Fw: Diane Gibeault in Switzerland

Tue Apr 17 19:22:44 PDT 2007

Hi Catherine,

I've been in a catch up mode since my return from Switzerland which I enjoyed discovering as much as I enjoyed meeting people like you. So my apologies for not seeing your message sooner. 

I agree with you that the World Café is more structured, more rigid in the time alotted for discussions and the topics of discussions. For the facilitator there is more of a clocking and control function - an unnatural condition for OST types.  The process doesn't flow by itself in the same way as Open Space does. 

And yes Harrison, people especially in Europe find very funny the WC accronyme. The French version Café du monde (or other versions) certainly avoids that hilarious confusion.

I presented the World Café method as it is and people moving around and exchanging ideas created a lot of energy in the room. In the second part of the day, I used a modified version with more time (among which was a first round of 40 minutes instead of 25 min.) to allow for more in debt discussions and relationship building. Some participants commented that having had a more indebt discussion, they did not want to leave their first table and at first, they almost did not feel like repeating their discussion to the other table and it was harder to form a new group. I guess there is a fine line where passion takes over structure. Personnaly, I prefer what passion creates but if you are going to use the method, it's better to find the right balance for the group so that the experience is positive and productive. Groups  may differ from one to the other in terms of what is the right balance for them.

People often opt for World Cafe when they only have 1.5 to 2 hours and they do want to consult a group - especially a large group - with a more engaging method than brainstorming or focus groups or surveys or the traditional series of facilitated workshops. Or they may use parts of the method when they want a quick mix of ideas in the middle of another facilitated process or when they want to bring some change, a different way of meeting. World Cafe is stronger in relationship building, in idea development than brainstorming and the other methods I just listed but certainly not as strong as Open Space Technology. I find it weaker on individual commitment. No one is identified - owns - takes responsibility for the list of ideas or actions.

Tenneson you said: it would be fun to set an open space format so that questions are named by the group.

I tried to develop a more open version of World Café. Like you I thought of having participants propose different topics, one for each table, people circulating to tables of their choice at fixed time intervals but that was the same as the Caroussel method. If people are going to propose topics, why not just do Open Space and let them discuss for the length of time they need, without tables ...for more open communications? In my experience, even short discussion periods in a 3 hour Open Space have created greater passion and commitment to specific actions. Whenever time and other conditions allow for it, I prefer proposing Open Space but I keep other methods at hand when something different is needed. 

Diane

Diane Gibeault & Associé.es-Associates
Ottawa Canada (613) 744-2638 www.dianegibeault.com

Coming up - À noter
Open Space Training Toronto Canada April 25-27

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Catherine Pfaehler 
To: 'Diane Gibeault' 
Cc: 'OSLIST' 
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2007 4:22 PM
Subject: Diane Gibeault in Switzerland

Dear Diane

This is just a small echo from the "other side" of your Switzerland trainings - I have been a part of your World Café training and greatly enjoyed getting to know you (and hearing your Canadian French!). I would have loved to stay for the OS part, but just couldn't. Thank you for having come and made this learning possible! I hope you enjoyed your stay in our country - and I admire you for taking enough time to combine it with holidays, making the trip even more worth wile.

Does it only seem to me or is it so that World Café is more complicated in terms of preparation than Open Space? Since I have been familiar with OST for so long, I naturally tend to find everything else more complicated and would like to have an objective view on this. Any experiences anybody?

Thank you - Catherine

Catherine Pfaehler Senn

lic.oec.HSG

Open Space Begleitung

Kellersriedweg 8

CH - 2503 Biel

+41-(0)32 - 365 68 41

c.pfaehler at bluewin.ch

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