On working with Kristine:

  • Extremely knowledgeable and Kristy brings great energy to her facilitation.
  • Kristy was an excellent facilitator. She was so good at sitting with silence while folks chatted or while they were silent and thinking. Her guiding questions were really helpful in sifting through the ideas, and bringing the concepts to more clarity. Particularly her questions assisted to apply the frameworks to personal experience, thereby making them very practical.
  • Kristy is a great facilitator! I found that she asked a lot of “open-ended” questions that stimulated group discussion and she kept us engaged discussing topics that honestly can sometimes tend to be a bit complex and so attention span isn’t always the greatest. Her excitement and extensive knowledge about Complexity Theories made the experience such an enjoyable one!!
  • Phenomenal! My only suggestion would be for Kristy to offer more information and examples of application of the concepts/tools.
    • To which I have responded by developing a learning series using the book “Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed” that explores recognized practice strategies for complex systems.
  • Kristy did a masterful job and explaining the complex concepts in everyday language and drawing out the wisdom and insights from the group which helped build understanding and capacity amongst the Team.
  • Your style and methods worked well for this forum. A few simple slides and pre-reading according to a general plan allowed for a strong learning experience, it seemed, and the comments from the team members certainly reinforced this view. Probably it was all made easier by the fact that we’d had a successful session with you in person, were all known to each other, and could easily access the same comfortable group dynamic we’d had before.
  • Kristy did an excellent job of tying in together the concepts of the book and the conversations generated. I appreciated the attached power point in advance which helped us be prepared for our discussion.
  • Kristy’s laid back manner was great as she let us sit with some of the information giving us time for thoughtful consideration (comfortable with silences).

 

On the Simplifying Complexity in the Human Services workshops and webinars:

  • I’ve been around the ideas for a number of years now, maybe decades, if I think of the overlap between these concepts and human systems theory. But the most valuable thing to me is that it allows for a realistic expectations for change in other people and systems, and for realistic planning about what it takes to get the results with people and systems that you’re looking for. A lot of people still seem to just tell the horses where the water is, often with not so clear directions, and then blame the horses for not finding their way there and drinking. Complex adaptive system awareness allows for adjusting one’s own actions and approach to better match the context. And more horses can find their way to the water and consistently drink.
  • Some of it seemed a reminder of things I should know but have lost touch with. The best part of this information was also how the concepts are present in the work that we have done to date (but we didn’t know). Now we can bring a more informed and purposeful use of the concepts as we continue on with our work in the future.
  • It was great have several approaches to dealing with complexity presented together which made it easier to compare and contrast – seeing the areas of overlap while realizing that determining the best approach for the specific context would be of great importance. Seeing the wisdom and insights in the Team emerge was also a delight.
  • Developing a better working knowledge of the principles and theories of Complexity, as well as their application to practice was the best thing for me. (Mental Health and Substance use) are such “complex” systems and the knowledge I have learned about complexity has helped me make sense of some occurrences in our everyday practice that otherwise often feel confusing.
  • It helps me understand the challenges of implementing programs into complex environments. It helped me understand that there are natural stages in an organization where change can be more easily, or less easily, implemented. This is a framework I did not previously have to assess readiness for change.
  • Gosh, it was all so good. I love to read about concepts. This was an incredible opportunity to chat about, even wallow in, the ideas in the book.
  • I really like thinking about these kinds of things – there’s so much to learn about complexity and I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface.