Hi everyone...
I've been "listening" to the conversation intently as it has unfolded,
both the earlier conversation on the Open Space Listserv which several
European folks referred us to, as well as to the most recent sequence
following the wonderful Evolutionary Salon that Peggy and I (and others)
helped to host. I'm hopeful, Harrison, that you have by now received the
gift copy of our recent book (also published by Berrett Koehler!) which
helps to frame the living systems underpinnings of the World Cafe and
honors the incredible contribution that Open Space has made over the last
two decades. I offer these reflections in the spirit of learning with and
from others on this listserv about the unique individual and combined
contributions of the World Cafe and Open Space.
I think, as do many of our other colleagues who use a variety of
conversational and collaborative learning approaches, that the World Cafe
and Open Space are extremely compatible. I completely understand
Harrison's concerns with "structure" and "control"--wanting to offer
participants the full freedom to self-organize from the get go. At the
same time, even self-organization requires "initiatiing conditions" to be
successful, which, as I have seen with Open Space over the years, are
extremely carefully set and followed throughout an Open Space gathering.
Peggy Holman beautifully exercised these during the Evolutionary Salon,
creating both the physical spaces, the expectations, the sign-ups, the
clarity of the "laws/principles," and the discipline of the reporting
processes (both written in terms of the report back sheets and oral in
the reflection circles).
Each of these processes, as well as others which have been discussed on
the list, have their strengths and limitations, depending on their
purpose. The World Cafe is especially useful when:
1) you have a limited amount of time (ie as little as 1 1/2 to 2 hours)
2) a lot of people (we've worked with 1200)
3) questions that matter to the people gathered, that they either they
frame themselves or that a representative sub-group has helped to shape
(at least initially)
4) the intention to build community, strengthen relationships and engage
everyone's unique contribution and voice using both verbal and visual
modalities (even the timid or less verbal ones).
5) you want to access collective intelligence based on discovering
patterns of meaning in emergent, unexpected ways that come from the
intentional rapid cross-pollination of diverse perspectives and ideas.
While World Cafe and Open Space share many, although not all, of these
intentions in common, the design of the World Cafe creates what we'd call
a "conversational greenhouse" focused on the extremely rapid propagation
of actionable knowledge (we consider inquiry as integral to actionable
knowledge ). The World Cafe design intentionally fosters people's rapid
capacity to see patterns and "sense the whole" rather than be focused
primarily on the part of the whole that their personal passion initially
leads them to. Once people have this awareness, they begin so see how
their own passion (taking responsibility for what you love) might connect
to the larger whole in a very embodied way. We find that the World Cafe
intentionally creates an "inquiring system" through the disciplined use
of questions (not topics or issues) as well as creatively
cross-pollinating ideas in varied ways that enable people to feel,
literally, the "whole system thinking together" in a very short period of
time.
We find that World Cafe helps to ease the "freedom shock" that Harrison
and others describe, while still giving the space for emergence and
surprise. I have to admit that perhaps my "nurturing side" welcomes the
opportunity to support people in feeling comfortable in the early phases
of a gathering, which is why we create the Cafe ambiance when that is
possible and appropriate. We find that the combination of focus
(carefully setting the context, the disciplined use of questions and the
intentional patterns of cross-pollination) create a different (not
better, just different) type of collaborative learning that many people
seem to find useful as they enter this world of emergence--and even more
useful when combined with complimentary approaches like Open Space and an
appreciative stance.
Our goal in Cafe conversations is for people to experience themselves
being an integral part of a living web/network of relational thinking and
of experiencing conversation itself as a co-evolutionary force for
accessing co-intelligence on behalf of life affirming futures and the
conscious evolution of social systems. So, perhaps the key learning
goals of World Cafe and Open Space are somewhat different....but still
complimentary in my humble opinion.
I'd love to learn about others experiences when they've designed meetings
or gatherings in which both Open Space and the World Cafe were
effectively engaged together to create generative outcomes.
I've responded to Alan's questions below in caps...and welcome our
exploring these questions together among colleagues who are using both
approaches and want to learn with and from each other.
Fondly,
Juanita
On May 31, 2005, at 5:08 PM, Alan Stewart wrote:
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? AT THE OPEN SPACE THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON
. Did you have any sense that issues/questions posted in Open Space were
related to those which emerged in the opening Cafe session? I THINK THE
WORLD CAFE SET A BROAD "FRAME" FOR THE INQUIRY IN A MUTUALLY
COMPASSIONATE WAY WHICH HONORED ALL OF THE DISCIPLINES AND PERSPECTIVES
BEING BROUGHT INTO THE ROOM--WHICH THEN ENABLED WHAT WE CALL THE "MAGIC"
TO BEGIN RIGHT FROM THE START AND "HOLD" THROUGHOUT THE THREE DAYS.
SINCE WE DID IT THE WAY WE DID, I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THAT WOULD OR WOULD
NOT HAVE HAPPENED AS EASILY IN A SOLEY OPEN SPACE FORMAT.
. You mentioned that you got to participate in the Cafe. I wonder if
Juanita did likewise in the Open Space? (I CERTAINLY DID AND LOVED IT!)
. 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 ACTUALLY DIDN'T EXPERIENCE THE
PARTICIPANTS AS HAVING THE INTENSITY OF FREEDOM SHOCK I'VE EXPERIENCED
IN OTHER SETTINGS WHERE A NEW AND DIVERSE GROUP SIMPLY JUMPED INTO AN
OPEN SPACE EXPEERIENCE-USUALLY THE MORE LOUD OR OUTGOING FOLKS ARE THE
ONES WHO JUMP OUT FIRST IN OPEN SPACE--BUT WHEN WE'VE COMBINED WORLD
CAFE WITH OPEN SPACE THERE SEEMS TO BE A MORE EVEN DISTRIBUTION IN THIS
REGARD WHICH HAPPENS QUITE NATURALLY--AND MAY (I'M NOT SURE) TAKE A
SOMEWHAT LONGER TIME (FOR THE LESS TALKATIVE/OUTGOING FOLKS WHO ARE
RETICENT IN LARGE GROUPS--PARTICULARLY IN OTHER CULTURES) IN OTHER OPEN
SPACE SETTINGS WHERE THE COMBINATION IS NOT USED.
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
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