Hello Allen and All OS listers...for some unknown reason my messages from the OSlist ended up in cyberspace without me unsubscribing for the last 4 months and now they have returned. I guess it is time to pay attention again.
As others have suggested, I always recommend the sponsor include the theme...in fact to me, it is one of the most important elements of the pre-work. I remember some posts from Chris Corrigan from the past...Is it a theme that will grab people in the gut? We work on voluntary participation, so why would they come to the meeting if they did not know what was happening. In a recent meeting that I did for a client, there was a tremendous amount of work done before the meeting in coffee breaks, at the water cooler...what kind of things do you think we can talk about? I also encourage people to include a couple of questions to stimulate thought. Joelle is right, anything that they care about and have the courage to post will get posted, including at this last meeting, we need a meeting without management...in the end, they had the meeting that they would have had without management and waxed poetically about how safe they felt to speak their opinions without repercussion. I have also been recently involved in a research project based on a deliberative consultation methodology. The principle is that when people have the opportunity to reflect on their assumptions and then have a chance to test their assumptions with others in dialogue with others. there is often a shift of values. The measurement of the values pre and post meeting that we did in this project demonstrated a significant change of opinion as a result of dialogue. So, they may come with a "fixed" opinion, but the dialogue causes them to re-evaluate and sometimes shift....called perspective transformation (Jack Mezirow). Also, the other point is integrity, as Harrison pointed out. They have a right to know what it is we are asking them to invest their time in and a right to choose not to participate if that is not where their energy or interest is...the BIG law of two feet. Good luck with your meeting. Michelle Michelle Cooper RN, MScN Integral Visions Consulting Inc. 200 Crestview Avenue Ancaster, ON L9G 1E2 Tel: (905) 648-4633 Fax: (905) 648-1763 Toll Free (North America): 1-877-405-9918 www.integralvisions.com "Individuals can affect the world by becoming a model or an example in their small circle of influence. Just as a rock thrown into a pond causes ripples to gradually keep going out until eventually they are very small, so our acts influence the ecology of the entire human race." Stephen R. Covey, in Handbook for the Heart All outgoing messages have been scanned for viruses. This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential. If you have received this message in error, please delete it and any attachments immediately and notify Integral Visions Consulting at mcoo...@integralvisions.com . Thank you. -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu]On Behalf Of Harrison Owen Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 2:19 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: Does advance notice matter? At 05:55 PM 2/24/2003 -0800, BJ wrote: Hi Alan-- I often include the theme in the invitation. That hasn't seemed to harden positions, in my experience. --BJ Alan Stewart wrote: A query which has arisen for me is whether or not to suggest to the sponsor of a forthcoming forum that the participants be notified in advance of the theme settled on for the meeting. Addressing the theme chosen by the sponsor - expressed as a compelling question - could have substantial bearing on an industry which is in a state of real crisis. The participants will already have given a great deal of consideration to issues associated with the question. My hesitation about publicising the specifics of the theme in advance is that people may come with relatively firm positions. Whereas if they encounter it on the day there may be more spontaneity in their responses. I concur with BJ -- and would take it a bit farther. I think folks have a right to know what they are getting involved with prior to arrival. How else can they make an intelligent choice about coming? Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, MD 20854 USA phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
