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Summary This booklet gives an overview of the Search Conference, a change strategy which helps members of an organization or community discover common ground and create self-managed plans to move forward toward their desired future. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Description Why future search? As a society we have painted ourselves into a technological corner. We have more ways to do things than ever before. Yet a lot of what matters to us is not getting done, despite the large sums we spend. We experience high walls between haves and have nots, experts and amateurs, leaders and followers. In future search meetings we take down the walls. We take control of our own futures. We take back responsibility for ourselves. We discover that we can learn from and work with people from many walks of life. Future searches enable us to experience and accept polarities. They help us learn how to bridge barriers of culture, class, age, gender, ethnicity, power, status, and hierarchy by working as peers on tasks of mutual concern. The future search process interrupts our tendency to repeat old patterns--fighting, running away, complaining, blaming, or waiting for others to fix problems. And it gives us a chance to express our highest ideals. In future searches, major systemic changes occur in the planning process. A diverse group of 6 to 10 people meets from a few days to a few months. They agree on a task and invite a spectrum of stakeholders. They also agree to a novel set of conditions, e.g., meeting for 16 hours over three days, skipping speakers and expert input, putting off action until near the end, and working interactively. In a meeting structured this way, people discover new capabilities no matter what agendas come up. This opens up the door to new, unpredictable, highly desired, and long-lived cooperative action that is a high order of systems change. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Synopsis The Collaborating for Change series offers concise, comprehensive overviews of 14 leading change strategies in a convenient, inexpensive format. Adapted from chapters in The Change Handbook, each approximately 48-page booklet is written by the originator of the change strategy or an expert practitioner, and includes * An example of the strategy in action * Tips for getting started * An outline of roles, responsibilities, and relationships * Conditions for success * Keys to sustaining results * Thought-provoking questions for discussion If you're deciding on a change strategy for your organization and you need a short, focused treatment of several alternatives to distribute to your colleagues... Or if you've decided on a change strategy and want to disseminate information about it to get everyone on board, the Collaborating for Change booklets are the ideal choice. Other titles in the Collaborating for Change series: * Appreciative Inquiry * The Conference Model * Future Search * Gemba Kaizen * Open Space Technology * The Organization Workshop * Participative Design Workshop * Preferred Futuring * Real Time Strategic Change * The Search Conference * The Strategic Forum * The Think Like a Genius Process * Whole-Scale Change * Whole Systems Approach
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