[OSList] a fresh look at the meeting "agenda"

Thu Feb 21 05:06:05 PST 2013

Paul I don't ever recall actually "closing" a market place - as in saying
that no other issues can be posted. I do suggest that people post all their
issues at the start, and again on the morning of the 2nd Day (if there is
one) - noting that while they certainly can post issues as any time, the
likelihood that they will be seen is small. The reason is simple and
practical: Everybody is off doing something else. I suppose in a small
group, all working in a single room, new postings would get noticed - But
most of my Open Spaces have been 100+ -- and for sure when you get 500-2000
folks all milling and wandering about new posting do go un-noticed, and
announcing them on the PA System doesn't seem to do much good as the words
just get lost in the ambient noise.

And Raffi - Thanks for sharing Rosa's work, but I do confess that doing what
she proposes seems to require a lot more work to accomplish what pretty much
happens all by itself.

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 

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of paul levy
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 6:51 AM
To: Raffi Aftandelian; World wide Open Space Technology email list
Cc: Genuine Contact egroup
Subject: Re: [OSList] a fresh look at the meeting "agenda"

This also brings to mind one aspect of Open Space that might be worth
reflecting on.

Open Space Events begin with a marketplace - a wonderful rush of
self-organising energy that results in a "programme" - often a packed one,
set up for the whole day ahead (if it is a one-dayer). Often this programme
remains fairly fixed and little if any new sessions are added to it over the
day(even when there is a coming back together, say after lunch to re-open
the market place).

Yet what happens over the day is that the sessions evolve. The day emerges.
The process develops. The content morphs.

So, why not keep the market place open all day? (It often kind of is at some
of the OS events I have participated in though often there is a feeling in
the room that the programme bit was done at the start and there it is ). Why
not allow that flow to flow wherever it does? Why Open and Close the
marketplace at all? One less thing to do? - keep it open! I'm sure the
self-organising spirit will find good ways to announce new and emerging
sessions throughout the day without too much tinkering from the facilitator.
Many of these new sessions will evolve out of earlier ones, many may start
to focus on action, and some may be magically tangential.

I've seen it done well and facilitated it a few times. 

Then we get to this magical place called END where we find out what the
agenda WAS! That agenda then tends to feel more alive, still living, and can
often have a "what next" feel about it.

That, for me, is the perfect Open Space agenda - the one that only reveals
itself at the end - as the thing that happened out of opening the space for
self-organisation.

warm wishes

Paul Levy

On 21 February 2013 05:12, Raffi Aftandelian <raffi_1970 at yahoo.com> wrote:

Dearest Open Space and Genuine Contact friends-

I wanted to share a blog post written by Rosa Zubizarreta. It is a fresh
take- to me, at least- at the idea of a meeting agenda. I believe the post
has interesting implications and sparks new questions whatever our practice
is as a facilitator.

I really enjoy Rosa's take on process arts. As a longtime practitioner of
Focusing and Dynamic Facilitation (along with being a psychotherapist), she
has brought together both theory and practice in her writing on group 

dynamics. I also admire that she explores the intersections- the space
between- the different process arts communities of practice.

 (interestingly her last name means "House on a Bridge")

here is the post:

http://rosaz.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/easing-shifts-in-group-dynamics-with-a
-new-twist-on-the-conventional-agenda
<http://rosaz.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/easing-shifts-in-group-dynamics-with-
a-new-twist-on-the-conventional-agenda/> 

much warmth,

raffi

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