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<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Hello
Allen and All OS listers...for some unknown reason my messages from the OSlist
ended up in cyberspace without me unsubscribing for the last 4 months and now
they have returned. I guess it is time to pay attention
again.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>As
others have suggested, I always recommend the sponsor include the theme...in
fact to me, it is one of the most important elements of the pre-work. I remember
some posts from Chris Corrigan from the past...Is it a theme that will grab
people in the gut? We work on voluntary participation, so why would they come to
the meeting if they did not know what was happening. In a recent meeting that I
did for a client, there was a tremendous amount of work done before the meeting
in coffee breaks, at the water cooler...what kind of things do you think we can
talk about? I also encourage people to include a couple of questions to
stimulate thought. Joelle is right, anything that they care about and have the
courage to post will get posted, including at this last meeting, we need a
meeting without management...in the end, they had the meeting that they would
have had without management and waxed poetically about how safe they felt to
speak their opinions without repercussion. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I have
also been recently involved in a research project based on a deliberative
consultation methodology. The principle is that when people have the opportunity
to reflect on their assumptions and then have a chance to test their assumptions
with others in dialogue with others. there is often a shift of values. The
measurement of the values pre and post meeting that we did in this project
demonstrated a significant change of opinion as a result of dialogue. So, they
may come with a "fixed" opinion, but the dialogue causes them to re-evaluate and
sometimes shift....called perspective transformation (Jack
Mezirow).</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Also,
the other point is integrity, as Harrison pointed out. They have a right to know
what it is we are asking them to invest their time in and a right to choose not
to participate if that is not where their energy or interest is...the BIG law of
two feet.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Good
luck with your meeting.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Michelle</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=290320300-26022003>
<DIV><FONT face=Dauphin-Normal color=#0000ff size=2>Michelle Cooper RN,
MScN</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Dauphin-Normal color=#0000ff size=2>Integral Visions Consulting
Inc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Dauphin-Normal color=#0000ff size=2>200 Crestview
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1E2</FONT></DIV>
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648-4633</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2><EM>"Individuals can affect the world by becoming a model or
an example in their small circle of influence. Just as a rock thrown into a pond
causes ripples to gradually keep going out until eventually they are very small,
so our acts influence the ecology of the entire human race." Stephen R. Covey,
in Handbook for the Heart </EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2> </DIV></FONT>
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<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Harrison
Owen<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, February 25, 2003 2:19 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Does advance notice
matter?<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>At 05:55 PM 2/24/2003 -0800, BJ wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">Hi Alan-- I often include the
theme in the invitation. That hasn't seemed to harden positions, in my
experience. --BJ<BR><BR>Alan Stewart wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><BR><FONT size=2>A query which
has arisen for me is whether or not to suggest to the sponsor of a
forthcoming forum that the participants</FONT><BR><FONT size=2>be notified
in advance of the theme settled on for the meeting.
</FONT><BR> <BR><FONT size=2>Addressing the theme chosen by the
sponsor - expressed as a compelling question - could have substantial
bearing on an </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>industry which is in a state of real
crisis.</FONT><BR> <BR><FONT size=2>The participants will already
have given a great deal of consideration to issues associated with the
question. </FONT><BR> <BR><FONT size=2>My hesitation about
publicising the specifics of the theme in advance is that people may
come with relatively firm positions. </FONT><BR><FONT size=2>Whereas if
they encounter it on the day there may be more spontaneity in their
responses. </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>I concur with BJ -- and would
take it a bit farther. I think folks have a right to know what they are
getting involved with prior to arrival. How else can they make an intelligent
choice about coming?<BR><BR>Harrison<BR><BR><X-SIGSEP>
<P></X-SIGSEP>
<DIV align=center>Harrison Owen<BR>7808 River Falls Drive<BR>Potomac, MD 20854
USA<BR>phone 301-365-2093<BR>Open Space Training <A
href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/"
eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.com</A> <BR>Open Space Institute <A
href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/"
eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.org</A><BR>Personal website <A
href="http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm" eudora="autourl"><FONT
color=#0000ff>http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm</A><BR><BR><U>OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR></U></FONT>To
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eudora="autourl"><FONT
color=#0000ff><U>http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html</A><BR><BR><BR><BR></FONT></U></DIV>*
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