Open Space Technology - Stoking the Volcano of Actionable Creativity

A Toolbelt Blog Entry

by Leslie C. Lewis

If someone were to ask you to describe your business environment right now, what would you say? Unpredictable? Fast-moving? Fluid? Demanding? Yes! All of those words capture the moment, and strategizing requires an approach freed from set time frames, rigid methodologies, and linear thinking.

 I have found that Open Space Technology is the perfect planning tool for today’s shifting business ecosystem, meeting an enterprise’s external complexity while drawing on its internal capacity to engage the creativity and experience-derived acumen of its members.

 Here are a few key characteristics of Open Space:

• The agenda for a planning session/retreat is established in real time by EVERYONE at the meeting. You may think this is impossible. It is not.

• There is a starting question or theme that drives how people shape the agenda.

• Planning sessions/retreats can work with groups as small as 10 (some would say smaller) and as large as 1,000 (some would say larger).

• Each person has agency.

• Each person has accountability.

 Originated by Harrison Owen, it is particularly powerful when nobody knows the answer, the situation is complex, and the ongoing participation of a number of people is required to deal with the questions.

 Open Space always delivers on the following promises:

1. Every issue of concern to anybody will have been raised, if they took responsibility for doing that.

2. All issues will have received full discussion, to the extent desired.

3. Priorities will be set and action plans will be made.

4. A full report of issues and discussions will be in the hands of all participants.

My 3 Stories Consulting business partner, Deb Witzel, and I recently had the privilege of co-facilitating a company-wide Open Space retreat for CivicActions (CA), an open design and technology services company. Coming together for the first time since COVID, 115 CA employees convened in Denver and co-created 3 days of 50+ different meetings addressing the question “In what ways will we build a world that works for all, spark collaboration with one another, and inspire personal connection to the vision?” To find out more about this experience and what it might be like for you to engage with Open Space, read CA’s terrific blog post.

All too often, when coming together for planning sessions and retreats, we desire clarity, forward momentum, and unity of purpose, but fall short of the goal. Open Space cuts through disproportionate emphasis on less important agenda items and needless discussion by putting the power for innovation, decision-making and implementation directly in the hands of those responsible for outcomes. If you need to shift your business-as-usual to business-as-meeting-the-moment-and-beyond, consider using Open Space to spark the creative fire in your enterprise.

 #OpenSpaceTechnology; #StrategicPlanning; #OrganizationalDevelopment; #RestorativePractice; #LiberatingStructures

Compassionate Structures

A SchoolHouse BLOG ENTRY

by Leslie C. Lewis

As a consultant who embraces restorative processes in all of my work ranging from racial equity and healing to strategic planning and organizational development, I have often heard the terminology “creating a safe space” used to describe how organizers are going about bringing people together.

In fact, in these kinds of settings, there is no guarantee that you can create a safe space for everyone, as Gail Christopher, architect of the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation movement reminds us. It is impossible to know the backgrounds and histories of each person in the room, and therefore, it is impossible to know what might activate the legacy of someone’s hurtful past and cause them to shut down, react with extreme emotion, or simply remove themselves from the process.

The best we can do is to create a compassionate structure that upholds and values the common humanity shared by each person involved. There are many elements that form the bedrock of compassionate structures, however there are a few I check first in my design to make sure they are present:

Invitation – the opposite of coercion; each step of the way, individuals are invited, rather than directed, to respond to the various kinds of prompts and activities introduced to help move the group in its intended direction

 Agency – this is the ability of a participant to direct their own actions and take responsibility for themselves within the context of the meeting/project/circle/activity

 Equity – each participant is included in a way that allows them to be valued as the stakeholder that they are, and to have corresponding impact on the outcome or goal

 Transparency – clarity of purpose and intention and clarity of methodology that is reviewed and iteratively revisited, understood, and shared by participants

 The next time you feel tempted to use the words, “this is a safe space,” I invite you to shift into thinking about compassionate structure instead. Check to see if the above elements are true, and if so, welcome the genuine exchanges that are made possible as a result.

#wkkelloggfoundation; #truthracialhealingtransformation; #racialhealing; #StrategicPlanning, #OrganizationalDevelopment, #RestorativeRelationships, #RestorativePractice

What, So What, Now What

A Toolbelt Blog Entry

by Leslie C. Lewis

One of my favorite meeting tools from the Liberating Structures toolbox is the activity called What, So What, Now What (WSWNW). Based on everyone having had a shared experience of an event, process or project (not to be confused with having the same perspective on that event, process or project), it maximizes a group’s ingenuity by creating a common understanding of the history/facts of events (What), exploring the impact and meaning of those events (So What), and enabling a group to move into action planning (Now What) while avoiding misunderstandings, conflict, power imbalances and stagnation.

 How it Works: You can use it as an agenda for a regular staff meeting, at the end of a retreat, or at any stage in the unfolding of a project. You can also use it on a personal level to address anything important impacting you, your partner, and your family. Make sure you know what your subject is (e.g., the recent month’s implementation of a new communications program, the year-to-date strategic initiatives rollout, changing from a two-person income household to a one-person income household to take care of children or parents) before beginning.

 1.     Ask “What happened?” These are the facts, observations and data of what has transpired. This builds a shared understanding of the sequence of events and a story that everyone can “own.”

2.     Ask “So What?” What is the impact of what has happened? What is the meaning of what has happened? Why does it matter? This is how a nuanced, complex, and balanced understanding of events is made possible.

3.     Ask, “Now What?” What actions can we/do we need to take based on what we know?

You will be surprised at the efficiency of this process and how it can contribute to changing non-advantageous old patterns of behavior. The energy of your meeting/group will shift palpably as you move into a mode of shared creativity and forward thinking without leaving anyone behind. Try it and see what happens! Then let me know how it worked.

For more information about WSWNW and other Liberating Structures, please visit the Liberating Structures website.

#StrategicPlanning, #OrganizationalDevelopment, #RestorativeRelationships, #RestorativePractice, #LiberatingStructures, #Meetingmanagement, #Meetingplanning

ROR - Return on Relationship (Revisited)

A Viewfinder BLOG ENTRY

by Leslie C. Lewis

I have long had a guiding principle that helps me evaluate the effectiveness of my work – ROR, Return on Relationship. At the basis of any good, sustainable (sustainable being the key word here) policy or initiative, there must exist a web of generative relationships grounded in mutual respect, distributed power, and shared accountability.

Ted Rubin & Kathryn Rose originally coined the ROR term and used it as the title of their 2013 book that concentrated on marketing strategy, brand loyalty, and the value of building community. 3SC’s take on the meaningful ROR rubric shifts the focus of its lens onto internal, rather than external, connections.

 As a strategic planner and facilitator I am often called in to organizations to help in situations where intra-organizational conflict has caused harm (both personal and systemic), where structural impediments are resulting in stagnation, where the lack of equity is prohibitive to progress and there is a desire for change, or where visioning the path forward requires an outside perspective.

 The starting place in any of these situations is with people – who makes decisions and how, what communications processes are in place, what priorities are stated or hidden, and what power dynamics drive operations. Where is there harmony and where is there dissonance?  I find that development at this level always pays the biggest “dividends” in the end.

Whether you are embarking on a new strategic direction or simply looking to increase organizational effectiveness, look to the health of your internal relational network to help you gauge where you need to invest in order to boost your ROR. 

#ReturnOnRelationship, #ROR, #StrategicPlanning, #OrganizationalDevelopment, #RestorativeRelationships, #RestorativePractice