Hi, Jason -- Welcome !
Jason wrote: <My main question is how OS could fit in when they are used to open plenary debate followed by hand votes? They need formal decisions for the democratic governance of their communities but OS does not seem to provide such clear conclusions. Am I missing something? Are there any good examples of how OS could slide nicely into some kind of voting process?> I'm on the road with shifting access to email, so maybe others have answered this but here's a thought: Maybe it would be useful for you to read some peoples' thoughts on convergence. Yes, you can include various forms of decision-making or action planning at the end of an OS - but my recommendation is to be very clear whether it is needed - or just assumed that that is the way to go. Often just the process of dialogue is important, then letting folks 'percolate' on that - and have some more...without feeling that every single dialogic situation has to end in / be measured by a vote. Sometimes the dialogue is essential first to pool the data needed for good clear decision-making, then a bit of time for reflection. Then decisions. Other times, yes, it's quite appropriate to engage in dialogue specifically for participatory decision-making - then the issue is which design to choose for making decisions. Take a look at these papers on my site for those thoughts on convergence... "Convergence: A Conversation" http://www.openingspace.net/openSpaceTechnology_method_resources_Convergence_A_Conversation.shtml "Convergence Approaches" http://www.openingspace.net/openSpaceTechnology_method_resources_Convergence_Approaches.shtml As you're new to OS, you might like to take a look at some of the other papers on my website, see: Open Space Technology / The Method -or- http://www.openingspace.net/openSpaceTechnology_method.shtml And you might want to take a look at the Gallery portion of the website as well to see photos and explore the captions there: http://www.openingspace.net/gallery/agora.cgi?cart_id=6226101.32435*Gl8qP5&xm=on&product=Anatomy_of_an_Open_Space_Event Ask us a million questions - we look forward to supporting your learning and your use of Open Space, Lisa ___________________________ L i s a H e f t Consultant, Facilitator, Educator O p e n i n g S p a c e [email protected] www.openingspace.net * * ========================================================== [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
