Example Reflection – Mind Mapping    Challenge    We participate in association of volunteers who promote peace, culture and education in various  ways. This association is a member of a non-governmental organization and, after 57 years,  has become a giant. Currently in Brazil we have approximately 200 members and, in other  countries, more than 20 million members.  With the growth of this organization we realized that the most important thing was to meet with  each member and to work empathy by encouraging each other, instead of closing ourselves in  rooms and staying together for hours. The consensus of a formula, the 80/20, was reached.  Where we would spend 80% of the time visiting each member and 20% in meetings.  Despite the right decision, because it stimulates the encounter of life to life, the formula did not  work and we still kept the old format and the meetings took most of the time.    Application    On a great opportunity that we had to gather more than 150 people who actively participate in  our meetings, I suggested that we conduct an investigation with 50 members who participated in  the meetings not long ago. The main idea was to understand in depth what they thought, felt,  and how they related to the directives and directions given by the association.    For this, in a large room, I asked that all 50 members write in post-its everything they liked most  within the association and put on a wall of the room. On the opposite wall I asked them to put  the post-its related to what they believed was bad or needed improvement. I also asked that  they not identify so that they could feel more comfortable and true, after all, the truth is what  matters to us.    After a 10-minute session, we finished this part of the survey and started a kind of  categorization of opinions. Everyone helped to select opinions and we divided into five different  groups. Of course, since our goal was to understand the 80/20 problem, we focused on the  category that addressed this issue.    When we read the post-its glued ones that indicated positive opinions, all were very similar.  Opinions such as "I love this organization," "here I can be myself," and "the people here are  more human and hug us," were very common.    Insight & Approach    As we read the post-its of the part to be improved, we encountered many challenges that people  faced and did not know what went on. Unlike many organizations, these opinions are treasures.  They are our greatest find, because from there, we could find and build new ways to approach  and change in the right way.

About our purpose what we found was sensational. People were saying they did not visit  because they were new to the organization and had no experience. The fact that they did not  know was the big challenge. At first we thought they were not going because they were lazy and  did not care. But contrary to what we thought, they cared not to visit people because they had  no experience.    From that moment we changed the approach and started a project to teach people. The more  experienced members accompany the younger ones and there is an apprenticeship at each  meeting. It is a simple solution and it was possible because, before making any decision, we  listen to people. And this is fundamental.    I am grateful to the course for having obtained this solution found with the people.

