Involve people who represent diverse interests. Generally, the model of conducting multiple multistate future search workshops followed by a synthesizing workshop worked well for this large national educational system. Because each Extension organization chose who would attend, the mix of participants' backgrounds, perspectives, and values was left to chance. As a result, the draft document produced by the synthesizing workshop met with slightly more resistance than it might have otherwise. In a decentralized system, however, ensuring the most representative participation is probably impossible, and in any case, workshop participants offered a wide range of perspectives on different issues.
Listeners make a substantial contribution.
Several key organizational tensions were identified indirectly throughout the future search workshops. Examples of organizational tensions include rural and urban needs, the claims of agriculture and the needs of other people and communities, and the roles of the organization as an educator and provider of information. Often the tensions appeared to be so basic and intrinsic to the Extension system that participants alluded to them rather than overtly mentioning them when sharing ideas or summarizing a discussion. Members of the strategic framework team listened to the discussions, found a set of recurring themes, and interpreted what was shared. Thus a small team that does not itself actively participate serves a special listening function when several workshops are scheduled over a period of time.