Lena-- The thing which would be so great about an OS for 5000 (or whichever right people come!) is that so many people would have an experience of democratic methods and a self-organizing system.
Twenty years ago, when I was just beginning my consulting practice, we had a big community meeting in the small town where I live--around 100 people, which was considered a large meeting at that time, and a good number in a town of only a few thousand (and they came from all the major systems in the county, governments, NGOs, schools, etc.) Neither Future Search nor Open Space had been invented, but we wanted people to discuss in small groups, using brainstorming principles--not revolutionary, but really way ahead of where most organizations were at that time. So we provided a short and simple training session for the people who would lead and document each table group. Now these people, and many other participants, knew these simple methods and could take them back to their organizations. And it made a difference in the community. We had four such meetings during five years, and the communication and cooperation between different systems just grew and grew--until they no longer needed the annual meeting; they were strong networks all through the year. I think your idea is feasible as well as important. You will need plenty of space, for sure. And if the computers are not available, the American consultant Ronald Lippitt, who facilitated many community meetings, did very well for years first with hand-written notes and carbon paper, then with an old-fashioned ditto machine to copy notes, which he handed around to all the groups. I think that you will do well to pay no attention to remarks that OS does not work, or that you are promoting your own interest. You know the truth about what you are doing. And if the critics want to participate in an OS or two, then they can experience whether it works. Changing the world is not easy work--and many people the world over fear a situation where they cannot exercise control over the outcomes. I salute your tremendous energy and your big ideas! Love, Joelle * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
