hmmm... interesting question that I am not sure quite what to make
of... over the years I have often thought of the questions of how many
participants or how many events as a little like talk in an adolescent
boys locker room. That said, I know the size question has lots of
implications in the moment when we are doing the work.
When people ask or comment on how small an open space I get especially
puzzled. I guess over the years I have found my thinking (evolving or
devolving or both - I don't know) torn between
- size being a function of getting the widest cross-section of
people needed to address the question(s) at hand in a meaningful way,
not necessarily the absolute number, and
- doing work with clients in ways that embody the spirit of OST
without regard for naming every gathering "an" open space. (HO, what
is the Anglican take on "Wherever two or more are gathered in my
name..."?)
So, while someone posted that I may have held the "record" for largest
at some point in time, I can't tell you off hand how many was my
largest gathering of the right people. Also, while in the nineties I
think I was involved in about 4 a year of at least 30 or more, and in
this century I seem to do at least one or two of 30 or more per
year... so I suppose my number is over 50 and less than 100.
However, what I really value and take a small amount of pride in
(after all - they did the work) is the profound, sustainable change
that has occurred in a number of communities and organizations over
the years.
One of my early childhood education clients, after nearly 20 years,
continues to do OST events from time to time when a particular
question arises that they want to make sure to engage a wide range of
perspectives. People come from all over the world to learn what they
are up to. More importantly, I notice staff members who were not
around when I was there much more frequently saying and dong things
congruent with the spirit of OST.
In fact a few weeks ago the leader said to me that her biggest new
challenge is that her staff keeps organizing itself to address issues
on behalf of children and families without including her or other
supervisors in the loop. Because her lead agency is levy funded, and
some of her partners are very heavily regulated, she does need to know
that the work won't create problems in the external worlds. Her
solution is not to make sure particular people get included (although
they are sometimes the right people and included for that reason). Her
solution is to arrange professional development to help them put their
work in the larger context.
In the spring I will be opening space for a client who has brought OST
to every place she works and she is in another new workplace. Again,
the results of her work has had lasting significance... I recently
took my granddaughter to one of the museums the client worked at and
could see signs of lasting impact in what has not changed and what has
changed since we did that work together 15 years ago.
What I also think about is the power of opening space to help people
talk with on another differently. Ralph Copleman, Barbara Bunker and I
worked an OST for an industrial abrasives business conducted in two
locations simultaneously. Before lunch on the first day I witnessed a
pretty gritty (literally) guy with a pack of cigarettes rolled in his
t-shirt sleeve analyze a benefits question for an HR VP (who had said
to me earlier that this was the one issue he did not want addressed
and was not happy I would not make that promise). My guy was not the
only one to raise the issue, but when the company president saw that
the issue was important to people in both locations he acknowledged
its importance before we started after lunch. By the end of the day he
said he could and would do what had been suggested.
In another setting an OST on one topic resulted in the resolution of
an unrelated, long standing lawsuit among several of the participants
- a law suit that had affected many thousands of people suffering from
mental illness.
So, when I am lurking one of the things I most love reading about is
the profound impact many of you have had through your very important
work by getting the right people in the room, however many people that
is.
And even if you only open space one time, if your work made a
sustainable difference wherever you opened space then you were the
right person doing the right work at the right time.
--
Shalom,
Chris Kloth
ChangeWorks of the Heartland
254 South Merkle Road
Bexley, OH 43209-1801
ph 614-239-1336
fax 614-237-2347
www.got2change.com
Think globally. Act locally.
Quoting Daniel Mezick via OSList <oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>:
Hmmm, the the Lurker Game proved interesting.
...lots of seldom-heard-from voices! Quite a deep level of
experience being reported!
So interesting ... so much depth. Seems like something to ... /explore..../
So: if you want, /you are cordially invited/ to play ... let's call
it the OST-7 Game:
========================================
*The OST-7**Game*
========================================
*The Goal:*
Get a collective idea of how many people here have actually
Facilitated 7 or more OST events in their lifetime. Put another way:
what is the depth of practical OST facilitation experience across
the entire membership?
*The Rules:*
If you have Facilitated at least 7 OST events, consider replying
with "hey" ... or optionally, with absolutely anything else you
might like to say, for example: where you are located, last time you
did one, your hair color, etc
*Tracking Progress:*
Watch the thread to track progress, by: # of replies, # of
countries, # of OST events, replies per unit of time, # of people
with red hair, or absolutely any other measures you like
*
**Play:*
100% optional. Play if you like. If you've done more 7 or more and
prefer to just watch the game, that's OK too.
========================================
Notes:
* For this game, "OST" means something like this:
http://www.openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm
* This is for Facilitating only; consider replying if you've
Facilitated at least 7 of these events in your lifetime.
* Please reply by clicking [Reply All] Or [Reply List], so the thread
stays together, under the same subject
Steps to Play:
* Click [Reply All] Or [Reply List]
* Reply with "hey" or with absolutely anything else you might like to say
You are invited. What might happen next? Let's see...
Daniel
--
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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