Future Search Conferences - An Introduction
Paul Chippendale - February, 2001
The world is moving from experts solving problems FOR
people
toward everybody, experts included, improving whole systems.
Marvin Weisbord
In his book, Discovering Common Ground, Marvin Weisbord described himself as an entrepreneur and author. From
1969 to 1991, he worked as a consultant to business, education,
government, medical, non-profit and voluntary organisations in North
America and Scandinavia. In 1991 he started Workplace Revolution, a
non-profit programme to help people apply the consensus-building ideas
embodied in Discovering Common Ground. Other enterprises in
which he was involved included: being a partner in Block Petrella Weisbord,
a firm established to help people restructure their work; and a partner of
Blue Sky Productions, a video company documenting innovations in
self-management around the world.
Weisbord (1991, p. xiii) describes his personal mission in life as:
...I have a personal mission. There is a growing world-wide interest
in improving the quality of life, at home and at work. I believe that
represents common ground for every person living. I would like [Discovering Common
Ground] to serve as a catalyst for an informal
global support network of people exploring and extending the use of
[Future Search Conferences]. We have a unique opportunity to learn from
each other and to amplify one another's processes.
...I hope to encourage concerned leaders everywhere to experiment with
[the Future Search Conference] format. I believe that this mode
constitutes a learning laboratory for 21st Century strategic management.
The Minessence Group views itself as part of the envisaged informal global support
network - his personal mission is completely congruent with our own
vision, i.e. "To create a world where life is meaningful."
Basic Structure of the Future Search Conference
Future search conferences are based on learning, not teaching. In
these conferences, learning is not something participants must
"learn" how to do. "They already know how. They just
don't know that they know" (Weisbord 1992, p. 7). For many, future
search conferences are unlike anything they have ever experienced due to
three intertwined threads:
- A much broader cross-section of "stake-holders", than
is usual, are invited - a widely diverse group of people who
affect each other but who rarely or never meet.
- The participants self-manage tasks of discovery, dialogue,
learning and planning.
- Participants explore together the WHOLE system - its history,
ideals, constraints, opportunities, global trends, within and
without, rather than just the parts that are closest to home and
soaking up the most energy.
The most radical aspect of future search conferences is how conflict is
managed (Weisbord 1992, p. 7):
[During the future search conference] we will nearly
always find unresolved conflicts and disagreements. We discourage
conferees from "working" their differences. Instead, we create
a figure/ground reversal. We put the dysfunctional "shadow"
dynamics in the background. People don't magically get better than they
were. Rather, they tune in on different aspects of themselves - the more
constructive and cooperative impulses.
Indeed, we neither avoid nor confront the
extremes. Rather, we put our energy into staking out the widest common
ground all can stand on without forcing or comprising. Then, from
that solid base, we spontaneously invent new forms of action, using
processes devised for that purpose.
In short, we seek to hear and appreciate differences,
not reconcile them. We seek to validate polarities, not reduce the
distance between them. We learn to innovate and act from a mutual base
of discovered ideals, world-views, and future goals. Above all, we stick
to business. We make the conference's central task our guiding star.
Learn Through Doing
The best way to learn about future search conferences is to attend one.
To this end, the Minessence Group is planning to conduct a future search
conference at some future point in time - if interested please contact us.
Possible objectives for the conference:
- To go some way towards defining a set of principles to guide
human behaviour. The structure is
designed to give a clearer perception of "the Nature of
Things" through pre-conference reading and research and
presentations on day one. Then based on the "common ground"
identified in the world-view of participants, strategies and actions
will be formulated.
- To give participants the opportunity to learn future search
conference processes.
Chosen Format for the Learning Experience
The future search conference format we suggest for the Minessence Group
Conference is one developed by William Smith (1992, pp. 171-186). Smith's
model is specifically designed to promote a horizontal
flow of power in organisations in place of the usual vertical flow of
power. Having a horizontal flow of power, rather than a vertical flow, is
an essential requirement of the culture of any organisation desiring to
be an effective learning organisation.
The diagram below (Smith 1992, p. 176), depicts the vertical flow of
power prevalent in most organisations:
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One typically finds the following divisions of power in large
corporations:
- At the top, the "institutional" level, the
appreciated environment is dealt with. They ensure survivability of
the organisation through linking to the needs values by society. Their
main output is policy.
- At the "managerial" level, the most influential
strategy for the implementation of the policy is chosen. The main
outputs are strategy and structure.
- At the "technical" level - traditionally the level
considered to be the most concerned with control - attempts are made
to reduce uncertainty through producing concrete plans, rules
and regulations.
For the learning experience in Canberra we have adopted a future search
conference model that, when used in organisations, is designed to overcome
these power differences, and provide each level a chance to influence
decision-makers. This model accomplishes this by introducing a horizontal
flow of power across the organisation to counterbalance the vertical flow
(see the following diagram).
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This future search conference model is designed to take place over
three days:
- Day 1 is devoted to understanding realities and possibilities
(appreciative learning). For the Minessence Group Conference we would
ask intended participants to gather and
research any information they may feel relevant to the main topic
prior to the first day. We would also encourage people to pass this
gathered material on to other participants in whatever way they
believe will have the most success in transferring the insights gained
to others. This transference (appreciative learning) continues until
the completion of Day 1. By the end of Day 1, common ground is
identified.
- Day 2 is devoted to selecting and debating priorities.
- Day 3, guided by the chosen priorities, sets out an action
plan to ensure the priorities are addressed in an agreed time
line.
The diagram that follows, depicts the future conference design
described above:
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Concluding Comments
We, at the Minessence Group, are keen to link with others in
transforming the world into one where the well-being of as many people as
possible is enhanced. The mechanistic model of the universe, developed
some centuries ago, still dominates the way we treat each other,
particularly in the workplace.
People are not machines, robots, human resources or valuable assets.
What distinguishes people from machines is values. People have values - machines
do not. In order to tap into, and to respect people as human beings, we
must be sensitive to their values and design our relationships, teams,
organisations, society and civilisation to be in tune with these values.
Let's finish with more wisdom from Marvin Weisbord (1992, pp. 8-9):
APPLIED COMMON SENSE: The equation goes something like
THE RIGHT TASK + THE RIGHT PEOPLE + THE RIGHT SETTING = UNPRECEDENTED
ACTIONS. That sounds a lot of applied common sense. Why, in most
institutions, is it not commonly applied? I have to keep reminding
myself that the (probably unconscious) function of old paradigm meetings
is not breakthroughs, but control.
...To implement effectively we need a shared picture
of the "whole system" - future vision, values, policies and
procedures in a global context. This calls for broad face-to-face
joint planning.
...The outcomes can be quite startling. They range
from grass-roots community action to stimulate new businesses
and jobs, to revitalising a major company's total quality program, to
setting future policy for a national banking system, to making policy
for whole nations.
References
Smith, W. 1992, "Planning for the Electricity Sector in
Columbia", in Discovering Common Ground: How FUTURE SEARCH
CONFERENCES Bring People Together to Achieve Breakthrough Innovation.
Empowerment, Shared Vision, and Collaborative Action, Berrett-Koehler
Publishers, San Francisco, pp. 171-186.
Weisbord, M. 1992, Discovering Common Ground: How FUTURE SEARCH
CONFERENCES Bring People Together to Achieve Breakthrough Innovation.
Empowerment, Shared Vision, and Collaborative Action, Berrett-Koehler
Publishers, San Francisco. |
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