i'll be curious about this, too, michael. wondering what will be done with these next step sheets, assuming they are to be returned to some central place, posted on the wall, included in the report.
as i did a smallish, 60 people, open space these last two days on region food security, i was contemplating this whole question of action. what i think i've concluded for the moment is that inviting attention is important, and action is ultimately required, but the way to get action is to support connections. it's easy enough to identify and even capture and write down a short list of specific actions in these ways. i love this way you're going to do this. and... more than specific actions, i'm interested in ongoing action, and so i think this takes ongoing support for connections. this is why i'm asking about what will be done with the actions. and more, i wonder what will be done with those "things i want to do" that don't pop up until two days later. in this food security summit over the weekend, we created the usual document, but we also posted all of the proceedings to a weblog at http://www.foodsummit.org. we then invited people from the group to volunteer to be stewards of this. we invited everyone to go back to their organizations and get webmasters to link to the new site, reciprocally. i will be having a short orientation call with 8 volunteers who will each be keeping eyes and ears open for new invitations and other news items. everyone will be invited to join a mail list, so that they can receive posts by email if that's their preference. in this way, the "wall" can stay open, and whenever anybody comes up with "things i want to do" then they'll be able to post to the ongoing record (through one of the volunteer webmasters) and alert the rest of the community. they've chosen dates for another summit next year and everyone can be inviting people to join that, by inviting them to check out the website, and join the email list to receive news that way if they like. in this way, we're focusing on supporting connections more than identifying actions. i'm wondering what others are doing to support connections after the event, in some ongoing ways that can support ongoing conversation (and the actions that automatically arise), especially in diverse community-wide sorts of groups. michaelh On 1/28/06, Chris Corrigan <[email protected]> wrote: > I agree with you on the non-linearity of action arising. I'll be curious to > see the results of this experiment... > > Cheers, > > Chris > > > On 1/27/06, Michael M Pannwitz <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dear Chris, > > for some time I have been wondering how I ever felt got stuck on the > > notion that there is a linear sequence such as first we talk and then we > > plan in the context of OST gatherings (what sometimes has been described > > as divergence followed by convergence). > > Theory but more so experience in some 200 OST events (and more > > importantly in zillions of everyday life experiences) I have been > > involved in seems to indicate that its not a linear sequence but > > productively chaotic with action and action planning and discussion and > > story telling and whatever else we are engaged in happening > > simultaneously throughout the process. > > Having discussed this with colleagues and clients over the last weeks we > > will try the following in a one day event with 130 participants this > > coming Monday in Berlin (participants from various agencies connected in > > a network with a focus on counselling immigrants searching for a job), > > an event where I would not have suggested or suggest a separate action > > planning: > > Parallel to the design with 4 timeslots and 9 breakout spaces (time and > > space for at least 36 issues)and the usual report sheets posted at the > > newswall a "Next Step" sheets will be available from the very beginning > > (usually employed in a seperate action planning phase at the end of the > > event). > > The "Next Step" sheet has the following structure: > > -Vorhaben (which is the german for "something that I want to do" and a > > broader term then project, close to "intention" but a bit more towards > > something that actually will be done) > > -people taking part (participants can enter their names) > > -Next Step (who,what,when,where, how) > > -Contact person > > During the introduction to the process I will point out that the Next > > Step sheets are available on a separate section of the newswall, so that > > everyone will be able to see the emerging Next Step sheets with the > > possibility of adding ones name or other Next Steps on the sheet. These > > sheets will simply become part of the Book of Proceedings (high speed > > copying machines making it possible to hand out the Book after the > > closing circle even in a one day event). > > > > Will let you know how this went. > > Greetings from Berlin > > mmp > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Chris Corrigan wrote: > > > In my continuing quest to find ways to support action coming out of OST > > > events, I put together a little thought for a client today which I > > > thought I'd share with you folks... > > > > > > The conference we are doing is two days of talk and networking on Fetal > > > Alcohol Syndrome. A couple of hundred people will be coming together to > > > discuss what they are doing and to find others interested in their > > > work. It is a learning conference with no expectation for anything > > > concrete, like a strategy opr a statement, but rather the importance is > > > on maximizing face time between practitioners. Something like an > OSonOS. > > > > > > Some of the folks on the planning committee though want to support > > > action that does flow from the conference and they have asked for the > > > container to hold some energy and intention for this without the > > > conference becoming about 200 people trying to come up with one action > > > plan. No need for prioritising or even a non-convergence type reopening > > > of the space. I think this is a very real need and a very realistic > > > expectation. > > > > > > So today we started playing with two ideas, one new and one old. The > > > old one is to simply add to the small group summaries form a place for > > > people to record next steps. The new idea is to create an action market > > > place next to the news wall. This is no more complicated than a > > > community bulletin board, in that people can feel free to post any bits > > > and pieces of action that they want to invite others to join. The > > > advantage of this system is that it allows a finer grain of action to > > > come forward, so for example, while there may be some conversations that > > > emerge in the event about what to do next, the action market place could > > > hold much smaller pieces that would otherwise be lost. Action around a > > > follow up conference would stand alongside an invitation to join one or > > > two people in writing a new brochure, or meeting for coffee next week to > > > continue a conversation. > > > > > > I think this approach could work in all OST gatherings, and might even > > > be especially useful in gatherings where action planning is a part of > > > the process. Then you end up with action planning taking the group in > > > one large general direction, but the individual passion and > > > responsibility for little things also in play. > > > > > > Cheers, > > > > > > Chris > > > > > > -- > > > > > Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg > > Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany > > ++49-30-772 8000 > > www.boscop.de www.michaelmpannwitz.de > > > > Check out the new Open Space World Map now with 381 resident Open Space > > Workers in 66 countries (working in a total of 119 countries worldwide) > > www.openspaceworldmap.org > > > > * > > * > > > ========================================================== > > [email protected] > > ------------------------------ > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > > view the archives of [email protected]: > > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > > > > > -- > > CHRIS CORRIGAN > Consultation - Facilitation > Open Space Technology > > Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot > Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com * * > ========================================================== > [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, > unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To > learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist -- Michael Herman Michael Herman Associates 300 West North Ave #1105 Chicago IL 60610 USA Phone: 312-280-7838 [email protected] skype: globalchicago http://www.michaelherman.com http://www.globalchicago.net/wiki http://www.openspaceworld.org Executive Facilitation ...getting the most important things done in the easiest possible ways. * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
