I write a message to the OSLIST (2011 feb 11) on facilitation techniques and had some interesting feedback. These lines are the mixture of both. First message is in green. I tried to organise the pieces of the answers the best I could. I painted magenta the pieces that resonated strongest in myself. The thread even inspired a poem in Chris Corrigan that I'm copying in this other post. Hope this "proceedings" are helpful to you. I still am dubious about using/learning other techniques (unless one day I get delighted with a text or experience that really gets me convinced). Probably I'll keep singing, and try to spend more time in nature, just listening,... Thank you so much: Barry Owen, Lisa Heft, Mikk Sarv, Spark, Chuni Li, David Osborne and Chris Corrigan !
Optimal circumstances for OS are:
- clear, hot topic
- complex issues
- diverse participants
- passion and potential conflict
- urgence...
As weaker these characteristics are OS seems to work worse. So, as less such circumstances exist...Is it worth or really needed any kind of formal gathering?
'OS doesn´t work worse' if those particular characteristics are not there.
(Good news for me from Lisa.)
Or should we just let the organization self manage everyday?
There´s a much more open space for OS:
"I violate those "optimal circumstances" daily and am always glad I did.
Open Space always seems to bring out the "REAL" in people (best and worst), and so I find that even in less "urgent" circumstances, important things get done:
Deepens relationships
Solves problems you might not have known exist
I haven't yet found a time when Open Space hasn't served all participants well :-)"
Open Space can be used for knowledge sharing; coworking: designing an airplane door.
for unpacking the wisdom in a group to help them do their jobs in a way that has more impact and interconnectedness; and many other things. ...'OS doesn´t work worse' if those particular characteristics are not there.
People know Spirit Moves Mountain.
I use OS because It Moves That Mountain while other human-facilitated approaches don't seem to be able to work that magic with so much simplicity.
So, I'd rather continue to fully enjoy letting it move mountains.
Somehow the entire Universe seems to give us an answer whenever we humbly ask how it works.
I still wonder: in which circumstance that one could use OS would you rather another type of facilitation?
Myself I know very few about other techniques. - I had 2 World Café experiences. After both of them I felt that an OS event would have fitted and done the job much better. It felt like something just halfway anyhow,....
Your World Cafe experiences - it may have been like when we see something called OS that was not really OS, or was the wrong timing or time span or the facilitator saw the visible process but had not explored what is behind it - you know?
- I was also told some stories about Appreciative Inquiry
So World Cafe is a great tool but like OS - learning deeply about the art of the question and about that tool is to me really important before one uses it. I have seen it deliver great things in short time frames - like 2 hours to open up what is the data / the collective experience in the room. Many of these participant-driven dialogue tools are also used to open up ideas - then there are other really interactive processes for folks to cluster their thinking, reflect on it, see what it says to them and so on. So these tools are not always done in isolation but as part of a larger design - including sometimes several kinds of meetings for moving thoughts or projects forward, if appropriate.
Question for the people that know about and use other facilitation techniques... would you recomnend any resources that inform about them in a general way? That suggest such techniques for such circumstances,...?
Ralph Stacey’s / Brenda Zimmerman’s Agreement-Certainty Matrix sheds some light on this.
- When there is a high level of certainty about what will happen and agreement about what to do...go ahead and execute
- When there is uncertainty about what will happen and what to do....the situation is complex and self-organizing / Open Space is idealy suited
- When you’re far from certain and far from agreement your likely in the land of chaos.....where seeing what patterns are emerging through strategic sensitivity / and action taking might help make sense of the emerging patterns. (Usually all the characteristics you describe for optimal OS are naturally present in these situations)
Now I have a hunch our good friend Harrison would say all three of these activities are self-organizing and I would be hard pressed to argue that.
I do not feel you have to have a million tools to get business or to sell anything. But I do believe that it is important to learn the tools you feel you like - learn them very well. If you find a situation calls for something that you yourself do not do, it is such a wonderful opportunity for you to refer the work to a respected colleague who does those other things. You don't have to know and do everything, right?
There are wonderful participant-driven tools and processes for groups in addition to OS - using graphics, inquiry, movement, appreciative inquiry, kinesthetic modeling, mapping, storytelling and more.
I am guessing that if you love OS for what it brings to / out of a group you will love learning about these other similar tools and process as well.
______
WOSonOS in 'Swenmark' in 2003 in the large circle.
Mikk, you sang a song that you learned from a tree.
I will always remember that song, and that tree, and you.
You remind me that we can add song...and breathing...to this list of tools for our dialogue work with groups.
Dialogue with each other, dialogue within one's self, dialogue with one's body and other senses, dialogue with Mother Earth and nature, dialogue with the unknown and unknowable..
...which is also about...listening....
_____
I use all of them - OS, World Cafe, and Appreciative Inquiry, plus a bunch of others such as focus groups, quality improvement process, and sometimes straight-forward clear agenda-driven business meetings. I think each has its place depending on the objectives.
World cafe (or Knowledge Cafe) is a series of facilitated conversations for knowledge sharing on a topic typically pre-determined for the participants
Appreciative Inquiry is a philosophy and an approach to organizational development that emphasizes not solving the problems of the organization but amplifying what's best (the strengths) about the organization.
These tools all aim at encouraging dialogues and unleashing the positive energy of people although OST is probably the most organic and least directive.
One of the lessons I learned from OST is that we should not assume there is one person who knows the best way (the best question to ask, best process to go through, or best group of people to work on) - to resolve an issue or improve anything. This humility is a crucial step in opening the door of wisdom. I used to rely on myself a lot as a facilitator thinking I had to come up with the "right" process or a well-designed intervention to guide people to a solution. A page was turned for me as now I believe as long as we hold the space, respect people's free will, and trust the process, the group's collective wisdom is much more powerful than my own little brain.
OS as a process, an attitude, and a mind-set. It says "let it be." I can take that "let it be" spirit to any sessions I facilitate and turn it loose whenever I see the need for a rich and deep dialogue.
Complementary
They can work together. For example, we can open space to discuss what's great about our organization (Appreciative Inquiry) and how to leverage our strengths to create further success. On the other hand, I can see the potential of misusing these tools when the assumptions and expectations don't match
Maybe the comfort of staying so is pulling me to have this simplistic view :-)?
Sometimes it seems as if a facilitator should have more services to offer the client to "get a business", but in this case, wouldn´t one rather complement his/her own life with other stuff she really believes in and enjoys (...you got it, like singing !!! : -)
live, laugh & love :-)!
Eleder BuM31 Mind Mapping-Open Space Technology-Creativity
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