John – I’m not sure there is an “official story” (“the Official Story that Open Space doesn't work in parallel.”) But if so, I guess I am the guilty party. At least that is what I wrote in “The User’s Guide.” Anyhow... nothing doctrinaire about it, but that had been my experience, and I think the experience of a number of others. Every time there was an “official program” and an “Open Space Program run in parallel, the Open Space just seemed to lack energy and impact. That’s just the way it was. Now however, it seems that parallelism does work, which leads to the question, Why? I think the answer might be something like this. In those situations I referred to it is clear to me (retrospectively) that the sponsors were trying to hedge their bet, or I might say “do a little bit of Open Space.” Whenever that happens you typically end up with all form and no substance. Which is to say you have the formal opening with nothing real following. The key is there is no genuine passion or commitment. Just going through the motions. In the occasions just reported, I think we have something quite different. There really is a commitment on the part of sponsors and participants to use the space. Some (like Harold) even find it to be the best part.
Harrison Winter Address 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, MD 20854 301-365-2093 Summer Address 189 Beaucaire Ave. Camden, ME 04843 207-763-3261 Websites www.openspaceworld.com www.ho-image.com OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST Go to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org From: OSList [mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of John Baxter via OSList Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 7:39 PM To: Harold Shinsato; World wide Open Space Technology email list Subject: Re: [OSList] Fwd: Guerilla Open Space? Thank you everyone for your examples... I love the demonstrations of Open Space incorporated symbiotically into the structure of a more formal event. It is making me rethink what is possible with gatherings... there is strong pressure to have prescriptive formal structures even when everyone agrees that open space is really needed... so I very much like the idea of generative symbiotic combinations. I'm curious about the Official Story that Open Space doesn't work in parallel. Can anyone speak to that? I look at Open Space Technology in this context as an attempt to bring open space from the background or the cracks of a prescriptive structure, into the foreground. So it should not be surprising at all that those cracks can be expanded and built upon with OST?? Thanks John Baxter Cocreation Consultant & CoCreate Adelaide Facilitator <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/> jsbaxter.com.au | CoCreateADL.com 0405 447 829 | @ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_> jsbaxter_ Thank you to everyone who came, helped or spread the good word about City Grill! Summary and links: cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary On Thu, Nov 13, 2014 at 10:39 AM, Harold Shinsato via OSList <oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: The Open Jam events at the Agile 20xx conferences have increasingly been the place where (at least in my opinion) the cool things happen. Even though the official story is that Open Space doesn't work in parallel, and I've definitely seen it work horribly in a software conference attempting to put OST in parallel - the Agile Software community seems to really enjoy hanging out in this space and holding interesting sessions on the fringes of a very well populated main track. Even though it's not "official OST", it's very Open Space like. Thanks to the Agile 20xx conference folks, and to you Diane, for having this as a constant feature in my Agile 20xx experience! Regards, Harold On 11/12/14 3:16 PM, Diana Larsen via OSList wrote: One more story: Since 2008,, every year at the Agile 20xx conference there has been an area called "Open Jam" (in homage to a now defunct Music Festival analogy). It's usually prominently located near the main traffic patterns of the conference and arranged with a variety of sub-areas variously décor-ed with chairs of different kinds, some tables, some not, flip charts, markers and other supplies for easy access, etc. The "Open Jam" offers an opportunity each morning of the five-day conference to propose new, not-on-the-formal-program sessions that will run throughout the day. It's right out in the Open, not sub rosa at all, and for some attendees, it's the best part of the conference. Every year different folks step up to organize it with a very light touch. Beyond the Open Jam, the conference organizers work with the new venue to emphasize the importance of a variety of seating + small conversation areas throughout the facility. People use them a lot, and at some times of day it can be hard to find a free one. It's an acknowledgement of the "always open" nature of spaces. Diana *********** Diana Larsen "Your Path Through Agile Fluency" http://agilefluency.com On Nov 12, 2014, at 2:35 PM, Brendan McKeague via OSList <oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: A wee story of Last year at a 200-participant (tables of 8) conference, myself and a colleague Peter Wilde (with the blessing of the organisers) offered an 'alternative' space to the mainstream process. We introduced the notion of 'self-organising' conversations at the beginning of the conference and set up a 'market place' for offering/requesting conversations during the breaks and alongside the afternoon pre-planned workshop sessions. The market place was on a wall in the main meeting area and people were invited to go along at anytime and post their topic, indicating where they would meet to host their conversations. Needless to say, these conversations started at the right time, at the right place and continued until they were over... It was a practical way to provide meeting spaces for those who wished to connect with others - and it worked. Cheers Brendan On 12/11/2014, at 4:37 PM, Jeff Aitken via OSList wrote: I remember that story Michael! Some year afterward, John Abbe came south from Eugene and we cofacilitated a two day 'recent changes camp' outside and inside of the Social Text offices in Palo Alto. Folks from Europe were there too. Jeff On 11/11/14, Michael Herman via OSList <oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: first, to paul, yes i've definitely done as you say. was a very small group of us, not a conference but a "team meeting" held too late in the day and made everyone ripe for some harmless mutiny. i led the charge or made the suggestion, and the next day we did the team meeting in open space. we put up 8 issues, discussed only 3, and the next weekly meeting looked like all the previous ones, except that the team leader's agenda was really just an ongoing updating of our original 8 issues, which were the answer to "how do we get this project finished successfully?" mission accomplished. next, to the main question... some years ago, ted ernst (who some here will remember) and some other friends got excited about wiki websites. they met up in portland, drove to seattle to pick up others, then drove all the way to san diego, using *part* of the minivan windshield as an open space bulletin board, discussing all the way, to a symposium called wikisym. when they got there, this merry band made themselves stickers that said "ask me about open space." as they met folks, they told the story and made more stickers. pretty soon everyone knew about open space, a bulletin board was created on a wall in a hallway, sessions went up and started happening. the conference organizers came to the merry band and asked them nicely not to wreck the conference. since wrecking was not the intention, it was all worked out. part of that is that the organizers asked ted to facilitate open space at the next symposium and make it official, so to speak. another part was that some of the merry band, having been teased by these first attempts, wanted to see what happened in a full-blown 2.5 days. so they organized "recent changes camp" which itself sparked a bunch of other gatherings. gerard muller can maybe say more about the follow-on from the wikisym in open space, as it was in denmark or nearby and i think he ended up working with ted on that one. m -- Michael Herman Michael Herman Associates 312-280-7838 (mobile) http://MichaelHerman.com http://OpenSpaceWorld.org On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 9:32 PM, John Baxter via OSList < oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: I hosted an 'Elephants' Gathering' at a conference once upon a time. I knew there were people there I wanted to talk to, but the program was of little interest. I didn't try to compete with the mainstream agenda, I put it in the evening. Nobody had any intent on the formalities of Open Space, but it was indeed an open space, and the right people came (far less than I thought would come, but all the ones I wanted to talk to!). Someone (Eisenstein?) wrote a post recently, I think posted here, about trying to subvert the structure of a conference and being beaten down. My interpretation of events obviously... The right people can always be found in the cracks (at the bar, the coffee station etc). Some of them might need an invitation. I don't think it's appropriate to force Open Space on the others in a gathering who have little interest. Good on anyone that makes the call that Open Space is right for everyone and goes with it. But I fear that may likely more driven by ego than care (e.g the above dramatisation). Good discussion! *John Baxter* *Cocreation Consultant & CoCreate Adelaide Facilitator* CoCreateADL.com <http://cocreateadl.com/localgov%E2%80%8B> <http://cocreateadl.com/localgov%E2%80%8B> | jsbaxter.com.au <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/> <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/> 0405 447 829 | @jsbaxter_ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_> <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_> *Thank you to everyone who came, helped or spread the good word about City Grill!* *Summary and links: cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary <http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary> <http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary>* On Wed, Nov 12, 2014 at 1:55 PM, Skye Hirst via OSList < oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: yeah, indeed flash mob Open Space always a great possibility. Thanks, Skye On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 4:09 PM, Royle, Karl via OSList < oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: Great! Sent by iPhone Karl Royle Head of Enterprise and Commercial Development Faculty of Education Health and Wellbeing University of Wolverhampton 01902323006 07815416698 @karlroyle. On Twitter Karlr61 Skype Www.academia.edu/karlroyle On 11 Nov 2014, at 20:51, "paul levy via OSList" < oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: <http://rationalmadness.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/w3.jpg> <http://rationalmadness.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/w3.jpg> I wonder if anyone reading this has experiences to share of what I am about to describe. Most published stories of open space tend to go by the book. The book is often referred to as the *user * <http://www.openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm> <http://www.openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm>*guide* <http://www.openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm> <http://www.openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm>“, and it tends towards a process that is largely based on an* instruction manual* <http://elementaleducation.com/wp-content/uploads/temp/OpenSpaceTechnology--UsersGuide.pdf> <http://elementaleducation.com/wp-content/uploads/temp/OpenSpaceTechnology--UsersGuide.pdf>. Dogmatic application manual can then lead, in my humble opinion, not to one less thing to do, but often one more thing to do. These are “guides” not rules, and that is the spirit in which they were written. In many cases, the user guide proves remarkably resilient and applicable. Yet there is always the next moment, the new story, the moment that needs something playful. There’s a lot in the manual (and the many trainings that have come into being from it) about sponsors and invitations, and the things that need to be done before an Open Space to ensure the open spacer er… opens space. I have no difficulty with the manual. It’s full of good advice and is the foundation you might just need to open some space. But, hey, what about this… I’m at a company away day that is looking at product innovation. It is business critical, and it is floundering. Powerpoint after Powerpoint has resulted in a stifled audience, and when they get to breakout sessions, the flipcharts look empty, the energy is low, and it all looks a bit too quiet. There’s a feeling in the room that the event is dying on its feet. Several sessions are lost in badly facilitated action planning. I am on the team and the lead facilitator looks to me for any ideas. It must be because I am silent and looking knowing and wise. Actually I’m seething inside at this over-facilitated, over-designed, overplanned conference crash. Do you mind if I… I ask, a bit pompously and the lead facilitator is up for whatever help he can get. I leap up, and step into the mess. I have a loud voice and it can’t get any worse than this. An idea has just occurred to me and I decide to hurl it into the cluttered room. “Er, hey.” I roar. “Why don’t we open some space?” I’m loud. It goes silent. This is what I say: “This is crap isn’t it?” Silence. “Can everyone bring their chairs and let’s get into a big circle. Tuts, irritation, doubt and mostly relief. Two minutes later there’s a big circle. I introduce open space in about four minutes and quickly crab some flip chart paper and tack it to the wall, creating four corners at new breakout spaces. I ask people to take their chairs with them and, within about ten minutes we have a whole bunch of different sessions, many based around action. The bosses in the room are gobsmacked. We have a two hour open space until wrap up and there’s a huge buzz in the room from this pop-up open space. The invite was improvised and spontaneous. The space opened because it wanted and needed to. It popped up and out as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It transformed the day and sent the clutter fleeing for cover. It was done without fuss and chairs from the main circle quickly went into breakout and back again. The facilitator team were edgy because they felt they were supposed to be doing something and I dragged them away for coffee. We chatted a bit about “emergence” and I was looked on as if I’d done some kind of magic. I was young and enjoyed the attention. I was also looked as as if I was a bit weird. Well, I am a bit weird. I do wonder if pop-up open space could and should happen a lot more. A lot of open spacers I know loved improvisation and spontaneity, yet when it comes to open space are a bit locked in the process in the book of instructions – the manual that tends to overplay the “prep” for the event. So, I’m waving a flag for pop-up, guerilla open space. Why not open some space even for the process of open space? Let’s shimmy it a little and see what falls out. “Flash mob” open space has, I think, a big future. My intuition tells me a fair number of facilitators have done it, and a fair few of them haven’t reported it, telling instead there more “responsible” by-the-book open space stories. But why not? Why not open some space on the spur of the moment? The invite is still there -it just takes a hell of a lot shorter. The opportunity is always there where an over-organised event is disappearing up its own proverbial… It is also there in an event that has some inbuilt flexibility. Why not throw some open space into the flexible mix? But best of all, why not open space when space is there to be open? Self-organisation is often crying out for a chance in the midst of failing over-organisation. So, here’s to some more pop-up open space… On 11 Nov 2014 19:59, "Peggy Holman via OSList" < oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: Hi all, I got the query below from my friend Tom Atlee. It seemed like a great question for the list. Since Tom isn’t on it, I told him that I’d forward any responses. appreciatively, Peggy Begin forwarded message: *From: *Tom Atlee <mailto:c...@igc.org> <c...@igc.org> *Date: *November 10, 2014 at 12:51:54 PM PST *Subject: **Guerilla Open Space?* *To: *Peggy Holman <mailto:pe...@peggyholman.com> <pe...@peggyholman.com> Hi Peggy, Thinking about the NCDD conference, I got the idea for "guerilla Open Space" to be used in conferences where you want to open the space in the middle of a too-organized gathering. It would involve a central website with instructions on what to do and why. It would involve passing out cards with messages like "Is there something that you'd really like to talk about or do here that the agenda here is preventing you from talking about or doing?" "Would you like to be learning, contributing, and having more fun here?" with the web address on it. Tweets might also be used. Then, on the main website it would tell people about how to do a guerilla open space, referring them perhaps to meetup.com to arrange places to talk. Or something like that. Have you heard of such thing before? Do you have any thoughts/responses? Hugs, Tom _________________________________ Peggy Holman Executive Director Journalism that Matters 15347 SE 49th Place Bellevue, WA 98006 425-746-6274 www.journalismthatmatters.net www.peggyholman.com Twitter: @peggyholman JTM Twitter: @JTMStream Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity <http://www.engagingemergence.com> <http://www.engagingemergence.com> Check out my series on what's emerging in the news & information ecosystem <http://www.journalismthatmatters.net/the_emerging_news_and_information_eco_system> <http://www.journalismthatmatters.net/the_emerging_news_and_information_eco_system> _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org -- Scanned by iCritical. _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org -- *Skye Hirst, PhD* President - The Autognomics Institute *Conversations in Radical Self-Knowing* www.autognomics.org @autognomics New Phone Number: 207-593-8074 _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org -- Harold Shinsato har...@shinsato.com http://shinsato.com twitter: @hajush <http://twitter.com/hajush> _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
_______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
