Transformative Experiences: An Exploration of Transformative Facilitator’s Language

Abstract

In the transformation economy, experiences designed to instigate experiences that trigger transformation are on the rise. Due to the co-creative nature of experiences, the role of the consumer, transformative experience (co-)facilitators (TEFs) and other stakeholders come forward. As the design and offering of transformative experiences (TEs) may differ greatly, finding a common understanding and thus jargon among facilitators becomes pertinent. Therefore this exploratory study researched the state-of-the-art of facilitation jargon through 21 in-depth interviews with TEFs followed by a thematic content analysis. The study’s findings postulate both
alignment and misalignment between TEFs on technical terms when (co-) facilitating transformation. The latter implies on a practical level that value is co-destructed due to the absence of a facilitator’s language. Given the novelty of the economic offering of human transformation, a common facilitator’s language could enhance the experiential offering quality at transformative events and therefore recommendations for future research are provided.