Originated by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs (The World Café, 2005).
Breaks a large group into small tables that rotate through a sequence of questions, with a host at each table carrying ideas between rounds.
When to reach for it
Twenty or more people need to think together about an open question, and a plenary discussion would leave most of them silent.
How it runs
- Prepare three or four questions that build on each other.
- Seat four or five people per table with paper to write on.
- Discuss the first question for about twenty minutes.
- Move everyone except one host to new tables.
- Have hosts brief newcomers, then take the next question.
- Gather the themes in a closing plenary.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- The World Café: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter, Berrett-Koehler, 2005