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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Ah – Now I see. I may be weird, but convening a session and having people come has never been a large issue for me. When I do convene a session I do so because I have a passion I would like to share or explore. If one person comes and we have a great conversation that is terrific! If nobody comes (and that’s happened) I learned something. That “passion” was mine alone –at least in that moment of time. Even better I am then liberated to assume my prefer modality of Butterfly. Just hang out. Without fail, the “right” people show up in the “Butter-sphere” </span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;color:#1F497D'>J</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'> -- that great, wonderful, amorphous, walk-about where great stuff inevitably manifests. And I think I have learned something else. Over the years as I have wandered the Butter-Sphere, I have come to appreciate that really juicy stuff happens there. Yes I know, sane people would believe that the action is in the several sessions. And clearly that is where it most obviously manifests – but I find the “in-between” equally rich, maybe even more so. But I am sure that is an acquired taste.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Harrison <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Harrison Owen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>7808 River Falls Dr.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Potomac, MD 20854<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>USA<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Camden, Maine 20854<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Phone 301-365-2093<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>(summer) 207-763-3261<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>www.openspaceworld.com<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#1F497D'>To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST Go to:<a href="http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org"><span style='color:blue'>http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'> oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Harold Shinsato<br><b>Sent:</b> Monday, July 18, 2011 2:12 AM<br><b>To:</b> World wide Open Space Technology email list<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [OSList] Open Space with some off-limits -- Individual Sessions<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Harrison and Suzanne,<br><br>Thanks for attending my session on how to improve individual session facilitation!<br><br>I totally agree that the "whatever happens" helps deal with the results of hosting a session, Suzanne. And I also completely agree that the process of the Open Space itself should not be interfered with. I'm not looking for an OST intervention!!! Wandering facilitation trainers - ugh!<br><br>My wondering isn't about improving Open Space - it's about improving myself - and maybe making that learning available to others also interested in improving their own participation.<br><br>For myself, hosting an Open Space conference has been weirdly more simple than getting people to come to my sessions! Part of it is that there is so much help for how to host an Open Space. Lisa Heft's training was indispensable for me. Attending other people's Open Space events was also incredibly powerful. There's the manual, there's OSList. And actually hosting and facilitating them was the biggest training ground of them all. In a way, that's also true for convening successful OST sessions. Practice. Do it. Learn from doing. Do it again. What I sense is that there's a lot of the "learn from doing" that we don't really have to be doing alone. That could be shared. There's a wealth of experience to get to the learning faster!<br><br>Interestingly, the one particular challenge I had with getting the Open Space to work was the same challenge I had with my sessions. Getting people to come. It's nice saying "whatever happens" and "whoever comes" but I think more guidance could be made available (but again, not in the Open Space). One of the best advice I heard about this is that it's just about inviting people into the circle and doing it again and again. But again, I think more could be uncovered. One thing I just had a sense for myself was to reach out to already existing communities and participate. The way to reach out is something I'm still learning. The book "Made to Stick" has helped with the wording. But I can tell there's more to learn.<br><br>There's another bit of advice I received just yesterday from a fellow software developer who is also an Open Space fan. Arlo Belshee was attempting to answer the question of an author I respect greatly about what would work best as a session. I had already said my piece which reflected my awareness of the community and what topics were the most interesting, and how that might intersect with his own interests. I found Arlo's advice even better, and in a way it was related. Arlo said he never plans his sessions in advance as to what he's going to say. Instead he reads the room and hears what people are talking about. And Arlo gets great attendance at his sessions at all the Open Space events I've seen him at - which have been quite a few. In a way, Arlo's advice sounded a lot like a Toyote Production Systems practice (a lean manufacturing practice) called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genchi_Genbutsu">Genchi Genbutsu</a> - "Go to the source to find the facts to make correct decisions." It's about being more present and see what's actually going on. Some people already know and can surface what needs to surface at the right time. I seem to need to work at it!<br><br>This all happened yesterday for me at <a href="http://leancamp.crowdvine.com/">Seattle Lean Camp</a>, which was a properly facilitated Open Space Technology conference. Jeremy Lightsmith did a great job opening the space. Many people wondered after the event why people are still paying thousands for traditional conferences when so clearly we get better results for just $50 using Open Space. It's a good question!<br><br>I got another powerful hint at what can help get people to come to your sessions. At the Open Space evening news on Saturday for Lean Camp Seattle, the facilitators asked what percentage of the attendees had been to "Lean Coffee". It was over 50%! Their Lean Coffee was described as the same thing as Open Space except in just a couple hours. It's an open forum that happens about once a month at a cafe' in Seattle to talk about lean management/software issues. Whoever comes is the right people. They put their topics up on cards, like the Open Space billboard, and then work their way through the topics in vote priority order. It's not quite the same as an OST conference, but multiple people claimed that their lean coffee events were basically "the same" as OST. Jeremy Lightsmith and Jim Benson have succeeded in creating a full blown Open Space conference and getting high attendance by creating the feeling of Open Space in stammtisch style in advance - creating community and credibility by taking the time to initiate and invite again and again people into conversation.<br><br>There's a lot more to be said here but this is already way too long. Perhaps it'd be better for me not to ask the question, just be happy with the guidance that's already available, and be satisfied. I hope I don't offend by continuing to ask the question and wondering - if people don't like my question I'm probably going to continue to host the session and attend just by myself. I seem to do that often! But I'm going to keep asking: How can I get better at convening successful sessions at OST conferences?<br><br> Regards,<br> Harold<br><br><br>On 7/14/11 3:01 PM, Harrison Owen wrote: <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Harold wrote: “It's interesting that Open Space gives very minimal advice for convening sessions - but I can tell that some are much better at it than others. Both in the choice of topics that are relevant and in the actual facilitation of the group conversation. I continue to be curious about what works and what doesn't work for the convening of individual sessions in an Open Space.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:center'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>It is a curiosity, for sure. And you are not the first, nor doubtless the last to wonder. Over the years, people have tried just about everything, ranging from “Providing Guidelines for discussion” – to recruiting a corps of wandering facilitators, available upon request. Some even tried “assigned facilitators.” Or a “designated process – e.g. “Dialogue.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:center'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>I can’t say that I have seen it all, but what I have seen brought me to the conclusion that any intervention was, at the very least, more trouble than it was worth. And in worse case scenarios, actually counter-productive. Nobody ever followed the “Guidelines.” The “wandering facilitators” were inevitably in the wrong place and either sat on their hands or were totally overwhelmed. Attempts to manage the process with “assigned facilitators” drove the “managers” crazy as the natural dynamics of Open Space refused to follow any process they envisioned, and if they attempted to control the dynamics of OS – well good luck! Mandating some formal process like Dialogue really gummed up the works. It was just too slow and out of sync with the ebb and flow of discussion. And it often seemed that people were more concerned to “manage the process” than to talk to each other. Even worse, stupid discussions (my judgment) were continued because people assumed that if they got the process right, the discussion would improve. From where I sat the problem was that the topic was a mindless matter of minimal concern, and yet the moribund horse continued to be beaten. Or something.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:center'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Perhaps it is the eternal optimist in me – or something about half full glasses. My wonderment was that the sessions were as good as they were, and generally speaking – better than any facilitated session I had ever attended. Could it possibly be that the whole business of “facilitation” was vastly overrated? Heresy!!!</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:center'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>But as I concentrated on what was clearly working very well “all by itself” I began to notice that even in those situations where the discussion was less than outstanding (by whatever standards), nevertheless useful things were happening. For example, was the stated topic never addressed? Yes, but what came up was infinitely better and more interesting, I thought. I think I learned something: People really don’t know what they are talking about UNTIL they create to talk. Which is why tightly built agendas never seem to work. Yes you cover the agenda, but did you do anything useful, productive, creative? By definition, NO! You ended up in precisely the position you said you were going to reach – so why take the trip in the first place? You were already there. Just write the minutes in advance and cancel the meeting.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Then there were those situations where the whole thing was just stupid and snarky. People argued endlessly about nothing of importance – just for the sake of arguing, it seems. But even that painful experience turned out (more often than not) to be a positive. Folks learned to use the Law of Two Feet. Or at the very least, they learned that they COULD use the Law next time – unless they honestly enjoyed being miserable and non-productive. Which does happen. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Anyhow, Harold, your wonderment is a shared one. But after some years considering the emergent situation, I have come to the conclusion that any fix I might propose will create more problems than it solves. That could just be lazy, and doubtless younger and more subtle minds may find a way. But I ain’t holding my breath.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Harrison </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>