ICA Associates Inc

08/27/2026

Authentic Inclusion

Inclusion of all those who have a stake in the results of a decision in contributing to the consensus on that decision is an ethical value that undergirds authentic facilitation. It is often very challenging. There are many blocks, both unintentional or unrecognized as well as intentional or hidden in systems, that hamper inclusion. When the facilitator is open and curious, listens deeply to everyone, observes when people are blocked from participation, and provides ways to address a range of blocks, extraordinary results and commitment can result....

Inclusion of all those who have a stake in the results of a decision in contributing to the consensus on that decision is an ethical value that undergirds authentic facilitation.  It is often …

06/23/2026

Transformation of a Worldview: A Personal Story

Dr. Jean Houston Dr. Jean Houston was a deeply caring and thoughtful person who worked with groups of people to reflect on their own lives and life itself. She died in May this year, and this post is in memory of the profound influence she had on my life. I didn’t have a lot to do directly with Jean, like some of my colleagues....

Dr. Jean Houston Dr. Jean Houston was a deeply caring and thoughtful person who worked with groups of people to reflect on their own lives and life itself. She died in May this year, and this post…

05/15/2026

ICA Nepal is pleased to announce a series of public courses, trainings, and workshops for 2026, aimed at building professional capacity, leadership, and social impact.
Enroll now and invest in your growth in 2026 !

05/15/2026

05/01/2026

Resolving Destructive Dispute Behaviour

It seems to me that this is a time in history when differences in opinion easily escalate into polarization and from that to destructive behaviour. This is not a new pattern, though it seems to be happening more often and with wider implications: at least it is more visible. Perhaps a story of how behaviour like this was resolved in the past is useful....

It seems to me that this is a time in history when differences in opinion easily escalate into polarization and from that to destructive behaviour. This is not a new pattern, though it seems to be …

04/17/2026

Listening as a Leadership Skill

A number of current events and posts by colleagues have catalyzed my thinking about leadership. As a facilitator, I have experienced a range of situations with clients where leaders thought that leadership was about presenting their own insights and requiring others to follow them. Telling, Not Listening One was a CEO who brought a whole team together from across the country and then started the meeting by telling them they were all incompetent. ...

A number of current events and posts by colleagues have catalyzed my thinking about leadership. As a facilitator, I have experienced a range of situations with clients where leaders thought that l…

04/03/2026

A First Step in My Facilitation Journey

Someone asked me this question: If a career as a facilitator is lifelong, when did you decide you wanted to become a facilitator? When I started facilitating, there was no profession called facilitation. I started out as a teacher. I had wanted to be a teacher ever since I taught my sister how to read when she was four years old and I was 6....

Someone asked me this question: If a career as a facilitator is lifelong, when did you decide you wanted to become a facilitator? When I started facilitating, there was no profession called facili…

03/26/2026

Using the Focused Conversation Method with Dots to Prioritize Consensus Workshop Results

I'm not sure when I discovered this process based on the Focused Conversation Method, but it allows thinking through a number of perspectives on priorities at different levels to discover which item is the biggest priority overall. Instead of just gut level reactions to "What is our biggest priority?" participants have a chance to think through and record different perspectives on priorities, which makes the conversation on priorities as the whole group more accurate....

I’m not sure when I discovered this process based on the Focused Conversation Method, but it allows thinking through a number of perspectives on priorities at different levels to discover whi…

03/12/2026

ORID Thinking to Address a Facilitation Emergency: A Participant Who Tried to Take Over a Meeting

I was facilitating the first meeting of a steering committee for a proposed province-wide public consultation on a painful and difficult topic involving abuse. My colleague and I had worked hard to find a wide range of participants who all had a good deal of wisdom on how to deal with the topic and had a stake in the results of the conference....

I was facilitating the first meeting of a steering committee for a proposed province-wide public consultation on a painful and difficult topic involving abuse.  My colleague and I had worked h…

02/25/2026

Focused Conversation On Current Events with One or a Few Others (Or with Self)

This conversation was catalyzed by a conversation with a couple of other ToP facilitators in this month’s ToP Community of Practice meeting about how in current times it is challenging to have conv…