Appreciative Inquiry meets The World Cafe meets Open Space
Christine Whitney Sanchez
milagro27 at cox.net
Tue May 31 23:31:13 PDT 2005
Hi Peggy, Alan, Harrison, and all you WC and OS combiners,
If I may weave Appreciative Inquiry to this discussion - last October,
Genevieve Treille, Christine Kohler and I piloted the "Transformative Large
Group Conversations" training with a small international group outside of
Paris. With participants from South Africa, France, Spain, Israel, France,
Mexico and Ireland, we experienced just how well Appreciative Inquiry, World
Cafe and Open Space all resonate with people from diverse cultures and
across languages. Since meaningful questions form the fulcrum of each
process, some of our most generative learning came from crafting questions
out the key learnings from each part of the training.
A bit about the training design. We used the 4 D's of Appreciative Inquiry
as the organizing model for this training. DISCOVERY: We started with an
original set of AI questions focused on "change" for the interviews, small
group and large group discovery process and then wrote World Cafe questions
from the AI themes which we used for the DREAM portion of the training on
the second day. The key findings from the cafe conversations were
synthesized and then crafted into one convening question for the next 1.5
days in Open Space (DESIGN). Each participant left with project plans for
using one of the methods back home (DESTINY).
Recently, Claudia Haack and I facilitated the second version of this
training with a gathering of 35 people in Chicago. Based on the
evaluations, of both of these events, I would say that each person left the
training with one or two "favorite" methods. For some, the heart and warmth
of Appreciative Inquiry is a great place to start any type of large
gathering because it helps to ease people into deep one-on-one conversations
and can be used for full blown change processes as well as 15 minute
conversations. Many participants had great fun while discussing challenging
topics during the World Cafe portion of the training and some left with
intentions to really take care to spice up the atmosphere at the cafes they
offer at home (there has been talk about designing "Cafes in a Bag"). Open
Space was initially uncomfortable for a few (perhaps that shock of freedom)
but, of course, it worked brilliantly and I think was the overall favorite
for many. As we kept discovering together, the "best" method(s) will depend
on the purpose, the group, and the facilitator.
Several people commented on how cool it was to see how the questions
naturally arose from method to method and that "doing' each process first
was the best way to learn about it. By the way, at the second event,
participants received a copy of the AI Thin Book, the quintessential user
friendly Open Space Users Guide, and the beautiful new The World Cafe book.
What a delight to have such great resources!
Christine
Who is relishing the hundreds of postings I'm getting to after a couple of
non-stop months
Christine Whitney Sanchez
Triune Milagro, LTD
480.759.0262
VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.triunemilagro.com
Invoking the wisdom and capacity of the human spirit!
-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Alan
Stewart
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 5:09 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: The World Cafe meets Open Space
G'day Peggy and All
It's wonderful indeed to have the comprehensive account of your
observations and experience to complement Tom's enthralling report. Maybe
Juanita would wish to add her's too ...
Several queries for you Peggy:
. At what stage were the OS principles and law introduced to the
participants? Was this at the first evening circle or at the Open Space the
following afternoon?
. Did you have any sense that issues/questions posted in Open Space were
related to those which emerged in the opening Cafe session?
. You mentioned that you got to participate in the Cafe. I wonder if
Juanita did likewise in the Open Space?
. I wonder too if what you interpreted as 'freedom shock' was related to
the fact that participants did not know each other, whether or not they came
from different backgrounds.
I ask this because I have used the two processes in combination - in the
same order - with people from very diverse backgrounds and who had
encountered each other previously (they were members of a leadership
program). They did not manifest this kind of distress, at least in my
observation. Mind you some of them were quite taken aback initially by the
very notion of turning to face each other rather than their accustomed
experience of someone speaking to them!
With love
Alan
Hong Kong
----- Original Message -----
From: Peggy Holman
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 2:04 PM
Subject: The World Cafe meets Open Space
You've seen Tom Atlee's description of the recent "Evolutionary Salon".
Here are my reflections, mostly on the partnership between TWC and OS.
We began our first evening in a circle with a check in, people speaking
to what attracted them to the Evolutionary Salon. We described the process
that we'd be using for the conference as a living experiment in being an
evolutionary social system. This let us use our real time experience as a
mirror for our learning.
The next morning, Juanita Brown took us into a World Cafe. I got to
participate. We focused on a question about our burning questions. I think
I had the honor of experiencing TWC at its very best. Juanita is a master
of her craft. When reflections were harvested at the end of the session,
people said they were touched by the experience, discovering the feeling of
connection to each other, the synergy among their burning questions. They
expressed excitement at the sense of intimacy and kinship they felt.
I have to admit that as a participant, I felt as I did the last time I
experienced TWC: constrained by the expectation of staying at the table. It
was quite a contrast for me to hear the excitement of others in the room!
We began the Open Space in the afternoon. Of course, people jumped in
with their sessions. They seemed to be doing just fine. Come the closing
circle, several people expressed distress at their experience. One went so
far as to ask if we could go back to the comfort and intimacy of a cafe-like
format. I thought to myself, "freedom shock" is alive and well. The mix of
people at the conference included scientists and people of spirit. It seems
there was something of a clash of cultures going on in many of the sessions.
I just listened -- no defending, no fixing.
As is my practice in multiple day events (learned from Spirited Work),
the convening group met to reflect on how things were going after the
evening circle. The meeting was open to any who wished to join us. A few
people did. One wondered if we needed to do something to "push the group"
in the direction we wished them to go (as if we knew what direction that
was!). We discussed the fact that the discomfort people experienced wasn't
necessarily a bad thing, that it provided an opportunity for something new
to emerge. I encouraged my nervous sponsors to trust that things were going
just fine.
That evening I found myself in a butterfly conversation with a couple of
people distressed by the "yang" energy they ran into, feeling unsafe to
express their "yin" selves. We talked at length about what it means to take
responsibility for what you love. They left the conversation thinking about
how to come fully present tomorrow in all their "yin" glory.
The next morning, someone announced 3 new "yin" meeting spaces. There
was much laughter as people bantered about yin-ness and yang-ness and its
intersection. Turns out there had been LOTS of butterfly conversations and
those who had felt distressed, found their way, dissipating the angst before
it became a real issue. In fact, from that point forward, the OS just
flowed.
A reflection on how TWC affected the dynamic.
It was clear that people had a felt sense of community very quickly
through TWC. I think that the move into OS created that condition that
Harrison calls "freedom shock". It's possible that the contrast heightened
the shock. That said, I believe the sense of connection created during TWC
enabled those who were distressed to seek out the friends they had made
rather than completely check out (of course, being in a remote location
would have made it difficult to leave!). I wonder if that is a benefit of a
cafe prior to OS -- to create relationships that might support people to
stay engaged if they have a tendency towards freedom shock?
THE TWC MEETS OS EXPERIMENT
The OS continued as usual over the next couple days. During our
preparation for the conference, the planning team (Tom Atlee, Michael Dowd
and myself) discussed the possibility of convening evening sessions on "what
are we learning?" On the third evening, Tom and I decided that it would be
useful to do so and that we'd do it using "TWC meets the law of two feet".
Our session question: what patterns do you see emerging? About 12
people came. We started in groups of 4 with an agreement that we'd come
together as a whole to see what we'd uncovered in about an hour. In the
meantime, people were invited to stay or move as they wished. As context, I
said that we knew from the cafe experience that patterns become visible
quickly when people move around periodically, so moving is useful. At
Juanita's suggestion, we had blank cards in the clusters so that groups
could send an idea to another group if they wanted. They could also send an
emissary.
That was it. Basically, it was OS with groups of four discussing the
session topic. What happened was a kick. Two groups were quite intent in
their conversations, clearly not moving, just going deeper and deeper. The
third group eventually dissipated, a couple people going to sleep, the
others joining the two hot groups. And then others started arriving. They
just opted for one or the other of the groups. The conversations were
animated and intense. At one point, the group I was in sent a card with an
idea to the other group. In all, I think about 20 people were there by the
end of the evening.
After about an hour, we came together as one. First one group described
what they'd learned, then the other group did the same. The second group
mentioned that they used the idea they'd received on the card. The remains
of the original third group added their thoughts into the mix. Llyn
Peabody, new to graphic recording, but clearly in her element, took notes,
drawing an incredible visual map of the weave of our stories. The result
was electrifying and became the basis for some breakthrough ideas the last
day!
One side note -- someone said during the session that they often looked
for what was missing to understand a situation. I pointed out that the
yin/yang laughter in the morning signaled something rather remarkable that
was missing from our living experiment of an evolving social system: angst.
Rather than fragmenting into conflict, people had transcended it. That drew
a raised eyebrow or two as people digested how the space had made room for
conflict to be embraced with grace.
A reflection on the TWC meets OS experiment
Next time I'm a participant in an OS and have a large group, I'd likely
split up again in this way. It was a great way to reflect on our question
when the group was large.
THOUGHTS FOR THE FUTURE
Juanita and I talked the next morning about our impressions of the
intersection of TWC and OS. We discussed several strengths of TWC --
creating a sense of community and uncovering patterns quickly.
Given my own biases, I wouldn't use TWC as an opener unless the client
had some specific situation that moved things that way.
I can imagine experimenting with doing an evening reflection with people
beginning in small groups. I can see this as a natural flow of the energy
as people wander in, talking together before coming into a single circle. I
think this could be a low key transition that actually makes it easier to
convene the evening circle. By following the energy of people arriving for
the close, inviting them into reflection as they arrive rather than waiting
for everyone before beginning, I think something simple and useful could
occur.
Juanita suggested explicitly encouraging people post their sessions in
the form of questions. It made me smile when Harrison recently posted:
I think of every Open Space gathering as a (potentially) question rich
environment. That is why I always suggest to people that they phrase the
theme as a question, as opposed to a statement.
Questions are certainly a place of coming together.
So, that's about all of my musings on this subject.
yours, on a warm evening in Seattle,
Peggy
________________________________
Peggy Holman
The Open Circle Company
15347 SE 49th Place
Bellevue, WA 98006
(425) 746-6274
www.opencirclecompany.com
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