Thanks for sharing your wonderings, Lucas, and thanks to everyone for this conversation.
What popped into my mind is the dance between Process and Content. As a former therapist, long time circle practitioner, and blender and scaler of methods for strategic collaboration, I have spent much of my career identified as a Process consultant. What I love about the Open Space App is that it positions the participants to be both the Content and the Process experts. I have facilitated and participated in Open Space events where it was all about the conversations and others where it was about co-learning and still others where it was all about a call to action. Sometimes there’s a mix of these along with an intention to engage with whatever emerges, as Peggy Holman might say. For me, what emerges from conversations or presentations or action planning is what brings life to any collective endeavor. And I especially love the way Open Space creates the conditions for people to focus on whatever content has meaning for them while consciously experiencing self-organization. Lucas, I do not give advice to the session hosts about the types of formats their breakout sessions might take. I have always found that the law of two feet, whether it is enacted or not, plants a powerful seed for people to take responsibility for their own experience. One of Harrison’s many gifts to the evolution of human consciousness. Warm wishes from a fragrant Phoenix evening, Christine Sent from my iPad Namasté, Christine Christine Whitney Sanchez, M.C. Phoenix, AZ, USA • +1.480.759.0262 www.innovationpartners.com <http://www.innovationpartners.com/> www.christinewhitneysanchez.com <http://www.christinewhitneysanchez.com/> Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/ChristineWhitneySanchez> | LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinewhitneysanchez> | Twitter <https://twitter.com/CWhitneySanchez> On Mar 22, 2015, at 6:33 PM, John Baxter via OSList <oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: I agree with Jeff's take. The quality of conversations will depend on the quality of those hosting them (not just the session proposers, but whoever there takes responsibility). Experience helps in the long term. Good examples are good too. This is one of the reasons I resist the 'neutral host' facilitator role, because I know I can demonstrate good hosting of a session (as, hopefully, can other OST facilitators), and I know how valuable this is. As far as other interventions... In principle I guess you could host a session on hosting conversations... but I suspect nobody would turn up. I don't think anyone has spoken out explicitly about saying "have conversations, not presentations". But I will. Don't. There are limited things a host is able to give instructions on, and this is not one of them. This is the biggest thing that inexperienced hosts tend to do that really ruffles my feathers, whether OST or otherwise - my 'favourite' is converences that are just like all the others, but those at the start say by way of doomed instruction "we want this to be a different conference, one where we have real conversations and talk about action". What happens will be usefully defined by the container and those present (and the behaviours they model); adding instructions like these just adds stress between those who will do it how they will, and those trying to follow the instructions. Not productive. Disempowering. Yuck. Another reason is... there is nothing wrong with presentations. Who has been to a Bar Camp? The two that I've been two were a great unconferences (close enough to Open Space if not by the book), that everyone enjoyed, which were virtually entirely presentations. That's what that culture values. 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 Mon, Mar 23, 2015 at 2:34 AM, Jeff Aitken via OSList <oslist@lists.openspacetech.org <mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote: One response is: practice. People gain more facility at hosting a breakout and participating in a breakout by doing more of them and learning. So I'm interested in fostering a culture of interaction and learning. I love the Fourfold Practice in the Art of Hosting for this reason. As a simple potent framework for practice and learning these arts of participatory leadership. Hosting oneself, participating, hosting conversation, and cocreating a community of learning. Open space is a fine space for practice of all these. I can offer tools at each breakout space such as notepads and even creativity tools like clay and pipe cleaners and the like. Yet what happens is always ... the only thing that could've. What I can say as I open space is limited and I don't know that people are really hanging on every word. So I tend to take a longer term view and hold space for trying and learning and trying some more. Thanks for the inquiry! Jeff -------- Original message -------- From: Paul Nunesdea via OSList Date:03/22/2015 8:23 AM (GMT-08:00) To: Lucas Cioffi ,World wide Open Space Technology email list Subject: Re: [OSList] Great formats for breakout sessions? Hi Lucas, Spot on. I have seen this happening, the energy gets wasted, specially in small OS seems that social pressures inhibits the Law of two feet. Wonder if the same happens in virtual OS, where people can actually leave the "virtual rooms" without any social pressure... Thanks for such well thought questions. Best Paul From my iPad On 22/3/2015, at 15:10, Lucas Cioffi via OSList <oslist@lists.openspacetech.org <mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote: > Hi All, > > I checked the OST User's Guide and the OS List archives, but I didn't find > any mention of what format the breakout sessions can/should take. > > During some but not all OS events I've attended, facilitators have mentioned > that breakout sessions should be conversations rather than presentations. > > The OS philosophy would say "there's no need to suggest how to run a breakout > session" and "empower the participants to choose their own formats for each > session" and "do less" and "it just happens". However, we all know from > firsthand experience that some breakout sessions are more personally > satisfying/rewarding than others, just as some 3-person coffee break > conversations during normal conferences are better than others. > > Here are some potential problems with breakout sessions if they are > implemented poorly by participants: > There can be too many sub-topics for the breakout session so some ideas do > not get brought up at all. Most of the time people do not brainstorm all the > topics at the beginning of a session and they dive right into the discussion > of the first issue that comes to mind. So they don't ever know all the > topics that are on everyone's minds. > Some people do no feel comfortable for various reasons related to > introversion, discrimination, or office politics, so they never speak up. As > facilitators, we know ways to avoid this but the participants may not know > how to avoid these meeting pitfalls. > One person dominates the discussion. The built-in remedy for this is that > everyone else votes with their feet and leaves to form their own breakout > session later, but sometimes this doesn't happen and it's simply a lost > opportunity for everyone. > Here are my questions for the group: > 1. What formats to the breakout sessions usually take at events that you > facilitate, and are some of these formats better than others in your opinion? > 2. What formats could breakout sessions take? Someone usually starts with > why they convened the session, but then what usually happens? What could > happen? > 3. What meeting tools/aides/games can help improve the quality of breakout > sessions? > > Thank you for your insights! > -- > Lucas Cioffi > Facilitation Community of Practice on QiqoChat <http://dialogue.qiqochat.com/> > Charlottesville, VA > 917-528-1831 <tel:917-528-1831>_______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org > <mailto:OSList@lists.openspacetech.org> > To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org > <mailto:oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org> > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > <http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org> > Past archives can be viewed here: > http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org > <http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org <mailto:OSList@lists.openspacetech.org> To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org <mailto:oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org <http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org> Past archives can be viewed here: http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org <http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org Past archives can be viewed here: http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
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