Harrison-- Actually, just the opposite! I see people work and agonize so hard just to make all the sessions exactly the same length! So I think, let the times fall where they will.
:- Doug. On Tue, 2009-10-06 at 09:21 -0400, Harrison Owen wrote: > Douglas I can appreciate you concerns (people eating, deeper conversations, > etc.) -- but I can't for the life of me understand why the additional effort > that you made would add substantively to the resolutions of the concerns in > a way that wouldn't have just worked itself out naturally. People need to > eat -- Do it! People want to talk deeply -- Go for it! Sounds like working > much too hard! > > Harrison > > Harrison Owen > 7808 River Falls Drive > Potomac, Maryland 20854 > Phone 301-365-2093 > Skype hhowen > Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com > Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org > Personal website www.ho-image.com > OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the > archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > > -----Original Message----- > From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of douglas > germann > Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 10:00 PM > To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > Subject: Re: aperiodic grid? > > Michael-- > > Some of the things we considered in setting the times, or would consider > for an OS: > > o Some people had health necessity to eat promptly at Noon, so one > segment had to end then > > o Time we got done with the intro and got groups chosen > > o Desire to start with a longer, deeper conversation > > o Need to allow ample time at lunch for exploring the outdoors (natural > park setting) > > o Simply mixing up long and short times > > o Allowing people to choose whether their subject seemed to fit into a > longer or shorter slot > > o Shorter time slots after lunch fit better to keep the attention up and > give people more chance to meet with more people and get the exercise of > moving around > > o Sometimes it is difficult to work out exact same time slots for a > day--so instead of worrying about it all, we let the time slots fit the > day: intro is done at 10:00 and lunch is at 12:00? Fine, do two 60 > minute slots here and do the 75 or 90 minute slots later.... Whatever > time shows up is the right time.... > > On Mon, 2009-10-05 at 09:52 -0500, Michael Herman wrote: > > how did you decide on the times, doug? how does this sort of schedule > > not presuppose somehting about the rhythm of the day that we can't > > really know about in advance? > > Not necessarily, Michael. We could ask it another way: does rigid 90 > minute sessions presume that everything can and will fit well in those > time slots? Of course not. Neither will they fit in any pre-set time > slots. > > > > thinking another way, if the timing we post matters, then we'd best > > get it right. which would have to be pretty lucky. and if it > > doesn't matter, then why mess with it? > > Exactly. Do what creates the best feeling (not the same as what feels > good--see Christopher Alexander, The Nature of Order) for the day, and > don't worry about it any more. > > > > so, even as i've wondered about such arrangements, and tried > > occasionally (in minor ways, just to fit time slots to client > > constraints on total time) i don't know how we could ever make any > > standard at all. > > Right: No standards, other than what makes the day whole. > > > > for that matter, how do we decide between 1.5 and 1.0 and 0.75 and > > other same-length slots, other than some gut sense of what wants to > > happen, seems like it might work... or what will fit? > > Fit is part of it, and a big part. And, if you get your inviters > together and see what seems to make the day more alive, more whole, you > may be surprised to find that people will generally agree on the grid > variations. > > > > in short OS sessions we often have to choose between 1.5 and 1.0... a > > 3.0-hour block forces a choice between 2 x 1.5 or 3 x 1.0 sessions. > > Or 1 at 1.0, 1 at 1.5 and 1 at 0.5. The 0.5 for me adds some liveliness > to the mix, spice or punctuation. > > > i always thinik about this as a choice between depth and breadth. in > > more established groups and older issues, i usually opt for 1.5s.. in > > groups just forming, esp community groups with fewer connections, i > > tend toward 1.0s, so that we get more issues raised and more people > > meeting more others in more sessions. more voices. > > Yes, that speaks to me, too. > > > > > > anyway, what drove the creation of this schedule and what do you think > > happened differently because the times were all funny? > > > > m > > Funny? The humor, of course! <grin> Actually, the items listed above, as > well as a desire to fit the activities. > > So the 75 and 30 were conversations, the first one about the inviting > question of the retreat, the second asking for what threads people saw > in the earlier conversation. > > The 90 was lunch and time to explore the grounds (a large park with many > short trails through the woods nearby). The 15 (sorry for the typo) was > for aerobic activities and singing; the 60 was for art (the children > joined the adults for this activity); the 20 was a circle for > reflections on the day. > > So we were fitting the activities to the appropriate time slots. > Everything was pretty loose so that when things expanded there was time > available, and when they got done earlier, that was fine, too. Kind of > open space-like. > > :- Doug. > > > > > > > > -- > > > > Michael Herman > > Michael Herman Associates > > > > http://www.michaelherman.com > > http://www.ronanparktrail.com > > http://www.chicagoconservationcorps.org > > http://www.openspaceworld.org > > > > 312-280-7838 (mobile) > > > > > > On Sat, Oct 3, 2009 at 10:15 AM, douglas germann > > <76066....@compuserve.com> wrote: > > Hi-- > > > > Anybody use an aperiodic grid for OS? > > > > Here's what I mean: In the big room at an OS meeting, we can > > have many > > simultaneous conversations going on at once, and the physical > > space used > > varies comfortably with the size and needs of the group. How > > about time, > > too? > > > > A couple of weeks ago I facilitated an annual retreat for a > > Meeting of > > Quakers. It was opening some space, but was not OS. > > Nevertheless I think > > I learned something: We made the conversation time slots > > unequal: > > > > 10:15 75 min > > 11:30 30 min > > 12:00 90 min > > 13:30 150 min > > 13:45 60 min > > 14:45 20 min > > 15:05 Closing circle > > > > Has anyone tried something like this in OS? See any good in > > it? I think > > I want to try it again.... > > > > :- Doug. > > > > * > > * > > ========================================================== > > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > > ------------------------------ > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > > view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > > > * > * > ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist