[OSList] Sticky dots Q - San Fran event reflections

Mon Feb 18 02:51:04 PST 2013

Dear Tricia,

Thank you for sharing this with us all as you have.  What a gift! I love
how you just let it rip describing it. All the details, your feelings along
the way, and your reflections and retrospective.  I will let others comment
as I do not think I could ever make one suggestion of anything that you
should have done differently. For me, it's not the point. And yes I will be
longish too...

*On January 22nd (not even a full month ago)*, you came onto this list and
said: "I am an OST newbie who is hoping to facilitate an Open Space for my
main client's annual meeting in a few weeks and I would like to get your
thoughts on incorporating hands on skill transfer into an Open Space. I did
do some book reading on OST and just attended the OST meeting in NYC this
weekend, but have never hosted an Open Space. *Then... you added* I do not
provide facilitation for this organization. I am one of a number of project
managers who work on teams to conduct market research and strategy
consulting projects for their clients in the life sciences arena. They have
agreed to my participation in the facilitation of the meetings and I have
referenced OST, but we have not yet discussed details on meeting design and
I am pretty sure they are not familiar with OST. This meeting will be a
small group of only the US folks - 14 in total. We will be meeting for 2.5
days. On an ongoing basis, we are all remote workers across the US and in
Europe and Japan and only see each other when we travel to a client's
location."

I remember thinking as I read this then: "Wow this may turn out to be a bit
of a challenge but you go girl. Why a challenge? Because I interpreted that
you were working with peer facilitators and consultants.  And what I also
know is how very different is the way of facilitating Open Space than
traditional facilitation. Taking from the French word "faciliter" it can
mean making things easier for others or  "plus facile" translated literally
"more easy".   Well for me therein lies the sticky wicket, whether in
facilitation or leadership, making things easier for others, smoother, more
predictable, coordinating, helping, managing, controlling, inspiring,
synthesizing, doing project management, guiding strategy, taking care of,
having it all together, are all the words of our profession. Yes most often
that's what project managers, consultants and leaders get paid for. I spent
a lifetime doing this with what I thought were good intentions. Making
things easier for others. I got successful at it, was promoted and
recognized. *And yet inside myself I never felt all that good about it.* I
really only felt happy when everyone was working together as equals, with
everyone jumping in and letting it rip. When stuff was happening in all its
messiness, with folks doing the most amazing things, going beyond anything
anyone could dream of. I had had sparks of this in my career but had never
been able to connect the dots...until I met Open Space.  This stuff of
self-organizing and an invitation for me to bravely and vulnerably  unleash
my own leadership with tons of room for others to unleash theirs without
knowing where it would lead was a huge leap.

*Harrison said: *You can’t open space if your space ain’t open!   Well I
might disagree a tad.

 I did open space even when my space wasn't yet open. I had to start
somewhere and jump right in. Cause it was only in the doing of it, jumping
on the court, not sitting in the bleachers that I got my courage and
learning.

It was easier said than done. I had a lifetime of "unlearning to do"!  And
it was painful and scary, still is, though a lot less. . After all, it
confronted everything I had done and what folks typically described as
success...an empty success really. Yes Open Space confronts a lot of the
stuff that we've been doing in leadership and facilitation...it is quite
confronting to see how much gets done, how energized and passionate people
get to be, how productive we all become when we simply *"Sit in a circle*,
create a bulletin board, *open* and *market place*, and go to work".  All
that effort, all that work, all that preparation, leading and guiding for
naught!

And whether consciously or unconsciously, that's what people start getting
when they participate in Open Space (whether you are facilitating or
participating). I didn't get this at first Tricia, all I can say is I did
what you did. I just jumped right in, faulting myself a lot for the things
I was doing wrong that I could have done better but really in the end, it
didn't much matter cause I was opening space and learning to unlearn a
little bit more every day.

When I started in Open Space, I jumped in just like you... . I talked about
it all the time...still do. Doing it for free, for pay, for a few bucks or
many more bucks. I made a commitment then, early on that I would do one
Open Space a month, whether I sponsored it myself or was invited. My
journey  in Open Space started a short 4 years ago! I have lost count how
many Open Spaces I have facilitated, co-facilitated or attended.  And now
this year, I and others are hosting the World Open Space in St. Petersburg
Florida.

So Tricia, you did nothing wrong.  I feel as if you were drawn into this
and gave your heart and soul to it. You invited others on the basis of what
you experienced in New York.  You jumped right in and I applaud you for
trusting your intuition and for courageously asking us for help and for
sharing.  In my book, you did nothing wrong and you did everything right.

Thank you Tricia, I am so glad you are here. Maybe we will see you in
Florida! Suzanne

On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 1:41 AM, Tricia Chirumbole <
tricia at investorswithoutborders.net> wrote:

> I just noted that there was some interest in a reflection after my first
> Open Space event in San Fran that I reported as going awry at the
> beginning. Note: really long description continues!
>
> So, the event did not blossom into a proper Open Space and was "taken
> over" part way through on Day 1 and Day 2 OS agenda was cancelled at
> 2am-ish by email. No closing.
>
> The group struggled with taking on the responsibility and getting in the
> flow. They were not all entirely slow to get started with posting, but to
> my surprise, as soon as I invited people to the wall - half of them left!
> bathroom, cell phones....then many held back and never made it to the wall.
>
> The main issues in retrospect were:
> 1) There was not buy-in/understanding by the principles - one was in and
> open, the other said he was in, but in the same breath kept trying to drive
> his own agenda and maintain control.
> 2) This group's negative reaction to the "differentness" of just the
> circle configuration and the "crunchiness" of all else was validated by
> the renegade principle's being the lead heckler and rebel. I love my
> friend's term of "bamboozle" to describe what he was doing at every step of
> the process...someone in the group even actually added a "principle" to my
> one poster, which I didn't even realize until today was really rude - my
> family made those and I was going to reuse them!
> 3) There was not enough communication and planning prior to the event.
> (one phone call and a few emails that I didn't get responses to, as well as
> a planning meeting that the principle (the "in" one) did not make it to  -
> so we went straight to a loooong lunch on the first day (day prior to OS
> day 1) w/out ever figuring out the basics, such as what schedule they
> wanted and what I needed from them.
> 4) My planning and personal preparation was weak - I tried to do it with
> rush approval (got the go-ahead 5 days before the meetings started) and
> while I was sick, then didn't allow enough time the morning of b/c of a
> morning call that I couldn't get out of - I still tried to prepare myself,
> but it was challenging given the circumstances and also given my desire to
> do a good job, and for good things to come AND my preceding desire to do an
> OS! - yep, I guess you can't have some detachment and I was only prepared
> for things to not be perfect...and also not understanding how much you
> really need to give to prep, depending who you are and where you are.....
> 5) I did it for free
> 6) I agreed to facilitating because of my enthusiasm about OS despite the
> fact that:
> - I knew there were too many open ends, buy-in/understanding was
> questionable, there was very little lead time, there was no invitation sent
> (I tried to get an email sent prior to event, but the renegade wanted to
> take charge of selecting the final theme, but then didn't do it), poor
> history of communication and follow thru on part of
> mgmt......................so, yeah
>
> More details fwiw: People were struggling to get the basic process and I
> needed to give a number of reminders for every aspect of the basics - more
> than I anticipated. Not conclusive why that was. I think they just really
> weren't giving a lot of attention to the first explanation, were probably
> distracted by the two conversations that broke out in the circle during my
> opening, and then further distracted by the more boisterous participants
> who were starting detailed session discussions and negotiations while in
> front of the wall before most people could even get started. This was
> rowdier than I expected.
>
> I think I did an ok job of giving direction in a gentle way, made a joke
> about their rowdiness, and had to get a little sassy with one of the
> principles once to shut him up, which was well received and effective, but
> only temporarily.
>
> The renegade Principal posted over half of the sessions and then went to
> bring out the priority project list...yes, I cringed at that, but said it
> was ok, as long as people still continued to post stuff. He kept trying to
> talk about combining sessions, which sessions would be valuable for
> everyone, timing of sessions, etc even for everyone else's posts.....I
> reminded the conveners of their responsibility, but few were responding to
> that.
>
> People started to move items to lunch and dinner sessions, from my
> perspective, because they were being viewed as not as important and
> interfering with other things that other people wanted to do - ok, I didn't
> interfere and tried to remind them that this was their schedule when they
> kept asking me what they could and couldn't do (the renegade principle also
> kept referring back to me and my process and asking me if we had "opened
> space" and if it was over, etc....). MY concern with the moving of the
> sessions to meal time was that it seemed to be done under pressure from the
> forces that be that were advocating a certain way of doing things....that
> all being said, none of the lunch or dinner sessions happened. Some people
> mentioned them ex post facto.
>
> These unrealized sessions were unfortunately a trend throughout the day.
> We actually ended up with not all sessions filled even for day 1 and then a
> number of people just never convened their sessions. I am not sure if I
> interfered too much or not enough, but I rallied to encourage people to go
> to the other breakout room to do a posted session...although this was
> posted by an employee, it ended up being led by the renegade principle and
> yes, ended when food arrived in the other room (I asked them about a
> different food process and the "in" principle responded at last minute that
> he could have someone send me the menu for morning food, but that afternoon
> food was already coming - once again, too little, too late - I figured that
> was not that big a deal, but it did end up having an impact, I think)
>
> After that, everyone was hanging around in the main room, some asking if
> there were other sessions or what they should do, others eating, others
> half participating in the one ongoing main room session. There was one
> pending, and unfortunately it belonged to the renegade principle. I
> encouraged him to convene, but he felt it was one that would be good for
> everyone.....so, that's what we did. We waited for the main room activity
> to finish up, we all dutifully sat down, and we had a bitch fest/work
> interest inventory during our "what makes project success?" session. We
> were all there, it went too long, people had to start to leave, I did not
> do a close - thought about suggesting it, but at that point felt pretty
> demoralized - they had been making fun of the process and renegade dude had
> been subverting it all day. They can close themselves....I was considering
> it.....I also really wished we had had the opportunity to do the
> Appreciative INquiry workshop on Satisfying and Successful Projects that I
> had put together for them, also last minute at their request, and yes,
> embarrassingly, for free - The "in" principle had requested this, seemed
> really excited by it, but then, despite my detailed agenda suggestions, he
> chose not to work it in on the first prelim night in preference to longer
> individual intros (though most of the group knows one another) and a
> "primer" on Open Space, which as I mentioned before I tried to tell them
> was not necessary and would be delivered the next day...I tried to keep it
> very short, but they pushed, and then renegade took control - he asked my
> opinion, but he didn't really want it.
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 12:44 AM, Tricia Chirumbole <
> tricia at investorswithoutborders.net> wrote:
>
>> Thanks so much to Harrison, Lisa, and all on the list for your feedback
>> and support - it all definitely helped me to learn and grow more in the
>> situation, as well as maintain/regain a broader, more detached perspective.
>> ...and, yes, it helped me battered ego :)
>>
>> As Harrison wrote, "You can’t open space if your space ain’t open." I do
>> hope I won't have to relearn that lesson, but I at least have a better
>> sense of what conditions I need in order to agree to participate in opening
>> a space - internal and external.
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 4:50 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net>wrote:
>>
>>> Tricia – You just learned THE most valuable lesson. Lesson #1****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> You can’t open space if your space ain’t open. Chris said it more
>>> elegantly, but that is the gist. And from what you said -- seems like your
>>> space was in lockdown. 5 days with little sleep, racing about, worrying,
>>> “fixing things”… No space for nothing. Painful for sure, but you will never
>>> have to learn it again. I am positive. And THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing!
>>> ****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> The only pre-work that is really essential is your own. Or put a little
>>> differently, if you don’t do your own preparation nothing else really
>>> matters that much. At least as far as you are concerned. People kid me
>>> about not doing very much, which is absolutely true. But what they don’t
>>> see is what I do do before they ever see me. Everybody will have their own
>>> way, but before every Open Space, particularly the “dicey” ones, my day
>>> starts early. Beginning with a good meditation, followed by a walk and then
>>> on to the venue at least an hour and a half (better two) before “Show
>>> Time.” I sit in the center, before anybody is there, and if people do
>>> wander in, I invite them to join me in the silence. No talking, no
>>> planning, no fixing. Just the space and silence. After a bit, I get up to
>>> complete the site preparation, if that is needed. No hurrys – sort a
>>> walking meditation. I particularly enjoy doing the Post-its especially for
>>> a big gathering. It is really “zenish,” if that communicates. A half hour
>>> before “Start” I stop everything. Maybe I look at my watch, but I don’t
>>> recall doing so…just seems to happen that way. At that point, I leave the
>>> venue, go outside if possible – and return at the appointed hour. When I
>>> stand at the edge of the circle to invite the festivities to begin, I am
>>> about as clear and focused as I can be. It feels wonderful. Something about
>>> doing nothing and everything gets done.****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> Harrison ****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> Harrison Owen****
>>>
>>> 7808 River Falls Dr.****
>>>
>>> Potomac, MD 20854****
>>>
>>> USA****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)****
>>>
>>> Camden, Maine 04843****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> Phone 301-365-2093****
>>>
>>> (summer)  207-763-3261****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com%20> ****
>>>
>>> www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com%20> (Personal Website)****
>>>
>>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
>>> OSLIST Go to:
>>> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> *From:* oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:
>>> oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf Of *Tricia Chirumbole
>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, February 12, 2013 2:47 PM
>>> *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
>>> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Sticky dots Q****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> shame on me! I messed up the flow, buy-in, and positive energy, by
>>> messing up one of the simplest parts....the sticky notes time and session
>>> areas. Not totally my fault, but each time I tried to remedy on the fly,
>>> made another mistake!!****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> 1) I was a little behind in some final preps bc of early call and have
>>> been sick and have barely slept for past 5 days and then people came
>>> early..fine, I'll put them to work...also, facilities had not removed the
>>> table and equipment, so actually would not necessarily have been behind.
>>> ****
>>>
>>> - people were a little hard to get to help and a bit distracting and
>>> spent a lot of the time standing around, watching me, and making sarcastic
>>> jokes about the circle, the principles, the notes, etc....very
>>> distracting...I was trying to manage people, go fast, ignore people, and
>>> get other work done...so my mind was distraced and I messed up some of the
>>> time slots which messed everything up...****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> PLUS, I got resistance in the team picking out breakout rooms in advance
>>> and so filled out day 1 notes w/ just the area indicators: 1, 2,
>>> 3...finally got them to do it, but it confiused everything.....****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> just whining....will try to salvage! Now I see already however that
>>> despite all of the ideas I know everyone has, we have only 2 groups for the
>>> morning and people def sitting around and not being engaged, but I don't
>>> want to mess much more and start adding to many new topics myself (Iam
>>> unfortunately an independent contracter "worker", so I am already violating
>>> by participating..)****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 11:08 AM, Chris Corrigan <
>>> chris.corrigan at gmail.com> wrote:****
>>>
>>> I just want to add, that although I have dispensed with sticky dots
>>> years ago as well, I HAVE used them since where they made sense.  It's
>>> impossible to say what tools are important and what should be jettisoned,
>>> but context matters.  If your senior people would like the group to
>>> prioritize the action plans that were raised, you can create a process to
>>> do that that respects the work that has been done and works within the
>>> constraints.  There are all kinds of ways of doing that.
>>>
>>> Open Space is an empty frame.  We know what it does and how it works.
>>>  But it does not stand alone.  You are using it in a context to accelerate
>>> something in an organization and a community.  I have found that it isn't
>>> wise just to come in and do an open space the way I want to do it without
>>> being sensitive to the need behind the call or the context in which you are
>>> working.
>>>
>>> For example a learning Open Space is very different from a product
>>> creation Open Space which differs from a strategic planning Open Space
>>> which differs from an engagement Open Space. The basic process works the
>>> same but the invitation and harvest are very different and the pre-work
>>> with the leadership team helps to set the ground for the most successful
>>> implementation of ideas.
>>>
>>> For me if that means we use sticky dots, because that's the best thing
>>> to do, we use sticky dots.
>>>
>>> Chris****
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2013-02-12, at 1:46 AM, Koos de Heer wrote:
>>>
>>> > Hi Tricia,
>>> >
>>> > I stopped using sticky dot voting in Open Space sessions years ago.
>>> >
>>> > In the beginning, the agenda process is perfect and does not need any
>>> > voting.
>>> >
>>> > During the Open Space, if a topic needs more time, people will decide
>>> they
>>> > are not ready and continue to do what needs to be done.
>>> >
>>> > In the end, when it comes to action planning, I find it much more
>>> elegant to
>>> > reopen the space for action planning topics.
>>> >
>>> > So trust the process, trust the people and trust yourself. Take a deep
>>> > breath and be present and it will roll (and rock). :-)
>>> >
>>> > Koos
>>> >
>>> > -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
>>> > Van: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
>>> > [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] Namens Jeff Aitken
>>> > Verzonden: dinsdag 12 februari 2013 08:52
>>> > Aan: World wide Open Space Technology email list
>>> > Onderwerp: Re: [OSList] Sticky dots Q
>>> >
>>> > reminds me that the difference between a brainstorm and an open space
>>> agenda
>>> > creation is that the latter is based on passion and responsibility.
>>> >
>>> > some items on the brainstorm list may not make it to the open space
>>> agenda
>>> > wall if the person doesn't actually feel very passionate or responsible
>>> > about it after all.
>>> >
>>> > or it may make it to the wall, but then nobody comes to the session,
>>> and the
>>> > convenor writes a short report to handle it and moves to another topic.
>>> >
>>> > jeff
>>> >
>>> > On 2/11/13, Jeff Aitken <r.jeff.aitken at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> >> I would allow the open space process to do the work. I don't see a
>>> >> reason to do anything else. I could be misunderstanding of course.
>>> >>
>>> >> if you are using a 'standard' open space agenda creation process,
>>> >> inviting people to put a topic on a sheet of paper and post it on a
>>> >> wall with time and place, then i'd allow the wall to be filled with
>>> >> topics, and then explain the process of moving topics around based on
>>> >> the wishes of the convenors. and let them move things around.
>>> >>
>>> >> let the law of mobility take care of the rest. and then reflect at the
>>> >> end of the day, and they might add and delete and move topics for the
>>> >> second day.
>>> >>
>>> >> jeff
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> On 2/11/13, Tricia Chirumbole <tricia at investorswithoutborders.net>
>>> wrote:
>>> >>> ok, so I just asked a question re: the need for prioritization of
>>> >>> issues and an overwhelmingly large pool of issues in my previous
>>> post.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> I guess part of the answer is sticky dot voting. Cool. I will have to
>>> >>> improvise asking people to keep track of their dots using markers
>>> >>> since I will have no time to get dots, but that should be ok in a
>>> >>> small gorup of 13...not ideal - other thoughts on this are welcome.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> my questions are - is it ok to do prioritization at outset of day 1?
>>> >>> And, if so, would it be better to first generate a marketplace w/o
>>> >>> times selected and prioritize them, then have initiators select
>>> >>> time/place? or vice versa - neither sound ideal to me.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> thanks so much!!
>>> >>>
>>> >>> --
>>> >>> Tricia Chirumbole
>>> >>> US: +1-571-232-0942
>>> >>> Skype: tricia.chirumbole
>>> >>>
>>> >>
>>> > _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>> ****
>>>
>>> ** **
>>>
>>> --
>>> Tricia Chirumbole
>>> US: +1-571-232-0942
>>> Skype: tricia.chirumbole****
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> OSList mailing list
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>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Tricia Chirumbole
>> US: +1-571-232-0942
>> Skype: tricia.chirumbole
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Tricia Chirumbole
> US: +1-571-232-0942
> Skype: tricia.chirumbole
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>

-- 
Suzanne Daigle
NuFocus Strategic Group
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University Park, FL 34201
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twitter @suzannedaigle
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