An account of a Friday spent with David Grove

I had the pleasure and privilege of spending a day at Penny and James' home with David Grove and several other keen students of Clean Language. I'd never met David before, so it was interesting to match the man to the myth. When I arrived David had just got out of the bath, and so my first meeting was with him in a bath robe drying his hair - just a regular bloke taking an early morning bath.

Coffee and pecan pie (my favourite !!!) started the morning as people arrived and chatted and caught up on what we'd all been doing. And then we got down to business...

Here's a (very) brief overview of the highlights of the day:

David started by spending an hour and half explaining the origins of Clean Language and then repeating from memory the basic tenants and principles of Clean Language. Penny and James recorded the events and we all took copious notes.

After lunch (which was gorgeous) we shared experiences of how we're applying Clean Language and discussed various uses, approaches and solutions.

Next, David did a piece of work with one of the participants, using it to explain his approach and to identify why and how he chose particular questions. David ended by setting a piece of 'homework'. Where we've often asked the client "would you like to draw that", David spent half an hour setting up and clarifying the task.

We're now working to collate the notes and recordings to produce a faithful account of the tenants of Clean Language and the principles that David elucidated. It's likely that this will first appear on Penny and James site, the Developing Company, and I'll be posting a summary of my notes.

The day was fascinating for me because I was due to run a one day introduction to Clean Language the next day, and so had some brand new material to share "hot off the press" as it were, a most valuable experience.

I'd like to thank Penny and James for the day and for sharing Clean Language with us - and to thank David for a fascinating time.

(C)Simon Stanton, 1998