Reopening space for convergence

[Pannwitz, Michael M]

Dear Viv,
one of the ways to open space for folks to think over all they have
accomplished is to have a night's sleep before they take the next
steps.
The time arrangement you describe was not very conducive for that.
This might possibly be one of the reasons for the agonizing slowness
you describe.
When I talk to sponsors I tell them of my experience and point out
the time design necessary for sustainable action planning.
>From where I stand now after 90 odd open spaces I have facilitated
the following design seems pretty optimal: 1pm til 6pm the first day,
9 am till 5 pm the second day and 9 am till 12:30 the third day, the
third day being the "outlook and action planning" day. (I found that
two full days and a half is just a little bit too much).
The next optimal is 9am till 5 pm the first day and 9 am till 12:30
the second day (which traditionally is called the "third day").
If there is no sleep, I strongly suggest to not have a planning
session.
The design I use for the "third day" is very much the same as yours.
One thing I do after the reading of the reports (when there is a
night between the "diverging" part and the planning part a printed
book of proceedings is almost always possible, including a contact
list etc.) goes like this:
"Please put your books down....what you have worked on and written up
is prelude for action...it is like a backdrop for the things you
might want to do...before you start possible planning take 7 minutes
to reflect just on your own what all the things you have experienced
and worked on mean to you personally, for your work, your family,
your neighborhood....to assist your reflection here are some pens and
paper to jot down some notes, just for yourself ...after six minutes
I will sound the tempel bells...some of you can do this kind of
reflection with the greatest din going on others require silence..."
After a minute or so there is usually utter silence and
concentration, quite a few fetching a pen...
After six minutes I sound the temple bells in the faintest way I know
how to and people come back into the presence...
Then I continue something like this:
"Now that you have reflected here is one more chance to use the
ressources and treasures in this group. Find someone, this might be
the person sitting next to you or someone across that you havent
really met yet but wanted to contact all along....and use that
persons questions, insights and wisdom to more clearly understand
what you have reflected on and then let yourself be used by your
partner...I will sound the bells after ten minutes..."
Within 30 seconds everyone is intensely talking, laughing...pretty
noisely in contrast to the intense silence just before this step..
"Ok, now that you have worked all day yesterday, produced a book of
proceedings, read and discussed it all and have reflected alone and
with at least one other person what this all means to you the time
has come to see what ideas have hands and feet and head and heart. If
there is something you feel you need to act on just jot it down put
your name to it and post it. And dont forget: The Law of Two Feet is
still in force...so if you find that you are neither learning nor
contributing...."
(In a couple of instances people came to me after the planning phase
and told me that the reminder about the Law prompted them to stay
on!)
People then get up, announce their project and have it posted on the
walls around the circle.
It usually takes 12 to 15 minutes for all posts to be up and I
continue:
"This is the time to go walk to the project you are eager to act on
and see who else gathers there and find out what the next step is.
This is not the time for a new discussion or a complete strategic
plan, just the concrete next step you want to take. You have 20
minutes...we also posted a sheet you can fill in with the name of the
project, who all participates, what the next step is, when a meeting
might be and who takes on the role of the contact person. These
sheets will all be sent to you as "document 2" in a few days along
with the invitation to the follow up meeting eight weeks from now."
To me this way of action planning is not "convergence". Convergence
to me is for instance the Delphi Method (55 dots) which I use solely
(in contrast to earlier) as additional data useful for judging the
situation on part of the participants but not as the basis for
planning. Even after Delphi I have the "outlook" phase as a sort of a
hinge between the divergent mode and planning and then the "planning
space" that you also described.
In fact, I no longer feel that prioritization is a good basis for
planning. It seems that sustainable action needs the heart and mind
of someone pretty irrespective of priorities. Of course, priorities
along with a multitude of other data are part of the foundation for
my decision on what I will invest my heart and mind in but when it
boils down to it, its my passion and responsibility for something I
care for and not a communal or other priority.

Wish you many happy planning sessions in open space
michael



On Wed, 11 Dec 2002 14:01:58 +1100, Viv McWaters wrote:

>Hi all
>
>A few reflections on a recent OS event where I tried a new approach (for
>me) to converegence. It was a short OS - 3 hours on the first evening
>and 7 hours on the next day. There were about 60 people from all over OZ
>exploring the future of Farm Management as a profession. The sponsor was
>a major university that provides tertiary education for farm managers
>and wanted to identify issues and future directions. There were three
>1.5 hrs time slots.
>
>Lots of diverse topics were posted on the first evening - reports came
>rolling in - it all worked as it should (except for some folk held up
>because of road closures as a result of the horrible bushfires around
>Sydney)
>
>At OSonOSinOZ Peg Holman mentioned opening the space again for
>convergence and although i never actually found time to get any details
>I thought this sounded like a neat way of ensuring that convergence
>maintains the sprit of OS. I've always been a bit uncomfortable with
>up-front facilitation of the convergence process.
>
>Anyway, the sponsor was keen for real actions to emerge - not just talk.
>So I put together a new reporting sheet with the headings: Action;
>Champion: Helpers; Why this action is important; Immediate next steps
>
>When participants were seated back in the circle after lunch - and had
>had time to read the enlarged reports on the wall - I reopened the space
>by introducing the need for action, reinforcing passion and
>responsibility, and talking a bit about what happens (or doesn't happen)
>when recommendations are made for other people to follow up (nothing,
>usually!)
>
>I invited anyone who wanted to announce an action and post it on the
>wall (with the usual sticky announcing the space) and when they were up
>invited others to take part in the discussion to develop the action. In
>the end there were six key actions that emerged with reports completed.
>Everyone eventually took part in this process.
>
>But the process of getting any actions posted was VERY SLOW - agonising
>in fact!!!! I thought that maybe I'd made a horrible mistake, but in the
>end the sponsor was happy etc etc
>
>However during the closing circle a few people mentioned that they would
>have like to hear back from the other groups. Apart from this being
>something they are familiar and comfortable with, it got me thinking
>about what I had done and if I could have done anything differently.
>
>My conclusions are:
>1) people probably didn't have enough time together to feel really
>comfortable with each other and OS, hence the reluctance to commit to
>actions
>2) I probably should have used the sticky dots for prioritising, simply
>to allow people to become more familiar with the content of the reports
>before inviting actions to be posted
>3) I felt good (even if a bit scary) and i would try this approach
>again - particularly with an intact group from an organisations and in a
>longer OS event
>
>Cheers
>
>Viv
>
>***************************
>Viv McWaters
>Beyond the Edge Pty Ltd
>PO Box 665 Torquay 3228
>Australia
>(03) 5261 9498
>0417 135 406
>
>"Thus the task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen, but to
>think what nobody yet has thought about that which everybody sees. "
>Schopenhauer
>
>*
>*
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Michael M Pannwitz
boscop
Draisweg 1
12209 Berlin, Germany
FON +49 - 30-772 8000 FAX +49 - 30-773 92 464
www.michaelmpannwitz.de

An der E-Gruppe "openspacedeutsch" für deutschsprechende open
space-PraktikerInnen interessiert? Enfach eine mail an mich.





Michael M Pannwitz
boscop
Draisweg 1
12209 Berlin, Germany
FON +49 - 30-772 8000     FAX +49 - 30-773 92 464
www.michaelmpannwitz.de

An der E-Gruppe "openspacedeutsch" für deutschsprechende open
space-PraktikerInnen interessiert? Enfach eine mail an mich.

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