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Efficient Collaboration Through Convergent Facilitation with Paul Kahawatte

Host: Duncan Autrey - Omni-Win Project

Win-wins are possible even in the most challenging situations.

How can we ensure everyone wins?
In this episode with Paul Kahawatte, you’ll get a small taste of the power of convergent facilitation, a process created by OWP podcast guest Miki Kashtan, and learn how to find the non-controversial essence behind what people desire. Using these tools, we can discover what people truly need and find a way to incorporate that into a solution that works for all.

Paul explains how we can look toward something more transformational and visionary while addressing the practical steps to get there. By integrating different needs, we can create something much more powerful and creative than if we don’t.

After this conversation, Duncan was filled with hope that we can truly create a win-win future. Join us on that journey.

Episode Highlights​

  • Duncan and Paul talk about how convergent facilitation can bring divergent voices to collaborative decisions
  • Discover the power of convergent facilitation in creating win-wins
  • Understand why we can’t get what we want without collaboration
  • Learn why binary choices force us to compromise
  • Paul introduces the “non-controversial essence”, which helps us understand the why behind someone’s position
  • Understand the magic of incorporating everyone’s needs to create a better outcome
  • Uncover why it’s important to realize that everyone matters, and how this can lead to better solutions
  • Duncan and Paul ponder why people don’t use the process more, and how that could change

Paul Kahawatte​

Portrait Paul Kahawatte

Paul is a highly experienced mediator, facilitator and trainer, who has worked extensively in supporting people through conflict, collaborative decision making and the development of collaborative systems. Paul is one of the World’s leading practitioners of Convergent Facilitation, as well as mediation based in Nonviolent Communication (NVC). He draws on numerous other approaches in his work, including Restorative Circles, Aikido, Focusing, Relational Neuroscience and many others. He has worked doing mediation and facilitation in community and social movement contexts, as well as work in deliberative democracy, and has run trainings in the UK, Sri Lanka, USA, Bangladesh and several European Countries.