Author: Tenneson Woolf

I’m in a conversation now with several colleagues about shifting the model for designing large conferences. There is the lovely group of IONS, The Institute of Noetic Sciences, that offers biannual gatherings that seem to attract 1,000 or so participants. There is another lovely group, the Disciples of Christ, that convenes annually for general assembly, a group I’m told is 3-5 thousand. And Pegasus with the Systems Thinking in Action Conference, another annual event that attracts 1,000 or so. And PEJE, The Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education, at which there were 1,200 or so that gathered in April 2008. And from my previous work in an academic setting, “hybrid” conferences that mixed presentation with interaction. These are the ones I have direct experience with — and very strong learning in / with each.

Why this focus on large conferences? As colleague Sharon Joy Kleitsch of the Connection Partners spoke it with me recently, “the conference model is dead.” Her statement is provocative and when she speaks, I listen. It is a statement born from the hunger of more powerful learning and possibility. It is born from a taste, which Sharon Joy and many have had in participative events that make it hard to go back.

Large conferences are often designed from a perspective of providing expertise, usually in the form of keynote presentations and breakout groups. All of these are good of course. The content typically isn’t the issue. they are delivery models — often mostly about getting water to the end of the row. However, what is missing is the learning that comes from deep engagement, as I’ve heard Tom Hurley, Jaunita Brown and others speak it. It is the kind of learning that is interactive. The kind that is grown from most simple conditions of current adult learning theories. Rather than a model of irrigating, the model here might be making rain.

For me, the inquiry into conference design is grounded in living systems perspectives, and a bunch of what if questions. What if we start with these worldviews…

It begins with (I learned these with Meg Wheatley over many years).
– organizations are living systems (conferences too)
– living systems have the capacity to self-organize — “order for free” as Meg and Stuart Kaufman and others speak it
– if we could learn more about how life organizes itself, how might that change the way we organize human endeavor? (organize in simple ways, conditions for interactions at conferences too)

It is grounded in (a few anyway)…
– the wisdom we need is already in the room (1,000 of us as colearners and coteachers — yes, Wow!)
– if you want a system to have more health, connect it to more of itself (conversation is one form of connection and a dandy at that)
– living systems move to higher order, but use messes to get there (oh to think of how any and all of these groups can lead out on long-term views of what large conferences can be. Imagine in 10 years of large conferences couldn’t be done without deep engagement)
– living systems participate in the development of their neighbors (we are each others harvest as Gwendolyn Brooks said (to participate is to interact at conferences)

It is amplified by(principles I’ve learned and practiced with friends in the Art of Hosting community of practice…
– be present (what can this be at all levels of scale in a conference? Shared meditation? A pause to begin and transition between sessions? Open times?…)
– have a good question (speaking not only the content questions but the process questions. What are we doing here? How could we deepen into ____? Why does this matter in the world?…)
– choose a listening tool (interactive methods are all forms of listening tools — cafes, circles, open space sessions, appreciative inquiry sessions, journaling — to mix the personal with the communal, that art is you will, is oh so sweet)
– harvest (deliberately at all levels including content, process, relationships, and energy and to invite others to be interacting with that harvest. As Chris Corrigan calls it, artifacts with feedback loops. Artifacts that are portable and usable. Feedback loops that invited new meaning. Poetry, slam poetry, visual artistry — so much of how this is done).
This is an inquiry that will go on. I recognize my own intent in this is to move with more boldness, having experimented with a few tinkerings. In hearing Sharon Joy’s voice, I can feel my imagination blow wide open with possibility — with simple elegant steps that move us into the next level of what is really possible in large convenings. And with that, wow, perhaps we are able to evolve to a next significant level of deeping relations, learning, and work in ways that makes profound difference in local communities and in global learning and friendship networks.

Deep expertise. Deep engagement. Making rain.

Simply too good to pass up. From Susan Szpakowski of the Shambhala Institute:

“The high-fliers see the patterns, draw the maps, distill the principles. If left on their own they can become too abstract, out of touch, irrelevant. The poets sense the field, sing songs of love and longing and truth. If left on their own, they can become sentimental, self-absorbed, fuzzy, irrelevant. The tillers get the work done, move the boulders and clear the field. If left on their own their actions lead to nowhere, leave no tracks of learning, and sacrifice heart to outcomes.”

This comes from an email discusion about the use of language, it’s accessibility, and the need for action. It is occuring on the art of hosting listserve. It started with a post that questioned at some level whether these great ideas, these practices of learning in groups, work with lay people doing real work.

My feelings now are very much influenced by my recent experience. I’m just returning from a Union Development Staff Meeting for CUPE, the largest union for public employees in Canada. It was three and a half days. There were at varied points, anywhere from 30 – 50 of us. One of the reasons I love this group is that they get to work. They invite us to be hosts and offer the pattern of learning that is called “the art of hosting.” They are excited. But they are there to work. Our days with them moved from arrival and open heart, to deepened learning, to rolling up our sleeves, to getting it out of the room and into the world. The third day was spend completely in openspace, concluding with an action planning session. Our purpose was to focus on developing local union leadership — what could this also be? These are people whose entire movement is a call of action to equality, fairness, equity, safety, health, well-being, wholeness, social justice, protection of minority rights, and social change. The outcomes of this particular meeting include simple next steps for a variety of national and provincial programs: rolling out a literacy program, union steward workshops, coaching programs for union executives, developing young leaders, improved use of online collaboration and learning programs, wellness, and core communication materials.

I saw many tillers in this room. And some beautiful high fliers. And some beautiful poets. One of the things that stands out to me from our closing circle were a few comments by the self-defined cynics. They were people who came in suspecting that this work would be too touch-feely. Yet they left with keen appreciation for relationships created AND the work that was created and organized from these friendships. They notice the language. Some reject it. And some just find their own that works.

This particular gathering included stewards, member reps, education reps, development leaders, staff, managers. And it included representatives from other unions, from other departments. People with faces. Real jobs. Real aches. Real hungers. I carry with me many images — people, tillers. One in particular. Dennis, a very large french Canadian man with thick hands, a deep husky voice, a great sense of humor, and an ear to ear smile. He’s the kind of guy that you want on your team and at your back. He is not the kind of guy that I sense relates to the language of the Art of Hosting. And it didn’t really matter. Or, perhaps I should say — in this format, it inevitably didn’t matter. If it were only a 2 hours meeting, this would be different, and designed differently. In the end, he was a bell ringer, and deeply appreciative of the days spent together. A tiller that also got a chance to have his poetness and high flyerness show up. A learning for me is that the language may be different — fine. Sometimes to a detriment and sometimes as a disturbance that gets attention. Whatever words we use to describe what happens – field, open heartedness, open space, holding space, and all the others that I use — it helps put people to work. Tillers, high fliers, and poets.

Below is an email that came out through the OS listserve. It announces Harrison Owen’s new book, Wave Rider, published by BK. I’m posting it here because I love the clarity of description on experiment. When I think of what OS is, and how I describe it to others, this little post is exceptionally good. I like the focus on self-organization with OS as one of the ways to work with the reality of self-organization.

“On September 12, 2008, Berrett-Koehler will
publish my new book, Wave Rider: Leadership for High Performance in a Self
Organizing World. As I explained to my publisher, Steve Piersanti, this is the
book I have been waiting to write because it represents my final report on my
participation in a grand natural experiment.

The experiment, of
course, is that ridiculously simple way to elegant gatherings, Open Space
Technology. As you may know, the creation of OST was not a labor intensive
activity. In fact it appeared in my mind on the strength of two martinis in the
time it took to drink them. That was 23 years ago, and in the intervening period
millions of people from 134 countries have discovered that if you will sit in a
circle, create a bulletin board, open a market place, and go to work — some
fairly incredible things are likely to happen. Massively complex issues can be
dealt with in amazingly short periods of time. Intense conflict can find useful
paths of resolution. And it seems to happen all by itself. There are even
recorded cases where the sole facilitator took a nap!

I have no way
of knowing what all these people thought about their experience, but I found it
profoundly mystifying. How could something so simple do so much? Considered
against the dominant theory and practice of organization and meetings, such
things not only could not happen, they should not happen. But it did and it
does.

Over time it occurred to me that the magic was not Open Space
Technology, but something infinitely more powerful and profound: the elemental
force of Self Organization. For whatever reason, I have had a lifetime
fascination with the great cosmic dance of chaos and order. My 1965 thesis could
have born the title, “Chaos, Order, and the Creative Process,” for that was the
central theme. As the evolving science of chaos and complexity matured I found
myself mesmerized by the elegant insights of the physicists, chemists and
biologists who were pushing that frontier – particularly when they identified
the phenomenon of self organization as a critical player. It all seemed so
counterintuitive — and disturbingly compelling when it occurred to me that
something of the same sort could be happening every time we sat in a circle and
created a bulletin board. But they were doing High Science, and we just
convening meetings. And that is where that funny thing called OST became a
natural experiment for me.

The question was: If the primal force of
self organization lay at the heart of the Open Space experience could we learn
to leverage it for our benefit and align our endeavors with its massive power? I
think the answer is yes, not just as a theoretical possibility but in very
practical ways which might enhance our performance and expand our possibilities
in this turbulent, confusing and wonderful world. In a word, we might learn to
surf the waves of primal power to become Wave Riders.

The book
comes in two parts. The first states the case, and Part II makes the
application. If your predilection is theoretical start at the beginning and read
forward. On the other hand, if your preference is practical, skip Part I and
head straight for Part II: The Wave Rider’s Guide. I make no pretence that this
is the “final word” — indeed I hope it is but a beginning. But it will get you
started, and the rest is up to you.”

To add to the choice of harvests…

Nancy Margulies
http://www.nancymargulies.com/
I met Nancy in the early 90s, working together at Berkana Institute dialogues. She is a brilliant thinker and artist. Nancy is pioneering remote recording in forms of videos, live tablet drawings, and others. I love her work, and in this remote sense, commitment to lowering carbon footprint. Nancy also has great books and resources to strengthen the graphic recorder in all of us.

Frankie James
http://www.frankejames.com/debate/?p=109
Nancy Margulies told me to check Frankie James, in particular her visual essays. Nice harvest options here.

The World Café
www.theworldcafe.com
Includes a resource directory for visual recorders.

International Visual Practitioners Forum
www.ifvp.org
Really easy interface to find graphic recorders.

Julie Stuart
www.makingideasvisible.com
Georgia
Julie and I are with a team hosting and harvesting a one-day retreat, including a world café, for the Greater Miami Jewish Federation

Nancy White
www.fullcirc.com
Washington
Nancy and I were with a team hosting and harvesting conversation spaces at the Pegasus Systems Thinking in Action Conference, November 2007

Steven Wright
http://www.wrightmarks.com/
Washington
I’ve worked with Steven many times. He is brilliant!

Janine Underhill
www.idea-360.com
Colorado
She harvested and made sense of a good piece of work in Denver in 2014-2015. Well done.

Martha McGinnis
http://www.marthamcginnis.com/
Georgia
I haven’t met Martha but became aware of her through IVPF.

Stephanie Crowley
Chrysalis Studios
Texas
Have a look at her 2 minute video, time lapsed to see a great version of what can happen.