Brief demonstrations

[Chris Kloth]

As it happens I had a very recent and unexpected encounter with "brief
demonstrations."  So I will come out of hiding briefly and share it.

I was at meeting last week with a statewide nonprofit considering the
possibility of holding their annual conference in Open Space.  There was a
lot of resistance within the group and I had arrived with a series of
dialogue questions for them that I thought would help them talk themselves
into it.  However, the person who convened the meeting, someone who has
worked in Open Space, but who is new at the agency (and, obviously, already
trying to assert herself), began by saying that there had been a number of
questions about the possibility of a small demonstration.  She added that
she had already warned them it was highly unlikely.

While this is not what I had prepared for, or ever considered, I had a
feeling that not finding a way was going to skunk the opportunity.  I said,
"I have never done anything like that before and don't know of anyone who
has.  I also sense that  it may be very important to you that I try.  If you
will give me a moment too reflect I will see what I can do."

After closing my eyes and taking a few deep breaths the spirits came to my
aid.  While the office space was very small and did not lend itself to much
movement, they were all sitting around a relatively circular table.  I
turned to a chart I had prepared to use later that had the principles and
the law.  I also tore some sheets from the tablet I had for taking my own
notes and put the paper in the center of the table, along with the markers I
had planned to use to track their dialogue on the prepared questions.

At this point I walked around the outside of the table slowly as I began to
weave an invocation in which I alternately explained the principles,
referred to the central themes that I understood were underlying their
resistance and let them know that they would soon have an opportunity to
take responsibility for making sure that the topics that were of most
concern would be addressed...the process I suspect most of us use some
variation on to open the space.

Then I invited them to write their topics on the paper.  Since there was not
much room I took the sheets after they spoke up and began to craft an
marketplace type arrangement on the wall.  The concerns they raised were
quite consistent with the those I had anticipated, but there were a few
twists that I had not anticipated.  They did some consolidating, but one
person held out to make sure her issue was discrete.   I asked them if they
wanted to arrange the topics in terms making sure that all got addressed
most effectively and they had me arrange them in a sequence that, in my own
mind, reflected appropriate priorities and sequencing. (not that I assumed
it mattered that it made sense to me :-).

At this point I called a time out and asked "If we work this list do you
each have a strong sense that you will be able to make a good decision on
behalf of the organization and its members today?  They all said they felt
sure.  I asked why.  You all know the types of things they said.

Then I said I wanted to reflect on the process, on their comments and on how
Open Space works   They quickly saw how their experience might translate for
the conference participants.   More importantly, they realized that their
traditional conference model was not congruent with their core values and
that Open Space is.  Then we went back to work their list.  They decided to
do the entire conference in Open Space!  They were both thrilled and scared,
but believe they made the right call.

I was out the door two hours after I arrived.  This week a group of their
constituents crafted the question that will guide their work and the
announcements will go out next week.

Two weeks ago I would have said a brief demonstration was a bad idea.  This
week....the spirits played a trick on me and, as they always do, opened my
eyes to new possibilities.

Shalom,

Chris Kloth
ChangeWorks of the Heartland
250 South Virginialee Road
Columbus, OH 43209-2052
Phone: +1 614.239.1336
Fax: +1 614.239.1336
E-mail: kloth at got2change.com
URL: www.got2change.com

Think globally, act locally.

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