[OSList] 1,000 participants in 4 hours

Wed Jul 10 15:47:45 PDT 2013

Agreeing with Harrison here.

Lisa has given some great advice.  If you were going to make it possible to
host 1000 people in Open Space for 4 hours, Lisa's detailed list gives you
your best shot of doing that and being successful.

Don't be fooled though...this is a huge ask to do this well.  The largest
group I ever hosted was about 600 people and honestly, the thought of doing
that in a half day is truly overwhelming.  You need a large team with you
to make sure the logistics flow and make sure that people can find where
they need to go in a timely way.  But 1000 people moving about in a space
is a really big ask, and that takes WAAAAY more time than you think it
will. And God forbid someone calls a session and 75 people show up because
it is rich and juicy - just being able to be heard and get a few comments
in will be challenging.

As for the design teams idea, that one is really simple.  With a crowd of
1000 people all proposing and hosting conversations I think having a few
people predetermine some trigger topics will give a false sense of comfort
that they are actually able to be influential.  The fact is that 1000
people are ALREADY talking and this Open Space will simply make that all
visible.  To host this in Open Space you simply HAVE to have confidence in
your ability to stand in the room and host.  If you can't do that, it's
going to be hard for you.  You will not be able to control the shadow of
the group nor the possibility of emergence.  Once the group is working you
will barely be able to reconvene them, let alone impact the emotional field
of the event.  So you and the core team need to let go of outcomes and get
really curious about what might emerge from this afternoon of work.

Instead of design teams I would counsel that you have several dozen
listeners somehow connected to the bigger project who can discern what is
going on.  After the event invite them and the conveners of every
conversation to engage in a little meaning making together.  That could
still be a meeting of more than 100 people, but you could do it in Open
Space and ask the question: "So what did we learn from our 1000 people open
space and what do we need to do to support momentum?"

And as for outcomes, there is very little this group collectively will be
able to accomplish in four hours other than people shaving the conversation
they came to have (not the ones the sponsors want them to have) with a few
people who managed to find them.  You might use a tool like
http://smsharvest.com as a way of catching insights on the fly from
everywhere.  But it will be really hard to get any collective clarity.

This is a tough one Sharon Joy.  I wish you a lot of luck and good clarity
and hope you will share the story with us of whatever happens.  There will
be lots of learning in it for all of us.

Chris

On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 3:06 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:

> Scott said – “Not all of us have your (that’s me – HO) confidence, clarity
> or competence in all situations to trust ourselves, in an organization we
> may live/work in and/or the process in a room potentially filled with
> bureaucrats, whose shadow can slow down the speed of large group movement.”
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Nice words, Scott – but once again I have a different take. Truth is I
> have ZERO confidence, to say nothing of clarity, in my “competence in all
> situations to trust (my)ourselves, in an organization we may live/work in
> and/or the process in a room potentially filled with bureaucrats, whose
> shadow can slow down the speed of large group movement.” Quite to the
> contrary,  I know totally and completely that I will NEVER have a real clue
> about what is going on. Too complex, inter-related, fast moving, opaque...
> BUT the people do. My only responsibility (possibility) is to invite them
> to do what only they know how to do – and then, as quickly as possible, get
> out of the way. Usually to take a napJ****
>
> ** **
>
> And Kathie Dannemiller was a special person and a friend. I respect her
> greatly. And... somebody once asked her why, given what she did, she didn’t
> use Open Space. Her reply, as I heard it, was – “I’d be terrified ... it
> could get out of control.” The big secret, of course, was that she (as we
> all are) was always out of control – so there was nothing to lose.****
>
> ****
>
> 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 *Scott Gassman
> *Sent:* Wednesday, July 10, 2013 5:01 PM
>
> *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] 1,000 participants in 4 hours****
>
> ** **
>
> Hi Harrison,****
>
> ** **
>
> Glad you responded, Sharon gets to think deeper about how to proceed and
> be hopefully clearer about her design decisions.****
>
> I clearly hear "get out of the way quickly," and the authenticity of how
> you have lived/practiced OpenSpace. I love it when I do it.****
>
> Not all of us have your confidence, clarity or competence in all
> situations to trust ourselves, in an organization we may live/work in
> and/or the process in a room potentially filled with bureaucrats, whose
> shadow can slow down the speed of large group movement. ****
>
> Whether my approach is a cop out to the OS process, my Kathie Dannemiller
> lessons about Design Teams has helped me to usually make the process
> consciously the participants' process.****
>
> ** **
>
> Scott****
>
> ** **
>
> On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 1:30 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
> ****
>
> Scott – I guess I really have a different take. I have never seen any
> reason to “plant” topics, or emplace “spark plugs.” In every situation with
> large groups in my experience (my largest was 2108 J) – the people do it
> all by themselves, just like usual. If anything the action is faster, and
> more furious with a large group. Once it rolls, it really rolls. You just
> got to get out of the way quickly – which is why I would make sure the
> opening was fast and sweet. Once person (facilitator) only – and on with
> the show! Of course the “necessary conditions” must be in place (real
> business issue, complexity, diversity, passion, conflict, urgency) – and
> from there on out the only thing you need to do is sit in a circle, create
> bulletin board, open market place – and go to work. Nothing else needed.**
> **
>
>  ****
>
> 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 *Scott Gassman
> *Sent:* Wednesday, July 10, 2013 10:13 AM
> *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] 1,000 participants in 4 hours****
>
>  ****
>
> Hi Sharon Joy,****
>
>  ****
>
> Thanks for sharing your opportunity and provoking our experience and
> imagination.****
>
> Lisa has given you great tips, great food for thought. For me the joy of a
> laid back ****
>
> OS alters when I must manage tighter time frames, larger numbers and
> logistics. I ****
>
> want people to see what they can get done when they are focused and led
> through ****
>
> well planned OS tasks. ****
>
> I think about the outcome/purpose the client/group wants to walk away
> with. I try to ****
>
> get clear on their goal(s)/desired outcomes. I am fond of design teams
> preceding ****
>
> any large group initiative. I would bring together 5 to 10 vertically
> positioned ****
>
> influencers as soon as possible and preceding the get together and confirm
> sought ****
>
> desired outcomes, I would then ask them to brainstorm a list of important
> topics****
>
> for this conversation and to rework the list into a vital few examples. I
> would also ****
>
> encourage this group to recognize the significance of their role and to
> serve as ****
>
> spark plugs to get the large group moving forward.****
>
> However the session is opened, I would include a design team member or two
> to share their ****
>
> hopes and aspirations for this meeting, and to briefly share the list of
> topics as examples ****
>
> for the 1,000 others to raise what matters most to them per the "high
> performance ****
>
> system"sought.****
>
>  ****
>
> This is a great opportunity for your government to work together.****
>
> I also look forward to learning about your experience and next steps.****
>
>  ****
>
> Scott Gassman****
>
>  ****
>
>  ****
>
>  ****
>
> On Tue, Jul 9, 2013 at 8:38 PM, Sharon Joy Chao <
> sharon at seameo-innotech.org> wrote:****
>
> Need to figure a way of convening a thousand government people to go
> through an exploratory discussion on high performance system, all under 4
> hours.
>
> This happens next week down south in the city of Cebu. The focus is on the
> Philippine government service, its performance management system and how it
> can be truly essential, responsive and life-giving.
>
> Gail West, my OS mentor friend, has provided me with some incredible
> suggestions on how to proceed and she also advised me to post on OSList.
>
> Any thoughts on how best to proceed with a cast of thousand in 4 hours
> time?
>
> Maraming Salamat.
>
> ========================================
> Sharon Joy Berlin Chao
> SEAMEO INNOTECH
> Commonwealth Avenue, U.P. Diliman, Quezon City
> Metro Manila 1101 Philippines
> Phone (632) 924-7681, 9267900
> Fax (632) 928-7692
>
>
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>
>
> ****
>
>  ****
>
> --
> Scott Gassman
> IdeaJuice
> (917) 951 - 0258
> scott.gassman at gmail.com
> www.ideajuices.com
>
> America Speaks on Scott:
> http://americaspeaks.org/facilitator-spotlight/spotlight-on-scott-gassman/
>
> ****
>
>
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>
>
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> --
> Scott Gassman
> IdeaJuice
> (917) 951 - 0258
> scott.gassman at gmail.com
> www.ideajuices.com
>
> America Speaks on Scott:
> http://americaspeaks.org/facilitator-spotlight/spotlight-on-scott-gassman/
>
>
> ****
>
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-- 
---
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Facilitation - Training - Process Design
Open Space Technology - Art of Hosting

http://www.chriscorrigan.com

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