Great conversation! Moving right to the heart of lots of issues all of us
face, and I am sure will continue to face.
Artur wrote:
Reading about other "large group methods" the first thing that comes to
my mind is that with some of those methods
- managers will feel less afraid and
- consultants will seam to do a complex/expert thing that seams (to
clients? to themselves?) to justify the fee they ask for...
When clients pay a consultant they are paying an "expert" that will
do "some work" for them. "Doing nothing with elegance" - is that
payable by a client as consultancy?
Admitting that it is not (or at least that it is difficult) how can we
regain
the "expert role" that is so valued in our society? Combining OS with
other tools, methods or "specialised knowledge"? Concentrating
in training instead of consultancy? (a trainer is always an "expert"
by definition - if he "does nothing with elegance" he can always claim
(or be understood by others) as a specialist in "non directive training
methods"...)
Does this make any sense to others?
Regards
Artur
Hello Artur, it makes a lot of sense to me. I once had folks from one
business unit in a problem solving exercise. Obviously they did very well
their boss being absent. When the group realized its success, the manager
turned up and somebody stated ironically: "Hey, we have done very well
without him, what is he actually good for?"
Sometimes I get the impression there are managers out there, who create the
problems they are working hard and long hours to solve. For them OS is a
threat. So what are the consultants good for? I am sure it´s also my mission
to convince managers that it is good for them if they let people go and
forget about managing. Maybe this is what I am getting paid for. What do you
think out there in open cyberspace?
Greetings from Berlin - Hape
*******************************************
Not a doubt about it. Things do get out of control in Open Space. And if
they don't, something is radically wrong. All of which is a definite pain
to those who think (suppose, hope, expect to be) in charge. Generally
speaking, such people Do not want to go there ! And for good reason --
their professional image is at risk as well as their salary, organizational
status, hopes for advancement -- and probably some other things. And for us
who consider ourselves as consultants -- there is a definite, usually
painful, mind-twist as well. particularly if we come from a notion of
consultancy where The Expert rules. As Artur points out -- Doing nothing
with elegance is a questionable "billable." How could you possibly charge
for doing nothing?
What to do?
We could try to sell harder. But my experience is that selling Open Space
is rather like teaching a pig to sing. It annoys the pig and sounds
terrible. And the reason is simple. For those who come with an
understanding of management, organizations, and systems in general, as
things which are created by us and therefore under our control -- the plain
fact of the matter is that there is absolutely no logical connection
between their position and the experience of Open Space. From their point
of view, it is at best counter-intuitive which is usually just a polite way
of saying it is wrong, crazy, and bad. Not to be taken seriously. The fact
that we all know that Space has been opened thousands of times all over the
world for all sorts of people with predictable and comparable results -- in
short this is not a new, risky, untried approach -- just doesn't cut it.
What we have here is a classic case of differing paradigms, and therefore
the possibility/necessity of paradigm shift. Folks with differing paradigms
simply do not see the world in the same way. What makes sense to one is
idiocy to the other.
Well, we could try opening space in some safe places -- read
inconsequential. Good idea -- we certainly wouldn't want to use Open Space
in some area that really mattered, that people cared about. Like the future
of their business or organization. But the strategy comes back to bite us.
'Cause we know as a matter of first principles that Open Space only seems
to work when people really do care. Demonstrating Open Space in a nice,
safe corner of the organizational environment typically elicits a response
like -- "Is that all there is?" Or maybe, "That's nice."
So what do you think we ought to be doing?
Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854 USA
phone 301-469-9269
fax 301-983-9314
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.mindspring.com/~owenhh
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