OST with local Catholic Diocese (long)

[Peggy Holman]

Lisa,

This sounds like the perfect case for my favorite form of convergence.  Do
an Open Space.  The question is something along the lines of "what is the
essence of our work to reach our aspirations?"  The opening is one
encouraging focus rather than divergence.  It is an invitation to look
within and ask where personal passion rests for reaching the desires of the
whole.

I did this for the Washington State Arts Commission strategic planning
effort.  They had held a series of open spaces around the state to explore
arts and culture in the state.  The OS for convergence had people from all
over the state.  We posted the flip chart notes from all twenty OSs on the
walls(big room!) .  We also printed booklets with the reports.  After saying
hello in the circle, people took about an hour to look through all the
materials, sitting with the question of what was essential from their
perspective.  We followed this with an OS asking what was essential for the
future of the arts in our state; where did they personally wish to dedicate
their energy?  We ran one very long session that started before lunch and
continued following lunch.  This worked really well in that people went
really deep in their planning.  The lunch break gave people a little
distance so they came back refreshed to continue their work.  We held a
"bazaar" at the end where one person stayed with the flip charts and
answered questions, noted reactions from others who visited the various
discussions.  Then, a closing circle.

Peggy


Peggy



----- Original Message -----
From: "Lisa Heft" <lisaheft at PACBELL.NET>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2001 8:34 PM
Subject: OST with local Catholic Diocese (long)


> Here's the story of Weekend #1 with the local Catholic Diocese (a region)
and
> their strategic planning process.
>
> - - - - -
> The Background
> - - - - -
>
> Let me give you the background.  The Bishop's Executive Committee, the
Council
> of Priests and the Bishop's Advisory Council were charged with selecting
three
> Critical Issues that *must* be addressed if the organization is to carry
out
> its work (in the Church context, a Critical Issue is one that must be
addressed
> if the Church is to be effective in its ongoing ministry).
>
> Their recommendations were based on data gathered by the Diocesan Planning
> Team, which in July 2000 began to gather information about the Catholic
Church
> in Santa Clara County and the context in which it carries out its
ministry.
> Research was conducted by a really great local consulting team on
demographic
> trends in the county, and over 800 people were consulted with during an
> analysis of the Church's current strengths and weaknesses plus
opportunities
> and threats facing the Church.  Additional meetings were held with members
of
> the clergy, parish staff, chancery staff and leaders, the Bishop's
Advisory
> Council, and others.  Over 500 people attended those meetings, and over
400
> issues were discussed and ranked.  Each parish was also invited to add
their
> input to the process, with materials available in Spanish and Vietnamese
as
> well as English.  Input was also gathered from Chancery and parish staff,
youth
> and young adults, and other diocesan groups, resulting in input from
nearly
> 17,000 parishioners and others.
>
> The three Critical Issues which were identified (and indeed these three
kept
> coming up in all the discussions and meetings:
>
>
> - Involving youth and young adults in the life and leadership of the
Church in
> significant ways
>
> - Recruiting, preparing and supporting lay leaders to meet the changing
needs
> of the Church
>
> - Living out Catholic social teaching in such areas as the dignity of
human
> life, housing, immigration and labor.
>
>
> (A fourth critical issue of enhancing organizational infrastructure was
> identified as being crucial to the success of any action on the three
others.)
>
> Now it was time to identify strategies for achieving success in these
three
> areas.  As it was also noted that people kept compartmentalizing the three
> areas and thinking too specifically regarding their own parishes, Open
Space
> Technology was chosen as the format for this working weekend leading up to
> final recommendations.  More intuitive thought was now required, and input
from
> an incredibly diverse group (multiple languages, ages from 14 to
70-something)
> with no small amount of conflict ('what? the Church is changing?') plus a
> pressing need for innovative work and deeper communication on complex
issues
> made it the perfect candidate for OST.
>
> Oh yes, and I must add that the sponsors were *very* into Open Space after
> their consultants recommended it all everybody went to read Harrison's
"Open
> Space Technology: A User's Guide".
>
> So we planned and we talked and we met and we designed and then we danced
> together into Weekend #1.
>
> - - - - -
> The Open Space Event
> - - - - -
>
> We had 115 participants from about 20 parishes (little regions/subgroups
within
> the larger region/organization).  We held space on Thursday evening, all
day
> Friday, and until early afternoon on Saturday.
>
> We had 6 meeting sessions of 1.5 hours each.  We opened with prayer, song,
and
> more prayer to see us on our way.  We prayed at various times within the
> process -- each time we met with people to decide together how to design
the
> prayer and song time so as to enhance our direction and to not seem like
> closure during an Open Space process.  Lots of creative ideas and a fair
bit of
> adjustment on the parts of people who are used to praying in a certain
way.
>
> I opened the marketplace on Thursday night and they created the agenda
during
> that one evening.  Then we prayed again and everyone went to bed to get
plenty
> of rest for the work ahead.  (First evening agenda setting was a great
idea
> from you, Brian, and you, Jeff -- it worked perfectly and everybody was
ready
> to jump in after a review of guidelines and principles Friday morning!).
>
> These 115 people organized 85 sessions (!).
>
> We had a bank of computers in our Newsroom, complete with sound effects of
> typewriter tapping as if it was coming from the keyboards (!) and
screensavers
> with the principles and law on them.  We were able to get the book of
> proceedings out two days after the event (this was our compromise as we
did not
> have the fuller 2.5 days together).
>
> We tinkered with the process throughout -- something I've not done in OST
much,
> and I think we stretched it in all kids of ways.  One of the ways was the
way
> we handled the need for more, and more, and more prayer as requested
throughout
> the process (yes, Brian, you were right, and we thought we'd designed in
enough
> moments for prayer, but who knew they would want ever more, ever more?)
How to
> design a coming together of energy when you want the energy to stay
out-out-out
> while the space is still open?  Many possibilities for design -- however
design
> that reflects the guidelines and law?  Do you treat it like a Space
Invader
> when someone stands up in the circle and says 'why don't we pray now'?
Can you
> just say to an individual approaching you with that request, 'why don't
you
> just announce a session of prayer?' when the prayer they want is Mass,
which
> requires only certain people doing very specific things in very specific
ways
> with a couple of sacred items that have to be there?  What if those
certain
> people don't feel like doing Mass because they have another group to
attend?
> Do you just let it all go to seek its own level, even though your team's
> collective instinct is that without Mass the majority of your participants
will
> feel angered because the assumption is that 'the organization is supposed
to
> provide this' as it always does and, in their expectation, always will?
>
> By the way, by 'team' I mean we had a core group of me, two of those
> consultants, and the top two sponsors who would just 'plop' down on the
ground
> in a circle in the main meeting room whenever something came up that
needed
> more than one feeble tired mind.  And whoever wanted to among the
participants
> would join us to share the concern and make recommendations for solutions
> (including leave it alone / do nothing) and help us with the process.  It
was
> marvelous - truly a Dream Team.
>
> One of the ways that we adjusted things that I'm sure some of you have
tried is
> to make a space for action items (sometimes you choose action items,
sometimes
> next steps, eh?)  on the notes-taking templates for each small group
(rather
> than to leave action items for after you've done a convergence).
>
> As you may expect, this has the potential to explode actions / steps /
> recommendations into the high numbers.  Ours were called 'strategies for
> action' (as this body was recommending steps towards the goals for them
and
> others to realize).  And you guessed it.  Our groups came up with almost
500
> recommended strategies.  (!!!) Now please imagine floor to ceiling
strategies
> covering a very large wall.  We must say a prayer for the lives of those
trees.
>
> So we invited folks to walk up to the wall throughout the rest of our time
> together to group and regroup, note duplicates and merge them, look for
> patterns and make them.  And gradually the wall came more together, as
> strategies were grouped under our three Critical Issues and subheadings
were
> developed by someone for recognizing similar groupings of thought.
Eventually
> the wall looked like chains of genetic information encoding the mission
and the
> future of the organization.
>
> We agreed as a group to *not* vote on anything, but to let the wall keep
moving
> for awhile, and to meet again for Weekend #2 in November.  In a sense, to
not
> close the space but to keep the system open into that next meeting time.
>
> As we gathered for the closing circle there emerged what had been always
> present -- what is the pitfall of having an Open Space of advisors when so
many
> of the implementers were absent -- fear and concern that nobody would get
those
> things done, that someone on the outside would mess with the process and
> decisions of the first weekend, would stamp a heavy outsider's footprint
on all
> those good ideas.  As I hadn't set up a talking stick closure yet I found
> myself in the center (literally) of a circle of fear and conflict.  But as
in
> any facilitation, I honored the conflict and let the group share their
thoughts
> and concerns.  The sponsor blended in beautifully to explain and
acknowledge
> and to talk frankly but not to over-reassure, just to listen well and
witness
> their concerns... until after a while I felt that all of these concerns
were in
> the air and shared and people were becoming limp with hunger for lunch and
> exhaustion at encountering frank and fearful words rarely uttered.  All
good
> things, of course, but time now to find our way out to the other side and
be
> able to trust and breathe.  So finally I asked them if they were people of
> faith, and wasn't faith a letting go and an embracing the unknown, and an
> assumption that whatever happened, the greater good and the greater wisdom
> would come through?  And if that was so, were they willing to walk
together in
> faith into the unknown and know that whatever happens is the only thing
that
> could have...and that when it's over it's over...and that it ain't over
yet?
> And yes I reminded them to breathe, and you should have heard the air
being let
> out and in and smiles even touching corners of faces.
>
> So we walked on together hand in hand and continued the closing circle.
> Breathing merged into a closing activity with prayer, then silent
reflection
> and then writing one word on a shape of colored paper defining their
experience
> together, and as they felt it, standing and saying the word and placing
their
> colors on the wall to create a collage, a mosaic (or a stained glass
window?)
> of their collective vision, strength and faith.  As you may imagine, the
wall
> was covered with many colors and many languages, with images of light and
life
> and truth and spirit and community.  We ended with a call-and-response
song in
> many, many languages.
>
> - - - - -
> The In-Between Time
> - - - - -
>
> So now it is the in-between time.  Everyone has received hard copy of what
that
> wall looked like when we closed Weekend #1.  Everyone received a full book
of
> proceedings to date and a contacts list for everyone involved.  All 115
people
> agreed to return for the next weekend and to read and discuss things
> in-between.  A web site was set up for reading and reviewing the wall, the
> proceedings, the mission, the theme.  A Yahoo group was set up with
everyone as
> a member, for anyone who wanted to continue the conversation to interact
and
> discuss the issues, the wall, the process.  Links on the site also help
people
> learn more about the Open Space Technology process, as there was a great
sense
> of amazement about how this meeting enabled everyone, with participants in
over
> 4 languages aged 14 to over 70, to share, speak and really listen.
>
> So here we are in the middle.  With 500 recommended strategies, and a
meeting
> this Wednesday to design Weekend #2.
>
> Here's where I smile and raise an eyebrow at you, my dear colleagues, with
a
> twinkle in my eye.
>
> Any ideas for convergence?  For design of our next time together?
>
> We initially were thinking we'd have people vote with 5 stickydots for
those
> things under Critical Issue 1, then 5 for Issue #2, and then the same for
Issue
> #3.  To do this at the beginning of the weekend and to use the rest for...
To
> pick out the hot items for the Bishop to point out to the leaders of each
> parish for action during 2002.  But who knows?  After analyzing and
intuiting
> we could come up with something completely different, and that would be
okay
> too.  And as part of good Open Space work is discussing what happens
> post-event, we are talking about the possibilities of  convening quarterly
(?)
> Open Space meetings of the 115 to reportback on items accomplished and
vote on
> more hotspots or whatever is needed.  And we also talk about the
possibility of
> (I love this part) training all 115 participants and potentially
> representatives from all 52 parishes as Open Space facilitators as a way
to
> keep transformation well-fed with spirit-nutrition.
>
> Open Space facilitators all throughout the Catholic Diocese of San Jose.
Chaos
> and transformation, eh?  Hold onto your hymnals.
>
> I welcome your thoughts, friends.
>
> Lisa
>
>
> - - -
>
> L i s a    H e f t
> Consultant, facilitator, educator
> Experiential learning and Open Space Technology
>
> 2325 Oregon
> Berkeley, California
> 94705-1106 USA
> (+01) 510 548-8449
> www.openspaceworld.com
>
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