Hi Justin. Congratulations !
I agree with the other comments that the gap between expectations for the meeting process, and the actual meeting process (OST) was too large for your folks to co-integrate emotionally and cognitively. In the past, I worked as a senior executive consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Having recognized the ³gap² in my corporate work, I provided a cognitive bridge in how I presented OST structure. I issued formal invitations that satisfied what people mostly expected to see. But I used OST as the internal process that executed the²Agenda². TITLE (Title of participating group OR ³Subject²) DATE (Planned date for the meeting) TIME (Planned starting and ending times for the meeting) LOCATION (Planned location for the meeting) INVITEES (Names and contact information of participants) PURPOSE (OST ³Calling Question² tagline text ) AGENDA * Welcoming Statement * Opening Remarks OST ³Invitation² (context) text * Roll Call of Voting Members * Summary Reports by Members (OST ³Check-in²) * Issue Topics | Questions (OST ³Create the Agenda²) * Dialogue & Deliberation (OST ³Market²) In small groups and in the Whole * Determinations (OST ³Convergence² in the Whole) * Learning Review (OST ³Closing Circle² in the Whole) ³Reflection² in the Whole ³Commitments² in the Whole ³Process Check² in the Whole This approach seemed to satisfy the cultural needs and forms. And yet it was a solid implementation of Open Space Technology. Mark R. Jones Chief Executive Officer The Sunyata Group The Integral Wellness Group ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PO Box 58788 Renton, Washington USA 98058-1788 Phone: 425-413-6000 e-Mail: mark.r.jo...@sunyata.ws ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Justin T. Sampson" <jus...@krasama.com> Reply-To: OSLIST <osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu> Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 00:05:43 -0800 To: <osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu> Subject: My first time Howdy, So I held my first Open Space today, as I mentioned earlier. It was the regular monthly meeting of the Libertarian Party of San Francisco, which I serve as Chair. It felt great! There was lots of energy all the way through, people seemed engaged more than usual, and some really important things were discussed that had only been grumbled about before. Folks jumped right up when I invited them to offer topics in the opening. The physical space was really too cramped, but the group managed to split and recombine and morph and move around the room over the course of the meeting. I sensed a much greater commitment to action following the meeting than this group usually has. And the energy just kept going -- we usually meet formally 3-5pm and have a social hour 5-6pm that actually fizzles out by 5:30, but this time when I left at 6pm almost all of the 15+ attendees were still there talking. In almost every respect that I care about as a facilitator, this meeting was a great success... EXCEPT -- no one liked the process! There were no kind words, and a few nasty ones -- "we need more structure and leadership", "the format was horrible", "this was a bad idea." What's going on? Cheers, Justin * * ========================================================== 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