The Skilled Facilitator

PRAISE FOR THE SKILLED FACILITATOR

"This book replaces about a dozen that I have on my shelf. It has become the book on facilitation that aspiring and accomplished consultants should read."
—Geoffrey Bellman, author of The Consultant's Calling and Extraordinary Groups

"There is no better guide for how to intervene effectively in organizational groups than Roger Schwarz. His incredibly useful third edition of The Skilled Facilitator adds a framework that makes clear distinctions among roles such as coach, consultant, and facilitator, and makes cogent recommendations for each role. At the heart and soul of Schwarz's wisdom is the notion of mindset—that we must first consider and alter our own thinking before we can work productively with the complexity of group dynamics."
—Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School and author of Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy

"The Skilled Facilitator is essential reading for every group facilitator, consultant, and team coach to be grounded in the values, assumptions, principles and practice of group facilitation. In the third edition, Roger Schwarz continues to address these matters thoughtfully, coherently, and comprehensively so readers can help groups create the results they need."
—Sandor P. Schuman, editor of The IAF Handbook of Group Facilitation: Best Practices from the Leading Organization in Facilitation

"The heart of Roger Schwarz's approach to facilitation is mutual learning between the facilitator and group and between all members of the group. As he points out so aptly, mutual learning is a different mindset than unilateral control and when under stress it is common for facilitators to default to control. This book provides a launching point for the deliberate practice required to facilitate high performing work groups."
—Jeffrey Liker, Professor, University of Michigan and author of The Toyota Way

"I'm deeply grateful to Roger Schwarz, the modern master of facilitation theory and practice, for giving us a sleeker, tighter, and more modern version of his magnum opus. For many years, my Wharton students have reaped the powerful rewards of his earlier edition's careful instruction; it's changed their minds and their lives. With this seamlessly coherent and crucially substantial upgrade to what was already the field's gold standard, future students of collective action seeking a rigorous, highly practical method have a yet wiser guide."
—Stew Friedman, author of Total Leadership and founding director of the Wharton Leadership Program