I watched the Obama Healthcare Summit and on purpose watched it wearing my “OD hat.” It was a tough crowd, and although in my view Obama did a somewhat decent job of acting as facilitator and participant, as a trained behavioral scientist and a facilitator myself, I found it entertaining and painful to watch. My views are not intended to be partisan or take sides; however, they are intended to express certain observations.
For those of us who facilitate large group sessions, we know it can be a sometimes daunting and exhaustive experience. More things are at play than may meet the eye to an attendee or observer: politics, leadership, personalities, power, and diversity just to name a few.
Politics: As this was a political forum, naturally congressional politics was the basis for discussions and at the fore front of the event. However, what about personal politics? Most of those attending had a personal agenda, including the President. When acting as a facilitator, it is extremely important not to over-power the meeting with your own agenda. When at all possible, a facilitator should be a neutral party. Not only did Obama enter the summit with his own agenda, he entered it with a bill almost completely written. What message would this send to you if you were a participant who was in attendance to share your own ideas, whether in agreement with Obama’s or not? If it were me, I would tend to take a “why bother, he has his mind pretty firmly set anyway” view.
Leadership: Now, if in fact Obama had convened several neutral trained facilitators to lead the session, then he himself could have given his full attention to participation at the same level as those in attendance. When leading and facilitating a session with so much personal politics, it is important to set clear ground rules and expectations. Although topics and agenda were established for the summit on February 12th some participants were still unsure of the format on February 22nd. I saw no timeline of events, no “parking lot topics” list, and no clearly established ground rules. It’s no wonder some people got to speak for 5 minutes and some rant on and on. It’s no wonder Obama was interrupted on several occasions and it’s no wonder the entire summit ran over the scheduled time limit.
Personalities: When facilitating a session of this nature, it is imperative to have at least a basic understanding of the personalities of those in attendance, and more importantly, be able to manage them. What does it mean when Nancy Pelosi whispers and has sidebars? What does it mean when Eric Cantor rolls his eyes? What does it mean when John McCain grunts loudly? What does it mean when Joe Biden goes off on a tangent into the weeds? I saw several occasions where these and other behaviors occurred. In very few cases did they go noticed, yet alone even addressed. In my view, this is part of the reason the summit ran over the scheduled time and engagement began to decline in the afternoon session. People began to either “tune out” or just continually push their own agendas. I’m not saying that a facilitator should be able to notice and respond to everything, or know all the telling personality traits of participants; however they should have the time and ability to be able to address and manage behaviors that can derail the purpose of the meeting. When having your own agenda and serving as participant and facilitator this can often prove difficult and impede desired outcomes.
Power: Power and showing of power, both in subtle and non subtle ways was rampant at the summit. To an extent these things are to be expected given that the summit was convened by the most powerful politician in the country, and power and politics usually go hand in hand. I observed displays of power where some were acting like argumentative children and other instances were body language was a dead give away; some expressed power by not engaging. However, if trust does not exist amongst all parties, then open and honest dialogue is not likely to take place, particularly from subordinates up to leaders. Think of it this way, it would be like your CEO or direct boss trying to facilitate a session with you and your team to gain feedback on how they can best improve as a leader. If you don’t have an honest and trusting relationship with them, how likely are you to tell them how you really feel and offer constructive ideas for improvement? As they are in a more powerful position than you, you may be afraid that you could upset them or even lose your job. In the instance of the summit this is a reelection year after all! Though I didn’t notice Obama overtly throwing his power in the face of the participants, these feelings may have very well existed.
Diversity: Just because we now have an African American President does not mean we can stop paying attention to diversity. Yes we had racial minority and female participation at the summit; however, in watching who took up the most air time (with the exception of Obama) I felt as if I was watching “the white men network.” When facilitating a session of this nature, it is imperative to understand the cultural nuances. Different ethnicities, races, genders, age groups and even Myers Briggs types (MBTI) have different ways of expressing themselves and have different comfort levels with varying situations. Not all of those in the room may have felt comfortable interjecting or politely interrupting the president, or even volunteering to speak in such a forum. These traits do not mean, however, that these people did not have a desire to contribute. They may have just felt that they couldn’t get a word in or that they should wait to be called on by the President.
In closing, why are all of these things important?
It is a tough task to facilitate and participate and even harder when you have your own agenda. If organizing a large session/workshop with diverse participants and strong personalities, having a facilitator with the ability to maintain, an understanding of (and manage) personality, leadership, power, and politics issues is key to achieving successful outcomes.
What could have been accomplished with the help of trained facilitators and OD professionals? How might the result be different?
In my view I think that if trained facilitators and OD professionals had been present and engaged in the summit the meeting would have stayed on time, on track, and on schedule. Less ‘acting out’ behaviors may have occurred; more diverse voices would have had an opportunity to interject, and more constructive alternatives for a way ahead might have surfaced. This is not to say trained facilitators and OD professionals are miracle workers, however to highlight the importance of having those present trained in specific skills, with an awareness to notice, address, and respond to things that others to close to the issues may not be able to.
I hope this was as much a learning experience for the President as it was for me watching. If the Obama administration wishes to convene any more summits/sessions/major participative meetings – hire a skilled facilitator or an OD professional with the lenses of awareness to help reach the best possible outcomes!
Some helpful resources:
https://www.amazon.com/Skilled-Facilitator-Comprehensive-Consultants-Facilitators/dp/0787947237
About Scott Span, MSOD: is President of Tolero Solutions Organizational Development & Change Management firm. He helps clients to facilitate sustainable growth by developing people and organizations to be more responsive, focused, productive and profitable.
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