What is the Art of Hosting?

The “Art of Hosting” is a term that has taken on a life of its own in the world of participatory facilitation and leadership. It came into use some 25 years ago to describe the fundamental practice at the heart of participatory facilitation and it has become a bit of a cipher. I’ve had a couple of conversations in the last few weeks that reminded me that it’s probably time to again bring a bit of clarity – but not too much! – to how the term is used. Here are three things it is and two things it is not.

A pattern of practice

First and foremost the Art of Hosting is an art. Of hosting conversations that matter. The practice is summed up with what we call “the four fold practice” which is derived from the idea that good conversations are made better by having participants be present, participate, be hosted in a way that invites everyone to play a role and to co-create. It’s called hosting to signal that it is a form of facilitation that does not involve itself in the midst of the conversations, but rather seeks to create the conditions for conversations to take place. As a simple practice, it invites facilitators to create the conditions for effective dialogic containers rather than . As a leadership practice, it invites participatory leaders to practice self-hosting, participation, hosting others and co-creation. And because the practice is so context dependant, it is literally a practice. One is constantly practicing, responding, learning and reflecting as a facilitator and a leader who practices the art of hosting.

A community of practice

The Art of Hosting is also a name given to the global community of practice, a loosely connected and chaordic network of practitioners and global stewards. For more than 25 years folks on every continent and in hundreds of different contexts have connected themselves to the Art of Hosting community to share learning, contribute thinking and explore participatory practice through a common language and inquiry. The stewards are experienced practitioners who stay connected locally and regionally and help organize trainings and maintain a global coherence to the community. The global community has an online home at www.artofhosting.org and an active Facebook page with more than 16,000 members.

A workshop

All over the world experienced practitioners offer Art of Hosting workshops giving folks the opportunity to learn and engage with the art of participatory facilitation. Sometimes, especially where the workshop is focused more on community and organizational leadership, it is called “The Art of Participatory Leadership.” While these workshops can offer differ significantly in terms of material offered and pedagogy, in general you will leave these learning experiences having learned about:

• the four-fold practice of hosting and harvesting participatory process;
• complexity concepts, such as the chaordic path or the Cynefin framework;
• Frameworks for planning and facilitating participatory gatherings, such art the chaordic stepping stones of the Diamond of Participation;
• Exposure and practice of facilitation methods such as Open Space Technology, World Cafe, Circle, ProAction Cafe, Collective Story Harvest and others.
• Self-hosting and inner practice work

You’ll find upcoming workshops listed on the Art of Hosting website. As I write there are workshops offered in Zimbabwe, India, France, Switzerland, Canada, Croatia, Netherlands, Brazil and the US. These workshops are taught primarily by local stewards and practitioners and can be very different expressions of the same basic material. It’s always fun to travel around and see how folks are teaching and practicing the art of hosting in different cultural and organizational contexts.

Two things it isn’t

It’s not an organiztion. The Art of Hosting is not a company you hire to work for you. It isn’t an organization or a certification scheme. It is a chaordic community that supports learning and practice worldwide

It is not a method. Sometimes people confuse the Art of Hosting with a method like World Cafe. That’s understandable as many people are introduced to participatory methods in Art of Hosting workshops, but there is no Art of Hosting method per se. Neither is the World Cafe, for example, a method of the Art of Hosting. The World Cafe is a method although, as Amy points out below, it is not MERELY a method. The Art of Hosting is a practice that can help facilitators better use that method. It’s like the different between music theory and music performance, or the study of poetics and the practice of writing poetry . One is the theory and the other is the practice, and together the Art of Hosting – the four fold practice – is praxis: the unification of theory and practice towards more participation.

The Art of Hosting is one way we point to what is sometimes spoken of as “the central garden” which is a common space of inquiry held by people who are interested to learn about how participatory ways of being together can help shape a world that values diversity, difference, and multiple perspectives. Thanks to my friend Amy Lenzo, who in the comments, points this out so eloquently.

Does all of this seem only half-way clear? Well, that ambiguity is something of a feature of this whole world. It allows and invites people to bring different expressions and experience to this global inquiry while also having some shared language and concepts that help us to learn together and evolve in the service of groups of people who are trying to build or reclaim spaces of humanity, dignity and sustainability. It continues to be an essential community of friends and colleagues for my work, for which I am constantly grateful.