LS User Group In Seattle
Dec 30, 2015
User Groups
• Public Groups• Within Organizations
• Purposes– Help advance practice– Invent new LS– Focus attention on
shared challenges– Spread LS up & out
PurposeWhy this work is important to you and the larger community
We exist to invent and enliven a new form of organizing
by pondering, practicing, playing, and pouncing
together
PrinciplesThe must do and must not do rules we must obey to achieve our purpose
• Users must share ownership of and responsibility for the group
• Users must expect surprise, adapting to opportunities and discoveries as they emerge
• Users must maintain transparency and honor Creative Commons principles
• Users must maintain a practical “solutions focus” to group activities
• Users must not over-organize activities• Users must continuously invite and welcome
new users and novices into the group
ParticipantsWho must be included to achieve our purpose
• Core group members (those to take responsibility for organizing activities)
• A larger community of LS users (local, regional, national, international users that participate in activities)
• Novices and new users (people invited to join activities by LS users)
• Influential experts and celebrity leaders not actively using LS
StructureHow will we organize (both macro- and microstructures) and distribute control in pursuit of purpose?
• For now, Fisher and Keith will coordinate development activities and support infrastructure
• Leadership of meetings will rotate among user group members.
PracticeWhat are we going to do? What will we offer to our users/clients and how will we do it?
• Four trial balloons are afloat:– A monthly face-to-face evening together in
Seattle featuring use of LS to advance learning;
– Occasional virtual confabs that include international users and special projects;
– An annual Chautauqua/Open Space shindig;– And, a LS twist on the Community Consulting
model () to help new users get direct experience with complex challenges (low or no cost services are provided to organizations via an experienced LS consultant and a team of less-experienced people that want to learn
Face to Face Meetings3-Part, 90-Minute Meta DesignThird Thursday of Each Month
1. Networking & ReconnectingUse LS to welcome new users, uncover opportunities, and share developments
2. Giving + Receiving HelpUse LS to give and get help from other users
3. Expanding the Repertoire Debut a nascent or use an unfamiliar LS
Design Group (90 minutes)
• Volunteers from the last meeting + Fisher &/or Keith
• Over strong beverages, we chat until a theme emerges
• We select LS for each segment of the meeting
• Facilitators volunteer (people who want more experience)
Networking & Reconnecting
30 minutes
Giving & Getting Help
30 minutes
Expanding Repertoire30 minutes
Often, we create a simple storyboard
Exploring Invitations ~ Inviting Exploration
Agenda Item
Goal LS Micro-Structure
Why this LS? Steps / Timing
Facilitator / Participants
Welcome + Networking
Intro our inviting theme & build new connections
Impromptu Networking + AI
Invites users to discover what works & what doesn’t through their own stories
3 rounds in pairs, 4 minutes each
Marina
Storytellingre: exploring & leading LS
Reveal challenges of leading an exploration
Dramatic reading, fast 1-2-4-All
1-4-All draws out the lessons with self discovery… hand-in-hand with group discovery
Story 10 min1-4-All 5 min
Kav, Marjean are readers
Inviting Discovery & Exploration
Define and sharpen LS offers to leaders 15%, Improv
Prototyping
Reveals better ways to invite discovery via LS and focuses on what can be done now
2 rounds of improv (2 mins each) & 2 rounds of re-playsa. Disinterested
amusementb. A door opens…!
Set up Keith,Marina & Marjean players, Fisher as observer
New LS Shift away from a negative cycle Positive Gossip
Flips the negative pattern and gives people a chance to practice
Three 2-minute rounds + quick W3 debrief
Fisher, all to evaluate PG
Seattle CenterLS Community Consulting
• ½ day session for ALL employees
• Facilitation offered pro bono by 4 LS users
• Focus on weaving LS into their Uplifting Service initiative
• Three ongoing initiatives emerged and are owned by frontline groups