A Vital Projex facilitation experience and the value of values

The case for V.I.T.A.L.

In my day job as a Management Consultant, I often have the pleasure of facilitating groups and teams. I thoroughly enjoy this part of my role and love bringing out the knowledge in the room. A challenge, however, is that there is only so much you can do with a team in a half- or one-day workshop. I also accept that we are usually in the room to discuss business objectives such as structure or system changes rather than underlying core values that drive behaviour.

With this in mind, I recently had the opportunity to join a team of three other facilitators on a residential 7-day program designed to train leaders in the delivery of Vital Projex, a not-for-profit values-based paradigm designed for young leaders and at-risk youth. Vital stands for Values Integrated Through Action-based Learning and is based on the notion that values must be experienced to be learned, rather than taught in a classroom.

The version of values we learn through our upbringing and media can be skewed: Love is sex, courage is violence, humility is weakness, and trust is unreliable. These patterns can be accepted as reality based on a person’s experience. Simply telling someone that their reality is “wrong” is unlikely to have an impact because it is your word against their experience.

To shift their belief, a person usually needs to experience an alternative, accept that the alternative is a viable option, make a commitment to take action based on that experience, and have the support to follow through on their commitment. This is the process followed by Vital Projex programs, where people are given the opportunity to self-identify the values they experience through activities run in a safe environment.

The Vital Projex paradigm is delivered in the form of two main programs: No Limits for high-schools and Unlimited for grade-schools. The programs have had incredible results, as exampled by Dee’s story below:

The 7-day course I facilitated trains people in the Vital Projex paradigm to allow them to deliver No Limits and Unlimited programs or otherwise use the paradigm in their organisations.

Full and rewarding days

The Vital Projex training course follows its own advice of action-based learning. Participants experience first-hand the material they will be delivering to others through the programs. In addition to learning about needs and values that drive behaviour, participants in the Vital Project training course also experience feelings and emotions that those going through the No Limits and Unlimited programs would experience.

This is where facilitating Vital Projex is both challenging and exciting. The seven days are full of content delivery, participant-led facilitations, debriefs, reflection times, personal coaching sessions, team games, energisers and crowd-breakers, trust activities, and ropes courses. Add preparation and planning to adjust the material for the unique nature of the participants and you have an intense day.

My facilitation experience and the rewards are reflective of the value of the program:

1. The stages of a team: Pressures + Safe environment = Performance

As a facilitator, it is rare opportunity to take a team through forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning stages in a single experience. The activities on each day are specifically designed for the stage the team is at and introduced to help the team progress towards the next stage of team development. For example, energisers in the forming stage allow for safety in the group and the basics of learning names, whereas activities in the norming and performing stages assume greater levels of trust, familiarity and security of self within the group. While most teams take weeks or months to move through these stages, the development process is expedited by living in close quarters to each other and taking people out of their familiar comfort zones and routines within a safe environment.

This same process is replicated in the weekly school programs for young people. They are taken out of their routine into a novel environment, where emotional safety is established to allow for the values conversation.

2. Honest and supportive feedback

Running a co-facilitated residential program allows for exposure to other facilitator styles and feedback on your own facilitation. Honest feedback is one of the most valuable commodities in life. It was an honour to access that feedback from those with significant experience, different perspectives, and who had each other’s best interests at heart.

This approach to feedback is replicated in the Vital Projex programs. Conversations among young people move away from critical and judgmental discussions to accurate observations of behaviour, the impacts of the behaviour, and a self-awareness of the values that drive that behaviour. This is done within a team environment where each person is looking out for the other.

3. Seek out new to find your authentic self

Life has a way of establishing structure and routine, minimising the degree of “newness” in our lives. While doing things the same way allows the opportunity for mastery, it can also limit challenge, innovation and self-discovery. Entering new situations can have emotional and physical pressures, allowing for exposure of both skills and character. In line with my previous thoughts on Flow, the pressure also focuses all attention on the task at hand to allow our true self to shine through.

Over the seven days, I had the honour of seeing the authentic selves of the participants and other facilitators and sharing my own authentic self with them. This same experience is offered to young people as part of the Vital Projex programs as barriers break down to let them express their true selves.

A values-focused team

As I reflect on my journey with the participants and other facilitators, two additional thoughts stand out to me:

1. Effective behaviour change occurs when people connect with the underlying values that drive their behaviour; and
2. Sustainable change in our communities requires the intentional development of the future generation of leaders.

With these thoughts in mind, I am honoured to support the Vital Projex team that has a purpose of connecting young people to positive values to make a lasting difference in their lives and the communities in which they live. The program has had incredible impact on young people’s lives both in Australia and internationally.

If responding to blog posts aligns with your values or if you feel there are others who could benefit from hearing about the program, please drop me a comment and share using the social links below.

The Vital program has opportunities for volunteers and support across a range of areas. If you are interested in applying your skills and resources towards a program that makes a sustainable positive impact in young people’s lives, connect with me through LinkedIn and we’ll chat.