Australia + soul and spirit in organisation(s)

romy shovelton romys at compuserve.com
Mon Aug 23 00:57:29 PDT 1999


Birgitt

I am always SOooooo inspired by all that you write on the OS list - I
wonder how on earth you find all the time to create the generosity that you
do..... in being in Open Space in your life (perhaps that's the key); in
bringing OST to organisations and communities; and in supporting all our
learning and growing in OS.

I am longing to hear you talk more of the spirit and soul in organisation.
Clearly I have my own understanding..... and would love to benefit from
hearing how you help organisations to understand that.

Naturally we all benefit from all the work that Harrison has done over the
years on this.....    and I would love to see how it looks standing in your
shoes..?   Is there something on your website?

forgive me - I've forgotten your web address ?   Can you remind me please?


warm wishes and a big hug

Romy

>From  Mon Aug 23 08:30:59 1999
Message-Id: <MON.23.AUG.1999.083059.0400.>
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 08:30:59 -0400
Reply-To: lpasoc at inforamp.net
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Larry Peterson <lpasoc at inforamp.net>
Subject: Re: OS for small group
In-Reply-To: <v03130308b3e5fbb5086a@[204.94.53.83]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Betty:  I have led effective one and two day Open Space sessions with Boards
of 12 and a staff team of 10. If the conditions are right and the theme a
clear performance challenge for the group, they will, in OS, self-organize
their agenda and meetings with productive results. They may stay in one
group for major part of the time, with leadership shifting depending on who
has a passion. They may then break into subgroups of 2's or 5's to working
on topics. It can work well with that size group.

Larry

Larry Peterson
Associates in Transformation
41 Appleton Ave., Toronto, ON,
Canada, M6E 3A4
Tel:/Fax: 416-653-4829

lpasoc at inforamp.net
http://www.inforamp.net/~lpasoc


-----Original Message-----
From:   OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Betty
Didcoct
Sent:   Sunday, August 22, 1999 3:36 PM
To:     OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject:        OS for small group

For the past 6 years, I have been facilitating the semi-annual, six day
board meetings for an international non=profit group. For the meeting
coming up, I have been asked to do more of a reatreat format. We probably
have about 3 days we can devote to "retreat" type activities, interspersed
(or could be contiguous) any time during the six days.

The group is an international membership non-profit organization - the
professional group for teachers and practitioners of a healing/spiritual
practice. (The Reiki Alliance if you are interested)

The group is about 15-18 years old and in the past 5 years has blossomed in
membership to about 800 people from all around the world. They are used to
handling topics which take lots of deep consideration.

At their annual week-long international conference in April, I facilitated
an open space for the participants (about 175) part of the time. (I could
only get 3 one hour sessions, but we were able to spill over into some free
time)  So the board members are somewhat familiar with the process.

My question is this - there are only 5 board members (plus one exec
director,and  one newsletter editor.) My experience facilitating about 7-8
OS has been with groups of 100-250 and all in the context of
conferences/gatherings. I am having trouble envisioning how the process
would be productive for such a small number.

The organization is in flux and needs to change. The original director has
retired. Many of the "older" members are stepping back from many years of
taking volunteer leadership roles. Regional organizations (some affiliated
and some not) are becoming more developed. Membership criteria is being
questioned. There is a feeling that something new is afoot (maybe even the
dissolution of the organization,) but no one can quite grab the essence of
it.

Any hints from the pros out there who have used Open Space with small
groups?

Thanks

-Betty

_________________________________________________________________
 Betty Didcoct              TIES Consulting
   betty at ic.org               Building TIES between people to
   phone:   360-221-3064      facilitate better meetings &
   fax:     360-221-7828      healthier organizations
__________________________________________________________________

>From  Mon Aug 23 08:31:07 1999
Message-Id: <MON.23.AUG.1999.083107.0400.>
Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 08:31:07 -0400
Reply-To: lpasoc at inforamp.net
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Larry Peterson <lpasoc at inforamp.net>
Subject: Re: Self-organizing systems
In-Reply-To: <4.1.19990822080036.00997100 at purple.tmn.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

4) Sparse prior connections

        Harrison: This condition intrigues me when we talk about
"self-organization". Open Space events that include multiple stakeholders
and go beyond the boundaries of a particular unit or organization can be
very powerful. Open Space events that are within an existing organization,
where people have many prior connections can be more difficult. Social
networking theory would reinforce that systems where people have strong
connections already between each other are more difficult to change. Is that
what condition (4) is about from your perspective?

Larry

Larry Peterson
Associates in Transformation
41 Appleton Ave., Toronto, ON,
Canada, M6E 3A4
Tel:/Fax: 416-653-4829

lpasoc at inforamp.net
http://www.inforamp.net/~lpasoc



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