In the 1800s Lady Jane Wilde held regular Saturday afternoon receptions, or “conversaziones” to satisfy the many friends who wanted to see her. Running from 3-6pm, they became popular, celebrated events, and at her gatherings, it was reported that everyone talked their best.

This made me think of being given the opportunity to facilitate action learning groups, where individuals can bring an issue that’s on their mind into a safe environment and talk it through with peers who can ask great questions to help them to make progress on their particular difficulty.  If facilitated well, and there is willingness from everyone in the group to be non-judgemental, to share, to engage, and to support, my experience is that everyone can indeed talk their best.

It seems that Oscar’s mother might just have been a little ahead of her time.