1-day OS with action planning

Jack Ricchiuto jack at designinglife.com
Tue Apr 10 12:11:44 PDT 2007


Esther,

Thank you for your story and enthusiasm. I am still laughing out loud on the
"too many rules" reminding me of how Mozart was once criticized by a peer
musican for having "too many notes" in his music! : )

You wrote:

And I wish to thank you
again as I've rarely (never?) seen such openness and genuine desire
to help and share in a professional practice.

This is initially Harrison's fault for launching a legacy of open source
practice, and the rest of us keep honoring this legacy by being generous and
gracious. Everyone who belongs to this emerging community, which is actually
more like 10,000 years old, practices huge love for everyone else. It is
gratifying.

As for your observations, open space helps a community do what it can do
next. The "next" is different for every community entering open space. In
some cases, it's just creating a pregnant sense of connectedness that never
existed before. Or a better shamanic expression of opportunities and dreams.
Or action taking on dreams. The right thing always happens by the right
people talking about the right things at the right times ...

Be well,

Jack

On 4/10/07, Communications Esther Matte <ematte at excellence.ca> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> As you know, I'm a newbie to OS after training last year with Diane
> Gibeault and Larry Peterson here in Canada. I already thanked you all
> after my very first OS for sharing so generously your experience on
> this List. I learned a lot with all of you. And I wish to thank you
> again as I've rarely (never?) seen such openness and genuine desire
> to help and share in a professional practice.
>
> There was a rather disturbing series of messages this morning, but
> growing pains are to be expected I suppose. I think it's good that
> sort of an international committee is starting up, that there is some
> planning for international events two years ahead of time and that
> there is an intention to alternate between continents.
>
> So, here I am, after my first 1-day OS with action planning. It was a
> little over a week ago, with a sub-group from a client for whom Diane
> Gibeault had facilitated an OS last December with me as assistant.
> After decanting the event (is this the right word in English?
> Refering to decanting a good wine to let it open itself, take it's
> full flavour and aroma), I can say that I learned a lot and I feel at
> my place facilitating OS. It was a small group (21), and a very
> engaged one too. I felt stress right at the beginning, when the
> sponsor first asked everyone to introduce themselves and then spoke
> for about 20 minutes (despite our 4-5 minutes preparation)! I looked
> at the "whatever" and "whenever" principles posted on the wall, and
> took a deep breath. Throughout the day, I did what we ask people to
> do if they feel confused in front of the Market place: trust
> yourself, trust the group and trust the process. And of course, it
> went fine :-) I had a follow-up meeting with the client last week,
> and the comments were very positive. The sponsor had invited people
> from the community (their clients) to join in, and it was very active
> and inspiring. All participants thought the objective was attained,
> and found the OS process efficient and highly satisfying.
>
> One interesting thing was that sort of a pattern emerged in the
> discussion groups. In each round, there was a rather big group
> (between 10 and 15) and other small ones, even individuals by
> themselves. After priority setting, the client decided on a fourth
> priority, mostly because there was only one vote less then the third,
> but also because she didn't quite like this "big and small groups"
> pattern. As it turned out, no one went to that fourth action plan
> group. So that says a lot, again, about that "control" thing, right?
>
> One evaluation comment (anonymous) surprised me: "too many rules".
> Ever happened to anyone? I think it may have to do with the
> priorities setting process and action planning forms. It was
> difficult to bring the group to the convergence phase. This morning,
> I read several convergence methods some of you use (on Lisa Heft's
> website - thanks Lisa for posting this!) and found great ideas for the
> future.
>
> I would like your input on something if you have time and wish to
> share your experience. This particular client was very specific not
> to insist very much on the responsability side of OS, because people
> are disseminated in a large territory with low access to technology,
> so it's not practical to work in groups, and all have an already very
> heavy workload. The client still wanted action planning in order to
> have a basic game plan for each priority and act as a "global
> coordinator", calling on people for their help when needed. So I
> mentioned personal responsibility without emphasizing it in my
> opening (since the time was short, that was fine!). I did, however,
> add a point to the action planning form so that people could state
> what they would like to do in implementation, if and how they would
> like to be personally involved. I think it can work for that group,
> as they already have regular conference calls and intend to put OS
> action plans on the agenda every time. The client will be leaving the
> organization in a couple of months, but will be replaced by someone
> who participated in the OS. So we'll see if it does work in real life
> when I have my final follow-up meeting with the new person in place.
> That being said, I still wonder if maybe I should have put a little
> more emphasis on personal responsibility anyway, as it is really what
> makes things happen. Even though people are geographically apart with
> low access to technology, there's still that need for the first phone
> call or action that will bring others. Any thoughts?
>
> I'm looking forward to facilitating more OS events in the future, and
> thank you all for your support!
>
> Esther
>
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-- 

Jack Ricchiuto

Leadership, organization & community development coaching & facilitation
Author of the recent "Mountain Paths: A Guide On Our Journey Toward
Discovering Our Potential"
www.DesigningLife.com / 216.373.7475

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