October2007

This month, for the first time ever, Module 8: self deception, self-delusion, self-denial - ultimate module in the Clean Change Company's training programme (for now!)- ran in West London, where Penny Tompkins and James Lawley skillfully led two dozen participants through three days of sometimes challenging material. As you can see from the photo, all arrived safely at the destination. Wendy Sullivan was very happy to have completed the first full programme of Clean trainings (and is already planning more). Congratulations to Wendy and Judy at Clean Change Company, and we'll be interested to see what happens next...

Want to learn more about Clean, but can't get to a training just yet? Or perhaps you've learned some Clean Language and would like to have more demonstration sessions, transcripts etc to help you to learn and develop? We've just launched a brand-new online store offering downloads and CDs: check it out.

We're developing additional resources as fast as we can. And if you'd like to help us by volunteering as a demonstration client for a recorded session, please email us.

The magic of metaphor is featuring in the mainstream media this month thanks to the launch of Steven Pinker's new book, The Stuff of Thought. He's been making some powerful points about the importance of metaphor to cognition - so compelling that Judy rushed to buy the book in hardback! You can see and hear a speech by the author or read an interview. Or to check out the book on Amazon, go here.

In the last newsletter, we gave the wrong dates for the planned Clean Conference in London. The correct dates are Saturday and Sunday, 21 and 22 June. Apologies for any inconvenience, and we look forward to seeing you then.

Anyone who uses Clean in an organisation or business of any kind will get great value from joining us at the Clean Business Exchange on 16 and 17 November. You can become part of the community, build relationships with others, swap experiences and tap into best practice, or ask for help with your own projects. Details are here.

If you'd like to save up to 40 per cent on Clean training in 2008, you have until midnight today (31 October) to make your booking at this year's prices. For dates and other details check here.
Is the time right for you to experience Penny and James facilitating your development with Symbolic Modelling? If so, you can join a group of four clients and a few trainees in Bath on March 8th and 9th. Click for details.
Clean Change Company was recently asked to facilitate a business meeting for Swedish and German delegates. That's just our line, since Clean is great for working with diverse groups. The event was in English - but we realised that there are Certified Clean facilitators who could do the work in Swedish or German, if that was needed. Could you facilitate Cleanly in a language other than English? If so, please let us know - we're compiling a list for future projects.
Look out for next month's newsletter for news of Summerschool 2008!
If you'd like to find out how Clean could help your business, a special information pack is about to be published. For your copy, email Judy.
Coaching with Space is an excellent new Clean article by Ken Smith.

Here's an idea from Caitlin Walker and Nancy Doyle's Metaphors@Work programme. "An ideal team for you, in which you can operate at your best, is like what?"

Discovering your answer to this question, and perhaps developing your metaphor using some Clean questions, can be a great way to motivate yourself to adjust your working life to get more of what you want.

Liverpool John Moores University is involved in a 'Clean' project on a system wide scale, using the Metaphors@Work process created by Caitlin Walker, which is based on Symbolic Modelling. The University's Faculty of Education Community and Leisure is using the process, which uses Clean Language on a group and organisational level to help teams communicate across conflict and build understanding, as part of its drive to become a Learning Organisation. Caitlin and Nancy Doyle (Training Attention) have been using this 'Systemic Modelling' process in schools, socially excluded groups and business teams and it has been the subject of postgraduate research by both of them 2001. They also run trainings in the process for anyone who wants to try it out in their own work. If you're interested in finding out more please contact Nancy.

If you haven't yet experienced Clean Language for yourself, or if you have a friend or colleague who you'd like to introduce to Clean, here's a great chance to learn more. You can dial into this session from anywhere in the world, at 7pm UK time. To find out more and to book, go here.