The Columbus Social Media Cafe

– from Wikipedia. Posted by Scott Gowans

While the mechanics of Open Space provide a simple means to self-organize, it is the underlying principles that make it effective both for meetings and as a guidepost for individual and collective effectiveness. The Law of Two Feet (also known as the Law of Mobility in settings where participants don’t necessarily have the use of both feet) — a foot of passion and a foot of responsibility — expresses the core idea of taking responsibility for what you love. In practical terms, the law says that if you’re neither contributing nor getting value where you are, use your two feet (or available form of mobility) and go somewhere where you can. It is also a reminder to stand up for your passion. From the law, flow four principles:

• Whoever comes are the right people
• Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
• Whenever it starts is the right time
• When it’s over, it’s over

People can choose different roles for participation in Open Space meetings:

• Host: the person who feels a burning passion for the subject and is willing to take responsibility to call the conversation, invite others in and make sure something gets harvested.
• Participant: Anyone who is drawn to a conversation wants to stay the whole time and participate fully.
• Bumble bee: The ones who move from conversation to conversation cross-pollinating the learning.
• Butterfly: A butterfly may not want to be in any conversation, instead they prefer to sit on the lawn and look beautiful. A new, unexpected conversation may happen when two butterflies meet.

The organizing theme of an Open Space meeting is that people who care about the subject will come together.

Tuesday Ryan Hart explains it all: