OS case study

[Jeff Aitken]

Just completed a very successful open space over the weekend. I'll tell you
about it.

Remember my question about elephantine post-its? You all sent seven other
suggestions for alternatives to regular masking tape which could not be
used on the painted walls of the rooms.

The building manager said he would accept blue painter's masking tape, so
we used that. It was fine; all the newsprint agenda items stayed up all
weekend; only a few of the heavier 2x3 foot posterboards, on which the
proceedings were written, fell down overnight.

This was a network of theatre groups, many of whom were joining the network
for the first time. We began Friday night with an evening of introductions
to one another and to the intent of the conference. Saturday was a full day
of open space with "evening news" and then two wonderful performances in a
local theatre! The group of 50 people created 19 different agenda items.

Sunday began with "morning announcements" and a morning session and a
working lunch. By the end of the working lunch, every one of the
participants was in the same breakout room deeply engaged in a conversation
about the future of the network. It was not "over" until nearly 3 pm! I had
planned to begin the convergence/synthesis by 2 pm, but I decided not to
interfere in the obvious self-organizing energy of the group. It's a
special treat when convergence begins to happen "by itself" - such has
taken place a few times in my experience of two-day open spaces.

I posted my convergence/synthesis design on the listserv awhile ago, as
well as on Chris Corrigan's tmn.com website conversation. What we ended up
doing was just a bit different.

I invited each participant into a silent, meditative walk around the main
room to read the proceedings (the posterboards were hung on the walls, all
around the room). I gave them seven sticky dots each and invited them to
"offer their guidance to the network - or the leadership of the network -
for the coming year...if resources are limited, where shall it place its
priorities?" I emphasized that every topic was valuable and could be
followed up - but we were offering guidance in case of limited resources.

I taped a sheet of typing paper to the bottom of each posterboard, so that
a participant could place their dots on specific notes on the posterboard
or on the sheet if they wished to select the entire topic. The process was
smooth, and as the last person made their selections I invited volunteers
to count the dots on each posterboard and write the number on the sheet.
(The numbers, along with all of the notes, were transcribed on a laptop to
be distributed by email to all participants. The posterboards were
eventually taken by the steering committee so that the dotted items could
be transcribed.)

They returned to a large circle. I invited any reflections on the dot
process; there were a few, appreciating the quiet reflective tone.

We then moved into the next phase. I invited them to create a new bulletin
board: to identify any action which they would individually commit to take
in the coming year which would be of service to the network. It could be
something they would do anyway and could be made helpful to others. I
emphasized that there were no expectations; it was completely voluntary. We
used typing paper sized sheets, and participants posted them on a fresh
wall space.

Nearly every participant posted something. I asked them to find common
themes and to make clusters of these similar activities; we gave each
cluster a short title and taped the title above. We ended up with seven
clusters. Each cluster became an action group, and I sent them into
different breakout spaces with the assignment to return with a list of
their names, a contact person, a plan of action, and a next step. The
groups met for 20-40 minutes and the energy was palpable.

The seven groups then reported back to the large circle. Unfortunately we
were reaching brain overload by this time. It seemed important to hear the
reports, but I don't know how much was actually retained by others. There
were a few questions and comments people seemed content with a job well
done. And it was nearly 5 pm, time to leave the premises.

I led a quick, hands-held closing circle. One person led a funny song, we
looked around the circle and appreciated each other, and we broke to clean
the room before dinner. I was concerned about completing the Open Space
without a more reflective circle; but they were gathering after dinner for
two more performances, and many were meeting the next day to organize next
year's festival. So I trusted that they would say their goodbyes and find
their completion before they flew away.

I come away liking the combination of dot-voting on the proceedings, and
creating a fresh bulletin board for action flowing out of the event. The
action reports were also transcribed into the laptop for distribution.

Thanks again for helpful (and in some cases unforgettable...) suggestions
from the list.

Jeff









-
Jeff Aitken
Facilitator of Open Space Process
Inverness CA USA
415.669.1924
415.669.7732 fax service
ja at svn.net

...the universe is made of stories, not of atoms. (Muriel Rukeyser)

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