Hi John,
Yours is a very interesting story.
You say:
/"...To be honest//*I am not sure*//how I need to deal with this, though
//*my strategy is to accept the authority*//for hosting the space in the
next workshop, //*obsolving the department of their responsibility*//to
manage the day.//"//
"...I don't think it is feasible for the obvious authority candidates
hosting something genuinely participatory. //*The relevant director has
said she doesn't want to speak formally and become The Authority for the
day*//, a position I agree with.//"/
In the situation as described, it sounds like the org is the very
earliest stages of moving in a direction of more
open/participatory/inviting.
Do you agree with this assessment?
If this assessment is correct, based on what you describe, I would
probably avoid attempting Open Space in the canonical form whatsoever
(as described in the OST GUIDE) because the Sponsor role is vacant.
Unoccupied. And so, by my reckoning, if I understand you right, a true
Open Space event isn't even possible, because the essential
OST-Sponsor-role is in fact not willingly occupied by anyone with enough
authority to play that essential role well.
What's clear is that someone who could function as OST-Sponsor is
currently unwilling to do so. And so I might try a "taster" or "demo"
event instead, where the goal is to /learn about Open Space in general/,
and do a /little/ bit of "real" work too. Especially if the allotted
time a mere 1/2 day, I am even more inclined to strongly favor this
re-framing of the stated goals.
So the primary and stated goal for the "taster" is learning about OST.
Another goal for a short event might be to see who shows up
super-interested in the art of Facilitation, and then offer to mentor
those who do self-select by showing interest. In this manner some
Facilitation capacity is developed inside the org, to help with current
meetings and processes. Introducing Facilitation into typical meetings
is a easy and effective "culture hack".
For me, the total unwillingness of an obvious candidate to occupy the
Sponsor role is a huge warning signal to slow down, pause, or even stop.
Lots of people here have more experience than me, and might be willing
to lend you some of their expertise regarding the authority dynamics of
Facilitating an OST event with the essential OST-Sponsor-role completely
vacant
Kind Regards,
Daniel
On 9/28/14 11:30 PM, John Baxter wrote:
I am navigating some challenging authority dynamics in a project at
the moment.
I was brought in a week out from the first of three forums, and asked
to 'facilitate a codesign process' which was at that stage a black box
(with many hidden expectations) scheduled into that event (1 hour
before lunch and 1 hour afterwards).
It's a long journey, but you can imagine how my role has changed as I
prepare for the third forum which I am hosting in Open Space.
The overall process is an engagement between a government department
and their funded agencies. The most obvious direct power dynamics are
obvious, the effective power and authority dynamics are much more
complex (though predictable).
Department staff have authority challenges as much as the agencies.
They are trying so hard to be 'neutral' and 'non controlling' that
they are effectively reinforcing their own authority positions (which
often have little real correlation to the power, knowledge etc that
they imagine them to).
To be honest I am not sure how I need to deal with this, though my
strategy is to accept the authority for hosting the space in the next
workshop, obsolving the department of their responsibility to manage
the day.
It has been interesting to watch push back so far from agency reps who
are committed to participating, who are genuinely engaged, but are
playing to an us-them tension that is getting in the way of the shared
work (and serves them no good ends except protecting them from their
own responsibility). Stand-offishness is gradually being resolved,
though some pockets are holding firm.
I am crossing my fingers for WS3 that we can traverse these and get
into Open Space without being pushed off the bridge by the reactionary
tension; and that once on the other side, the department reps can
embrace Open Space and take responsibility for their role.
We will get across /as long as I have the authority/ to host the space
for them.
I don't think it is feasible for the obvious authority candidates
hosting something genuinely participatory. The relevant director has
said she doesn't want to speak formally and become The Authority for
the day, a position I agree with.
But it does leave something of a shell, where I am crossing my fingers
that our time together thus far affords me the authority to host that
space.
I think we are ready. I am bringing my harness and floaties just in case.
*/John Baxter/*
/CoCreate Adelaide Facilitator, Director of Realise consultancy/
CoCreateADL.com <http://cocreateadl.com/localgov%E2%80%8B> |
jsbaxter.com.au <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/>
0405 447 829
|
@jsbaxter_ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_>
/City Grill— An Election Forum More Magnificent Than Any Ever Seen
<http://citygrill.eventbrite.com.au>/, Saturday 18 October 2014
Influence your city by building relationships and joining voices with
others in your community
On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 12:26 PM, Daniel Mezick via OSList
<oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
<mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:
Hi Harrison,
So interesting how the Law of 2 Feet authorizes me, and every
other member of an OST event, to go anywhere we may want to go.
Without asking anyone else for any kind of "permission"...
Reminds me of this past June, being in Camden with you, and
Ethelyn, and Harold, and friends... when we were standing on the
porch of that Camden restaurant... waiting for everyone to arrive,
and assemble for dinner...
And as we wait, I notice there is this convenient-looking,
alternate entry-door... into the dining area.
And I say: "Hmm...I wonder if we are authorized to use that door."
And you say:
"We're authorized to go Anywhere we want to go."
...and I like that.
Daniel
Picture of that place:
https://twitter.com/DanielMezick/status/483054326265692161
See also:
https://twitter.com/danielgullo/status/483434622009999360
On 9/25/14 4:58 PM, Harrison Owen wrote:
Daniel... You really did it! I think. Your language comes from a
place I don’t know... which is to say that I probably wouldn’t
say what you say in the way that you do (duh). BUT when I run my
“translator” it comes out sounding pretty good! So... I can’t
help with the questions you have raised. Actually I think you are
doing pretty well on your own, and (hopefully) will incite others
to a similarly riotous performance. Thanks!
Harrison
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*From:*OSList [mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org] *On
Behalf Of *Daniel Mezick via OSList
*Sent:* Thursday, September 25, 2014 9:39 AM
*To:* oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
<mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>
*Subject:* [OSList] Authority Distribution in Open Space
Greetings to All,
For the past several years I have attended conferences of the
Group Relations community, and encouraged others to do the same.
I've studied their literature, and harvested some important
learning as a result. One of the things I have come to understand
a little bit better is the role of "authority dynamics" in
self-organizing social systems.
Link:
www.akriceinstitute.org <http://www.akriceinstitute.org>
Over the past several years I've been using Open Space with
intent to improve the results of my work in helping companies
implement Agile ideas in their organizations. We do an initial
Open Space, then the folks get about 3 months to play with Agile
(we carefully use the word "experimentation" with management,)
then we do another Open Space after that, to inspect what just
happened across the enterprise. The initial and subsequent Open
Space events form a "safe" container or field in which the
members can /learn/... as they explore how to /improve/ together
by /experimenting/ with new practices, and see if they actually
work. I call the process Open Agile Adoption.
Link:
OpenAgileAdoption.com
This seems to work pretty good. It seems to "take the air out of"
most of the fear, most of the anxiety and most of the worry that
is created. The key aspect is /consent/: absolutely no one is
forced to do anything they are unwilling to do. No one is
/coerced/ to /comply/. Everyone is instead respectfully /invited/
to help /write/ the story, and be a /character/ in the story...of
the contemplated process change. Open Agile Adoption encourages a
spirit of experimentation and play.
The spirit of Open Space is the spirit of freedom. Isn't it? In
the OST community, we discuss and talk a lot about
self-organization, self-management and self-governance. The Agile
community also talks about these ideas a lot.
So I have some questions. What is really going on during
self-organization in a social system? What are the steps? What
information is being sent and received? >From whom, and by whom?
Is the information about /authority/ important? How important?
Can a social system self organize without regard to who has the
right to do what work? /How do decisions that affect others get
made in a self-organizing system?/
Who decides about /who decides/? How important is the process of
/authorization/ in a self-organizing system? Is self-organization
in large part the process of dynamic authorization (and
/de-authorization/) in real time?
What /is /authorization? Can self-organization occur without the
sending and receiving of authorization data by and between the
members?
Is Bruce Tuckman's forming/storming/performing/adjourning
actually decomposing the /dynamics of authorization/ inside a
social system?
The essay below attempts to answer some of these difficult
questions. I'd love your thoughts on it. Will you give it a look?
Essay: Authority Distribution in Open Space
http://newtechusa.net/agile/authority-distribution-in-open-space/
Kind Regards,
Daniel
--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 <tel:%28203%29%20915%207248> (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter
<http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
Examine my new book:The Culture Game
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for
the Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and
Coaching. <http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
Explore the Agile Boston
<http://newtechusa.net/user-groups/ma/>Community.
--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 <tel:%28203%29%20915%207248> (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter
<http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
Examine my new book:The Culture Game
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for
the Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and
Coaching. <http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
Explore the Agile Boston
<http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/>Community.
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--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter <http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
Examine my new book:The Culture Game
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the
Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and Coaching.
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
Explore the Agile Boston <http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/>Community.
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