Triangles, circles and power

[Patrick McAuley]

Great way, Peg, of explaining the differences and advantages of a highly participative approach to introducing change, versus the traditional cascade approach.  

Picking up on one of your points, "it can be a huge leap of faith for senior managers unfamiliar with the idea of sharing power."  One way to reassure the first time sponsors of an Open Space event is to explain that it's not necessarily an either/or situation. You can't quite turn Open Space on and off, but you set limits on what it will be used for.  

Birgitt Williams tells the story (please correct me if I've got this wrong, Birgitt) of an Open Space event she was facilitating for the military, where the commanding officer told the participants in the opening that "democracy ends at 5:00 pm on Thursday."  When people understand the boundaries clearly and if they see the boundaries as reasonable, they are usually content to work within them.  Traditional approaches can still be used in other areas, or in combination with Open Space over time, if the climate calls for it.

Patrick McAuley

Guelph, Canada
patrick.mcauley at sympatico.ca
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