Demo OS in 90 minutes?

[Lisa Heft]

(okay, here also is my second test to see if I am back on the OSLIST,  
able to post and to receive - thanks Michael for your thoughtful  
attention and thanks to the Boise person as well...here...goes... with  
my signature in plain text, not in the usual colors or font I  
use....and sent about an hour after my earlier message...)

Thanks for inviting this, Annamarie -

It helps me explore where my own points of 'going for it' are - and  
where I tell a client it is not the right tool when there is so short  
a time:

I have also done very short Open Spaces - I bow to Jeff Aitken who  
inspired me in this area when I was holding so tightly to 'no shorter  
than three or four hours'.

However, I am a big believer of analyzing overarching objectives,  
desired outcomes, context of the task and what comes before and after  
this particular meeting connected to that task, designing in  
appropriate and useful participant-driven documentation and more.

I then ask myself: with this short a time availability, and for these  
objectives and desired outcomes, what is the right tool for the  
deliverables? (including Open Space, World Cafe and other great  
dialogic tools - and knowing that Open Space has different  
deliverables depending on the amount of meeting time).

I am also passionate about access and inclusion. So another question I  
ask myself is - is making very short discussion rounds or only a few  
minutes to post topics favoring only the quick responders in the room  
- and does that give a sense of the overall group's interests or issues.

I consider how one of the useful elements of Open Space is *multiple*  
sessions so people can see their thoughts link and change across the  
sessions, and as the conversations progress, notice things they didn't  
see before.

I am also very big on documentation - a way to provide data for the  
ongoing work of the group - more than the feeling of the moment of  
conversation.

I ask the host if more time is available (including that lunch,  
including that networking time - whatever I can get to expand the  
meeting length) and I explain why more is better.

I explore what other designs would deliver what the host is asking for  
in a way that allows for reflection or emergence or breathing room.

And if I end up using OS (which I have done on occasion for such a  
short time) it is because there is no other alternative which will  
provide the desired outcomes and deliverables in this short of a  
timeframe.

I do not use a part of Open Space and call it Open Space. If I use one  
element or adjust it (for example just the part about inviting people  
to think of topics they are passionate about, making a sign, posting  
it on the wall and being amazed at the diversity of thought) I do not  
call it Open Space.

And I look out for opportunities to invite the group or host to a full- 
on Open Space sometime soon, so they will come to know the difference  
in what is possible and how the mind (and relationships, and  
networking, and discovery) work over longer times in Open Space  
together.

Thank you for inviting the question - I had fun opening up my brain to  
see how I do things when asked to do short Open Spaces.


Lisa

Lisa Heft
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
Opening Space
lisaheft at openingspace.net
www.openingspace.net


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