023 | Facilitating Breakthroughs with Adam Kahane
Adam Kahane holds the position of Director at Reos Partners, a multinational social enterprise that helps bridge the gaps between businesses, governments, and other organizations to solve complex challenges. He is a world-renowned facilitator, facilitating discussions and political talks with politicians, guerrillas, activists, executives, and trade unionists in over 50 countries. Adam is also the author of Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities, which conveys his experience facilitating in high-conflict and high-stakes situations—including Colombia during the civil war and Argentina during the collapse—as well as his critical takeaways for solving complex problems.
In this episode, you’ll listen to Adam describe an event in South Africa that impacted his views about the importance of uniting to remove the stigmas and barriers that separate people. He provides his perspective on the art of facilitation and why it’s not just about “getting people to do things.” He tells us briefly about his passion for writing and his motivation for writing books about his life experiences. You’ll learn the necessary steps to facilitate breakthroughs and why it’s simple but never easy. You’ll also receive actionable advice for facilitating conversations, whether casually or professionally.
"The essence of facilitating breakthrough is to move back and forth between two poles."
- Adam Kahane
This week on Kathy Sullivan Explores:
Where Adam grew up, his educational background, and why he’s always loved the sciences
Adam's professional experience and the scenario planning methodology
Why facilitation is not about getting people to do things
Adam's work in South Africa and the event he considers “the hinge of his life”
The actual meaning and implications of apartheid in Africa
Why there is a "wound that wants to heal" in South Africa
The complex political situation of South Africa
How Adam came to loving the art of writing books
What readers can expect from his latest book
Adam's advice to those who want to play the role of facilitator in general conversations
Adam's thoughts on authoritarianism
The simple but not easy way to facilitate breakthrough
The two important definitions of the word "group"
Resources Mentioned:
Book: Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation by Kees van der Heijden
Connect with Adam Kahane:
Book: Facilitating Breakthrough: How to Remove Obstacles, Bridge Differences, and Move Forward Together
Book: Solving Tough Problems: An Open Way of Talking, Listening, and Creating New Realities
Spaceship Not Required
I’m Kathy Sullivan, the only person to have walked in space and gone to the deepest point in the ocean.
I’m an explorer, and that doesn’t always have to involve going to some remote or exotic place. It simply requires a commitment to put curiosity into action.
In this podcast, you can explore, reflecting on lessons learned from life so far and from my brilliant and ever-inquisitive guests. We explore together in this very moment from right where you are… spaceship not required.
Welcome to Kathy Sullivan Explores.