Facilitators: Orchestrating Change or Jazzing Processes?

Process means change, participative procedures mean participative transformation. The question is whether facilitators can be thought of as conductors of a symphony of voices, as one metaphor has it (picture by Simon Kneebone, Figure 4), or whether process leadership basically requires the facilitator to act as a jazz musician, as a great article (download here) by Prof. Scheer of Aris, the leading Business Process Management company, lays out.

I think clients like the conductor metaphor better because it fits their idea of control with a tad bit of creativity; one of its proponents in the management world is Christian Gansch, a conductor himself, and a great, if somewhat self-centered speaker.

But I think closer to the truth of leading a participative procedure is the jazz metaphor. Facilitators will have to learn a lot from people like Professor Scheer, and the process thinking exemplified by his company. I've attended one of the Aris Process Intelligence Roadshows, and it's truly impressive. I'd like for us at Procedere to enter a dialogue with Aris representatives on the issue of "process thinking".

What do you think - which metaphor works best for you?