OS for science?

[Michael C. Funke]

Hallo Lynn,
recently I had to moderate for an ill colleague a 3-days meeting for members 
of a so called CoC (Center of Competence, regarding a specific subject) for a 
global player. This scientists of different areas work in / belong to 
different business units worldwide. Once a year they met to exchange their 
work / conversate about the CoC's subject from their different perspectives.
The head of this CoC had a full designed conference design that reads:
Presentation, Presentation, Presentation...
+ His presentation of the Road Map (what has to be done next year) + 
Completions from colleagues.

And I couldn't convince him to change this design.
After Day 1 and 14 powerpoint presentations everybody was tired and 
frustrated. 
At dinner I had a talk with the head and members and proposed a "somehow 
different procedure", i.e. OS.
So we changed the design for the rest of the meeting.
During night I prepared the rooms and materials, in the morning it turned out 
that non of the participants had ever heard from OS and I opend SPACE for 
real "hard core scientists": physicists, technicians, engineers, 
mathematicians, computer scientists etc. (remembering an old experience from 
this list: OS is touchy but don't tell this folk that it is ... )
I tried to give my best with a somehow sensitive emotional indrocuction 
/explanation to this dry guys but they didn't care much about this, did their 
jobs and behaved like having been in Open Space all their life before. 
In the closing circle the messages were like: 
If I wouldn't take anything from this meeting, this procedure I take with me. 
I now really could do the things I needed with my collegues. 
etc.
And by the way it turned out that from the CoC head's 14 proposed topics for 
his road map (I had prevented him presenting this part) that 13 topics had 
been taken over already by the participans. So he said: This last one I take 
for myself. And so they were happy and think they had a great meeting...

Michael Funke




In einer eMail vom 26.03.02 00:47:28 (MEZ) Mitteleuropäische Zeit schreibt 
myhal at EARTHLINK.NET:


> Thema:OS for science?
> Datum:26.03.02 00:47:28 (MEZ) Mitteleuropäische Zeit
> From:    myhal at EARTHLINK.NET (Lynn Myhal)
> Sender:    OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU (OSLIST)
> Reply-to:    myhal at EARTHLINK.NET (Lynn Myhal)
> To:    OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Does anyone know if OS has been used to facilitate a conversation among 
> scientists who would not normally interact because of their disciplines?  
> This conference is being held for exactly that purpose and the chairs are 
> worried that the standard talk - talk - talk format won't work to stimulate 
> ideas across disciplines. 
> 
> Lynn Myhal
> 


*******************************************************
Dr. Michael C. Funke
SYSTEMIC CONSULTING NET  
Organisationsberatung & Personalentwicklung
Hoepnerstr. 4A
D-04157 Leipzig

fon/fax   0341 - 91 220 91
mobil     0177 5835 549
mail       michael.funke at systemic-consulting.net
*******************************************************


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