Birgitt Bolton, Larry Peterson and Betty Donaldson 
 
In November, 1997, the CCLOW Board of Directors added two days to the Fall meeting schedule so that a strategic directions workshop could be held in conjunction with the Annual General Meeting. The purpose was to clarify goals of the organization, now nearly a venerable twenty years.  It was time to remove the encrustations of outworn barnacles of thought and adjust the navigation of the ship of state if we were to continue this feminist voyage.  Prior to the meeting, the President's Advisory Council  reviewed several proposals from various consultants and had decided upon the team of Larry Peterson and Birgitt Bolton; Betty Donaldson, not a member of PAC, arrived as a naive player. This article briefly summarizes the perspectives of these three individuals in that workshop; it does not necessarily include all the work done during those intensive days nor does it represent CCLOW policy. We hope it provides a sense of how the Board tried to establish new directions for the organization and what it was like to use this approach to effect change. 

CCLOW was facing its annual meeting, its Board meeting in Bolton, Ontario with a great deal of trepidation. The organization that had been very effective throughout the 1980's had discontinued a major service (the national magazine) at the Board meeting a year ago. There was still upset about this decision. Further, the organization was aware that its traditional funding source would basically be gone in March of 1998 and was unsure that it had a future because of the impending financial constraints. CCLOW also was operating with an interim executive director who was holding things together after the previous executive director had left . This Board meeting was clearly the one to determine if CCLOW had a future. Delegates arrived from across the Country, representing various groups and voices of women "back home".Some of the delegates were certain that this Board meeting would be the one to decide that CCLOW had no future. It was a distinct possibility. 

The executive had decided to hire consultants to see them through a pre-Board meeting process to work through the issues of the organization and to explore possibilities for the future. Proposals were called for,interviews held and a consulting team of Birgitt Bolton and Larry Peterson were hired. Both consultants are founders of the Open Space Institute of Canada and use Open Space Technology as their preferred means of process. (See http://www.tmn.com/openspace/index/html for further details about this process.) As Catherine O'Bryan, president elect, said early into the process "we hired these consultants because they passed our schlick test". CCLOW members had had an unpleasant experience with consultants before which 
they did not want repeated, especially at this meeting. There was also some uncertainty that one member of this consulting team was male. The group waited to see what would happen. 

Birgitt and Larry began their two and one half day process by introducing their use of the medicine wheel of indigenous peoples from around the world as a diagnostic tool for organizations and as a means of building healthy organization. They explained that the medicine wheel enables collectives of people to function and is simple to use focusing on leadership in the north, vision in the east, community in the south, and management in the west. (When all four components are in balance, the organization is healthy. When an organization is unhealthy, it is easy to diagnose the root of the problem using the medicine wheel. In the centre of the medicine wheel is the purpose of the organization.) As they introduced the medicine wheel and use of it as a diagnostic and working means for CCLOW, they outlined the agenda which included spending time looking at CCLOW in each of the four directions and looking at whether there was a strong enough purpose for the organization to exist. The majority of the process would be conducted using Open Space Technology. 

Prior to this, however, it was important for the group to understand something about the cycle of organizations as well as to understand the impact of grief work on the organization. The first morning was spent looking at the past and at the present with the intention of letting it go,of honouring it. The consultants explained that all parts of the past and present, both good and bad must be acknowledged before looking at the future. Within this time, the group identified the assumptions they were able to operate from before, as well as looking at the assumptions in the changing context. It was clear to all that what was, was no longer. Time was given for a long lunch break so that individual members could do what they needed to do to let go of the past with CCLOW in the form of some kind of personal ritual, so that they could come back after the break with clearer heads and hearts to explore the future. 

Following the break, Larry and Birgitt started work with the medicine wheel looking at leadership in the north. They explained that nothing could move forward in an organization unless there were people willing to take risks and willing to access their courage. Both risk and courage are essential ingredients for leadership. Following a number of exercises, the group identified that leadership was within all of them. This allowed the group and the process to move to the east where they explored vision. This was not about creating a vision statement but about really looking at vision for CCLOW. The group discovered that they had a very common, very meaningful and deep vision for the future of CCLOW. There was both surprise and delight in the group as they realized this shared commitment. They had never had the chance to step back and look at this before. 

With both leadership and vision acknowledged as present, the consultants then identified that the next place of work was in the south, the place of community and healing. To access community and healing and to search for the issues and opportunities for the future of CCLOW they "opened the space" for the balance of that day including the evening and all of the second day using Open Space Technology. 

Larry explained that Open Space Technology was the best means of meeting when: an existing organization needs reenergizing; creative planning needs to be done quickly; challenges are present that need immediate action; communication needs to improve; a wide variety of issues need to be dealt with; opportunities for the future need to be explored; vision and structure need to be developed quickly; individual interests within a group appear to be quite diverse. 

He also did a check with the group to be sure that specific outcomes were not predetermined and that existing leadership was willing to make changes as a result of the event. If either of these conditions was not met, Open Space would not be used. 

Birgitt then began the Open Space meeting. There are several features to an open space meeting. Chairs are arranged in a circle to facilitate communication and there are no tables. The role of the facilitator is to open the space and to hold safe space open. Birgitt acknowledged the potential for leadership in every person. She pointed to a blank wall and stated that this was the agenda and then made it clear that the agenda is created by the people in the room. She focused on passion and responsibility saying they are the  two keys to a successful meeting. Without passion, enthusiasm for an idea would soon wane, and without responsibility, there is risk that the ideas would never move forward. 

Birgitt outlined the four principles and one law for conducting an open space meeting, to enable participants to stay focused on the event at hand and to acknowledge that the wisdom to resolve the issues is present in the room. The four principles: 

1.Whoever comes is the right people. 
2.Whatever happens is the only thing that could have. 
3. Whenever it starts is the right time. 
4. When it is over, it is over. 

The Law of Mobility states that if persons find themselves in situations where they are neither learning anything or contributing anything, they are responsible for moving to another place, for example to another group meeting. The principles and law enable people to participate in ways that are most meaningful to them. 

Having explained the process, Birgitt opened the meeting to let the group create the agenda, sign up for the topics of discussion that interested them and then she and Larry got out of the way. The group self-managed the discussions and produced a report at the end of every discussion that was immediately inputted into a computer and printed and posted on the wall for all to read as more discussion groups continued. Birgitt and Larry worked behind the scenes to enable the report entries and to save a copy of every report to be compiled as a "book of proceedings". 

The 17 topics posted for this meeting (not in any order of priority) that were discussed were: human resources, CCLOW and the private sector, development of a respected publication, partnerships and relationships with other organizations, networking, organizational structure and membership, use of technology/on-line meetings, major functions of a national organization for women's learning, technology as an operating tool, learning new technology, images of the goddess, project based-funding, what is our mission - who will we serve and how, fundraising, representation of all provinces and territories, marketing, advocacy on women's educational issues. ( A book of proceedings is available from the office; it lists the topic. the leader,and participants and summaries of the discussion with follow-up action and needed resources.)  Obviously there were more ideas than could realistically be developed but it was empowering to review the list of possibilities. 

Birgitt gathered the group into a circle at the end of the second day for a closing of the "open space" signaling an end to that part of the process.Participants had the opportunity to make comments and all comments were filled with enthusiasm about all that had been identified and discussed.All participants were clear and strong and excited about the future of CCLOW. The relief and happiness in the room were palpable. The organization would be different, more streamlined in scope, but it still had important work to do. 

The process was not done at this point, however! On the third morning Larry and Birgitt shifted the attention of the group to the west, the place of management. Every participant received her own copy of the "book of proceedings", was given time to read it and was given five votes to show the items amongst the various topics that she had energy for. Four topics were identified as those that CCLOW would focus upon at this time. The opportunities identified for action now (again, not prioritized) were:  project -based funding; restructure of the organization; draft a vision and mission statement; development of on-line communication. 

The process then involved identifying how those items not chosen at this time would make it onto the agenda in the future, what the next steps were for the identified items including who would champion those items and work on them as well as identification of the resources needed. The stage was set for the strategic directions for CCLOW to be implemented rather than simply remaining as an interesting document. 

The vision and mission statement immediately evolved.  The vision: women's social, political and economic equality. The mission:  to provide and connect educators of adults with women-centered resources related to policy research, practice and advocacy and to lead in the development of such resources where gaps exist. Also a first attempt to develop a new organizational structure was diagramed.  (Editors - please include a copy of that diagram in this article.) Since that meeting, PAC has continued the development of policy. This commemorative issue is one outcome: it  attempts to bridge past, present and future aspirations; to communicate with members and to recruit resources. 

With the assistance of Birgitt and Larry in their use of Open Space Technology and the medicine wheel, great wisdom from the gathered group was enabled to emerge. CCLOW was rebirthed with a new vision, a clear purpose,and actionable strategic directions. Some aspects of the future are still cloudy while others clearly present challenges.  But, perhaps CCLOW will continue to make worthwhile contributions in an emergent field of study: the education of adult women. During the Twentieth Century, Canada has been a leader in the challenge to provide girls and women with educational opportunities, appropriate to their changed life expectancies and aspirations. The volunteer work and professional development activities of organizations such as CCLOW suggest the journey toward the next century will be characterized by a more clear vision of equity.