Meet the Diabetes Prevention Research Group. Operating within the University of British Columbia out of their Okanagan campus, this lab has been making a significant impact in the health community for years. As the name implies, their core work is about looking deeper into ways to prevent type 2 diabetes, but they’re also deeply engaged in sparking healthy lifestyles and community-centered change along the way. (In fact, this team developed Small Steps for Big Changes, a program now running in more than 50 cities across Canada, with sites in Australia and Portugal, to help people lower their risk of type 2 diabetes.)
The research group operates more as a team, rather than simply a lab. Run by Dr. Mary Jung, it boasts a diverse collection of both staff and students: the full mix consists of Dr. Jung as the principal investigator, along with post-doc fellows, PhD students, active masters students, and a crew of program specialists and project managers.
On top of the existing pace and commitments, Mary’s success leading the lab had brought new opportunities her way: she had recently been appointed Scientific Director of the Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes, one of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. These new responsibilities had found her operating at a very high capacity.
With so much energy being put into helping others, the question was this: how might they invest in relationally-driven strategy work, to help them reset, celebrate and renew the momentum for the good work ahead?
For Mary, the case was clear for getting together for a purposeful retreat. “We’re a small team, and we’ve accomplished a lot this year,” she explained. “But we haven’t taken the time to rest and to celebrate.”
The power of pressing pause
As Mary put it, time together for an in-person retreat has an incredible set of potential benefits:
- It can increase creativity: Our ideas and imagination flow easier, when we give ourselves the time and space.
- It can boost productivity: When we build from a place of trust, it improves our focus and efficiency.
- It is a valuable end in itself: relationships, and what they allow us to share — from food, to music, to stories and general life tips — become the glue.
To help bring about this key moment for her team, Mary began to research and reach out to potential collaborators. She wondered if there might be a partner based locally in Kelowna, or at least the Okanagan, offering in-person leadership development work. She was specifically looking for a co-design partner who would share her value for relationally-driven work, co-creation and innovation. “I was so excited when I found Co.school,” Mary said. “I had no idea we had this kind of work happening here in the Okanagan.”
From the first call, we were able to quickly find common ground. We explored Mary’s goals for her team: not just getting people together, in person, but ensuring it would be a time of rest and resetting after a challenging season, team celebration for what had been accomplished, and vision development for the season ahead.
With these goals in mind, we developed a plan for hosting a multi-day, Okanagan-based offsite for their team. Mary’s own team took the lead in finding the venue, deciding on food, and arranging travel. Co.school designed the day-one agenda for leading through a set of activities that would help set the stage for the year ahead, and played the role of third-party facilitator.
An atmosphere for authenticity
Mary and her team knew what vibe they wanted to curate: cozy. This needed to be a house-style setting, with living rooms, couches and chairs, where people could bring their authentic selves without the need to perform. They chose a comfortable, spacious multi-room suite at The Cove in West Kelowna, complete with full kitchen and patio, where the team could move at their own pace. They even chose to run the entire retreat as a potluck: team members signed up to make meals, bring snacks, make coffee, share dessert, and treat the event as a way to care for each other.
“Our team has a great set of diverse cultural backgrounds,” explained Mary. “And I know that means there is some amazing cuisine that we’ll be able to share together, too.”
Sure enough, from homemade paneer to family recipes for Greek salad, shakshuka for breakfast and sticky toffee pudding for dessert, the days were marked by creativity, sharing and generosity. The potluck became more than a meal, but a metaphor for what changes when we share as a group: we bring the best of ourselves, and find ourselves discovering more than we could on our own.
With no need for pretense, participants came in comfortable clothes (hoodies, sweatpants, socks), and spent the day in deep conversation that brought a sense of hurry-free peace and restoration.
An intentional plan for meaningful conversations
As the “formal” agenda unfolded for the day, we started with a unique icebreaker exercise on perspective-taking. (Not to spoil it, but it involves a collaborative exercise with original illustrations from a wordless 1995 picture book, to try and see what happens when we “zoom out.”) The exercise led quickly to candid conversations on how we communicate, how we listen, and how we lead, especially when we don’t have all the information.
Throughout the day, we:
- Mapped out the past (where we’d come from, as a team), taping down a painter’s tape timeline on the floor to collaboratively build a live map of our shared experience.
- Explored the future (where we’re going), by leading the group to a new space, where they could name their hopes and vision for the year ahead.
- Talked through the steps and supports needed for them to accomplish their vision, balancing individual needs, group norms and practical supports, including naming what the group might want to try doing, keep doing, and stop doing, in order to arrive at their preferred future.
The way we collaborated had many intentional design touches:
- A blend of modalities along the way, allowing introverts and extroverts alike the space to think: mixing personal reflection, with conversations in pairs, with group activities. This alternating from slow thinking to fast collaborating also helps access different parts of the participants’ own minds.
- Changing settings frequently: The containers varied, from a sitting circle, to standing groupwork sessions, to inviting people outside on walks, to taking advantage of the many rooms in the house-style space (including a remarkable upstairs nook that became the space for building their “lofty” vision). This variety helps people stay engaged, even through afternoon lulls.
Ready for the steps ahead
Through this mix of modes and diversity of exercises, and thanks to the authenticity modelled by Mary as lab lead, the team was able to share what emotions were coming up for them in the process, and begin working on both concrete plans and side-quests that would become the foundation for the year. The team found a sense of sharing, restoration and cohesion, preparing them for the significant work still ahead.
The day ended, in the spirit of Small Steps for Big Changes, with each team member naming what small step they might be able to individually commit to, to create the change they’re looking for.
“I was smiling ear-to-ear,” said Mary. “I couldn’t be happier with what we accomplished.”
As Mary’s team stayed an additional day to get into the depth of the lab-related business before heading home, the experience with the in-person Okanagan retreat had already started to make a clear difference in the team’s ability to communicate, connect and collaborate.
What Mary Said
"First, let me say thank you again for your incredible facilitating skills and helping us begin some discussions and explore new ways of working together! I believe this is really just the beginning of many conversations and new ways of working - I am very grateful that we found you!"
Dr. Mary Jung, Principal Investigator, Diabetes Prevention Research Group
Cheering on Mary and her crew’s incredible work from our place in Kelowna, we are excited to see where they go next. It’s remarkable how far you can go with good talks, long walks and comfy socks.
