Max/Mix was: Experience with geeks in OST forums

Bruce Craig bcraig at pdesigns.com
Sat Dec 22 09:17:01 PST 2001


Tova:

Max/mix is term for a cross sectional group that is mixed to the max :)

To set one up we ask for reps from all levels, genders, depts, etc to get a true
cross representation of the group.  Often our clients think planning teams
should just be senior folk - we particularly like to do a max/mix if the theme
isn't clear - we get a chance to see what are the key issues on people's minds.

In this case the leadership team was unsure whether a whole system event was a
good idea since they thought that the front line people (mostly technical) would
not have a "business perspective" on the organization's issues.  We did a
planning session with the senior team to identify the key issues that needed to
be addressed (over 3 days off site) and then did a half day max/mix session with
18 reps from the front line.  We then did a combined session with both the
leadership team and the max/mix and started by posting the flipcharts from both
sessions on the wall.

The result was interesting - the leadership group learned that the front line
did indeed understand the key challenges facing the business.  The front line
learned that the leadership was really open to having their involvement in the
change process.  The leadership team was much more supportive of a whole system
event after this session because it dispelled their feat that all the staff
would do would be to complain about the management.  The final whole system
event was planned by a joint management/staff team.

I believe Future Search and Real Time Strategic Change use max/mix sessions as
part of the planning for their events.

Got to go - more presents to wrap!  Happy Holidays to all.

Sharon

Tova wrote:

> Dear Sharon and all,
>
>     Sharon, I have a question: you wrote:
>             ,< As a side note we did a max/mix prior to the session to work
> on the theme and the technical group got to the heart of the
>             business issues facing the organization in 3 hours - it took the
> management team 3 days to get to the same point.   >
> could you please explain what :"max/min" mean in this context"

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