Meet better
The fishbowl: wisdom to go
Tap into the expertise and experience of a group in a lively way
Rumour has it that the fishbowl technique was developed by an air force as a way of enlivening the post-mission debrief. (Yes, they apparently made pilots do Powerpoints.)
A fishbowl is an ‘inner circle’ conversation witnessed by the group. The inner circle have experience or expertise in the subject they’re talking about. Key to this is:
1 Having the right prompt to conversation (e.g. ‘Tell us the good, bad and ugly about….. or ‘Knowing what we now know about….what we we do differently, and what would we do similarly?
2 ‘Framing’ the session correctly for that group to give the required intimacy. ‘Standing at the bar, sharing a train trip, having an off-site coffee.’
1
Create the space.
Set up an inside circle of chairs (3 to 7). Ask people who’d like to share their experiences with the topic at hand to take a seat in the inside circle. (Sometimes good to pre-prep a less experienced group)
Write the invitation/topic up so it’s visible.
2
Explain the purpose.
Ask the outer circle to observe and listen to what happens in the inside circle. Brief the inside circle to keep their answers brief and to talk to each other, not the outer circle (2 min)
3
Inner circle talks.
Invite the inside circle to have a conversation about the question (the invitation) until the timebox expires or until the conversation ends on its own. Encourage the inside circle to share concrete experiences and examples, both successes and failures (10–25 min)
4
Questions and response.
The outer circle forms smaller groups and shares thoughts and formulate BIG questions for the inner circle. (5 min).
Inner circle listens and responds as best they can, in whatevevr order works for them.
Thank the inner circle, especially if they’ve been open and vulnerable.
You can close with a debrief such as the Universal Debrief to capture learning.