Collaborative Problem-Solving
While the Word Café is primarily intended for the sharing of perspectives and ideas, and the Intergroup Mediation process focused on conflict management, there are other temporary systems that are convened specifically for the solving of a convening issue. One of these collaborative systems is called Future Search and another temporary system is called Open Space. Originally developed by Marvin Weisbord, another noted organization consultant, Future Search is a planning meeting procedure that is task focused. It builds on the basic principle that the meeting (as a temporary system) should bring in a large number of people (as many as 100) from diverse backgrounds. In this way, the “whole system” is represented when a specific problem is being addressed.
Typically held over several days, Future Search begins with creating a picture of the past (often graphically portrayed on a long sheet of butcher paper). As is the case with most of the Future Search activities, small group discussions are held first. Report outs from these groups to the whole group follow (thus ensuring the initial contributions of all participants in the small groups). Bringing the focus to present time issues, a “mind map” is often produced (once again often making use of graphic portrayals on a large sheet of paper). Butcher paper often “reigns supreme” at a Future Search meeting.
The mind map includes not just current issues, but also anticipated trends as viewed from the diverse perspectives offered by Future Search participants. Given these varying views of the future, participants break again into small groups to imagine themselves in the near (and more distant) future. What would their life and work be like in a very positive future—and how would they get to this future? Consensus is reached in the small groups and their findings are reported out to the entire group.
The primary task of the Future Search group is now to find “common ground” and to build an action plan that enables participants to take steps required (or at least identified) as a way to reach a shared positive future. Connections have been created during the Future Search process that make possible the ongoing collaboration among participants in working toward realization of the steps envisioned during the Future Search meeting. Follow-up activities and “check-ins” are identified, and the Future Search meeting is concluded. The Future Search process can become a collateral organization that is convened on a regular basis by an organization or community.
A quite different collaborative problem-solving model is to be found in the more recent enactment of a temporary system called Open Space. Originally offered by Harrison Owens (yet another noted organizational consultant), Open Space provides a much less structured process than is the case with Future Search for addressing the diverse issues facing a specific organization or community. Like Future Search, Open Space is a method for organizing and running a meeting or multi-day conference where participants have been invited to focus on a specific, important task or purpose. Unlike Future Search, Open Space is participant-driven and less organizer-driven.
Pre-planning remains essential in preparing for an Open Space meeting. However, less pre-planning is needed than when Future Search is being engaged. The lack of substantial pre-planning is in keeping with an emerging perspective in the sciences regarding complex and chaotic systems that are “self-organizing.” As we now know is the case with many living systems, few hierarchical controls are present in the operation of Open Space. This type of temporary system is to some degree “self-organizing.” As noted, Open Space participants “drive” the agenda through the decisions they make throughout the meeting regarding the topics to be addressed and the extent to which any one topic sustains their attention.
