Re: [OSList] Is there experience in developing Open Space further in organizations and networks after the initial intervention

[Harrison Owen via OSList]

Reflections? It took me a while to recognize that Open Space is not a method
that we might “do” or “impose” – rather it is a memory of what we already
possess. OS simply allows us to recall that we are all self-organizing
creatures – no matter how much we might like to think we are “in charge.”
The really ridiculous thing is that clients pay us (occasionally quite well)
for giving them something they already possess. But at 82, my ethics are
getting a little foggy. I did have a client one time who figured it out. He
said, “Harrison, you have the greatest con game going. You charge a
significant fee for something the people already have (but may not know it)
– and then you go and take a nap while they do exactly what they already
know how to do…” Keep those checks coming Baby! Of course, I am here in
Maine where the weather is warmish but wonderful… and what would you say
about that?

 

Harrison

 

From: OSList [mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of
Jan Hoglund via OSList
Sent: Thursday, August 9, 2018 2:21 AM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Cc: Jan Hoglund
Subject: Re: [OSList] Is there experience in developing Open Space further
in organizations and networks after the initial intervention

 

Many thanks to Harrison Owen and Peggy Holman for sharing this — and to
Birgitt Williams, of course!

 

And now, twenty years and more later, what are your reflections?

 

/Jan Höglund, Sweden

 

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Re: [OSList] Is there experience in developing Open Space further in organizations and networks after the initial intervention

[Tova Averbuch via OSList]

Kari, thank you for bringing this theme up again,

Thank you so much for this beautiful reminder Peggy, 

and thank you Birgitt !!!

for leading the way for Open Space Organizations and sharing you deep knowledge 
so generously

With gratitude to all of you

Tova

 

From: OSList [mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Peggy 
Holman via OSList
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2018 1:33 AM
To: Open Listserv 
Cc: Peggy Holman 
Subject: Re: [OSList] Is there experience in developing Open Space further in 
organizations and networks after the initial intervention

 

Kari,

 

Check out Birgitt William’s stories in the OSlist archives about the social 
service organization she ran as an Open Space Organization. Among her posts, my 
favorite is one where she listed her lessons about Open Space Organizations:

 

https://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org/msg03764.html

My story of the Open Space Organization Part 2 of 4

18 Jan 2001

 

I’ve put an excerpt from it below called Ingredients of the Open Space 
Organization.

 

Another favorite insight from Birgitt is captured in this message 
 , 
called Open Space client opportunity from July 20, 2000:

IN EACH AND EVERY EXAMPLE INCLUDING THE ONE AT WESLEY, ABOUT THREE
TO
FOUR MONTHS AFTER THE FIRST OPEN SPACE EVENT AND ONCE SOME OF THE NEW WAYS
OF OPERATING ARE IN PLACE, THERE IS A REVOLT BY STAFF THAT IS VERY LARGE
AND AWFUL FOR THE LEADERSHIP. Even though staff want the change at the
start, they rebel and get very angry at the leadership. In all cases it is
about this time that leadership ends up in tears, wondering if they have
made a BIG mistake, doubting themselves as competent leaders.
COACHING/MENTORING/HAND HOLDING from the consultant is critical at this
time just as the midwife holding the hand of the woman in labour when
things start to get really bad just before birth. It is exactly the time
not to try to fight what is happening, and the most important thing the
coach can do is to reassure and to tell stories of how "normal" this stage
is. When everyone gets through this stage, staff start talking about how
angry they were but how they now get it. And leaders talk about their anger
at Open Space but when asked if they would do it over again, always say
that they WOULD. In every case they said that although the transition had
been very painful, that the stuff was out in the open that had always been
under the surface and had always gotten in the way (ie: Dead Moose stuff)

 

 

*

 

 

Ingredients of the Open Space Organization
 
Below, I present a list of what we learned to pay attention to as an Open
Space Organization. We refined this during those three years, actively and
intentionally learning together to capture what worked.
 
1. The grief cycle at work promoting understanding and tolerance
 
All staff were introduced to an understanding of the cycle of griefwork and
challenged to view situations within Wesley Urban Ministries from a
perspective that rather than dealing with "resistance to change", we could
be dealing with a person working through the grief cycle. This promoted
understanding and tolerance, and brought a shift towards deferring judgement
about others.
 
2. Storytelling promoting awareness, collectiveness, empathy, truth
 
Time was taken at regular intervals, every three months or so, for staff to
tell stories. These were stories of the organization, of their immediate
work in the organization or the larger context. Story telling time was seen
as valuable, with all stories-sads, glads, and mads-being valued. Sometimes
pictures and other artifacts accompanied the story telling. Through the
story telling, we wove a story of a corporate culture that fostered social
justice and valued all people as precious.
 
3. The story of the organization including purpose, values and vision
 
We worked to achieve great clarity about our purpose, values and vision
throughout the organization that was understood by all who were involved
with the organization. The purpose, values, and vision were taken into
account during every Policy and Operating decision that was made. All
decisions and actions were upheld to ensure congruity with the purpose,
values and vision.
 
 
4. The deep essence, working with what is not seen including Spirit
 
We realized that much of what we spent our energy on as an organization
especially energy in dealing with conflicts involved attention to behaviors
and actions. As a staff we started talking about a theory that was known as
the "iceberg theory", attesting that most of what was really going on in the
organization was below the level of the visible (behaviors and actions) and
at the levels of emotion, meaning, perception and interpretation. We started
putting more energy to discussing the unseen. Some of this was done by our
discussions about purpose, values and vision. Equally as valuable to
shifting our 

Re: [OSList] Is there experience in developing Open Space further in organizations and networks after the initial intervention

[Jan Hoglund via OSList]

Many thanks to Harrison Owen and Peggy Holman for sharing this — and to Birgitt 
Williams, of course!


And now, twenty years and more later, what are your reflections?


/Jan Höglund, Sweden

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