Reinhard Well Done! You did it!! As for the Four Principles, I see the words and they seem to make sense so I guess that is all to the good. And I always find it useful to remember that the Principles are not instructions to the people as to what they should do but rather a simple statement of what is going to happen regardless of their (the peoples) intent. The fact that the Principles may seem odd, counterintuitive, wrong, even revolutionary -- doesnt change anything. And changing the wording isnt going to change the result, so far as I can see. People will be people, so to speak.
I feel sorry for the Board member, and when it comes to resolution, I would be thinking about a new board member. He obviously didnt get it. I dont mean he didnt understand Open Space. That is obviously true, but it is also a very small part of the problem. What he really missed was the passion, intensity, thinking and purpose of the people. The long term outcome from such situations is quite predicable. To the extent that he manages to work his will all that good energy and high expectations will be crushed. At that point the really good people will leave, and the remainder will come to look more like robots than intelligent human beings. The impact on organizational function and creativity is obvious as I said, I would be thinking ab out a new Board Member. In terms of the future of that business organization, such a prognosis is not a happy one. Sort of like getting a terminal disease before you even really get started. For the people, however, it may not be all bad. Given sufficient cognitive dissonance they may come to recognize the real situation and then set about to create something more whole and healthy for themselves. That has happened before, and could happen here. Harrison Harrison Owen 189 Beaucaire Ave Camden, ME 04843 207-763-3261 (Summer) 301-365-2093 (Winter) Website www.openspaceworld.com Personal Website www.ho-image.com OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html _____ From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Reinhard Kuchenm ü ller Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 11:45 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: was: urgent Dear friends in open space, We made it! we had an open space session with eighty coworkers of a big company, and i facilitated my first open space! And i think that would not have been possible without your help! So i want to thank you for your contributions, Kerry, Jon, Carla, Harrison, Gerard and Esther. You were really very helpful. The most i got from Gerards proposal of a paradoxical approach, and that is what we did. We proposed two other methods, kind of modified world cafè, and finally the young and curious hr-manager asked: and if we did an open space in pure form? He invited two colleagues from the middle management, and after some hesitation both spoke in favor of o s, so we got it. Only we had to accept an introduction of a board member who also wanted to close the session. And they definitely did not want the principles in their normal form, because they did not tell them anything. So i undertook the work of redefining them and am curious what you think of that. The theme of the o s we defined: At the starting point of the new company: what are we proud of? Where are potentials and chances? What do we want to start with? The first principle is: here the right people come together! The second principle is: here happens what is possible right now! The third principle is: We simply start! The fourth principle is: and then one has to be able to stop ! .... ...whenever a theme is finished for someone, open space offers a very special solution. It is so important, that it is formulated as a law the law of two feet! .....(the German text was a bit more convincing i think!) For my preparation i found the texts of Michael Pannwitz and Matthias zur Bonsen very helpful, including the lists of items you need, although i had to work a while until i could formulate my own introduction. I really had to dive into the essence of o s, what an experience! And then of course we accompanied the o s with our visualization, what for some of you is not the pure thing, but for me again was such a convincing way of saving the essence of the group work, much more than the written texts could do. Three woman draw images, one hundred and eighty images, while i was busy holding the space , me this time without drawing. And watching, how these eighty people spontaneously analyzed their company within one day, and developed splendid proposals how to proceed. They were really great. Accordingly also the final round was strong. About half of the people spoke. And what they said again and again were three things: i have been very cautious and hesitating before, but now i am totally convinced of open space. Couldnt we do it more often? And: the visualization is simply great! Can we get the images? All of them? And: How will the upcoming conference of 150 managers deal with our proposals? Will they understand them, and accept them? Only too soon we had to see, that their worst expectations came true. Because then the board member came back and spoke he did not mention the theme of the open space, he did not honor the group work, he only said: now we must trimm the results, so that they fit with our four value definitions, and that will not be easy! Many of the coworkers were shocked, and up to today, four days later, i have no idea how to proceed. We cancelled the very creative concept of our next workshop immediately, because we have to avoid, that also these people run against a wall if they are creative and use their fantasy. We hope to find a way to help this company, i am already dreaming of it. So thanks friends, that you helped us to bring this o s together, and if there is some development to tell about, i will comeback to you! Reinhard VISUELLE PROTOKOLLE www.visuelle-protokolle.de * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist