Transition Pasadena
  • Home
  • Our Projects
  • News
  • Get Involved!
  • Calendar of Events

View From the Piano: The Time is Ripe For...

7/8/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
I've noticed that I don't have to explain to people I meet what sustainability is about. It seems to be on everyone's mind and certainly that's true for Climate Change. I think it's a good time for a community brainstorm. This could be any community and any group of people large or small.
 
I've been thinking about this for years and my preferred way to do it would be something called Open Space. The following is a paraphrase taken from the website <www.openspaceworld.com>
 
Open Space (Technology) is a simple way to run productive meetings, for five to two thousand or more people. It's also a powerful approach to leadership in any kind of organization, for everyday practice and during turbulent change.
 
This is not electronic technology but simply a way to organize people in space and time. In the most common form of Open Space meeting, every issue of any importance, to any person           willing to take some responsibility for it, gets posted on the community bulletin board, sometimes called the Marketplace wall. As work on those issues progresses, notes and other products get posted as well.  Simple enough on the surface but with depth that just keeps on going.
 
After more than thirty years and in more than 140 countries, Open Space has been a daring and marvelous exploration of the vastness and the urgency of personal and organizational transformation. For others, it’s just an exceedingly effective, and efficient, meeting methodology.
 
What sets open space apart from anything else I've participated in is the complete hands off from the organizer(s) to the participants. Because the agenda is completely participant driven, the "real meat" of an issue quickly rises to the surface where it can be discussed and solved in a respectful and open manner. Rarely will management ever hand over that much authority to front line "staff".
 
An Open Space event begins with a provocative question or theme that participants have a stake in. For example, how can Pasadena residents create a more sustainable community in the face of resource depletion and environmental degradation? Here are a couple descriptions to give you a better picture of Open Space:

The Village Market Place.
After the organizer hands off the process, self selecting participants create groups to discuss aspects of the theme. Using the sustainable community example above, someone wants to lead a group around issues of transportation. That person would post the name of the group on the wall. Someone else might want to discuss the issue of conservation. As people come forward and post their group names on the wall, this becomes the marketplace.
 
Rule of Two Feet.
Once there are no more new groups then everyone in the room is told to self select a group that most appeals to them. Then groups move off to start their discussions. It's possible that a group member might realize they don't want to be in a particular group. That person must employ the Rule of Two Feet and leave the group. Nothing needs to be said. Just leave and return to the Marketplace to choose another group. 
 
If this kind of a meeting sounds appealing to you, please email me back at dcutter@aceweb.com
 
----David Cutter
 
 
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe To Our Blog

    Want to stay current with news from us on a (almost) weekly basis? Click here to subscribe to our blog feed!

    Transition Network News


    Other Resilience News



    Our Previous Posts

    July 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    June 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011


•  Home
•  Latest News  /  Event Photos
•  Throop Learning Garden  /  History  /  Garden Photos
•  Repair Café Pasadena  /  Photo Gallery
•  Get Involved  /  Contact Us

Creative Commons License
Content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Picture
Site design: Qrys Cunningham
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, club125.greenbelt, Luigi Mengato, Images_of_Money, KJGarbutt, Will Merydith, Sayjack, skampy, El Coleccionista de Instantes, audreyjm529