The World Cafe meets Open Space

Mon May 30 04:10:55 PDT 2005

Thanks Peggy this is a glorious write-up
Chris macrae

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Peggy
Holman
Sent: 30 May 2005 07:05
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
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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