Unmeetings & learning

[Jay Cross]

Nine people joined me this morning to discuss:

What is an unmeeting? A BarCamp? A World Cafe? Open Space? Why bother? What’s in it for a business organization? How do unmeetings improve learning? What has worked best for you? Any horror stories?

Invitation
Background information on unmeetings

[Jay Cross]

Thoughts swimming around in my head as a result of today’s dialog on unmeetings and learning:

BarCamps, Open Space, and other forms of unmeeting are another expression of the demand-driven, bottom-up rebellion against convention and hierarchy we see in collaborative decision-making, bossless workplaces, and self-service learning.

Participants need a feel for where a meeting or conference falls on a continuum from wide-open to tightly controlled. What’s the frame? What are the boundaries?

Participants need “air cover” for honest conversation, a safe space where they don’t fear that what they say may come back to haunt them.

Designers/conveners should choose how much structure is optimal for the situation at hand. Is the session for problem-solving, innovation, opening channels, what? Should we start with a single, powerful question or multiple topics and objectives?

An unmeeting that’s intended to invent the future should probably cast the net as far and wide as possible. Afterward, champions might continue the flow on a wiki or though other means.

Productive sessions require agile facilitation.

Tara Hunt’s Unmanaging, Unleashing the Creative Beast in Your Team deals with innovation, but her suggestions are appropriate for unmeetings: create a safe place to say dumb ideas, start with the simple stuff, move from the personal to the communal, celebrate risk-taking, be open and transparent, laugh and enjoy, and employ oodles of encouragement.

UBS is in terrible shape because it overreached its grasp and invited regulatory backlash. They are hurting in spite of the exemplary learning and talent management processes put in place by Michelle Blieberg.

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Conversation recording (50 minutes)

[Amy Lenzo]

Thanks, Jay, for convening such a stimulating call this morning. I wasn't sure what to expect and laid a bit "low" in this one, but I was interested in what ensued and will participate more actively next time.

I thought whoever commented on the occasional need for just a LITTLE more structure in some of the more unstructured un-conference formats was spot-on. I've been frustrated by this problem more than once myself, and left wondering if I was any better off than if I'd been attending an old-style talking heads conference. This isn't a horror story, but it does represent a lost opportunity.

As the formal structures are starting to break down and become more open to new models, there is an real opportunity to democratize learning and expand knowledge sharing by inviting those voices that are not usually heard into the circle and allowing "experts" to make their knowledge available in new ways.


Jay Cross said:

Participants need a feel for where a meeting or conference falls on a continuum from wide-open to tightly controlled. What’s the frame? What are the boundaries?

Designers/conveners should choose how much structure is optimal for the situation at hand.