Dear John,
you write:
"...Yes you could leave it, but really I think that is too many issues
to really be productive. Will people self organise and have the most
productive conversations they can?..."
This is what came to my mind:
"Can there be too many issues for folks to be productive?"
"Can people selforganise without having the most productive conversation
for themselves?"
And here some snips of my experiences around what I assume we are
talking about:
When participants listen to the issues of others I felt that this
listening would "filter" duplicates. Often, however, I noticed that
almost identical or only slightly different issues were posted. That
sometimes had the effect that the first person that offered the issue
suggested combining the new similar issue with the one posted first.
Sometimes this was agreed to and at other times it was not. This was
another puzzle for me to occupy myself with.
Then, I had the fortune of facilitating an os-event where folks spoke a
language I did not understand. Experiencing, how that "reduced" me to
what I now consider to be closer to my real tasks as an os-facilitator I
began to stop listening to the content of issues and increasingly got
disattached more and more from content (mind you, I am still grappling
with it).
And here some preliminary thoughts on a possible background for all
this, even though it reads quite a bit like "dogma" on second reading:
One of my little assumptions regarding the "effectiveness" especially of
os-facilitation (in contrast to other modes of facilitation that I
busied myself with for decades of OD work) is practicing what I espouse
as a fact of life I claim to have understood: There is nothing as
effective and (add your own adjectives) as selforganisation. Or,
stepping aside, abandoning control, etc. is the best invitation for the
awesome force of selforganisation to do its thing.
And this thought also is entereing my mind: All this has nothing to do
with trusting the participants or the process or the system. For some
reason it takes me outside the hierarchical implications of "trusting"
which satisfies my penchant for freedom, a bit.
Have a great weekend
Greetings from Berlin
mmp
On 30.01.2015 08:30, John Baxter via OSList wrote:
Having now read through, Harrison has clearly already looked in that
direction (and identified 'listening' as a priority)... : )
I think the "what would you do?" question is still really interesting,
if faced with such an abundance of issues. When it might be too late to
go back and hold a differently shaped space.
Yes you could leave it, but really I think that is too many issues to
really be productive. Will people self organise and have the most
productive conversations they can? I think if they have put that many
topics up, perhaps not...
The textbook facilitation training of illuminating the pattern for
others might be enough of an intervention? It might not be the best,
but it is what I would do...
"/Well, I see here we have very many topics. More than I expected!/
/With this many topics, most people will be in very small discussion
groups./
/It might be hard for people to attend the discussions that they want,
because there are so many to choose from./
/Keep in mind, by posting a topic, you are accepting responsibility to
hold a conversation on something that you are passionate about./
/
/
/It is up to you to choose what to do next, there are a few things that
might help you to have the best conversations that you need.../
/- you don't need to attend your own session/
/- you can remove your own session (but not those of anybody else!)/
/- you can work with others to combine sessions, or fold your own
session into theirs.../
/Feel free to use your imagination!/"
Something like that.
Having had my own session(s) forcibly joined with another, it is not
something I ever plan to do to others.
Cheers
*/John Baxter/*
/Cocreation Consultant & CoCreate Adelaide Facilitator/
jsbaxter.com.au <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/> | CoCreateADL.com
<http://CoCreateADL.com>
0405 447 829
|
@jsbaxter_ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_>
/Thank you to everyone who came, helped or spread the good word about
*City Grill*!/
/Summary and links: cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/
<http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/>/
On Fri, Jan 30, 2015 at 5:42 PM, John Baxter <j...@jsbaxter.com.au
<mailto:j...@jsbaxter.com.au>> wrote:
I haven't read through to the end of the thread, but before the
thoughts escape me...
How on earth did you get that many topics to begin with?
It does not help to work out what to do when you have them, but is
there something about the way the space was introduced that led to
an impracticably large number of issues?
I agree with others to trust in the process, but it only works when
the participants understand it well enough to make informed
decisions about
- whether and how and what to post a topic about
- whether and how to combine topics
- in general, how to make informed decisions
To self organise effectively, people need to understand what it
means to propose a topic (host a discussion), the implications of
their actions (being unable to attend other topics at the same time,
and having others who are at other topics unable to attend theirs),
etc. etc.
If I was a participant and I understood the nature of the gathering,
at least the essentials, I would NOT add another issue once we had
reached more than about 20. And in my experience, others wouldn't
either!
That is the direction I would be looking
*/John Baxter/*
/Cocreation Consultant & CoCreate Adelaide Facilitator/
jsbaxter.com.au <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/> | CoCreateADL.com
<http://CoCreateADL.com>
0405 447 829
|
@jsbaxter_ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_>
/Thank you to everyone who came, helped or spread the good word
about *City Grill*!/
/Summary and links: cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/
<http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/>/
On Thu, Jan 29, 2015 at 3:54 AM, Chris Corrigan via OSList
<oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
<mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:
Bang on accurate John!
--
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Harvest Moon Consultants
Facilitation, Open Space Technology and process design
Check www.chriscorrigan.com <http://www.chriscorrigan.com> for
upcoming workshops, blog posts and free resources.
> On Jan 28, 2015, at 8:54 AM, John Watkins via OSList
<oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
<mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:
>
> Chris,
>
> So it sounds to me as though you are saying something like
the framing of purpose and the tying together of harvest (to
build on what Jeff said) are what help all the micro
conversations to contribute usefully to the necessary diversity
of ways of thinking that create oblique views in order to be
able to address complex problems effectively. Is that accurate?
>
> John
>
>> On Jan 28, 2015, at 8:47 AM, Chris Corrigan via OSList wrote:
>>
>> You can get a lot of work done with two or three people
diving into a topic together even while there are three or four
similar topics being addressed.
>>
>> Dealing with complex issues requires taking an oblique view
of a problem and coming at it from different angles. It is
really good strategy to do this. 60 topics for 70 people could
be excellent
>>
>> What matters is your strategic architecture for following
up. What is the purpose of these micro conversations and what
will you do tho them. Perhaps having THAT clarity helps people
relax with the volume of topics.
>>
>> Chris
>>
>> --
>> CHRIS CORRIGAN
>> Harvest Moon Consultants
>> Facilitation, Open Space Technology and process design
>>
>> Check www.chriscorrigan.com <http://www.chriscorrigan.com>
for upcoming workshops, blog posts and free resources.
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Jan 27, 2015, at 9:51 PM, NigelSeys-Phillips via OSList
<oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
<mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Michael
>>>
>>> I have been actively wondering about this recently and
after a really
>>> interesting OS two weeks ago with a local bank I appreciate
for your
>>> thoughts
>>> In a couple of recent events - with the "issues and
opportunities" in the
>>> title and the invitation to raise any issues or topics the
participants feel
>>> strongly about - I have found myself (well, with
assistance) almost 'forced'
>>> to combine as mathematically there were just too many!
>>> With three sessions available and some 70 people we were
well above the 60
>>> odd issues....20 plus breakout groups per session....?
>>>
>>> I know, I know - stand back and let them sort it out...but
with 'new' groups
>>> and a day what have others done?
>>> My fear is allocating every single topic a breakout space
and 20+ groups per
>>> session the fragmented nature would mean limited results....
>>>
>>> I know, I know - stand back and trust the system.
>>> I am trying (I totally do trust the system which is what I
love about it)
>>> but it's hard
>>>
>>> And I really would welcome anybody's thoughts - what do I
do next time?
>>>
>>> Best regards from a hot and steamy Malaysia
>>>
>>> Nigel
>>>
>>> Nigel Seys-Phillips
>>> Fulcrum Business Management Solutions
>>> Tel: +65 9639 2510 <tel:%2B65%209639%202510>
>>> E-mail: ni...@fulcrum.com.sg <mailto:ni...@fulcrum.com.sg>
>>> www.fulcrum.com.sg <http://www.fulcrum.com.sg>
>>>
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>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: OSList [mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org
<mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org>] On Behalf Of
>>> Michael M Pannwitz via OSList
>>> Sent: Tuesday, 27 January 2015 6:55 PM
>>> To: Susan Partnow; World wide Open Space Technology email list
>>> Subject: Re: [OSList] Anticipating number of topics/sessions...
>>>
>>> Dear Susan,
>>>
>>> yes, thats my feeling too, 15 to 20 breakout spaces for 30
to 40 issues.
>>>
>>> Jeffs response on "combining or abandoning" topics got me
to reflect on
>>> the word "topic". From work wayback with structured
brainstorming I
>>> remember a group of 25 "generating" between 30 to 50 topics.
>>>
>>> With os crowds and my use of the word "issue" (with talking
a bit about
>>> what is meant with "issue" in contrast to "topic or idea or
something I
>>> am interested in", mentioning passion, urgency etc.) I find
that there
>>> was decreasing tendency of combining or abolishing.
Actually, when
>>> someone suggested to combine issues I would suggest in a
very low-key
>>> way that this was not illegal and add something like: What
might look
>>> and sound very similar often turns out to be different in
an important way.
>>>
>>> As a participant I have become quite uncomfortable,
irritated or even
>>> foaming when I had a facilitator go to the Bulleting Board
and "cluster"
>>> stuff... turning into a space invador. My reaction, I
suppose, got me to
>>> be cautious with "combining".
>>>
>>> How is your take on the impact of the "words" we use?
>>>
>>>
>>> Cheers and good luck with a very short event!
>>>
>>> mmp
>>>
>>>> On 26.01.2015 22:59, Susan Partnow via OSList wrote:
>>>> Hello dear OSers... I am planning a very short OS here in
Seattle at the
>>>> WOW (Women of Wisdom) conference - Sunday afternoon, Feb
15 - and trying
>>>> to call the rule of thumb for anticipating the likely
number of sessions
>>>> to plan for - We have two brief OS times and expect ~100
participants.
>>>> Any educated guesses as we plan for delineating break out
spaces? Thanks!
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Susan Partnow
>>>> Sr. Certified Facilitator, Compassionate Listening
>>>> Founding Director, Global Citizen Journey
>>>> 4425 Baker Ave NW
>>>> Seattle, WA 98107
>>>> tel. 206-783-8561 <tel:206-783-8561>
>>>> fax 206-782-7786 <tel:206-782-7786>
>>>> www.globalcitizenjourney.org
<http://www.globalcitizenjourney.org>
<http://www.globalcitizenjourney.org>
>>>> Join our mailing list
>>>>
>>>> www.susanpartnow.com <http://www.susanpartnow.com>
<http://www.susanpartnow.com> Partnow
>>>> Communications, Organizational Development & Workshops
>>>>
>>>> www.conversationcafe.org <http://www.conversationcafe.org>
<http://www.conversationcafe.org> Co-Founder
>>>> www.compassionatelistening.org
<http://www.compassionatelistening.org>
<http://www.compassionatelistening.org>
>>>> Certified Facilitator and Core Council
>>>> www.thataway.org <http://www.thataway.org>
<http://www.thataway.org> National Coalition on
>>>> Dialogue & Deliberation Advisor
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>> --
>>> Michael M Pannwitz
>>> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
>>> ++49 - 30-772 8000 <tel:%2B%2B49%20-%2030-772%208000>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 403
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>>> Space Workers in 69 countries working in a total of 143
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Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 403 resident Open
Space Workers in 69 countries working in a total of 143 countries
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