Dear Eric,<div><br></div><div>Thanks for your contribution. It is interesting to see how you have used facilitation in Toastmasters. I particularly like your reframing of OS & TM. I remember an early story about how TM originally did not have a fix set of speeches and there was actually a lot of resistance to creating the manuals. </div>
<div><br></div><div>I joined Toastmasters at about the same time I started my facilitation journey. </div><div><br></div><div>I found that it provided a great location to practice facilitation, whether by leading a conversation or holding a planning meeting. I did some of my earliest large group projects there also. These were often called "Trainings" but we did Strategic Planning, Future Search and Open Space during the various trainings. I was perhaps fortunate to be in an "Un-districted" region at that time (Taiwan) which was in the process of becoming a District. As a result there was a lot of space for experimentation. I found that it was important to have support of the organizational officers, and that some found these processes helpful and other were less interested. </div>
<div><br></div><div>On a broader TM note, some of the global leadership of Toastmasters is very familiar and supported of facilitation & OST. In particular, George Yen who is First Vice President and was a member of my club in Taiwan. We might want to think about how we could offer OST support to TM in the coming year. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Best Regards,</div><div><br></div><div>Mark<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 2, 2012 at 8:36 PM, Eric Hansen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:eric.hansen@hansen-rd.com">eric.hansen@hansen-rd.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Hi, Tim,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">I saw your email a few days ago, but didn’t find time to comment until today,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">I am also an avoid devotee of Toastmasters with some experience of Open Space. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""> I didn’t think I would be a TM evangelist when I joined. I was just sort of tagging along with my wife, Elaine Hansen, who was and is exploring one of her StrengthsFinder strengths as a communicator. But such is what I have become. I sing of thee, Toastmasters, whenever I get the chance. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Now, on to your email. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">My first thought is that it might help to change the language. I don’t want to make too much of this, but rather than “chaos” for open space and “rigid” for toastmasters, what do you think about using the terms “unstructured” for open space “structured” for toastmasters? I suggest this because, for me, this opens up the possibilities a bit more. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">I think your idea of leadership as the theme and question is spot on, especially as it’s the main focus of the new TM branding. As I am also a devotee of Peter Block and the six conversations that we explore in A Small Group, I think something around possibilities is a good place to start.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">(Learn more about ASG here. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.asmallgroup.net/" target="_blank">http://www.asmallgroup.net/</a><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">If you want to get an idea of what an ASG conversation is like, Elaine and I host In The Clouds with A Small Group, which you can find out about here. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><a href="http://hansen-rd.com/workshops/a-virtual-a-small-group/" target="_blank">http://hansen-rd.com/workshops/a-virtual-a-small-group/</a> )<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Some ASG-type powerful question would be something like:<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p><u></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%">What is the crossroads you find yourself at regarding Toastmasters’ leadership potential?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p><u></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%">What is the declaration about the possibilities for Toastmasters leadership you can make that will inspire you and transform your community?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">These fit the ASG definition of powerful, which is that such questions are:<u></u><u></u></span></p><p><u></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%">Personal – which encourages participants to share their own story and not engage in simple intellectualization. Also, any large-scale change requires change at the personal level. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p><u></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%">Ambiguous – which allows participants to create their own meaning for the question.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p><u></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol"><span>·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><u></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%">Anxiety Provoking – because anything important will cause some anxiety.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">A more communal (but less personal and therefore less anxiety-provoking) question might be.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">What can we create together to promote and develop Toastmaster Leadership in our communities and organizations?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Just some thoughts. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Eric</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><u></u> <u></u></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"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> <a href="mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Tim Lam<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Saturday, December 31, 2011 8:42 AM<br><b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a><br><b>Subject:</b> [OSList] Openspace and Toastmasters - A Taster<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div></div><div><div></div><div class="h5"><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Warm wishes to all and the best of health this festive season!<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"> <u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white">
<span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">As a distant spacer and located within the corporate (no names mentioned) world, we recently ran a 2 hour OS taster, faciliated by our dear friend Mark Pixley (Thanks again Mark!). It was really well received and the feedback extremely positive given the 'short' time period and the session being held after normal office hours.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"> <u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">It is great to see more discussions and fantastic advice on 'mini-sessions', however I am planning to run a joint session with a Toastmasters (TM) club! Without going into too much details about the TM 'philosophy' and hopefully not to offend any TM'ers. TM aims to improve speaking and leadership skills by running 'speech projects' which are timed and evaluated.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"> <u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">What are ones thoughts on how a balance can be made between the 'chaos' of OS and the 'rigidity' of TM?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"> <u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Although the session may not be run for a few months (their time is booked for the next two) I thought it may be interesting to see ones points of view. The main question is still brewing but I'm thinking about a 'Leadership', as TM run 'Competent Communication' and 'Competent Leadership' certifications. Any suggestions for 'the' question?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"> <u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Good Health !<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"> <u></u><u></u></span></p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Tim.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
</div></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;background:white"><span style="color:black"><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>
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