Lois...this is a massive challenge, and I can only offer some preliminary thoughts. However I will say that I'm very interested to know what you learn about making decisions like this. Your experience may be very valuable to me.
<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 6/3/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Lois Reborne</b> <<a href="mailto:loisee@centurytel.net">loisee@centurytel.net</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
The client is the Board of the UUA; the goal of the Open Space is to provide<br>the Board with priorities for setting ends statements. (From the Carver<br>model of policy governance jargon; I'm not completely initiated into the
<br>jargon or model, so I think of these as strategic goals) This is the first<br>time anything like this has been attempted in the UUA, or at GA. And as you<br>can imagine there are many challenges. The OS team, the Board, and the GA
<br>Planners have all been working to make this happen - we're about to the<br>point of letting it happen!</blockquote><div><br><br>This is a pretty narrow range of outcomes for an Open Space, as you're probably aware. I would be working with the Board to help them understand that the job of actually crafting these statements for their own purpose will ultimately be theirs. That way, there is another level of sensemaking that occurs after the event, where the Board can acutely review all of what is learned, and not just the official statements and improve the work for their purpose. This would also need to be made really clear to the participants. This is just to show that responsibility for Board statements ultimately rests with the Board.
<br> </div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">To deal with the numbers and logistical challenges, here's the process we've
<br>designed:<br>We're essentially running ten smaller OS's, with participants randomly<br>assigned to one of those initially. Twenty facilitators will attend a half<br>day training on Wednesday and work in teams.
<br>In the first session Day 1 we'll open the space for topics/conveners to<br>emerge. Twelve topics will be drawn out of the hat and assigned to the 120<br>actual conference rooms/times available over Day 1 and 2. We've also have
<br>literally open space and opportunity for those conveners whose topics in are<br>not drawn to go ahead with their sessions.</blockquote><div><br><br>I don't quite understand the reason or the purpose of randomly drawing sessions out of a hat and assigning them elsewhere. If I interpret what you mean my concerns is that you are possibly separating passion from responsibility. I am extremely careful to keep people's names connected to their work and to ensure that no one moves another person's work around. Without that you don't have the necessary responsibility to see the conversation through, especially to convergence. To me it would make more sense to find a way to have a central bulletin board so that all sessions can be posted and viewable to everyone who can then decide which of the break out groups to go to.
<br></div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Six Open Space time periods will follow. Participants can choose any among<br>
the 120 "official" topics plus the "unscheduled" sessions.<br><br>Each group's report will contain one brief recommendation to the Board<br>statement. Those statements will be available in print for all before the
<br>first convergence session on day 3. (the remaining info from the session<br>reports will be recorded and published on line after the conference) We<br>predict there will be multiple statements around some obvious topics, and
<br>we're looking forward to what else emerges!</blockquote><div><br>It would be interesting to see if groups emerge to make sense of the overlaps as well. You may find significant passion in the rom for people to travel with their statements to the next level. For example if several statements emerge around a theme of lay education, it might be worth convening, at a future date, all of the champions of those statements to work further on this issue. In that way you can really champion the emerging leadership that arises from this conference.
<br> </div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">People are being asked to return to their assigned OS room for the two<br>convergence sessions 75 minutes long with lunch between. In those sessions
<br>we will work with the those 12+ report statements that have come from all<br>sessions that arose from that group. The output goal for the convergence is<br>to select three priorities to be sent to the General Assembly delegates for
<br>discussion that afternoon. A final vote the last day of the GA will narrow<br>these 30 priorities to ten. This part of the process is set; it's what<br>actually happens in the convergence sessions we're still working on -
<br>understanding that it all may be much clearer on Day 3!</blockquote><div><br>Again, there is a problem with divorcing passion from responsibility. What if I'm not interested in any of these conversations? What if my pet topic, the one in which I am a deep expert is being dealt with in another room? I might worry about a real danger of losing people at this point. Also the process of winnowing down statements from twelve to three I don't think will give you the kinds of information you are looking for. The results will be heavily skewed by the randomness introduced into the process and the inability of people to travel to other sessions to do their work.
<br><br>Whatever you can do to keep people connected to their own work and passion is going to result in a better set of recommendations for your Board and a larger collection of supporters prepared to help make those things happen. Perhaps there is a way you could have people begin to label their recommendations on day one. What I might to is to have people come to a large wall with their finished recommendations and collectively do an affinity grouping so that the entire system can see where the major areas of overlap are. That might at least give you a feel for the territory. Then on Day Two you can invite people to take responsibility for being in groups to move the recommendations to another level. But this is tricky. Even with 30 sessions, you have groups of 100 people trying to make convergence happen.
</div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Are you dizzy yet?<br><br>As facilitators, our second goal for the convergence is to give participants
<br>the chance to process their Open Space experience, and to generate and give<br>voice to those kind of new insights that arise not just from a particular<br>sessions but from the entire experience. We want to allow for those insights
<br>to be included in the final three statement output.</blockquote><div><br>I don't yet see where you have built this into your process, but it will be interesting to hear. I would however caution about asking people to evaluate their experience of Open Space Technology based on what you have outlines here. This is certainly based in Open Space but I would be wary to give people the impression that this is what most Open Space Technology meetings are like. This is an incredible and unique effort, far outside most people's experience, even that of the wise ones here on OSLIST.
<br> </div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Here's some questions:<br>We're liking the idea of opening space again in the first convergence
<br>session, but I'm not clear what the question would be. What will move people<br>to think wholly, larger than the recommendation from a group on a specific<br>topic? Would people need them to move into small groups on those topics? If
<br>not, what else?<br><br>We'll be working in standard conference rooms - rows of those cantankerous<br>hooked together seats. There are anxieties and very practical concerns about<br>trying to move the chairs into small groups.
<br> * accessibility issues for the mobility and hearing challenged<br> * fire safety/evacuation issues in a limited space all jumbled up<br> * $1 per chair charge for any chair not in its precise position at the end<br>of the session
<br> * using precious time moving chairs back and forth</blockquote><div><br>Count on incurring a charge for every chair. That is a ridiculous condition of the conference facility. What difference does it make if they have to put away a chair from a row versus from a corner? And count on huge time spent moving around. Others who have done these types of large events report that BIG time and BIG space is what is required.
<br> </div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Any experience or ideas for working with this challenge?<br><br>We're thinking of using dots on posted statements to narrow the selection of
<br>statements. Is a simple three dots per person technique sufficient? Or is<br>there a more sophisticated system that would improve the outcome? Again, we<br>have to acknowledge and plan for the accessibility challenges in this
<br>process.</blockquote><div><br>I think you should probably look at some technology, but it has to be very simple. Ted? <br> </div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Okay, there's the stage. We await your wise counsel on these questions - or<br>other suggestion you may have.</blockquote><div><br><br>Not much else to say other than good luck!<br> </div>Chris<br></div>-- <br>CHRIS CORRIGAN
<br>Facilitation - Training<br>Open Space Technology<br><br>Weblog: <a href="http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot">http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot</a><br>Site: <a href="http://www.chriscorrigan.com">http://www.chriscorrigan.com
</a><br><br>Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.<br><a href="http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com">http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com</a>
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