Catalyst for Transformational Change

Facilitation as an Extreme Sport – Open Space Technology (OST)

This is another guest post by Su Fowler-Johnson. A couple of weeks ago Su was the Facilitator for a one day event which my team ran in the North West of England. It was an amazing event – Su talks about the way it was organised using the Catalyst Process – a process which we have designed based on Open Space to generate research ideas. Over to Su:

When something is truly transformational….we don’t know what the outcome will be. If we are truly open we
don’t know what the answer or answers will be. We have to place our trust in the complexity of human nature and how we have succeeded overtime to come together, self organise, prosper and grow. This insight forms the basis of Open Space Technology.

There are no gadgets, gizmos or gimmicks…. Although there can be if you choose. They would only get in the way and serve as a distraction from the deep connection that can take place between one human and another. As Steve Pashley (our local OST guru) would say, ‘that’s about as touchy feely as it gets’.

There is just a topic that you all care about and:

• Space
• People
• Passion
• Responsibility

OMG! No speakers, power point, frameworks, checklist, tools…. I hear you cry! Nope, none of that stuff. There are no unnecessary distractions, no experts, just a simple structure that provides ‘just enough’ for participants to magically ‘get on and do’. At first glance this could appear to be experimental, although it is steeped in an innate tradition of people and community. It has been around for 1,000’s of years and brought to the attention of the western world by Harrison Owen in the 1990’s.

Something magical happens

There are:

4 stages – Agenda setting, market place, group meetings and a closing round (with a native American talking stick should you be in the mood)

4 roles – Convener, participant, bumblebee and butterfly

4 principles – When it’s over it’s over, who ever comes is the right person, when it starts is the right time, what ever happens is the only thing that could have

1 law – Law of two feet

As a facilitator it can be scary. It’s very light touch and you place your faith in the process and.. Hold your breath.

I ran an OST event this week. There were 70 people in a room from all walks of life considering the ‘Future of Research in Primary Dental Care’. They had very little information prior to the event about what would happen. The important point was that they were passionate about Dentistry.

It was a roller coaster ride

Participants left the room buzzing on the work that they had lead and the outcomes that they had achieved in such a short space of time.

Everything you need to know can be found here

Note of caution

I’ve made it sound simple and at one level it is the simplest of concepts. All good facilitators know that the success or failure of any event hinges on:

• Planning
• Planning
• Planning
• Getting the right people in the room
• A trusted and fabulous team (often behind the scenes)
• Stage management

The best way to bring this to life is by using theatre as a metaphor. You need

• A good script – the topic and understanding of OST
• Experienced director – facilitator
• A stage and props – right venue and equipment
• Dress rehearsal – Planning (several meetings)
• Behind the scenes team – administration, authors of outputs
• Cast of actors – participants
• Identified roles – convener, participant, bumble bee and butterfly
• Beginning, middle and end