Calling the Circle

[Uwe Weissflog]

Don,
We have used OST on many occasions as part of our company's Strategic Management
Process. Our experience is that one can not rely on OST sessions alone, but that the
foundations of OST (openness, integrity to follow through, equality of contributions
and contributors) need to permeate the culture of the organization. When this
happens, other methodologies, such as Future Search Conferences can be woven into
the overall process. We are doing this with increasing success rates (although still
not fast enough).

Opening the space has become focussed on two key questions: Who are we? and Where
are we heading?. Variations of these question (and derivatives) are used in our
ongoing Open Space events, which we conduct at least once a year, increasingly with
customer involvement (whole system approach).

regards Uwe

Don Ferretti wrote:

> There is a group that wants to get what people normally expect out of a
> traditional strategic planning process (i.e., vision, mission, SWOT, goals,
> objectives, etc.) to meet government funding requirements. My feeling is that
> calling the circle together in open space will meet all these needs. But I don't
> know this from personal experience. What would be a theme, or focus question for
> an open space that might allow all those strategic plan elements to surface? Any
> experience in using OST for strategic planning?
>
> This is meant to be a generative question. No lectures please.
>
> Don Ferretti
>
> ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________

>From  Fri Jan 15 09:55:50 1999
Message-Id: <FRI.15.JAN.1999.095550.0500.>
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 09:55:50 -0500
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To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Larry Peterson <lpasoc at inforamp.net>
Subject: Re: OS and Strategic Planning
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Folks:

I have used Open Space in a variety of ways in what have been called
"strategic planning" processes. If the whole group is to develop a "shared
preferred future" or even a senior team before involving others I use a more
guided process which has elements of traditional strategic planning. I call
it "Engaged Strategic Discernment", and folks can get some of the
information they need for a traditional plan from the processes that lead up
to or follow Open Space events. I think that appreciating the story,
clarifying strategic assumptions, articulating mission and vision need to be
guided in some organizations as the writing of the final strategic plan,
with vision, strategic directions and measurable indicators.  The space can
be opened at many points along the way and then opened again on specific
aspects. Open Space can generate the vision, strategic directions, the
elements of a strategic plan, specific implementation strategies flowing in
and out of more guided meetings.  I often use similar questions and
approaches of Future Search to set the context for opening space in a
"planning" process. Opening the space gets to engaged planning where intent
to act and commitment emerge as actually more important than the plan
specfics that end up on paper. Meg Wheatly talks about the importance of
planning being the building of a community that can respond to unexpected
situations. I suggest it needs to be a "community of intent". I think that
governments are the hardest group to work with in this regard because they
(at least in Canada) are still adopting the last trend even if the evidence
is that it doesn't work well (Mintzberg).

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