Clean Decisions

Instructions for Clean Decision-Making

First set up the space with a diamond-shaped grid of Post-It™ Notes on the floor. A space like that of a living-room carpet, approximately 8 feet by 10 feet, works well. I like using coloured Post-It™ Notes, as shown in the photo; however, plain yellow ones work fine as well.

The Metaphor Inquiry process begins when the client is asked:

• "What would you like to have happen?"

Then they are asked to stand on "Tensing" and describe what that place knows.

The full layout is a shown below:

The process ends after the client has moved through the different spaces and described their experience. When they are ready to finish, they move to the place of doing and describe what they are going to do next, what they are inspired to do that is new and different.

Clean Decision-Making (CDM) is a Dynamic Metaphor Inquiry Practice, similar to Gestalt or Voice Dialogue, that has an almost magical quality. The process feels like a dance or game that guides the players to discover wise and positive outcomes.

• Start at the place of "Tensing."
• Ask Clean Questions: "What does this place know?"
• Walk to each place, as you feel drawn to it, and then
• Continue asking Clean Questions of each place: "What does this place know?"
• End at "Doing" - What action are you now inspired to take?

Before I begin explaining more about the process, let me acknowledge that most of what is described is developed from the excellent on-line resources (Clean Language, Power of Six) as well as the book by James Lawley and Penny Tompkins (Metaphors in Mind).

What I have found is that the published material serves as a wonderful foundation for adaptation and development through practice and experience. And now let's describe each place, what it means, and the questions that you can ask.

First of all, you will notice that each place is described by an action verb. A lot of the things that bother and challenge us get trapped in our bodies or us stuck in dissociation and cognitive nominalizations. In contrast, this is a space where people get to move around.

The first question is usually "and what would you like to have happen?" You may want to add "today" or "in this session" to frame it more explicitly.

Then ask the client to enter at the place of "TENSING." This is where the client describes their current tension, what is bothering them, how they feel about something. And it may include information about where they feel it in their body. If they use conceptual words to describe their situation, you can ask "And how do you know that?" or even "And where do you feel that?" (Sometimes they feel it in places inside of their body, sometimes it is outside of them).

Notice the body language of the client - how they stand, the way they talk, where they look. This can lead you to ask relevant questions. And, as much as possible, while facilitating, stand outside of the space - it belongs to them, and their experience.

The philosophy of ‘clean' is that we are dealing with the information that the client has access to. So, for the most part, the facilitator avoids directing, interpreting, or telling. Although occasionally that is entirely appropriate, and the process will guide you as to what is the right thing to do.

After the client seems to have finished describing what they know at the place of "TENSING" you can ask them "And is there anything else?" or "And is there anything more?" One of the primary skills of the facilitator is to expand the client's experience by asking questions that develop further inward reflection and reporting.
If the client becomes very silent, you can keep things moving and invite them to share by asking "And now what's happening?"

When you sense that enough material has been described you can say "And before you get ready to move to the next place, is there anything else?"

Here is a list of the major clean questions you can ask. Often one or two are enough to facilitate the client's process.

List of Clean Questions

STARTING: And what would you like to have happen?
KEEP MOVING: And now what's happening?

DEVELOPING (THE CURRENT PERCEPTION)

ATTRIBUTES
· And is there anything else about ... ?
· And what kind of ... ?
LOCATION
· And where/whereabouts is ... ?
RELATIONSHIP
· And is there a relationship between ... and ... ?
· And when ..., what happens to ... ?
METAPHOR
· And that's ... like what?

MOVING TIME

BEFORE
· And what happens just before ... ?
AFTER
· And then what happens/what happens next?
SOURCE
· And where does/could ... come from?

INTENTION

DESIRED OUTCOME
· And what would ... like to have happen?
NECESSARY CONDITIONS
· And what needs to happen for ... ?
· And can ... ?

ENDING: And is there anything else you would like to add before we begin to finish?

So take some time to get to know what all this means for you and what difference it will make when you leave here.

[pause]

Do you have any comments, thoughts or feelings about what you've experienced?

Now it's time for us to move on, as well.When the client has finished reporting about "TENSING" you can ask them which space they are drawn to next.

Let's keep things simple at this point, and steer towards two major perspectives. They may be ready to describe what they do want (PROPOSING) or what they don't want (OBJECTING). When you have more experience with facilitating, there are many possible places to move to. For now, we will stay with the basics.

OBJECTING is about what the client dislikes, avoids, resists, avoids or refuses to do. This is what they want to get away from. Many people know more about what they don't want than what they do want, and so it is a natural place for them to move to.

If they move here, ask them what this place knows about the issue, and get them to describe their experience. Notice their body language, how they speak, where they look, and continue to elicit sharing by asking "and what else?" and other clean questions until they complete their report.

The next place to guide the client to is PROPOSING. This is about what the client does want. What would this place like to have happen? Wouldn't it be nice if . . .? What do they desire or want to move towards? Pay great attention to how they describe what this wants. It may be a negative request (I want to lose weight) rather than a positive one (I'd like to be in a supportive relationship).

Notice how the client stands, their body language, how they talk, where they look. Keep exploring what this place knows by asking clean questions, and if possible elicit a description of a positive outcome.

When they have finished describing what the PROPOSING space knows, ask them to move to the CONSTRAINING place. This is about the one thing that is stopping them. Usually, in any given situation, there is one thing that needs to change before things shift. What does this place know? Ask clean questions to find out. Ask them to stand facing forward and lean into the constraint. What is that like? Ask them to step back a bit. What is that like? Ask them to turn around and look back to where they came from. What's that like. Explore what the CONSTRAINING place knows.

When they are finished describing their experience, ask them to step past the constraint, to STEERING, a place where they no longer have the limitation of the constraint. This is a place of freedom, choice and control - like being the captain at the helm of a ship. What does that place know? New insights will emerge when clean questions are asked about this perspective. What does this space know, looking forward? What happens when they turn and look back? What is different from the STEERING place?

And when this perspective has been explored, invite them to step to the MOVING FORWARD place. This is like the bow of a ship, feeling the spray, the wind, looking out at the uncharted waters ahead. What does this place know?Before finishing the process, the client may want to re-visit some of the perspectives and express new insights. Sometimes they are drawn to a particular place. Sometimes the facilitator may guide them to a spot and ask further clean questions.

And as they finish, ask the client to move to the place of DOING. And now what are they inspired to do, after they have explored all these perspectives, and surfaced the wisdom that each place holds? What is theirs alone to do? What are they going to do differently as they mover forward in their life?

Sometimes it is helpful to ask the client to be OBSERVING. Use a new Post-It^TM Note, and ask them to place it outside of the space somewhere that they feel is right, where they can reflect on all the perspectives, and talk about what they have learned. What does the OBSERVING place know?

The whole process can be very emergent and creative. If new perspectives emerge, invite the client to use a new Post-It^TM Note, label it appropriately, and place it where they feel it belongs, before going there and responding to clean questions about the perspective.

Both the facilitator and client often feel guided by the space to ask the right questions and visit the different perspectives in unique ways that reveal new information.

As the client gets ready to finish ask:
And is there anything else you would like to add before we begin to finish?

And when they have expressed this information, and are ending say"

"So take some time to get to know what all this means for you and what difference it will make when you leave here."

[pause]

"Do you have any comments, thoughts or feelings about what you've experienced?"

And thus the session comes to an end.

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