do remember going to an Imagine Chicago conference in 2002 with a group of community activists from Edinburgh.  We had a thoroughly exciting time, meeting appreciative inquirers … Continue reading →

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Reigniting Evaluation – Unfolding Stories

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Cathy Sharp

Today about 24 people gathered in Edinburgh to explore what they value about evaluation, as part of the 2018 Fire Starter Festival. Working with our own stories of experience of evaluation at it’s best, we identified what values and qualities … Continue reading →

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When are you ever not prototyping?

Posted on December 30, 2017 by Cathy Sharp

I’m co-hosting an event at the forthcoming Fire Starter Festival.  We want to ignite conversations about learning-in-action to stimulate thinking about how evaluation practices might flourish to promote learning and innovation. We put prototyping in the title as a deliberate … Continue reading →

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Are we working well together?

Posted on June 12, 2017 by Cathy Sharp

I often ask myself ‘is this worthwhile work?’ And this guest blog for Space Unlimited is some part of a response; it describes a recent highlight of a stimulating week when I took part in a Space Unlimited Lasting Change … Continue reading →

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Is this the best it can be?

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Cathy Sharp

I’ve very much enjoyed being involved in the development of this new toolkit for Creative Scotland. The ideas and approaches were developed from desk research and  action research, with seven pilot partnerships of artists, partners and participants using the tools  … Continue reading →

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Participative transformation?

Posted on July 24, 2015 by admin

I have recently written a book review of Participative transformation learning and development in practising change, by Roger Klev and Morten Levin in the Journal Action Learning:  Research and Practice, 2015 They propose that given the challenges of the uncertainty … Continue reading →

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