Kari… The answer is YES – with multiple examples. Long, long ago in the Great
State of Kentucky (USA), Some strange things happened…
The University of Kentucky Center for Rural Health Loyd Kepferle and Karen Main
For reasons remaining somewhat obscure, it turns out that Open Space often
migrates from the status of "meeting methodology" towads a new status as, "the
way we do business around here." One might assume that an organization doing
business in an open space mode would accomplish little. That does not seem to
be the reality, for Open Space frames the total operation, and internally there
is an appropriate alternation between open exploration of new opportunities and
pre-determined, structured responses to known situations. The key word is
"appropriate." In those situations where people know what to do and there are
systems in place to take care of that particular business, that is the way
things work. On the other hand, when novelty is the order of the day open space
becomes the dominant mode. The people in Kentucky have been experimenting with
all of this, and what follows is a description of their efforts. vv The
employees of the Center for Rural Health believe that the Center exists as one
mechanism for making life better for people who live in rural Kentucky and
rural America. These people include our students, our patients, our
constituents and of course, ourselves. We try to make life better by educating
people for better 40 careers in health care, through the health services
provided in our clinic, through our Community programs which help people
improve their health care systems, through research and policy analysis coupled
with advocacy for improving health in rural areas, and through programs which
will help all of our employees achieve their potential. The Center is a complex
organization functioning within the rules of a much larger bureaucracy to which
we are accountable (the University Kentucky Medical School). While the
philosophy enunciated below is one of personal empowerment, we recognize that
we are not empowered to act in ways that are contradictory to University rules
and regulations. Some of our programs, such as the academic programs, may be
more constrained by these rules than others, such as Community Programs. In
addition, while we espouse an egalitarian philosophy, we recognize that for the
purposes of accountability, there is an implicit hierarchy within the Center.
For example, while employees interested in technology are strongly urged to
explore innovations that may help our programs, they will require information
from the Center Administrator regarding availability of funds since the
Administrator is accountable to the Director for not overspending the Center's
budget. In this example, however, if funds were not available from the Center,
this information would only lead the technology group to consider other funding
sources. It would not negate their right to improve our programs. We believe
that even with these limitations, the vast majority of problems and
opportunities which come to the Center can be resolved by maximizing the
talents and creativity of our 41 employees through empowerment. In this regard,
we believe that all of us are using our abilities to make the Center succeed.
ALL OF OUR CONTRIBUTIONS ARE EQUAL. In these efforts there is no hierarchy or
"chain of command". We simply perform different functions. To operationalize
this philosophy, we are working hard to make a process we experimented with a
reality in every day life at the Center. The process is called "Open Space".
The main idea of this process is that "People who care most passionately about
a problem or opportunity have the RIGHT and the RESPONSIBILITY to do something
about it". This basic idea supersedes all notions of a hierarchical
organizational structure which requires individuals with problems or ideas to
proceed through several layers of authority in order to articulate a
problem/solution or idea before it can be addressed or implemented. Underlying
this approach is the idea that success is dependent on commitment which comes
from Ownership which is dependent on power. There are only five constraints on
this model of personal empowerment: 1. When a problem or opportunity is to be
discussed, there must be wide notification of the meeting time and place so
anyone who is interested can attend. 2. Proposed solutions/ideas must be
broadcast widely so they can be acknowledged as Center policies, programs or
procedures; or, if they are contradictory to University of Kentucky rules,
another solution can be sought. 3. Proposed solutions cannot be hurtful to
anyone else. 4. Proposed solutions should channel our limited resources in such
a way as to have maximum impact on achieving 42 our goal. 5. Accomplishing the
work for which we were hired takes precedence over our group work. However, if
the RIGHT people (those who
