[OSList] 12-15 people: the dynamics

Fri Aug 5 06:09:29 PDT 2011

in terms of the challenging the authority part, i wonder about purpose and
framing, as lisa mentioned, i think.  it might be that challenging authority
in that way is exactly the thing that needs to happen in order to accomplish
the stated purpose.  OR... it might be that the purpose has been framed a
bit loosely, and might even lean in the direction of suggesting challenging
the way things are, and that gets a bit misinterpreted as challenge the
leader.  it matters greatly how the leader responds to this, too.  pushing
back or running away probably encourage more of what you're describing,
whereas really meeting and listening to folks might meet the challengers'
needs and dissolve their issue.  it can go either way.  and mostly what this
reminds, i think, is that even very small groups are still complex systems.

a more general form of this question is one of the first handful of things i
remember talking with brian bainbridge about at my first osonos.  mostly i
was concerned with how to make meetings small enough to look like a "normal"
meeting, that is to say they might look less novel and more controllable to
participants than the circle of 200 or 300, actually tip in an open space
direction.  the response he brought had a lot to do with vulnerability, the
sense that nobody in a small group can hide.  everybody can see what
everybody is choosing.  everyone is still licensed with the LoTF, but
everyone can see where everyone is going.  and hear what's being said.  i
think i tend to take longer to do openings in very small groups, taking more
time to notice the novelty of the moment, the special potential of this
meeting, going a bit slower to let what i'm suggesting about the space and
the specific purpose spread out and sink in.  if we don't have a large
number of people, i sometimes think we need to be a bigger space as we get
started.

--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
312-280-7838 (mobile)

http://MichaelHerman.com
http://ManorNeighbors.com
http://OpenSpaceWorld.org

On Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 8:11 PM, Jeff Aitken <magic.teams at hotmail.com> wrote:

>  Hi Dan,
>
> In my experience of lots of smaller open spaces, with 5 - 18 participants,
> there is often the dynamic of the group looking at the agenda wall and
> someone saying 'let's stay together and discuss them all', and enough
> participants agree that it becomes what all (or most) participants do. It
> seems to happen in about half of the small OSTs I have facilitated.
>
> What often happens in this case is that the group covers some number of the
> topics in the time available, and the other topics are not discussed.
>
> I have found instances of this dynamic in which participants report a very
> successful and satisfying meeting, and other instances in which the report
> is not so successful or satisfying.
>
> It sometimes makes me think about minimalist interventions during the
> opening and marketplace. I once came up with the idea to suggest to such a
> group to make an adjustment in the time slots on the post-it notes, so that
> participants see that each topic now needs to be covered in (for example) 20
> minutes instead of the posted 60 if they want to discuss all of the topics.
> Just to offer this guideline to their awareness. But I think I would only
> consider this in a case in which most people are new to OST, it's a one time
> gathering and not an ongoing group, it's a short (3-4 hour) gathering, and
> it just feels right to make that suggestion.
>
> I definitely do feel the anxiety of the space holder in a small group, but
> I have been clear about my role and do not 'intervene' after the first
> session begins until the time for the closing circle has come. This has been
> true even in conflictual situations.
>
> In my OST training I learned that my role is to "preserve and protect the
> law of two feet" - or to notice a "space invader" who restricts any
> participant's choice to use the law of two feet, and make a subtle
> intervention in that case. This is part of the pre-work to coach an
> authority figure about the dynamics of OST, of course. But I have not
> experienced it in an OST meeting of this kind.
>
> I have not, however, experienced element 4 on your list. I appreciate
> Lisa's questions toward a deeper understanding of what may be taking place.
>
> best wishes,
>
> Jeff Aitken PhD
> San Francisco
>
>
>
>
>
>  > Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 13:03:25 -0700
> > From: dan.mezick at newtechusa.com
> > To: oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
> > Subject: [OSList] 12-15 people: the dynamics
>
> >
> > I am writing the community to find out if you have seen this pattern
> > with smaller Open Space meetings. I am asking because I am 2 for 2 with
> > this pattern, when the group is less than 16 people.
> >
> > 1. They play along at the Open
> > 2. They look at the marketplace and notice it is all mostly one subject
> > 3. They all decide to meet for this 'one big session' (self organizing)
> > 4. It starts to zoom in on authority, and have a tone of
> > challenging/questioning the formal authority, usually the Director/ Team
> > Lead role
> > 5. It causes some anxiety, mixed feelings/a problem for the facilitator
> > 6. What happens next is anyone's guess
> >
> > Questions:
> >
> > 1. Have you seen this
> > 2. Is this a commonly understood pattern
> > 3. If you have experienced this, when you experience it, what do you
> > do... in that spot
> > 4. If I ad facilitator judge the situation as "tipping into chaos", is
> > it bad form to intervene
> >
> > Staying out of it is more than a little difficult to do. A range of
> > feeling comes up as facilitator...
> >
> > Summary:
> >
> > They self-organize, into one big session. They just all decide to do
> > this, (so far, looks OK per OST ground rules...) then it takes on this
> > dump-on-authority tone. The tone can be considered insubordinate to some
> > observers and participants. The "discussion" is usually well within the
> > stated theme for the OST meeting.
> >
> > This appears to be a small-group pattern. I have no idea what the upper
> > end of the range might be, I have seen it in groups up to 16 people.
> >
> > Your wise counsel is requested, if you have directly experienced this.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Dan
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