Here's a story I use to talk about action planning in Open Space. THis one is forthcoming in the next edition of "The Change Handbook":
In January 2005 under the auspices of the federal government's Urban Aboriginal Strategy (UAS), 275 people met in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada to see what could be done to meet the complex needs of the inner city Aboriginal community in that city of 80,000. They used Open Space Technology to identify priority areas and create a consortium of projects aimed at making a difference in a community riddled with poverty, violence, addictions and health issues. But this was no ordinary gathering. The 275 people included regular citizens, youth, elders, disabled folks, folks with mental illness, the poor and dyslexic and the rich and educated. The sponsoring agencies, a loose committee of service providers, government and local Aboriginal groups set the stage for the success of this event. They decided that the UAS should not be controlled by the existing agencies and organizations. To solicit community leadership, the agencies committed to turning the UAS over to the community. That willingness and openness made a huge difference on the day. In the pre-meeting, phrases like "we need new ideas to grow" and "supporting community leadership" became touchstones for the media campaign that formed the invitation. The sponsors stated their desire to be completely transparent in how this process was to unfold. They even committed to publishing a summary of the OST results in the local paper. Over three weeks these messages were repeated in local media with the starling results. The agenda was set within the first hour of the day and the first of 55 discussion groups met on a huge range of issues. By the end of the day the group had produced a 63 page proceedings document with summaries from 41 groups. On day two, about 100 people returned to work on projects. People reviewed the previous day's proceedings, space was opened again and people were invited to post invitations to champion new projects. Participants were asked for passion to be tightly bound to responsibility on this day as they deliberated on how to "get it out of the room." Project champions came forward from a wide spectrum of experience and background, from poor single mothers to City councilors. Twenty-four project postings were made and these convened into 19 groups addressing a wide variety of community issues. All of them found support from existing organizations and in just one and a half hours, partnerships were made, action plans drafted and in some cases, goals, objectives and visions were written. One group became so close that when they were finished, they stood in a circle for a minute tightly holding hands and prayed together. All of this was self-organizing, all of it happened in Open Space. Within three weeks of the Open Space event, most of the champions had hosted follow-up meetings and attracted funding sponsors and other resources. By six weeks after the event the project champions had formed a collaborative decision making body that would oversee the strategy and make funding recommendations to the federal government. Reopening space for action is a very simple matter and if there is a need for further involvement, perhaps to strategically shape the action, then you have a ready made implementation team, like the one we had in the above story to help you with the work. Chris On 7/2/06, Craig Gilliam <wcraiggill...@hotmail.com> wrote:
I aplogize if these are basic questions that all of you have alread explored, but as a novice, I wonder-- Harrison writes: "Of course there are also other alternatives when it comes to action planning etc." I would like to hear more about the alternative action planning steps that you or others have used effectively because I find the action steps are where the road and the tire meet. Without taking the conversations to the place of action steps, which in my opinion is key to the transformation, the process' ability to effect the possibility for major change seems limited. In addition, what does it look like for a large organization to live out of open space as a method, structure, or life-style? Thanks, Craig ----Original Message Follows---- From: Harrison Owen <hho...@adelphia.net> Reply-To: Harrison Owen <hho...@verizon.net> To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: Multi Voter Software Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2006 16:15:01 -0400 there is a software breakdown in the program (bug?) -- the problem is that the files (presuming that you are gathering files from several voting stations) won't concatenate. There is a work around, but it is too long to write on the OSLIST -- but if you gave me a call (207-763-3261) I can probably walk you through it. Of course there are also other alternatives when it comes to action planning etc. PS -- I am in Maine therefore Eastern Daylight Savings time. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Dr. Potomac, MD 20854 USA 301-365-2093 207-763-3261 (summer) website www.openspaceworld.com Personal Website www.ho-image.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Ray Schulte To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Sent: Friday, June 30, 2006 12:47 PM Subject: Multi Voter Software Hello, I am new to the list serve and looking for some help. I am attempting to install and use the Tasc Open Space multi-voter. I am able to use the voter, but am having trouble with the OS Control program that processes the votes. My computer seems to run on forever as if stuck in a loop. I have a laptop with Windows XP. Can any one help me. I hope to use the software in about a week. Ray Schulte * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist ----Original Message Follows---- From: Harrison Owen <hho...@adelphia.net> Reply-To: Harrison Owen <hho...@verizon.net> To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: Multi Voter Software Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2006 16:15:01 -0400 there is a software breakdown in the program (bug?) -- the problem is that the files (presuming that you are gathering files from several voting stations) won't concatenate. There is a work around, but it is too long to write on the OSLIST -- but if you gave me a call (207-763-3261) I can probably walk you through it. Of course there are also other alternatives when it comes to action planning etc. PS -- I am in Maine therefore Eastern Daylight Savings time. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Dr. Potomac, MD 20854 USA 301-365-2093 207-763-3261 (summer) website www.openspaceworld.com Personal Website www.ho-image.com ----- Original Message ----- From: Ray Schulte To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Sent: Friday, June 30, 2006 12:47 PM Subject: Multi Voter Software Hello, I am new to the list serve and looking for some help. I am attempting to install and use the Tasc Open Space multi-voter. I am able to use the voter, but am having trouble with the OS Control program that processes the votes. My computer seems to run on forever as if stuck in a loop. I have a laptop with Windows XP. Can any one help me. I hope to use the software in about a week. Ray Schulte * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
-- CHRIS CORRIGAN Consultation - Facilitation Open Space Technology Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com Open Space Resources: http://tinyurl.com/r94tj * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
