Alan,
Thanks for your questions. I've answered them below.
Peggy
----- Original Message -----
From: Alan Stewart
To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 5:08 PM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] The World Cafe meets Open Space
G'day Peggy and All
It's wonderful indeed to have the comprehensive account of your observations
and experience to complement Tom's enthralling report. Maybe Juanita would
wish to add her's too ...
Several queries for you Peggy:
. At what stage were the OS principles and law introduced to the
participants? Was this at the first evening circle or at the Open Space the
following afternoon?
The OS law and principles were introduced when I opened the space.
. Did you have any sense that issues/questions posted in Open Space were
related to those which emerged in the opening Cafe session?
The issues were related but I'm not sure what you're really asking. I don't
think anyone's issues changed dramatically because of the cafe. Perhaps the
issues were crisper and people may have had a sense of other's interests. Did
anything get posted that wouldn't have been had the cafe not happened? I'd be
hard pressed to say that was the case.
. You mentioned that you got to participate in the Cafe. I wonder if Juanita
did likewise in the Open Space?
You bet.
. I wonder too if what you interpreted as 'freedom shock' was related to the
fact that participants did not know each other, whether or not they came from
different backgrounds.
I'm sure it was a combination of factors. I can imagine that being among
strangers added to mix.
I ask this because I have used the two processes in combination - in the same
order - with people from very diverse backgrounds and who had encountered each
other previously (they were members of a leadership program). They did not
manifest this kind of distress, at least in my observation. Mind you some of
them were quite taken aback initially by the very notion of turning to face
each other rather than their accustomed experience of someone speaking to them!
With love
Alan
Hong Kong
----- Original Message -----
From: Peggy Holman
To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 2:04 PM
Subject: The World Cafe meets Open Space
You've seen Tom Atlee's description of the recent "Evolutionary Salon".
Here are my reflections, mostly on the partnership between TWC and OS.
We began our first evening in a circle with a check in, people speaking to
what attracted them to the Evolutionary Salon. We described the process that
we'd be using for the conference as a living experiment in being an
evolutionary social system. This let us use our real time experience as a
mirror for our learning.
The next morning, Juanita Brown took us into a World Cafe. I got to
participate. We focused on a question about our burning questions. I think I
had the honor of experiencing TWC at its very best. Juanita is a master of her
craft. When reflections were harvested at the end of the session, people said
they were touched by the experience, discovering the feeling of connection to
each other, the synergy among their burning questions. They expressed
excitement at the sense of intimacy and kinship they felt.
I have to admit that as a participant, I felt as I did the last time I
experienced TWC: constrained by the expectation of staying at the table. It
was quite a contrast for me to hear the excitement of others in the room!
We began the Open Space in the afternoon. Of course, people jumped in with
their sessions. They seemed to be doing just fine. Come the closing circle,
several people expressed distress at their experience. One went so far as to
ask if we could go back to the comfort and intimacy of a cafe-like format. I
thought to myself, "freedom shock" is alive and well. The mix of people at the
conference included scientists and people of spirit. It seems there was
something of a clash of cultures going on in many of the sessions. I just
listened -- no defending, no fixing.
As is my practice in multiple day events (learned from Spirited Work), the
convening group met to reflect on how things were going after the evening
circle. The meeting was open to any who wished to join us. A few people did.
One wondered if we needed to do something to "push the group" in the direction
we wished them to go (as if we knew what direction that was!). We discussed
the fact that the discomfort people experienced wasn't necessarily a bad thing,
that it provided an opportunity for something new to emerge. I encouraged my
nervous sponsors to trust that things were going just fine.
That evening I found myself in a butterfly conversation with a couple of
people distressed by the "yang" energy they ran into, feeling unsafe to express
their "yin" selves. We talked at length about what it means to take
responsibility for what you love. They left the conversation thinking about
how to come fully present tomorrow in all their "yin" glory.
The next morning, someone announced 3 new "yin" meeting spaces. There was
much laughter as people bantered about yin-ness and yang-ness and its
intersection. Turns out there had been LOTS of butterfly conversations and
those who had felt distressed, found their way, dissipating the angst before it
became a real issue. In fact, from that point forward, the OS just flowed.
A reflection on how TWC affected the dynamic.
It was clear that people had a felt sense of community very quickly through
TWC. I think that the move into OS created that condition that Harrison calls
"freedom shock". It's possible that the contrast heightened the shock. That
said, I believe the sense of connection created during TWC enabled those who
were distressed to seek out the friends they had made rather than completely
check out (of course, being in a remote location would have made it difficult
to leave!). I wonder if that is a benefit of a cafe prior to OS -- to create
relationships that might support people to stay engaged if they have a tendency
towards freedom shock?
THE TWC MEETS OS EXPERIMENT
The OS continued as usual over the next couple days. During our
preparation for the conference, the planning team (Tom Atlee, Michael Dowd and
myself) discussed the possibility of convening evening sessions on "what are we
learning?" On the third evening, Tom and I decided that it would be useful to
do so and that we'd do it using "TWC meets the law of two feet".
Our session question: what patterns do you see emerging? About 12 people
came. We started in groups of 4 with an agreement that we'd come together as a
whole to see what we'd uncovered in about an hour. In the meantime, people
were invited to stay or move as they wished. As context, I said that we knew
from the cafe experience that patterns become visible quickly when people move
around periodically, so moving is useful. At Juanita's suggestion, we had
blank cards in the clusters so that groups could send an idea to another group
if they wanted. They could also send an emissary.
That was it. Basically, it was OS with groups of four discussing the
session topic. What happened was a kick. Two groups were quite intent in
their conversations, clearly not moving, just going deeper and deeper. The
third group eventually dissipated, a couple people going to sleep, the others
joining the two hot groups. And then others started arriving. They just opted
for one or the other of the groups. The conversations were animated and
intense. At one point, the group I was in sent a card with an idea to the
other group. In all, I think about 20 people were there by the end of the
evening.
After about an hour, we came together as one. First one group described
what they'd learned, then the other group did the same. The second group
mentioned that they used the idea they'd received on the card. The remains of
the original third group added their thoughts into the mix. Llyn Peabody, new
to graphic recording, but clearly in her element, took notes, drawing an
incredible visual map of the weave of our stories. The result was electrifying
and became the basis for some breakthrough ideas the last day!
One side note -- someone said during the session that they often looked for
what was missing to understand a situation. I pointed out that the yin/yang
laughter in the morning signaled something rather remarkable that was missing
from our living experiment of an evolving social system: angst. Rather than
fragmenting into conflict, people had transcended it. That drew a raised
eyebrow or two as people digested how the space had made room for conflict to
be embraced with grace.
A reflection on the TWC meets OS experiment
Next time I'm a participant in an OS and have a large group, I'd likely
split up again in this way. It was a great way to reflect on our question when
the group was large.
THOUGHTS FOR THE FUTURE
Juanita and I talked the next morning about our impressions of the
intersection of TWC and OS. We discussed several strengths of TWC -- creating
a sense of community and uncovering patterns quickly.
Given my own biases, I wouldn't use TWC as an opener unless the client had
some specific situation that moved things that way.
I can imagine experimenting with doing an evening reflection with people
beginning in small groups. I can see this as a natural flow of the energy as
people wander in, talking together before coming into a single circle. I think
this could be a low key transition that actually makes it easier to convene the
evening circle. By following the energy of people arriving for the close,
inviting them into reflection as they arrive rather than waiting for everyone
before beginning, I think something simple and useful could occur.
Juanita suggested explicitly encouraging people post their sessions in the
form of questions. It made me smile when Harrison recently posted:
I think of every Open Space gathering as a (potentially) question rich
environment. That is why I always suggest to people that they phrase the theme
as a question, as opposed to a statement.
Questions are certainly a place of coming together.
So, that's about all of my musings on this subject.
yours, on a warm evening in Seattle,
Peggy
________________________________
Peggy Holman
The Open Circle Company
15347 SE 49th Place
Bellevue, WA 98006
(425) 746-6274
www.opencirclecompany.com
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