Doing it all in one day?

[Marei Kiele]

Hello Ralph,

I like what you've described a lot and consider taking some of it into 
an upcoming Open Space. It will be 1/2 day + 1 day + 1/2 day action 
planning so much more time, but I still like your asking for what came 
up repeatedly during the session and then marking favorites and feel 
like trying it out.

A specific question: How do you let them mark the favorites, with sticky 
dots or markers or what? And how many votes does everybody get?

Thanks for your answer,
Marei


Ralph Copleman schrieb:
> Greg Vaughn and all,
>
> Here's what I think about trying to do it all in one day...
>
> I don't bother trying to get proceedings printed, let alone 
> distributed and reviewed.  That's for later.  I operate out of the 
> belief that one day is not enough to truly explore the territory (the 
> "issues and opportunities") /plus/ come to conclusion about priorities 
> plus formulate action plans.  You can do it, but it will not, in my 
> experience, have much sticking power.  And the larger the group, the 
> more challenging it is to make the energy last.  
>
> So I open space, hold the space, close the space.
>
> The latter, for me, requires about 20 minutes (not counting a closing 
> circle, which I always do in one form or another, sometimes 
> abbreviated to one word or phrase per person).
>
>    1. Ask people what themes came up repeatedly regardless of topic or
>       session.  Ask someone to note these on flip charts.
>    2. Keep going until everyone who wishes has a chance to mention the
>       theme they noticed.
>    3. Take the resultant flip charts, spread them on the floor, ask
>       people to mark their favorites.  Might be three, five, seven,
>       etc.  Depends on the size of the group and the number of items
>       on the chart.  Count them up if there's time.  Certainly count
>       them up if you'll be moving on to action planning the next day.
>        Otherwise, simply promise the info will be available shortly in
>       written form (after the coordinators pull it together and send
>       it out).
>
>
> (Where did I learn to do it this way?  I do not remember, but I think 
> from Harrison.  Is it in the book?)
>
> Simple, fast, everyone's involved, no fancy footwork on my part.  I 
> can think of a thousand group dynamics issues and eventualities that I 
> have not covered by doing things this way.  My conviction is few if 
> any of them really matter.  Dealing with them, I have learned from 
> finally acknowledging feedback I could not hear for years, was more 
> about my needs than the client's.  Organizations of all types may be 
> better served if we open the space W I D E and let lots of air and 
> light in than if we merely crack a window for a brief time in the name 
> of completing the entire exercise in a short period.
>
> Ralph Copleman * * 
> ========================================================== 


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