5 Analogies to explain facilitation
The meaning of analogy as defined in Merriam Webster dictionary is “a comparison of two otherwise unlike things based on the resemblance of a particular aspect [1]” for example, atoms are like a solar system or “smile to mouth, as wink is to eyes.” It plays a significant role not only in explanation and conceptualization but also in communication; lots of everyday idioms and proverbs are examples of it.
Sandy Schuman defines the most comprehensive yet short definition of facilitation. In his book, he explained facilitation as “Helping groups do better [2]”. Gary Rush describes it as “Facilitation is a structured process to follow enabling a group to come together and accomplish good work [3]”.
After carefully looking at the second definition, we can find three keywords “process, group, and good work.” Gary defines the first two as content and context, and let me add the third one cause; every facilitation has a reason.
Here participants provide the content, the process provided by the facilitator provides the context, and everyone is responsible for a purpose. We can look at the above diagram from another perspective, and it would be something like this.
Now let’s explore some analogies to understand this relationship better.
HourGlass
I borrowed this from my facilitation teacher Gary Rush’s book [3]. In this example, the sand inside the hourglass is content and the shape of the hourglass is context, and the cause is to measure time. Neither sand nor glass can do it alone. Sand and the shape of the glass collectively make it possible to measure the time.
Thermometer
Another quick example that came to my mind is a thermometer. Like an hourglass, a thermometer has all three components; here, content is mercury, the process is glass marked with the temperature, and the cause is to measure the temperature.
Life Tube
Life Tube is another analogy to explain the facilitation. Here the air is a content, the tube is a context and cause is to safe life. Air without a tube or tube without air is not sufficient.
Traveling
Although the previous examples are useful but very similar, let’s explore a bit different one. Traveling, we need passengers who are traveling (content) route (context) and destination (cause). Just imagine a situation of travel without a passenger, route, or destination.
Meeting
Can we have a meeting without any attendees? What will be the situation of the meeting with no Agenda? Even worst, how do you feel about a meeting with no outcome? A good successful meeting has all three ingredients; attendee (content), agenda (context), and outcome (cause)
Reference
- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analogy
- IAF Handbook of Group Facilitation by Sandy Schuman
- FoCuSeD Introduction to Facilitation by Gary Rush
