Three action planning approaches in Open Space - plus one more

Fri Oct 10 16:09:49 PDT 2008

Thanks, Chris for your great document on convergence.  A few weeks  
ago, I spontaneously created a new form of convergence with a group of  
about 20.   I think it can work well with groups of 60 or less, and  
perhaps with groups up to 100 or so.

I was intending to do what I always do these days - follow the energy  
and re-open the space for what has heart and meaning for taking a next  
step.  Instead, because the meeting was intended to both give the  
group a chance to bond as well as set priorities for their work,  
something else emerged in the moment.

This was a first meeting of a diverse group that was dealing with a  
challenging subject: the transformation of the field of corrections  
throughout the USA.  They had spent an evening sharing stories about  
their work and a day in Open Space, exploring, "How can corrections,  
in collaboration with other human services, help cultivate a strong  
and healthy society?".  The last morning, we began with a conversation  
about their work together as a prelude to opening the space to  
identify their priorities (as established by the sessions that were  
called).

One participant was very concerned whether this "arbitrary" approach  
of following the energy would lead to the best priorities.  I  
suggested that we see what emerged and then determine whether a more  
rational approach should be employed.  Given the culture of the group,  
I sensed in that moment that the people in the room needed to know  
where each other stood - what each of them would choose as a  
priority.  And since bonding was part of the purpose of the gathering,  
I asked each of them to write on a sheet of paper the inquiry they  
felt was more important to pursue, the subject they personally felt  
most passionate about.  No one hesitated.

Once they were done writing, each read his or her topic aloud. Then  
they physically got up and moved to join with others who had said  
something related to their topic.  The landed in 2 groups, split about  
1/3 and 2/3rds.  This degree of coherence was quite stunning for  
them.  They went off to talk about their topics.  When they returned,  
we checked in, as promised, on whether these were the best  
priorities.  The group was almost giddy with excitement.  No  
question.  They were clear they had the right priorities.

another great day (or two) in Open Space,
Peggy

______________________________
Peggy Holman
The Open Circle Company
15347 SE 49th Place
Bellevue, WA  98006
425-746-6274
www.opencirclecompany.com

For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to:
www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook

"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get  
burnt, is to become
the fire".
   -- Drew Dellinger

On Oct 8, 2008, at 10:04 AM, Chris Corrigan wrote:

> And that would be here:
>
> http://openingspace.net/openSpaceTechnology_method_resources_Convergence_Approaches.shtml
>
> On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 10:03 AM, Chris Corrigan <chris at chriscorrigan.com 
> > wrote:
> Hi friends...my little redux is by no means the be all and end all  
> of convergence approaches.  The mother of all convergence approach  
> documents is at Lisa Heft's site, and if you are looking for ideas,  
> that ought to more than suffice to whet your appetite.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Chris
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 5:19 PM, Chris Corrigan <chris at chriscorrigan.com 
> > wrote:
> Hi friends:
>
> I was just putting together some materials for an Open Space  
> training workshop I'm doing in Prince Rupert, BC on Friday and I  
> compiled three useful approaches to facilitating action planning in  
> Open Space.  The first is my own version of moving to action, the  
> second is Diana Larsen's approach to prioritizing ideas by impact  
> and energy and the third approach is Jack Martin Leith's approach to  
> project planning, which he blogged here.
>
> The three are in an easy to download .pdf.  Enoy.
>
> Chris
> -- 
> CHRIS CORRIGAN
> Facilitation - Training - Process Design
> Open Space Technology
>
> Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
> Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com
>
> Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.
> http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com
>
>
>
> -- 
> CHRIS CORRIGAN
> Facilitation - Training - Process Design
> Open Space Technology
>
> Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
> Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com
>
> Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.
> http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com
>
>
>
> -- 
> CHRIS CORRIGAN
> Facilitation - Training - Process Design
> Open Space Technology
>
> Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
> Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com
>
> Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.
> http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com
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