G'day. Over the years I have run a lot of future search type activities
often the focus has been to develop a series of vision statements etc. as we have got to the end of the time I have often asked people to look at the voting result and ask if it reflects What they would want personally. What they would like to see added On a very rare occasion it has sparked another line of thought and led people down a more useful path to a different result. Re open space. This has sparked a thought for me here about facilitation style. I wonder if this segment on convergence is a reflection of our facilitation style and not of the group need. If we as facilitators like closure (we may be operating out of our J in Myers briggs terms) then convergence may have a strong closure element If we as facilitators do not like closure (we may be operating out of our P in Myers briggs terms) then convergence may be about opening up the nextspace. Having a predisposition for the second rather than the first, I think I only go for closure if the group belts me around a bit until I hear what they want. ( remember - I am not good in the conscious world) Another spark. - If I remember Kelly's construct theory and the memory is vague - Our view of the future is a manifestation of what we know now. Therefore as we see and learn more our manifestation of the future may . So are the issues brought into an open space a reflection of the past (Jimbo's point ?). At the end of the event they may no longer be relevant. Regards denis At 10:44 29/05/00 -0700, you wrote:
Jim, Great story! I would second what several others have said about the focus of the "end of the day" work. For me, voting is a reductionist approach that throws people back into a mode of win-lose. I see the end of the day work as a time for synthesis, where the passions that have surfaced can come together in new ways that perhaps didn't exist before. It is a reason that I DON'T work with the posted topics at this stage. During the OS itself, the topics evolve. How often have you noticed that when people come together, the posted topic is the starting place but the discussion moves into different territory entirely? To me, you run the risk of staying locked in the old way of thinking when you use the original topic names. Instead, this closing time is a chance for new ways of seeing to emerge. The results are consistently more inclusive. I think this happens because what is most personal seems to also be most universal. This is a powerful discovery as people check into what they care most about and hear others express similar sentiments.
denis cowan , brisbane , australia. fax ** 61 7 32681869 tel ** 61 7 38363056 email: [email protected]
