How Can Inclusive Facilitation Transform Decision-Making in Organizations?

A conversation with Alexis Scranton, Dynamic Facilitator, Strategist, and Change-maker

“The power of facilitation is to bring all the voices to the table, and as you may have heard this saying, “nothing for us without us,” and I love that, it resonates so much.”-Alexis Scranton

In this episode of the Facilitation Lab podcast, host Douglas Ferguson converses with Alexis Scranton from Aligned Impact Solutions. Alexis shares her journey from teaching kindergarten and third grade to training teachers on national reform projects, which led her to specialize in facilitating corporate social responsibility and social impact initiatives. The discussion highlights the importance of inclusivity in decision-making, the differences between facilitating adult learning and teaching children, and the role of effective questioning in overcoming resistance. Alexis emphasizes creating environments where all voices are heard, fostering collaboration, and drawing out collective wisdom for impactful outcomes.

Show Highlights

Links | Resources

Alexis on Linkedin

About the Guest

Alexis Scranton, is a dynamic facilitator, strategist, and change-maker dedicated to building capacity at all levels of an organization—from executives to frontline professionals. With a background in global education and leadership development, Alexis has spent her career teaching, training, and coaching across the U.S., South Korea, Malaysia, and Brunei. Her experience spans both traditional and nontraditional learning environments, working with students, educators, and leaders to develop skills, foster innovation, and implement strategic initiatives. In addition, she has managed programs and strategic partnerships that support professional growth and organizational transformation, equipping teams with the tools they need to succeed.

Through her work, she helps leaders and teams navigate complex challenges, align their visions to drive meaningful outcomes. Recognizing the power of facilitation in fostering engagement and strategic clarity, Alexis pursued certification through Voltage Control and has since engaged in ongoing professional learning, exploring a variety of facilitation methods and approaches. She specializes in bringing clarity to complexity, guiding groups toward a shared vision and transformative action, while ensuring that diverse voices are heard in decision-making processes.

The organizations Alexis works with—whether in education, government, nonprofits, or corporate sectors—are united by a common mission: contributing to positive peace, creating lasting impact, and driving change in their communities. 

About Voltage Control

Voltage Control is a facilitation academy that develops leaders through certifications, workshops, and organizational coaching focused on facilitation mastery, innovation, and play. Today’s leaders are confronted with unprecedented uncertainty and complex change. Navigating this uncertainty requires a systemic facilitative approach to gain clarity and chart pathways forward. We prepare today’s leaders for now and what’s next.

Subscribe to Podcast

Engage Control The Room

Voltage Control on the Web
Contact Voltage Control

Transcript

Douglas Ferguson:
Hi, I’m Douglas Ferguson. Welcome to the Facilitation Lab Podcast, where I speak with Voltage Control certification alumni and other facilitation experts about the remarkable impact they’re making. We embrace a method-agnostic approach, so you can enjoy a wide-range topics and perspectives as we examine all the nuances of enabling meaningful group experiences. This series is dedicated to helping you navigate the realities of facilitating collaboration, ensuring every session you lead becomes truly transformative. Thanks so much for listening. If you’d like to join us for a live session sometime, you can join our Facilitation Lab community. It’s an ideal space to apply what you learn in the podcast in realtime with peers. Sign up today at voltagecontrol.com/facilitation-lab. If you’d like to learn more about our 12-week facilitation certification program, you can read about it at voltagecontrol.com.
Today I’m with Alexis Scranton at Aligned Impact Solutions, where she helps corporate social responsibility and social impact leaders avoid costly problems around stakeholder misalignment, community engagement, and private-public partnerships. Through facilitation of collaborative and inclusive dialogues, she guides teams toward clarity, alignment, and strategy.
Welcome to the show, Alexis.

Alexis Scranton:
Hi. Thank you, Douglas. Thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah, of course. It’s so great to have you. As usual, I’d love to hear a little bit about how you got started. Your career began in education, teaching kindergarten and third grade, if I recall correctly. Can you tell us a little bit about that moment you first realized that facilitation might be your true calling?

Alexis Scranton:
Oh, wow. Well, after teaching elementary school, I actually moved into training teachers on several different national reform projects. I think that’s when, although I may not have had the name for it at the time, recognition of the need for facilitation probably first emerged.

Douglas Ferguson:
What did that feel like? Do you remember some of those early moments around what you were noticing or feeling at the time?

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah. Being that, again, these were in other countries and these were major reform projects where you’re talking about big system-level changes. There are a lot of different stakeholders involved, from the teachers themselves all the way up to district-level educators and other stakeholders. With any change, I’m sure you know, there’s a lot of resistance and a lot of emotion that comes along with that. I started to recognize the importance of being inclusive of everyone’s voice, the need for everyone’s input in order to have that buy-in.
I worked a lot with teachers one-on-one in a coaching space, but even in coaching, it is very similar in a lot of ways to facilitation. In order for the teachers to be excited and willing to make these changes being asked of them in the classroom, I really had to engage with them. Again, have their voices be heard, include, and consider their opinions and their voices. That’s, again, when I started to realize, not really understanding facilitation as it separate field necessarily, but the importance of inclusiveness in decision making.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah, it’s easy to start cuing in on the dynamics, especially if you’re responsible for helping groups make progress. It’s easy to start noticing some of those things. Often, we’ll talk to folks that have been in facilitation for a while and starting to learn new things. You’ll hear things like, “Wow! It’s amazing to have vocabulary to put toward these things I’ve been noticing for years.”

Alexis Scranton:
Oh, yeah, definitely. Even in education itself, you can use that same approach. There’s different ways people go about teaching, but really the best way to have people to learn is, again, taking that same participatory approach, have people engaged in their learning. Even in that way as I was facilitating learning and training, again not knowing facilitation as a field of its own, or not having the language necessarily, but being able to still apply those concepts, apply it to education and learning.

Douglas Ferguson:
You mentioned reform earlier. I’m really curious to hear a little bit more about that, especially for our listeners that maybe haven’t been in those spaces with teachers, and superintendents, and school district issues. What are some of the things that they were facing? You mentioned systems change. Help our listeners understand a little bit more about the kinds of things they were dealing with. Was this things that were coming from outside policy that they had to just react to, or were there things they were want to change? What was the nature of some of this stuff?

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah. Well, it all initiated at the national level. The countries where I work, you have the ministries of education wanting to make changes for one reason or another. But often time, we’ll directly relate it to the teaching pedagogy, the way in which the teachers were teaching. I doubt that they had a lot of say-so in the initiatives being started, but they were definitely frontline and impacted probably the most by these initiatives. Then right after then, probably those people that were over the teachers, so your coaches or your school-level administrators also responsible for ensuring these changes are happening, they’re accountable for them. It’s impacting all levels, but the teachers, again, I don’t believe they probably had a lot of input into the decision being made.

Douglas Ferguson:
In your work making it more inclusive and facilitative, were you able to at least bubble up their input? So that, even though they didn’t have a say whether or not the change would happen, were they able to influence how it rolled out or some of the nuances?

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah. In these situations, I wasn’t fully in a facilitative space as we know it, but I was able to … Again, the concepts of the inclusive voices and so forth really came about more in a coaching setting. Then also, in our training workshops. Again, as a coach who my role was to support the teachers in implementing these changes within their classrooms, but I can’t force them. I didn’t have necessarily a title or position of power, so to speak. It was more of the, I don’t know, I’m forgetting the term that I’m looking for, but just being able to influence them to make these changes.
In order to do that, you’ve really got to have their buy-in, their belief in the changes, the belief that it’s possible, support with the changes. As a coach, although it wasn’t formal group facilitation, it is understanding their needs, understanding the barriers, understanding from their perspective how I can best support and be of service to help them implement these changes that were thrusted upon them. Same thing with the school-level administrators as well. Again, they were also having to make changes and were responsible for overseeing the changes, so really had to support them as well.
Then I also led a lot of training workshops in order to teach these new skills to the teachers. Again, in that way, really being inclusive of their voices, understanding the dynamics of their working environment. I worked across different schools, so there’s a lot of differences when you move from school to school. Really understanding, again, their strengths and their barriers, and just what they needed. I was able to semi-facilitate in that way, in that manner.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah. Well, it sounds like there was some natural tendencies, just to be curious about the needs, and not force things upon people. Even the one-on-one coaching probably had a direct impact in the success in the classroom, because once you understood the fears, the goals, the desires, the values, then you were able to address those in the classroom and reinforce some of that stuff so that people didn’t feel so, maybe helpless, as they were navigating these changes.

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah, 100%. I would say it all has to do with the teacher in the classroom. That is the most effective, the most important, if I dare to say role, is not going to happen without the teacher doing it in his or her classroom. Yes, 100% what you just said.

Douglas Ferguson:
I’m curious, how did this work with adults differ from the work you were doing teaching younger adults, children, K-through-12 I think it was?

Alexis Scranton:
Oh, yeah. Well, I initially started out teaching just elementary school. I did later move into adult education. Yeah, totally different.
Teaching adults and teaching children. In some ways, teaching children is a lot easier, especially the little ones. They’re a lot more enthusiastic, and open, and receptive. Whereas again, adults can have a little more pushback and more resistance to things, especially if it’s a top-down approach that is being forced on them without their say-so. When you’re teaching adults and when you’re teaching children, usually the objective is different, depending. With children, it’s usually you’re teaching and they’re learning for the sake of learning. Whereas with adults, oftentimes they’re learning in order to gain a new skill and apply that new skill. It’s just different approaches, different outcomes. You’ve got to really make it applicable to their real life situation and immediate application to the workplace.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah, that real life application is so critical. I’ve seen, so many times, where folks just aren’t connected to the purpose or that layer of outcome that’s coming next. Often, I’ve seen them get labeled as the troublemaker or the difficult person. Man, as soon as you label them as such, of course that’s all they’re going to ever be. Whereas if we take the time to, like you say, really get into articulating why are we even here, how are we connecting that to these real world needs.

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah, definitely, the why. Why am I here? Why am I spending my time learning this and how can I use it?

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah.

Alexis Scranton:
It’s not to say children don’t have the same inquiries, because we know you hear children all the time, “When am I ever going to need to know this? When will I ever use this?” But it’s definitely primary for adult learners.
I’ll say something that’s the same probably amongst in both though, is that need for the social aspect of learning. That’s one thing I really appreciated with going through my certification with Voltage Control is just the combination of some asynchronous, because we all living busy lives and need to have a bit of control over when and how we’re learning. But the social aspect is critical, especially even more I think once everybody got thrusted online with COVID. I think people crave it even moreso now.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah, it’s interesting. It’s so easy to point to how different it is, and yet I think at the end of the day, we’re still humans.

Alexis Scranton:
Oh, yeah.

Douglas Ferguson:
We’re still doing the same things we were doing, we just have more nuanced maybe approaches. I think maybe one thing to consider is that kids are more likely just to say why out of the gate. Whereas adults might just be confused about the why, and then not even ask or just be there in their state of confusion and get disgruntled, or whatever. Does that fit with your observations? Were kids more likely to vocalize the why when it wasn’t clear?

Alexis Scranton:
To ask why, “Why do we have to do this?” Not as much. I think children are … It’s a bit of a social construct. They go to school and know they have to go to school to learn all the things they need to learn. It’s just an expectation that, “I’m here just to learn for the sake of learning.”
I won’t say that they’re necessarily more inquisitive, adults are inquisitive, but it’s different. Whereas again, adults, especially if they’re not self-selecting to take a course. Again, if they’re in they’re work environment and they’re being mandated to attend, you’ve got to really, really hone in on why, “Why I am being asked to be here, my precious time being used to learn this thing. Why is it necessary? How is it going to make a difference?” In these situations, “How is it going to make a difference for me as a teacher? How was it going to make a difference for my students?” Again, “Show me how I can take what I’m learning and apply it right away.”

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah. One thing I’ve noticed, especially with groups that are not sure, they’ve been mandated to do it, is not only attempting to explain it to them, but just again, some dialogue around why the group thinks it’s important. Because I think nuance amongst the group, it’s one thing to hear it from me, it’s another thing to hear it from one of their coworkers.

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah, I agree. That’s why what I really strive for with facilitation and doing this work is for any initiative that is going to be implemented, the hope and the desire would be that all stakeholders that are going to be impacted in any way have a seat at the table, have a voice. Because it’s much easier to … People support what they help to create. When they have a say-so in the creation of whatever this initiative might be, one, they understand what the problem is and why we’re even surfacing that the need to create a solution by way of an initiative. But they could bring different perspectives that aren’t always understood and seen when it’s being given top-down.
When they have that voice, then again, there’s the buy-in created. It’s like, “Okay, now I understand why we need to address this, and I’m offering up my opinions as far as solutions as to how we might address this. My day-to-day life, work life and circumstances are being considered, so that you’re not asking me to do things that are impractical.” Just all these things are considered and included. I think, I don’t think, I know, the research shows that it actually helps to make different strategic initiatives much more impactful. That is the power of facilitation is just to bring all the voices to the table.
You may have heard this phrase or this saying, “Nothing for us without us.” I love that. I just love that. It resonates so much.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah. It’s bringing to mind a comment you made in your alumni story about when facilitating, just experiencing a sense of connection and momentum. This idea of with us maybe creates that momentum. Tell me a little bit more about this connection and momentum you feel when facilitating.

Alexis Scranton:
Oh, yeah. Definitely. Again, it just gets everybody on board. If you tell me, “Alexis, you’ve got to do this thing,” and I didn’t understand why, and I had no say-so, and this thing you’re asking me to do, I feel like it’s putting me out of my way. You’re not considering A, B, and C, these other components. Again, there can be this resistance, even if it’s passive resistance, that happens a lot.
But when you come to me and say, “Hey, there is either a problem or there’s some change we want to make, would love your input. I would love your perspective, would love to hear what you think is causing the problem.” Or, “Would love to hear your perspective on how we might create this solution.” Just include the voice. Automatically, I’m more excited, I’m more bought in, and I see my ideas included. It’s just natural, there’s going to be more momentum, more excitement around it, and more success.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah, absolutely. I’ve certainly witnessed it. It’s making me also think about, you talked about how coaching played a big part in your evolution into this facilitation work. There’s actually a talk at the Facilitation Lab Summit this year around how coaching skills can be directly applied to facilitation and vice versa. Almost this idea of coaching is one-to-one, whereas facilitation is one-to-many, but we might use the same tools and techniques, and maybe even the same questions.

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah, yeah. No, that’s a great point and a great comparison. It is, because if you think about what coaching gives. For those who may not be familiar, coaching, you’re asking questions with the belief that the person being coached has the inherited wisdom. They have all the answers within, you’re really just asking questions to draw it out of them, to help them come to their own realizations, draw their own conclusions. It’s the same thing when you’re working with the group and you’re facilitating a group, you’re really just drawing out that collective wisdom. You’re asking questions, you may be making some comparisons to make sure those are realized. But it’s not you imparting any knowledge, or wisdom, or expertise. Same thing with coaching.
It’s a skill that has to be developed. Because a lot of times, people want to just jump in with the answers and solutions, but you have to very much contain that and allow the people to get to that space. When they do, it is so much more rewarding for them. Yeah, whether it’s an entire group or whether it’s the individual, again, back to that buy-in, it’s like, “Wow, these are my ideas that I can up with, I believe in them, and I’m excited to now move forward with them.” Yeah, it is. Yeah, you’re right. It’s just like coaching.

Douglas Ferguson:
I love that point around the importance of questioning. I’m curious, what are some of your go-to questions to pull that stuff out of people?

Alexis Scranton:
Oh, wow. Well, it really depends, but something … Let’s see. Maybe just, “Tell me more about that,” just to get people to elaborate and expand.

Douglas Ferguson:
Great one.

Alexis Scranton:
Another question I do like to ask though, once we’ve gotten near a point of resolve and decision making. I do like to ask on a scale of one-to-10 for example, how committed they are to this decision. How committed are they to implementing this decision? That says a lot, because although they may have come up with the ideas, if I’m getting a low number, now I can dig a little deeper and ask, “Okay, well, what is it that you need that will bring that number up closer to a 10?” That says a lot about what other supports or just whatever it is that has them causing the hesitancy around that.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah, I love this idea of asking for ranges, many ways to present that. Then also, pointing the group toward the ones that need some further guidance or further dialogue to get their number up. Rather than just saying, “Hey, we’ve got a majority here, there’s 50% support. We’re good, let’s move on.” No, let’s pause and see what it could take to elevate some of the folks that aren’t in support, and then we’ll have a more robust decision. I love that, that range and then helping work with those that are lower, just how might they elevate their score.

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah, definitely. One thing I’ve learned about consensus is that it doesn’t necessarily mean everybody in the room is 100%, “I’m excited about this, ready to go.” But it does mean that, “I’m willing to move forward. I’m willing to move forward with this and I don’t see a reason to stop the group’s progress.” To your point, is how do we get everybody to that point where they feel good about moving forward.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yeah. You also brought up a really interesting point. As your asking questions, and connecting with folks, and drawing out this wisdom from the crowd, taking time to point out differences and comparisons, or maybe what’s a pocket that might need attention and helping the group focus there. Very important.
I even talk about the importance of the facilitator doing live synthesis. How are we recognizing what’s happening, replaying it back to the group so the group can keep going? We’re stoking that flame, if you will.

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah. Well, one of the things … Clarity is the keyword. I’ve recently just started my own practice, I’m excited to say. My tagline I’ve come up with is really just, “Clarity, alignment, and strategy.” This is all done through collaboration, but the first thing I really think facilitation helps groups with is to just get really clear, to your point. Because you just have so many things floating around, and ideas, and a dialogue, and often times things can get muddled or feel chaotic. Having a facilitator first brings clarity to the group.

Douglas Ferguson:
Absolutely. You just mentioned starting your practice and how clarity is so important. Earlier, you were talking about the importance of acknowledging the answer within. As the facilitator, our jobs are extract that or expose it. It’s making me remember a story that you shared in your alumni story about the vision board you put together that helped guide your self-reflection and provide your clarity on what was maybe already there, and exposed this, vision, this desire, this goal that you had. What was that process like on creating this vision board? What advice might you have to others that are in this journey of not really quite sure about what to do next? What was that like and how might others follow in your footsteps to find that clarity?

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah. It’s funny that you mentioned that process. It just made me think about clarity, but the a-ha moment when a person comes to the realization of whatever the thing is, but that’s very similar to teaching. A lot of teachers, you’ll hear them say, “Oh, they just light up when they see the look on a child’s face when they have the a-ha moment.” When they’ve realized they can do whatever the thing is they set out to do. There are some similarity there, just as to what one thing that’s really fulfilling and similar in both of those roles.
But to answer your question, yeah, I had moved. During COVID, I moved out of the education sector. Had always really been directly in education some way or another. I moved into a more corporate space, although still supporting educators. I didn’t stray too far. But as I moved up, and over, and around about within the corporate sector, I started to move further and further away from working directly with educators, and in schools, and with students. For a time, I started to feel a bit dissatisfied, like something was missing and was desiring that. But then, I also had this really big desire to move beyond just education. I wanted to really be able to do work that I felt was making an impact on society at large. Yes, education is critical and important, but then so are other causes. I wanted to be able to do something that would take me into all of these spaces.
I started a period of reflection trying to figure out what this thing was. What was this skill that was going to allow me to work to support what I like to call positive peace? I didn’t make that up, but just supporting organizations that are contributing to positive peace. Eventually, I discovered the world of facilitation. I don’t remember exactly just how, I couldn’t tell you. But the journey just consisted of reading a couple books, doing a lot of introspection, a lot of reflection over my past experiences and those things that brought me the most fulfillment and the most joy, where I felt the most competent and the most confident. I started to see the path and I started to see the connections. Then whenever I did discover facilitation, I saw the overlap. I saw how a lot of my skills would be useful as a facilitator. That just led me down this journey.
Then I moved on, I found Voltage Control and went through the certification course. At that time, I was working in partnerships, that was my role, so was really seeing the need for facilitation within that role. Especially for internal. Internal, again, the clarity and the alignment that we needed internally, and was able to utilize a lot of the skills that I learned at facilitation in that role. Then, as I say, the rest is just history. It’s just been on that path since then.

Douglas Ferguson:
What would you say is the biggest shift you’ve experienced professionally since you’ve fully embraced facilitation?

Alexis Scranton:
The biggest shift would probably be just in how I identify with my profession. I don’t know if this is true for all professions, but definitely as an educator, that just becomes a big part of your identity. I’m an educator, that’s just who I am. I still feel like I’m an educator and still want to support people in that way, but it is a shift. It is a shift from identifying myself as solely and purely an educator, to transitioning to facilitation. Then, helping others to understand what that means and the power that facilitation holds.

Douglas Ferguson:
Amazing. I’m reminded of a time that you were telling me about where you were facilitating a meeting for your organization’s executive team. If I remember, it was an opportunity to really step up into a new stage, so to speak. I’m just really curious, what was going through your mind leading up to that big facilitation moment? How did you prepare yourself, both mentally and just logistically for the challenge?

Alexis Scranton:
Oh, I’m sure I was very nervous. It was the executive leadership team, so you’re talking about your C-suite members. But at the same time, these were my colleagues. In the space where I was working, it didn’t feel very hierarchal. It was very flat and everybody was just friendly, called me by my first name. Although I was nervous, but I just reminded myself, “These are nice, supportive people.”
But furthermore, the reason. Again, I was in partnerships. We were considering several different partnerships at the time. It was my responsibility to present the key points to them, but then we also had to come to alignment and consensus as to whether or not we were going to move forward with these partnerships. That’s where I saw, “Okay, this is a time to shine. This is the space where I can bring forward these skills I’ve been learning and really make a difference.” And help, again, bring that alignment amongst the team and decide how we’ll move forward. These partnerships were going to help impact students beyond just the schools we were currently in, but just help us have a broader reach.
How did I prepare? Well, I again was either going through or had just completed the Voltage Control certification, I had a lot of resources and books at my fingertips that I utilized, and was really just constantly thinking about what the objective was. What was I trying to accomplish, what was the end goal? Just like with teaching, you start with the end in mind and work backwards. And decision how I would structure the conversation to guide them through to ultimately, again, reach a consensus about how we would move forward.
I also had to consider logistically, this team, I worked remotely, but for this particular meeting, the entire team, they were in the room together in another state from me and I was online. That was interesting, but not too bad of a challenge. Just considering the logistics. But it made it easy because they were in the room together, so they were able to converse with one another, and pair up, and do all the things, and just had to look at my face on the screen. It was very rewarding. We got a lot of positive feedback after that, and invited to facilitate in other spaces. And we did, we gained consensus as the goal was to do. It gave us some direction to move forward with.

Douglas Ferguson:
Wow! You really stepped into a challenge there, having to facilitate for the team for the first time, it’s a step-up in maybe the level of stakes in the meeting you’re facilitating, and you had to do it remote while they were in the room.

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah, yeah. But it was fun! It was good. I think what maybe would have been more challenge is if … Actually, I think some of them may have been online. I’m getting them mixed up now, because I’ve done a few things. I think the most challenging was a meeting I had to facilitate, and there were some people in the room together and some people were virtual. Now that, that’s complex. But having them all in the room together, not as bad.

Douglas Ferguson:
Yes, yes. You just had to make sure you maintained their attention. When folks are distributed across different environments, you really have to think carefully about how you’re ensuring that everyone still has a level playing field.

Alexis Scranton:
Definitely, definitely. It’s all about the participatory approach. How am I going to make sure everyone has space to participate, make sure their voices are included, their ideas are included? I love it. It really, as I sat down and was planning this session, and all of the sessions, I just kept flashing back to, “Wow! This just feels like when I was teaching, having to sit down and lesson plan.” You have all your resources and ideas. When I was a little girl, that’s when I knew I wanted to be a teacher because I used to love playing school. But it wasn’t just the part where you stand in front of your dolls and teddy bears, it was the planning part, and being creative with how you would plan the lesson. For me, I love it. I feel like I was just in my zone. It was just more confirmation, “Yeah, I’m doing the right thing. This is where I should be,” because it was just joyful.

Douglas Ferguson:
That’s so sweet. I’d love to hear more about the 10X Is Easier Than 2X.

Alexis Scranton:
Oh, yeah, yeah. That was a book that we were required or encouraged to read at work, which I did. It has been a while now, so forgive me if I’m forgetting some of the key things. A major point of that book was a lot of times … A couple things. One, a lot of times in our lives, we’re trying to do more. We’re 10X-ing. Or, excuse me, we’re 2X-ing, we’re doubling the work. We’re doubling and we’re just making these incremental changes. Which then, we often times end up maybe feeling overwhelmed, or exhausted, or just making progress, but nothing overwhelming, nothing major.
When you 10X, you’re really doing a lot less. That’s why they say 10X is easier than 2X, because when you 10X, you’re eliminating 80% of the stuff. It’s focused on what is the 20%? Whatever it is I’m trying to do, what is the 20% that I need to focus on that is going to make the biggest impact? It also went through the process by which you do that for yourself. That’s what, when I told you earlier, I sat down and I went through my professional history, and I wrote down all of those experiences that had been most impactful to me, I got that activity from that book. That was a part of me trying to 10X my life professionally. How do I let go of all the things that aren’t necessarily bringing me the most joy, or all the things that aren’t helping me to make the most impact? And just focus on the 20% that will make the biggest leaps and bounds.
That book was really profound for me, I really appreciated it. It was actually written for entrepreneurs, which I wasn’t at the time, but I was definitely striving to be one. Yeah, it just helped me to 10X my life in a lot of ways. I think that’s probably what AI is going to be doing for a lot of folks. Just really helping them to just 10X their life, getting rid of the tedious things that don’t bring them joy that they have to get done. Let AI do it so you can just focus on the innovation and the creativity, and those things to maximize your impact.

Douglas Ferguson:
As we look into the future, you’ve spoken about positive peace being a guiding concept in your facilitation, and I would imagine in your practice. I’m curious to hear more about where you’re imagining things will go. Maybe explain a little bit more for our listeners, positive peace and where you’re going with it.

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah. We hear peace and we usually think of peace of just being the absence of violence, the absence of turmoil and chaos. But the idea of positive peace is really it encompasses the institutions and the structures that help to create and sustain peaceful societies. That’s what I mean when I say positive peace.
What that looks like for me is, in my facilitation practice, I want to support organizations whose missions help to contribute to a more just and positive social environment. That could be a number of things, but they’re mission-oriented essentially. A lot of times, people hear that, “Oh, mission-oriented,” and your mind may automatically go to nonprofits. Yes, nonprofits are one entity, one sort of entity in the space of making social impact and contribution, but there are actual for-profit enterprises that are doing the same. I worked for one. Our mission was to eradicate illiteracy. Although for-profit, the mission is still there. I want to support any entity, again, that’s helping to support positive peace and helping to sustain a more peaceful society.
As far as the for-profit entities, I also just want to highlight you have the corporate social responsibilities. A lot of these big companies, as you probably may know, contribute millions of dollars towards community initiatives, community engagement, really giving back to the community. I’ve been doing a lot of research in that space. I’m really impressed, it makes me feel better about spending my money with a lot of companies, to know the good work that they’re doing. I strive to also support these corporate social responsibility initiatives too, and the work that they’re doing for communities.

Douglas Ferguson:
Impressive. It’s important to have a vision and stick to your values, so I commend you for that. We need more people doing that kind of stuff in the world.
As we come to an end, I just have another question, and then ask you to leave our listeners with a final thought. My last question is if we fast-forward five years, what impact would you like your facilitation work to have? Both personally and for the organizations you support.

Alexis Scranton:
Oh, wow. Well, I would like to say that my facilitation has helped these organizations to fulfill their missions. I would say that is the mission that I’m on, to help them fulfill their missions. That really just looks like, again, whatever these social impact initiatives are and these community engagement and partnerships, they’re more successful. They are able to, again, be more inclusive all of the voices that would be involved and impacted, and therefore make more meaningful programs and meaningful initiatives that see success and sustainability.
For myself personally, I hope to continue to build my competence, and just continue to grow in my love for facilitation and my understanding of just how profound it can be. Yeah, I’m just wanting to enjoy it more and more.

Douglas Ferguson:
Well, I’m hoping that’s the case. As we come to a close, I’d like to invite you to leave our listeners with a final thought.

Alexis Scranton:
Yeah, just a final thought about facilitation. That it is really about unlocking the collective intelligence of the people to drive real lasting impact. Again, nothing for us without us. Any time one is planning to create anything for a group of people, be sure to have their voices included in the decision making.

Douglas Ferguson:
Thank you so much, Alexis. It’s been so great talking with you today. I hope to talk to you again sometime soon.

Alexis Scranton:
Likewise! I’ll come back anytime. Thank you for inviting me.

Douglas Ferguson:
Thanks for joining me for another episode of the Facilitation Lab Podcast. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a review and be sure to subscribe to receive updates when new episodes are released. We love listener tales and invite you to share your facilitation stories. Send them to us on LinkedIn or via email. If you want to know more, head over to our blog where I post weekly articles and resources about facilitation, team dynamics, and collaboration, voltagecontrol.com.