Look at our presentation
from the Open Space Sessions at the International Society for Organization Development & Change 2018 Information Exchange at Bowling Green State University@Levis Commons, Perrysburg, Ohio, USA.
What is a Power of Imagination Studio?
The development of this change method is an answer to the representative democracy crisis, in which many people no longer feel represented, heard, and understood by the political and
business leadership. All Studios are an invitation to make new experiences, seeing the most different of people collaborate and realizing that it is possible to jointly take decisions for concrete
action - without majority votes, spokespersons or an edge in knowledge. They practice an unusual culture of interaction: respectful, candid and optimistic.
The facilitators stand for an attitude that considers each participant an expert due to his or her own life experience, ingenuity and willingness to act. Such an attitude creates a space of trust, allows for an unrestricted expression of one’s own truth, and ensures that all are heard equally and can contribute to the open results in the beginning and the concrete results in the end.
The facilitators implement a clear, organizing structure. There are three phases: First comes the Complaint and Criticism Stage, then the Exploration and Imagination Stage, and finally, the Decision and Concept Stage. In each Stage, the Studio takes a particular form, with different fundamental approaches and viewpoints moving into the focus. Extraordinary ideas can spread and influence the results.
The inventor of the method believed that society needs a strong creativity movement in which all who so desire can participate. This movement should not focus on resistance but on reflection about new societal relations and other productive opportunities - because only those who invent the future ahead of time can hope to effectively make their mark.
The name of the approach explains three important aspects of understanding:
The facilitator team prepares the seminar space with a variety of tools, materials and work places. There is a circle of chairs for all participants, work benches for small groups, free space for movement and variety, the usual workshop materials as well as unusual creative materials, all of which anyone can use. Questions are phrased and visualized from many different viewpoints, in line with the topic of the Studio and the respective Stage. The walls of the room reflect the growing diversity of results.
The participants are continually encouraged to make use of the entirety of their capabilities. Rational analysis is considered equal to emotional intuition and embodiment. In this context, future research means freely sensing and envisioning new, desirable ideas, new social inventions for a solidary, sustainable coexistence - and not an outlook on a continuation of current trends.
The facilitators often prepare the details of the Studio ahead of time with a small group of participants, including some who are skeptical of the method. The experience of seeing such a multi-layered collaboration within the Studio succeed strengthens and emboldens the participants. They leave stronger and empower themselves to implement their ideas under their own organization and responsibility. Ideally, the participants know what each needs to do on their own, jointly with others, after the workshop to effectively create a different future.
The preceding text is published in the Collaborative Change Library & App.
We invite you to a preview of our chapter.
It was written by Petra Eickhoff and Stephan G. Geffers, CEO of parto, and translated by Ines Little, Cologne.
from the Open Space Sessions at the International Society for Organization Development & Change 2018 Information Exchange at Bowling Green State University@Levis Commons, Perrysburg, Ohio, USA.
We are curious to hear: What resonates with you in looking at these images? What is your experience with diverse groups? What do you see as a universal language or approach of meaningful collaboration in diverse groups?
Do you want to know more? Read the forthcoming 3rd edition (2019) of The Change Handbook. Ask us for sharing, networking, training - worldwide in English, French, German language: Contact information