Does advance notice matter?

Tue Feb 25 16:13:22 PST 2003

Hello Allen and All OS listers...for some unknown reason my messages from
the OSlist ended up in cyberspace without me unsubscribing for the last 4
months and now they have returned. I guess it is time to pay attention
again.

As others have suggested, I always recommend the sponsor include the
theme...in fact to me, it is one of the most important elements of the
pre-work. I remember some posts from Chris Corrigan from the past...Is it a
theme that will grab people in the gut? We work on voluntary participation,
so why would they come to the meeting if they did not know what was
happening. In a recent meeting that I did for a client, there was a
tremendous amount of work done before the meeting in coffee breaks, at the
water cooler...what kind of things do you think we can talk about? I also
encourage people to include a couple of questions to stimulate thought.
Joelle is right, anything that they care about and have the courage to post
will get posted, including at  this last meeting, we need a meeting without
management...in the end, they had the meeting that they would have had
without management and waxed poetically about how safe they felt to speak
their opinions without repercussion.

I have also been recently involved in a research project based on a
deliberative consultation methodology. The principle is that when people
have the opportunity to reflect on their assumptions and then have a chance
to test their assumptions with others in dialogue with others. there is
often a shift of values. The measurement of the values pre and post meeting
that we did in this project demonstrated a significant change of opinion as
a result of dialogue. So, they may come with a "fixed" opinion, but the
dialogue causes them to re-evaluate and sometimes shift....called
perspective transformation (Jack Mezirow).

Also, the other point is integrity, as Harrison pointed out. They have a
right to know what it is we are asking them to invest their time in and a
right to choose not to participate if that is not where their energy or
interest is...the BIG law of two feet.

Good luck with your meeting.
Michelle

Michelle Cooper RN, MScN
Integral Visions Consulting Inc.
200 Crestview Avenue
Ancaster, ON L9G 1E2
Tel: (905) 648-4633
Fax: (905) 648-1763
Toll Free (North America): 1-877-405-9918
www.integralvisions.com

"Individuals can affect the world by becoming a model or an example in their
small circle of influence. Just as a rock thrown into a pond causes ripples
to gradually keep going out until eventually they are very small, so our
acts influence the ecology of the entire human race." Stephen R. Covey, in
Handbook for the Heart

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  -----Original Message-----
  From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Harrison
Owen
  Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 2:19 PM
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
  Subject: Re: Does advance notice matter?

  At 05:55 PM 2/24/2003 -0800, BJ wrote:

    Hi Alan-- I often include the theme in the invitation. That hasn't
seemed to harden positions, in my experience. --BJ

    Alan Stewart wrote:

      A query which has arisen for me is whether or not to suggest to the
sponsor of a forthcoming forum that the participants
      be notified in advance of the theme settled on for the meeting.

      Addressing the theme chosen by the sponsor - expressed as a compelling
question - could have substantial bearing on an
      industry which is in a state of real crisis.

      The participants will already have given a great deal of consideration
to issues associated with the question.

      My hesitation about publicising the specifics of  the theme in advance
is that people may come with relatively firm positions.
      Whereas if they encounter it on the day there may be more spontaneity
in their responses.

  I concur with BJ -- and would take it a bit farther. I think folks have a
right to know what they are getting involved with prior to arrival. How else
can they make an intelligent choice about coming?

  Harrison

  Harrison Owen
  7808 River Falls Drive
  Potomac, MD 20854 USA
  phone 301-365-2093
  Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
  Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
  Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm

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