CF Large Group Intervention Methods 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which principle of Open Space Technology states that participants should move to wherever they can learn or contribute most?
- The Law of Two Feet (Correct answer)
- The Principle of Self-Organization
- Whoever Comes Is the Right People
- Whatever Happens Is the Only Thing That Could Have
Correct answer: The Law of Two Feet
The Law of Two Feet empowers participants to move freely between sessions, ensuring engagement is always voluntary and productive.
Question 2: What distinguishes Real Time Strategic Change (RTSC) from other large group methods in terms of its primary output?
- It produces a single integrated organization-wide action plan in real time during the event (Correct answer)
- It produces individual development plans for each participant
- It focuses on generating creative ideas without committing to specific actions
- It produces a competitive analysis benchmarked against industry peers
Correct answer: It produces a single integrated organization-wide action plan in real time during the event
RTSC is designed so that the organization leaves the event with a collectively owned, integrated strategic action plan created in real time.
Question 3: A sponsor wants to use a large group intervention but insists on pre-determining all outcomes before the event. How should a skilled facilitator respond?
- Explain that pre-determining outcomes undermines participant ownership and is incompatible with large group methods (Correct answer)
- Accept the pre-determined outcomes and design activities to validate them
- Suggest reducing the group size so outcomes can be more easily controlled
- Proceed with the sponsor's plan but do not share the pre-determined outcomes with participants
Correct answer: Explain that pre-determining outcomes undermines participant ownership and is incompatible with large group methods
Pre-determining outcomes contradicts the core principle of emergent collective intelligence that large group interventions are designed to harness.
Question 4: In the context of large group interventions, 'divergence' before 'convergence' refers to:
- Generating a wide range of ideas before narrowing to priorities and action steps (Correct answer)
- Moving participants to different rooms before reconvening in plenary
- Presenting conflicting expert viewpoints before seeking consensus
- Dividing the large group into subgroups before combining results
Correct answer: Generating a wide range of ideas before narrowing to priorities and action steps
Effective large group design moves from broad exploration (divergence) to focused decision-making (convergence) to ensure both creativity and actionability.
Question 5: Which large group method is specifically designed around the '4-D Cycle' of Discover, Dream, Design, and Destiny?
- Appreciative Inquiry Summit (Correct answer)
- Future Search
- World Café
- Participatory Strategic Planning
Correct answer: Appreciative Inquiry Summit
The Appreciative Inquiry Summit is structured around the 4-D Cycle developed by David Cooperrider and associates.
Question 6: A World Café session produces rich table conversations, but participants report feeling that their insights were 'lost' and never synthesized. What design element was most likely missing?
- A structured harvest or plenary synthesis phase to make collective knowledge visible (Correct answer)
- Rotating table hosts after each round
- A clear central question posted at every table
- Enough rounds of conversation (at least four)
Correct answer: A structured harvest or plenary synthesis phase to make collective knowledge visible
World Café's final harvest phase — making collective knowledge visible through large-group synthesis — is essential to transforming conversations into actionable insights.
Question 7: When a large group method requires participants to 'self-organize,' the facilitator's primary role shifts to:
- Holding the container by clarifying boundaries, monitoring energy, and intervening only when the process stalls (Correct answer)
- Directing traffic between groups to prevent duplication
- Evaluating the quality of each group's outputs in real time
- Presenting content expertise to guide group decisions
Correct answer: Holding the container by clarifying boundaries, monitoring energy, and intervening only when the process stalls
In self-organizing methods, the facilitator 'holds the container' — maintaining the conditions for productive emergence — rather than directing content or process.
CF Large Group Intervention Methods 3
Which principle of Open Space Technology states that participants should move to wherever they can learn or contribute most?