<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META content="MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Is anyone on this list familiar with a process
called Knowledge Cafe? Any thoughts on how effective it is as a
collaborative learning process? How it would compare with Open Space for
the same purpose?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm co-chairing a team to organize a half-day
learning event for a business association and one of the team members has
proposed using this process. Here's how she described it in an
email.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Courier New" size=2> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> Why not use a self-organizing format which doesn't
require </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> expert facilitators? A 5-10 minute introduction would
be </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> required. Place a tent card on each table with four
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> guidelines: 1. Ask questions. 2. Play devil's
advocate. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> 3. Move if the spirit moves you. 4. Record
aha's!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I asked her if she could describe where it works
well, where it does not work well, and what risks it might entail.
Here is how she responded.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Courier New" size=2> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> The director of knowledge management at
American</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> Management Systems Inc. presented this format at a
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> conference I attended in Scottsdale a few months ago
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> called Braintrust 2000. Participants needed very
little </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> guidance (5-10 min. nuts & bolts intro.) Outcome
is both </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> the experience of being engaged with their own issues
(has </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> everone read The Experience Economy?) and a summary
of '5 </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> best insights' from each table at the conclusion. At
this </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> particular conference, a ballroom full of people had
time </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> for two 45 min. roundtable discussions focused on
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> sub-topics of their choice. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> My contact at U of T who organizes conferences for
execs </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> says, "We don't do talking heads anymore, we only use
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> knowledge cafes." </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> Risks: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> At Warner Lambert in NJ, organizers of an offsite
were </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> initially skeptical because the format seemed too
simple </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> to work. They tried it anyway, for a portion of the
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> retreat. People liked it so much that they requested
that </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> the next retreat be entirely knowledge cafe-based.
Lesson </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> learned: required organizers to give up control and
accept </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> inherent risk, which makes some people </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> uncomfortable. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>> </FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial>
<DIV>In conversation later, I asked if she could compare Knowledge Cafe to Open
Space. She had participated in the Toronto Company of Friends (Fast
Company magazine) Open Space event a year ago and she felt that the intro and
wrapup took too long -- for the type of business clients that she deals
with. She feels Knowledge Cafe is more efficient and produces similar
results for a learning event.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Reactions?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Patrick McAuley</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>PTM
Consulting
Tel: (519) 827-9396<BR>20 Magnolia
Lane
Fax: (519) 827-0956<BR>Guelph, ON N1G
4X7 <A
href="mailto:patrick.mcauley@sympatico.ca">patrick.mcauley@sympatico.ca</A><BR></FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>