Dear Jim, Thanks for sharing your experiences, and in a culture that I have really no experience in, it sounds like you're doing very well! It's interesting that your points are on voting, because I think I and my colleagues in Scotland often come across OS ( when we do, which is not that often) used with no obvious ending, conclusion, continuation etc. In the corporate sector, we always come on hard about conclusion, and usually make quite a fuss about voting, and a presentation of the results ( say, the top 8 or so priorities - we are usually working on strategy). I had a difficult time just last week, mainly due to the group being totally unprepared, some academics, etc., but they all loved the voting! It was interesting how especially the very obvious and clear priorities were studied for some time afterwards ( and the venue wanted us out!) by the younger, and also female participants. I don't think we've had a great rush to sign up for further work, and so no problem about who takes responsibility, but your experience is interesting. With regard to combining of topics, the only similarity I can think of is participants wanting the whole list looked at so there isn't too much duplication - however, i think I've learnt that to keep people's own wording is very important,
Thanks for your story - i enjoyed it! Eddie Palmer Open Futures EDINBURGH www.openfutures.com
