When is OS not OS?

[Maureen Pomroy]

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Maureen Pomroy
Business Lines Consultant
Tel:  (709) 772-2735
Fax:  (709) 772-2104

"When a group does the impossible in the first hour of its meeting, it is
very hard to stop them after that.  This is called empowerment."
        - H. Owen, on Open Space
---------- Original Text ----------

From: "Sharon Quarrington" <sharonq at pdesigns.com>, on 5/12/00 5:09 AM:

Murli:

I think you answered your own question - that space did not feel open
seems to be the most significant factor, more important than moving
rooms and missing elements.  I wonder - what would have been the
minimum changes you would need before the session felt like "open
space" for you?

For me, it was when you described the open space component as being
broken up through the event that this stopped feeling like open
space.

Reading your story reminded me of an upcoming event that I am aware
of.  I was sent information about it second hand by someone who knows
that I am interested in open space.  I do not have direct contact with
the people running the event.  The event invitation states that the
event will be run "in open space" and goes on to quote the law and the
principles but.... it then describes the concurrent sessions that will
be run and the people who are running them.  There is no market place,
there is no opening or closing circle.   As far as I can tell the only
part of "OS" that exists in this session is the law of two feet.

This is my puzzle - what do I do about this?  I have talked to the
person who forwarded the info to me and discussed what OS is (and
isn't) and why this is not open space - but I haven't talked to the
originator.  I don't want to cause bad feelings between my friend and
the person running this conference but it's driving me crazy that
there are a whole lot of people who are going to think that this is
what OS is.

So - what would you do - when you know in advance that a "Not OS" is
about to happen?
--
Sharon