Inviting the right people - a concern in a charged community (long)

[Gerard Muller]

Dear Jeff,

Very interesting question !

The invitation - or maybe it's better to say the inviting process - is 
key.
After all if I am a (potential) participant who has plenty of other 
things
to do, why should I prioritise this activity ?

So if there are specific (groups of) people who my sponsor feels may be
difficult to motivate, this is an issue to look into with the group 
preparing
the meeting. Sometimes the conclusion is to include a paragraph or
two directly focusing on (what we believe is) their interest, more often
it is the decision to contact them personally or invite them into the
preparation team.

If those we expect may not come are politicians or managers at a higher
level in the hierarchy within an organisation, there could be other 
choices.
Some things I have experienced:

1.	In the case of an event for an agricultural university where it was 
felt
	that key people  from the Ministry of Agriculture would not come
	I suggested to ask the Ministry whether they would co-host it
	and/or have it on their premises. The result was they co-hosted
	it, the Ministry made the opening statement and they in fact got
	another Ministry as well.

2.	In several cases the approach chosen has been to redefine
	the theme at the level where those who could be expected to
	come could relate to and reach meaningful conclusions they
	could implement themselves, while at the same time we
	expected there would also be conclusions where others
	needed to be involved. The event then led to a second event
	where the others did come (stories from the first event serving
	as inspiration to come).

But sometimes those you wish to come don't. And if that happens I
always think of "Whatever happens is the only thing that could have"
and turn it into a question.

If there is a good reason for them not to come, what could it be ?

Sometimes there are patterns in the "absentee" group. For example
in the case of another event for a University, where both staff and
cooperation partners and clients were invited, 40 staff turned up
as well as one person from outside the University. Who went on
to ask the others whether he was meant to be the symbolic outsider
and then quickly left. An important message to the University 
...........

In another case, an Open Space on the future of an Alumni association.
5000 people were invited. Six turned up. Not a single employee.
My sponsor, the chair of the organisation was not happy.
We had a great day. The conclusion in the closing circle was to
close down the association.
When the University Board found out they said "Oh no, our very
important alumni network !!" We have not supported it enough -
they need an office, a coordinator, ....... , ......... A new life began
with more viable conditions.

Greetings from Denmark,





Gerard




Open Space Institute Denmark
Phone: (+45) 21269621	Skype: openspace1
Mail: gm at openspace.dk





On Mar 14, 2006, at 7:32 PM, Jeffrey Edwards wrote:

> Good day,
> I posted this query to Harrison earlier today and am posting now to 
> the larger community. I appreciate your insight...
>
> Thanks,
> Jeff
>
> I recently pitched an OS Event for a community transformation project. 
> The customer is well versed in Complexity Theory as applied to large 
> scale change and has a negative opinion of OST.
> His argument is with the tenant that 'whomever show up are the right 
> people'. He feels that for much of the work we need to do - the right 
> people will NOT show up - simply to prevent a real solution from being 
> created...
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Harrison's reply
>
> Actually I think this is a great question for OSLIST and I might 
> suggest
> that you post it, along with my two bits just to see if there is not 
> more
> and better wisdom out there...
>
> But to your question about the "right" people. Your sponsor may well be
> correct, but if the "right" people don't show up that is almost 
> inevitably a
> function of the Invitation -- Does it describe a real, juicy issue in 
> terms
> that folks will understand? And of equal importance was it sent out as
> broadly as possible so that the "right" people might see it?
>
> Then I guess we come to the heart of the matter. Who are The Right 
> People?
> If by "right" one means (mostly) the ones who hold power and authority 
> --
> mayors and such, then I think there is a potential difficulty. But that
> would not be my understanding of the "Right" people. For me the right 
> people
> are all those who care. The fact that they may care in multiple and
> different ways is actually a plus, because from this diversity of 
> point of
> view comes the possibility of truly robust solutions. But "caring" is 
> the
> real ticket of admission, from where I sit. Give me 10 people who 
> really
> care, as opposed to the 50 that "should" be there and I think we are 
> off to
> a great start.
>
> Tell you a story. I once did an OS is a small East Texas town. Theme 
> was,
> "Creating a town we all want to live in." The invitation went all 
> across
> town, and the Mayor did not care to come. Some folks thought this was a
> problem, but eventually they came to understand. Before we did the Open
> Space it was the standard wisdom that NOTHING COULD HAPPEN without the
> mayor's permission. After the Open Space, the people just went ahead 
> and
> then informed the Mayor what they had done. Next time they did an Open
> Space, you better believe the mayor cared to come.
>
> Harrison
> Thoughts???
> Warmest Regards,
> Jeffrey Edwards
> Alchemists Intl
> 904.276.0067
> SKYPE NPDICoach
>
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