Hi Bui, I have also heard, but very rarely, of people having had a bad OS experience. One in particular, a youth, was to her third OS experience when she was in one I facilitated. She said that the previous ones had not been as engaging and productive. Another one I heard of was explained by a particular context in the field and in the group that may not have been considered enough in the prep work.
I think Larry touched an excellent point about the preparation of the sponsor, and I would add the planning group. I have one recent example. From the start, I could feel that the sponsor was truly open and believed in the staff capabilities and judgment, while the planning group was feeding its own fears, not resisting the idea of open space but simply being very prudent and sceptical. Similar to what Uwe mentioned. The sponsor asked for volunteers and asked a few more people to join the planning group in order to have a true microcosm of the organization. I spent a whole lot of time preparing the event with them, even doing a mini-OS. In fact, I never went so deep before in preparations. But I now think it was very important because it is what made the planning group more comfortable and confident, which projected on the rest of the organization before the day of the event. That confidence set the table, so to speak, so that people would trust the management, their colleagues and the process. The level of participation and openness were quite extraordinary during the OS event. And I really feel this is in large part due to the authenticity of the sponsor, and the journey of the planning committee during the preparations, which actually started some change within the group. I think the questions to ask people who had a bad OS experience should revolve around the formulation of the theme and invitation, the amount of space actually being opened, the presence of a planning group that is a microcosm of the whole group, the language (words, body, spirit) being used by both the sponsor and facilitator as well as the physical space and time. Thank you all for the thought provoking comments, and Uwe for that Tao Te Ching quote! Hope this helps too. Cheers! Esther Matte Discover - Engage - Accomplish New York: 212.755.0551 Montreal: 450.583.5849 www.excellence.ca -----Message d'origine----- De : OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] De la part de Bui Petersen Envoyé : 8 avril 2009 10:11 À : osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Objet : [OSLIST] Bad OS experiences Hi everyone, Having almost settled in living in St. John's, Newfoundland, I am looking for opportunities to open space. It is a slow process to introduce something that people are not familiar with, especially as I am new in a town where everyone seems to know each other. My question is, what do you do in cases where you meet people who HAVE been exposed to OST but did not have a good experience. My wife for one participated in one OS forum, and she is not at all convinced. Her experience was that the usual suspects did all the talking and those that usually are quiet, stayed that way. I wasn't there myself, but from what I gather there may have been some factors that contributed to this such as, the size of the group (only 15), the breakout spaces had tables and a couple of other factors. Nevertheless, my wife is not convinced it could have been much different. What do you more experienced think is a play? My own experience is limited so I'm not sure what to say about this. Is it the case that some OS events just don't have the right energy and don't work out that well? If so, what can you do to make people consider doing it again? The best I have come up with is that even if OST may not be perfect, it is better than most other things I have tried. Your thoughts would be much appreciated. Thanks, Bui Petersen * * ========================================================== 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 __________ Information NOD32 3994 (20090407) __________ Ce message a ete verifie par NOD32 Antivirus System. http://www.nod32.com * * ========================================================== 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
