Three action planning approaches in Open Space - plus one more

Mon Oct 13 19:22:43 PDT 2008

I have found that action planning can sometimes be quite fuzzy for
people, so I like the concrete/sensate nature of what you did, Peggy.
Sensate process for a sensate task (i.e. making things happen).

It reminds of something I saw someone do once - not in "Open Space' per
se, but which might be a variant on what you did. In this group of about
30 people, people wrote their highest priority area on a piece of A4 and
then placed it on the ground in the middle of the circle. As pieces of
paper were gradually laid down, everyone in the group stood around and
shifted the pieces of paper around on the floor so they constellated
into themes  - then when it felt like enough shuffling had been done,
there was an invitation, for whoever wished to, to convene action
planning conversations  - so "passion and responsibility" was still
expected. There was a very quick movement of everyone in the room to
different action planning conversations, presumably because people had
done some thinking work in advance, and maybe each individual could see
how his/her concern related to the concerns of other people in the room.

Michael Wood
Perth, Western Australia

________________________________

From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Peggy
Holman
Sent: Saturday, 11 October 2008 7:10 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Three action planning approaches in Open Space - plus one
more

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
<http://www.openspaceworld.org/news/2008/04/28/finishing-with-impact-and
-energy/>  and the third approach is Jack Martin Leith's approach to
project planning, which he blogged here
<http://www.jackmartinleith.com/?page_id=156> .  

			The three are in an easy to download .pdf
<http://chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/three-ac
tion-planning-approaches.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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