[OSList] Sponsor PreWork Conversation (long)
Tricia Chirumbole
tricia at investorswithoutborders.net
Thu Jan 30 12:31:34 PST 2014
Thanks so much Brendan for taking the time to share this! I have saved your
information for my own training and I am likely to plagiarize at some point
:)
Tricia Chirumbole
US: +1-571-232-0942
Skype: tricia.chirumbole
On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 3:21 PM, Diane Gibeault
<diane.gibeault at rogers.com>wrote:
> Well said Brendan! These are the kind of questions people new to OS who
> plan on offering, organizing or facilitating an event, want to be ready to
> answer. Thank you for that brief and effective way of sharing your
> informative answers.
>
> Diane
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Brendan McKeague <mckeaguebrendan at gmail.com>
> *To:* OS Listserve <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 30, 2014 12:32:33 AM
> *Subject:* [OSList] Sponsor PreWork Conversation (long)
>
> Hi folks
>
> I've recently completed a one-day OST meeting with around 150
> participants. It went very well and the sponsor was delighted (and much
> relieved) as he had 'put his neck out' with his 'higher-uppers' all along
> the way in order to have the event in the first place. One of the hoops he
> had to jump through beforehand was to to present a business case and
> justification for using OST in this context....I've recorded some of the
> email conversation that we've had as we progressed the discernment towards
> decision - over about three months. I thought some co-learners might be
> interested in parts of the to-ing and fro-ing dialogue - and would love to
> hear your comments around the questions this first-time user of OST is
> asking....or rather, being compelled to ask.
>
> Cheers
> Brendan
>
>
> Q: Does OST work with bigger numbers - the work shop will be large with an
> estimated 150+ diverse state and local government, industry, NGO and
> possibly some citizens attending.
> R: Open Space Technology (OST) is applicable regardless of numbers and
> diversity - indeed, we often find that the more stakeholder complexity, the
> better it works. I have worked with up to 350 participants and colleagues
> elsewhere with over 2000.
>
> The workshop is part of the finalisation of the Draft Strategic Plan and
> is being held to respond to the various propositions and issues raised in
> the public comment phase early this year. I have very briefly outlined the
> draft objectives and role of the selected facilitator below:
>
> *Objective:*
> The Strategic Plan is a new format for xxxxxx planning that challenges the
> current status quo of planning. Further consultation is required to provide
> a greater level of understanding of the ‘systems’ concept, and seek input
> on content and implementation issues. Main objectives include:
>
> · To build a collaborative environment ;
> R: OST certainly creates the opportunity for this - with the benefit of
> no predetermined agenda, all participants are invited to collaborate in
> co-creating the agenda around what's really important to them.
>
> · provide a greater understanding of the legislation impetus;
> R: OST allows participants to diverge and engage with others who have
> similar questions/issues in order to clarify understandings and pursue
> ideas that matter to them
>
> · genuine input and actions to assist in the finalisation of the
> Strategic Plan
> R: OST invites those who wish to contribute according to interest
> (passion) and responsibility - and then to offer to be part of ongoing
> actions beyond the event itself
>
> *Main role for Facilitator:*
>
> · Organisation of 150 stakeholders – some groups will be
> considered high risk.
> R: In OST, the participants self-organise and self-manage around what they
> care about - its a marvellous, fluid way to enable genuine/transparent
> collaboration, participation, inclusivity and emergence - thereby
> diminishing the likelihood of distraction by the disgruntled or a
> hi-jacking by the heavies
>
> · Creating a strategic, dynamic and collaborative process in and
> out of the workshop
> R: OST is a world-leading technology for this type of process
>
> . memorable, positive, inspiring – has to have the same takeaway as *previous
> (Deliberative Democracy) forum* i.e. participation was worthy of time,
> feel inspired, have made a difference -
> R: no process (or facilitator) in the world can guarantee these outcomes -
> unfortunately for me! OST can create the space where they are most likely
> to show up, provided that the sponsors have done their preparation properly
> - i.e. asked the right question, issued the right invitation, created the
> right space....then, the folks who care to show up in response do the rest
> by themselves. The power of a great OST mtg comes from the release of
> passionate energy when people are given the freedom to do what they really
> care about
>
> · Participants must go home with a greater more positive
> understanding (including impetus for use) of the SPS and systems thinking
> R: its very difficult to enforce the 'must go home with' aspiration when
> working with a group of mature (and diverse) adults. I can however say,
> from my experience of facilitating over 250 OST mtgs around the country in
> the last 15 years, that OST does provide everyone with the opportunity to
> participate at the level they chose, to ask the questions they bring with
> them, to engage with others who care about similar issues, to record their
> conversations, to contribute to action outcomes and to learn more about the
> topic about which they're meeting. And in all of that, they usually have
> a lot of fun too!
>
> · Defining clear objectives and parameter of discussion
> R: Once again, this is the work of the sponsors beforehand - we call these
> 'the givens' that form part of the invitation in OST - the container in
> which 'the space is open' - then let the people get to work around what
> they came to do
>
> · Day round up
> R: OST usually finishes with a Closing Circle for comments from
> participants and sponsors
>
>
> Dear Brendan,
>
> In an attempt to manage stakeholders expectations and ensure effective
> facilitation of diverse ~150 stakeholders within the broad scope (theme:
> Making the Planning Strategy a Success) , could you please kindly advise
> based on the desired outcomes (below) as to whether any other
> facilitation method would achieve the same outcomes as Open Space
> Technology (OST).
>
> · Time and labour efficient
> R: I know of no other process that will get 150 people working on what
> they want to work on together as quickly as OST; with the opening
> explanation and agenda creation taking about 45-50mins, the whole 150
> participants can get down to work quickly on issues that are important to
> them.
>
> · Memorable and inspiring
> R: This is a product of participation on the day. The participants will
> create their own agenda around what's important to them and so they are
> invited to take responsibility for what they offer and engage with i.e. if
> it is not memorable and inspiring, then it may be that they have not
> responded fully to the invitation and they are in the wrong place - they
> can use the Law of Mobility to move elsewhere - or even leave if what's on
> offer is not why they came. Hence the importance of creating a clear,
> transparent and irresistible invitation for those who wish to make this
> Strategy a success. It is extremely important for the Sponsors to be
> familiar with, and endorse, the guarantees of an OST meeting - see attached
> explanation.
>
> · collaborative
> R: There are many levels of collaboration. Mature collaboration is about
> engaging with others - who may have very similar or very different views-
> and taking time to listen well, to speak truthfully about issues that are
> important and to be open to what emerges. Lesser forms/models of
> collaboration adopt coercion, compliance and competition as a container for
> obtaining predetermined desired outcomes. OST provides a container for
> self-organising around what is identified as important by those who wish to
> (or even, 'have to') do something about implementing this strategy. The OST
> process models the intention of seeking more mature collaboration around
> complex issues involving multiple stakeholders.
>
> · Enables strategic thinking
> R: The Planning Strategy has been developed - i.e. the diagnostics have
> been completed - based on various previous consultations. Now is the time
> for moving into implementation and operationalising the outcomes. This
> requires a dialogical process - where those responsible for implementation
> have opportunities to interpret, clarify, be creative, innovative and
> consider how they are going to do this within their own circles of
> influence. As I understand it, it's exploratory and open - there is not one
> uniform way of making this work successfully - it there is, then OST is not
> needed - people are told what to do and resourced to do it. OST provides
> space for creativity, diverse views and novel ideas to be named and
> explored. This cannot be legislated in advance - it needs to emerge from
> the confluence of energy, knowledge, skills, experiences and potentially
> contentious views of those who show up. OST is the most transparent process
> for this, with inbuilt principles of self-determination that enable high
> levels of passionate energy, high levels of learning and high levels of
> 'fun' to show up on the day.
>
> · Rapid consensus
> R: This is another question entirely. In a one-day meeting of 150
> diverse stakeholders, what are you seeking 'rapid consensus' on?
> I would need to hear more from you about your purpose and intentions here.
> In my experience, when consensus is an expectation in such a short
> time-frame with so many people, there are too often 'winners and losers'
> and people can easily get bogged down in detail around language
> interpretation, aggressive defensiveness and even destructive competition
> to try to force a neat outcome. There are other, often more appropriate,
> ways of creating and sustaining alignment with the Strategy into the future
> (e.g. by creating and supporting 'communities of practice' around key
> themes emerging from the OST meeting)
>
>
> R: Thanks for asking these key clarifying questions. I realise how
> important this conference is in terms of creating a platform for
> implementation of the Planning Strategy. I agree that the process on the
> day needs to be the best match for your purpose.
>
> I have inserted a few comments and attached a brief 2 page explanation of
> OST and its 'guarantees'.
>
> In a nutshell, OST is not driven by 'predetermined outcomes' (my words) -
> it is about creating space for engagement and emergence with those who will
> be doing the work of implementation. It is a self-organising dialogical
> process that, in my opinion, is most suitable for this stage of your
> Planning Strategy.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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