A long response regarding open space in Buffalo
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Brian Reilly
Nov 19, 2009, 8:10:22 AM11/19/09
to invitin...@googlegroups.com
I've seen a couple of questions were asked and points made about the immigrant and refugee draft invite...as Michael Herman would probably reply "What can you do about that?"
Remember, open space is about "passion bounded by responsibility." Are you passionate enough to be a co-convener and therefore able to discuss with other co-conveners the wording of the invitation?
How might you take responsibility for the issue or outcomes (and if you want to, should you step out of any facilitative role and enter as a participant?)
This google group is almost exclusively made up of trained open space facilitators. While we post things here to enable all of us to learn more about open space, our early invitations (we've only been doing open space in Buffalo for about a year) have been mostly initiated by my department in City Hall to try to accelerate aspects of development in Buffalo. It'd be great (as it has happened a few times) if others picked up the method, turned to this group for help, used the inviting buffalo resources, etc. For now, it seems, energy needs to be put into the system.
The open space practice group that met again Tues night (as it does every month) observed a few things:
1) our invite's question could be shopped around more--asking "is this the right question" and then asking whether that person/organization would be willing to be a co-convener.
2) co-convener's should be clear of the commitment their status brings:
a) that you believe the question is an important one
b) that you will personally invite (not merely broadcast or post) others you think will be interested
c) that you will demonstrate your passion and responsibility for the topic by attending and participating.
3) 3 hour open spaces have their limits in generating outcomes. Usually they're 3 days--or 3+ hour sessions over a series of days. That length allows depth and iteration of ideas. Bring laptops or notebooks and pens and you can actually get documents written in that amount of time. You can write a plan to implement rather than just have time to agree that a plan is a good idea.
Remember--open space asks "What do you care about and what are you willing to do about it?"
It's probably unlikely that the same groups are going to co-convene too many open spaces--after all, how many issues can a single organization or person care passionately and want to do something about?
That means those of us helping the co-conveners need to get them to invite yet others to serve as co-conveners too--we need to try to help broaden and diversify the co-conveners and the participants. How many participants of the last 5 open spaces have been the same people? That might be a signal, the practice group felt, that invites are not getting the lead time they need; we need more, more diverse and more active co-conveners personally inviting people; and all of us in a city with so many kinds of divisions actively try to break those down by inviting others across those boundaries--that's one role this google groups and the practice group can play for the betterment of Buffalo.
Finally,about this particular invitation--I've heard there is some skepticism among some approached to be co-conveners of "the City" in initiating such an invitation. This is a division--community vs. city hall--I am personally committed to dissolving and which us as Open Space practitioners can help. Open Space is not about control. Co-conveners jointly issue an invitation and speak only for themselves in saying they think it's an important topic (there is no implied endorsement of outcomes nor other co-conveners). Remember, outcomes are left entirely up to those attending. If nothing happens as a result of a meeting in open space, it's the only thing that could have happened because the participants chose, for whatever reasons, not to act afterward. (More attention to the inviting process above can ensure the most passionate people are found by the invitation and makes it much more likely they come--which goes a very long way to increasing the likelihood of outcomes--when THE MOST COMMITTED to a topic get in a room together.).
Decades of peoples' experience of "City Hall" in Buffalo may contribute to skepticism and distrust. I don't know, I wasn't here. What I do know is this process of "opening space" allows new ways of interacting in a community --and within that space, everything is up to the individual. If you're in a group where you're not learning or contributing--use the 'law of two feet" and go where you need to go. Have a need/idea/passion?---put it on the marketplace wall and invite others to join you. It is based on inviting, not compelling, forcing, telling, directing, or controlling. Inviting is a subtle but profound difference in organizing people--very different than the methods used in public meetings, hearings, city Planning, task forces or advisory groups--the typical tools of government.
Too often, in my observation, people merely express opinions in Buffalo and leave it at that. While it may signal passion, there's no responsibility--because there's no doing associated with it. It's relatively easy for someone to express opinions on a large number of topics...but the more topics, the less likely they're all going to be ones the person can have time to be passionate about. And passion isolated by itself rarely leads to much happening in the world.
Open Space creates a space where those who chose to come because of their passion have the opportunity to connect with other similarly-passionate and chose for themselves to take responsibility for action.
What I think we need now, after about a year of open space in Buffalo, is some open spaces that are mindful of the requirements of successful invitation and co-convening (reflected above) and in doing so, that will increase the likelihood of outcomes. When people see or hear of outcomes they'll want to use open space more.
If some don't want to participate in an open space for whatever reason, fine. You invite people and some accept, others don't--that's normal. People choose what's most important at any time--whether it be to respond to an invite to attend, or respond to an invite of a break out on the marketplace. If an open space generates outcomes--more people might chose to take the action of a follow up open space on a related topic--and therefore advance the work begun by that first open space. Or, they might merely read the proceedings, perhaps use Inviting Buffalo as a place for on-line dialogue on the topic, or contact someone involved in that session (this is one reason to keep building and strengthening Inviting Buffalo web site by using it).
My observation (linked with my acceptance of responsibility for strengthening the practice of open space in Buffalo) , or better said, my INVITATION to any of you, is to join me and others to strengthen this network of open space practitioners and allies who can broaden our invites beyond the "usual suspects," help support and create this new method of inviting and getting things done in Buffalo and generate a diversity of efforts, topics and convening...from which Buffalo as a community will learn from itself and begin to take responsibility for its passions in any number of forms and places.
Thanks for reading a long email.
Brian Reilly
isn't shopped arinvitations have
that not only have most of the open spaces been initiated by city staff or the commissioner, they've usually not followed the users' guide suggestions of what I call "soak time" of a
Remember, open space is about "passion bounded by responsibility." Are you passionate enough to be a co-convener and therefore able to discuss with other co-conveners the wording of the invitation?
How might you take responsibility for the issue or outcomes (and if you want to, should you step out of any facilitative role and enter as a participant?)
This google group is almost exclusively made up of trained open space facilitators. While we post things here to enable all of us to learn more about open space, our early invitations (we've only been doing open space in Buffalo for about a year) have been mostly initiated by my department in City Hall to try to accelerate aspects of development in Buffalo. It'd be great (as it has happened a few times) if others picked up the method, turned to this group for help, used the inviting buffalo resources, etc. For now, it seems, energy needs to be put into the system.
The open space practice group that met again Tues night (as it does every month) observed a few things:
1) our invite's question could be shopped around more--asking "is this the right question" and then asking whether that person/organization would be willing to be a co-convener.
2) co-convener's should be clear of the commitment their status brings:
a) that you believe the question is an important one
b) that you will personally invite (not merely broadcast or post) others you think will be interested
c) that you will demonstrate your passion and responsibility for the topic by attending and participating.
3) 3 hour open spaces have their limits in generating outcomes. Usually they're 3 days--or 3+ hour sessions over a series of days. That length allows depth and iteration of ideas. Bring laptops or notebooks and pens and you can actually get documents written in that amount of time. You can write a plan to implement rather than just have time to agree that a plan is a good idea.
Remember--open space asks "What do you care about and what are you willing to do about it?"
It's probably unlikely that the same groups are going to co-convene too many open spaces--after all, how many issues can a single organization or person care passionately and want to do something about?
That means those of us helping the co-conveners need to get them to invite yet others to serve as co-conveners too--we need to try to help broaden and diversify the co-conveners and the participants. How many participants of the last 5 open spaces have been the same people? That might be a signal, the practice group felt, that invites are not getting the lead time they need; we need more, more diverse and more active co-conveners personally inviting people; and all of us in a city with so many kinds of divisions actively try to break those down by inviting others across those boundaries--that's one role this google groups and the practice group can play for the betterment of Buffalo.
Finally,about this particular invitation--I've heard there is some skepticism among some approached to be co-conveners of "the City" in initiating such an invitation. This is a division--community vs. city hall--I am personally committed to dissolving and which us as Open Space practitioners can help. Open Space is not about control. Co-conveners jointly issue an invitation and speak only for themselves in saying they think it's an important topic (there is no implied endorsement of outcomes nor other co-conveners). Remember, outcomes are left entirely up to those attending. If nothing happens as a result of a meeting in open space, it's the only thing that could have happened because the participants chose, for whatever reasons, not to act afterward. (More attention to the inviting process above can ensure the most passionate people are found by the invitation and makes it much more likely they come--which goes a very long way to increasing the likelihood of outcomes--when THE MOST COMMITTED to a topic get in a room together.).
Decades of peoples' experience of "City Hall" in Buffalo may contribute to skepticism and distrust. I don't know, I wasn't here. What I do know is this process of "opening space" allows new ways of interacting in a community --and within that space, everything is up to the individual. If you're in a group where you're not learning or contributing--use the 'law of two feet" and go where you need to go. Have a need/idea/passion?---put it on the marketplace wall and invite others to join you. It is based on inviting, not compelling, forcing, telling, directing, or controlling. Inviting is a subtle but profound difference in organizing people--very different than the methods used in public meetings, hearings, city Planning, task forces or advisory groups--the typical tools of government.
Too often, in my observation, people merely express opinions in Buffalo and leave it at that. While it may signal passion, there's no responsibility--because there's no doing associated with it. It's relatively easy for someone to express opinions on a large number of topics...but the more topics, the less likely they're all going to be ones the person can have time to be passionate about. And passion isolated by itself rarely leads to much happening in the world.
Open Space creates a space where those who chose to come because of their passion have the opportunity to connect with other similarly-passionate and chose for themselves to take responsibility for action.
What I think we need now, after about a year of open space in Buffalo, is some open spaces that are mindful of the requirements of successful invitation and co-convening (reflected above) and in doing so, that will increase the likelihood of outcomes. When people see or hear of outcomes they'll want to use open space more.
If some don't want to participate in an open space for whatever reason, fine. You invite people and some accept, others don't--that's normal. People choose what's most important at any time--whether it be to respond to an invite to attend, or respond to an invite of a break out on the marketplace. If an open space generates outcomes--more people might chose to take the action of a follow up open space on a related topic--and therefore advance the work begun by that first open space. Or, they might merely read the proceedings, perhaps use Inviting Buffalo as a place for on-line dialogue on the topic, or contact someone involved in that session (this is one reason to keep building and strengthening Inviting Buffalo web site by using it).
My observation (linked with my acceptance of responsibility for strengthening the practice of open space in Buffalo) , or better said, my INVITATION to any of you, is to join me and others to strengthen this network of open space practitioners and allies who can broaden our invites beyond the "usual suspects," help support and create this new method of inviting and getting things done in Buffalo and generate a diversity of efforts, topics and convening...from which Buffalo as a community will learn from itself and begin to take responsibility for its passions in any number of forms and places.
Thanks for reading a long email.
Brian Reilly
isn't shopped arinvitations have
that not only have most of the open spaces been initiated by city staff or the commissioner, they've usually not followed the users' guide suggestions of what I call "soak time" of a
On Thu, Nov 19, 2009 at 7:13 AM, Valencia Sease <vhs...@yahoo.com> wrote:
I am in agreement with Marian. I think recognizing and helping to find solutions to some of the issues she mentions is critical.
Valencia Sease
--- On Wed, 11/18/09, Dave <dgran...@city-buffalo.com> wrote:
From: Dave <dgran...@city-buffalo.com>To: "Inviting Buffalo" <invitin...@googlegroups.com>Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 8:33 AM
Subject: draft invite: Immigration/Refugee communityPlease review this invite and forward any comments:
You are invited to get involved in a unique outcome-oriented meeting
to refine plans for an initiative called
Buffalo Invites the World
What can Buffalo do to become one of America’s most inviting cities
for immigrants and refugees? How can Buffalo become a center for
cultural tourism?
WHAT:
You are invited to join others in a series of working sessions to
share your existing efforts and potentially create new ones together
to help make Buffalo one of the country’s friendliest places for
immigrants and refugees. Historically Buffalo is home to a broad array
of ethnic, cultural, and religious groups. The open arms that welcomed
the Polish, Irish, Italian, African Americans and many others are now
attracting new communities from places as faraway as Burma, Somalia,
and Vietnam. These emerging communities are helping reinvigorate the
social and economic life of Buffalo.
The series of working sessions will bring together in one place, for
probably the first time, dozens of the people and organizations whose
work touches upon the lives of Buffalo’s emerging refugee and
immigrant populations. At its heart are community dialogues that will
help identify problems, propose collaborative solutions, and commit to
your choice of strategies to bring Buffalo to the forefront of
welcoming communities in America.
WHEN:
We hope you can come to all three sessions, but if not, try to come to
the first session on Wednesday, X/X/2009.
1. Date 6:30 – 9:00 PM
2. Date 6:30 – 9:00 PM
3. Date 6:30 – 9:00 PM
Light refreshments will be served.
WHERE:
Lafayette High School
370 Lafayette Avenue
WHAT:
How can we grow the local benefits of a resurgent immigrant and
refugee population?
What can Buffalo do now to better capitalize on its historic and
growing ethnic and cultural diversities?
How can we promote the role of cultural tourism in Buffalo’s economy?
How can we collaborate to enhance the immigrant and refugee experience
in Buffalo?
--
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Deutschman, Marian
Nov 19, 2009, 10:55:30 AM11/19/09
to invitin...@googlegroups.com
Long statement but well said and well worth reading.
Marian Deutschman
Interim Director
College and Community
Partnerships
Cleveland Hall 211A
Buffalo State College
1300 Elmwood Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14222-1095
deut...@buffalostate.edu
716-878-4132
buffalostate.edu/partnerships
Laura L. Fitzgerald
Nov 19, 2009, 11:18:00 AM11/19/09
to invitin...@googlegroups.com
I agree!
Laura
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