Dear Friends,G'day All This is something that you may wish to know is happening. To the best of my knowledge anyone is welcome to listen in to a Plexus Call. And there is often a transcript available later on www.plexusinstitute.org
I find this heartening evidence of the growing recognition of the value of OST. Being tucked away in the part of our little planet where the day starts :-) 1pm EST in the US is 2.30am the next day here. It's a tough decision to either stay up or set the alarm! With love Alan Adelaide ----- Original Message ----- From: Plexus Institute To: plexusn...@plexusinstitute.org Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2004 4:14 AM Subject: (PlexusNews) Plexuscalls Announcement - Harrison Owen ( February 13 2004) PlexusCalls Announcement! Dear Plexus Friends, Please join us for the next PlexusCalls, scheduled for: Friday, February 13, 2004, 1:00 to 2:00 pm EST Join us in our next PlexusCalls with Harrison Owen as he talks about On Open Space Technology and Complexity. He will be joined by Keith McCandless and Larry Peterson. TO DIAL IN TO THIS PLEXUSCALLS: Simply dial 641-594-7500 and then enter PIN number 85392# ABOUT THIS CALL: "Open Space Technology" is a meeting approach that enables emergent agenda, self-organizing work groups and energized dialogue. Developed in the late eighties by Harrison Owen of Maryland, this meeting methodology is now being used around the world as an effective process for facilitating change in both organizational and community settings. OST is best used when there is an important issue to be addressed; there is a diversity of people involved; there is complexity; and when decisions need to be made quickly. Open Space Technology meetings are simple to organize, require little lead time, are effective for any sized group from five to two thousand, are effective for established groups such as corporations, private sector and public sector organizations, government and non-government organizations, coalitions, teams or communities. They enable the building of energy and participation in ways that few other processes do, while creating the kinds of conditions for interactive processes that allow leadership to surface naturally. OST is a way to practice living well in complex adaptive systems. Speaking about one of the first OST meetings, Harrison reflects: "At the point of arrival, the participants knew only when things would start, when it would conclude, and generally what the theme might be. There was no agenda, no planning committee, no management committee, and the only facilitator in evidence essentially disappeared after several hours." This all happens through simple rules and self-organization. It is complexity in motion. Join us to find out more... Here is a little background about each of our featured guests and conversationalists: a.. Harrison Owen is President of H.H. Owen and Company. His academic background and training centered on the nature and function of myth, ritual and culture. In the mid-60s, he left academe to work with a variety of organizations including small West African villages, urban (American and African) community organizations, Peace Corps, Regional Medical Programs, National Institutes of Health, and Veterans Administration. Along the way he discovered that his study of myth, ritual and culture had direct application to these social systems. He created his company in 1979 in order to explore the culture of organizations in transformation as a theorist and practicing consultant. Harrison convened the First International Symposium on Organization Transformation, and is the originator of Open Space Technology. He is the author of Spirit: Transformation and Development in Organizations, Leadership Is, Open Space Technology: A Users Guide, Tales From Open Space (editor), Expanding Our Now: The Story of Open Space Technology, The Spirit of Leadership and The Power of Spirit: How Organizations Transform. · Keith McCandless, Principal of Seattle-based Oblique Strategy, helps organizations innovate and manage complexity by working with groups to unleash creativity, discover opportunities and build on momentum. His eclectic facilitation skills are grounded in organizational development, systems dynamics, complexity science, simulation, strategy development and graphic facilitation. He specializes in imaginative solutions to challenges without easy answers. Keith led the executive learning initiatives for the Health Forum in San Francisco, where he was responsible for discovering, communicating and rewarding best practices in health care and working with field-based learning collaboratives to advance strategic thinking and innovative practice. · Larry Peterson brings 30 years of experience in facilitating meetings and transformational change in Canada and the US. He has led Open Space Technology meetings since 1990, and has led over 200 Open Space events. He is a founder of the Open Space Institute of Canada and active in the WorldWide Open Space network. He has led Open Space Technology Events in the corporate, government, health, education and non-profit sectors. In his work, OST has been part of strategic planning or implementation, employee engagement, cultural change, innovation, executive teamwork, whole system change, conferences, IT system design and implementation, accelerating projects and business results. He leads training workshops and has published articles on OST. JOIN US ON SOME UPCOMING PLEXUSCALLS ... February 27, 2004 Michael Gold - Organizational Play: Jazz and the Work Place Jazz improvisation and the corporate business model have more in common than you may realize. Jazz uses a system that enables collaborative improvisation to thrive - the very same skills that many corporations rely on for success. Gold has been helping others to see these insights, connecting the worlds of business and jazz. In an environment where the only constant is change, they have found that the improvisational techniques of jazz go beyond metaphorical inspiration with techniques that can have immediate effects for business organizations. Michael will be joining us at Mayo Clinic this year at our 2nd Annual Plexus Institute Summit - tune into this conversation for a bit of a pre-conference teaser! QUESTIONS, ADVICE & FEEDBACK: If you would like to pose a question or share an observation, either before or during a PlexusCalls simply email it to plexusca...@plexusinstitute.org. It will be shared with your moderators and an effort will be made to incorporate it into the conversation. To help us plan and improve future PlexusCalls, share your suggestions, topic ideas, technical advice, and help of any kind. Just send us a note to plexusca...@plexusinstitute.org or call Curt Lindberg or Darren Stanley at 609-208-2930. Cheers, Darren and Curt * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
