That American bloke in France

Mon Sep 8 02:10:58 PDT 2003

Artur makes some really good points in his posting about "OST Counties".

The man in question is Chris(topher) Schoch, a friend who I spent a few
hours with earlier in the year. Whole working at Accor ten or more years
ago, Chris contributed a chapter to the Harrison Owen edited book, Tales
from Open Space - now out of print, but published online at
http://www.openspaceworld.com/tales.htm. (Warm thanks to Michael Herman for
outting it up there, and to Harrison for giving Michael permission to do
so.)

Chris is still active with OST. A few years ago he conducted a two day OS
Gathering for almost 1,000 people, in French. I was fortunate to be one of
his assistants. The biggest thing I learnt from that experience was this:
However much wall space you think you need for such a big gathering, double
it.

If you're interested, you can see Chris's biog and photo at
http://www.wdhb.com/en/wdhb/cv_cs.php3

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I also read Artur's posting about the apparent incompatibility of OST and
other "large group intervention" (an inaccurate and unhelpful term, but it's
in widespread use) methods. I've been working with a wide range of methods
(inc. OST, Real Time Strategic Change, Future Search and Simu-Real) for
nearly ten years, and these days I work with the principles that these
methods seem to share, rather than following the recipes. And it seems that
apparently contradictory approaches can indeed be combined or integrated
effectively. As I see it, there are two main categories of large group
intervention method.

The first, typified by Real Time Strategic Change (RTSC), involves
designing, ahead of the collaborative gathering, a sequence of activities
for making a rapid shift from the current reality to the desired future (or
what I prefer to think of as the desired reality). This sequence is
determined by a design team, which includes the sponsor, the
consultant/facilitator and a selection of people from the different
stakeholder groups that will take part in the gathering, including a vocal
sceptic. One of the explicit principles of RTSC, "Reality is a key driver",
is to redesign this sequence of events at any given moment if what is
happening in the room suggests that such a redesign is called for. Quite
often, although not always, participants in Category 1 gatherings sit at
round tables, often but not always in a "max-mix" (maximum diversity)
configuration. The principles of RTSC can be used to create a gathering
that, to an observer parachuted into it, might appear to be a Future Search
conference, Search Conference, Simu-Real event or some other "branded"
gathering. To put this another way, RTSC is a philosophy and a set of
principles, whereas the other Category 1 methods are, if you like, recipes.
So, in my mind at least, Category 1 is Real Time Strategic Change.

Category 2 is what I call "Open Space Gatherings" (a nod to Birgitt Williams
here, who prefers the term "Open Space Technology meetings"). Note that
there is a still a pre-designed sequence (circle, session offers, sign-up,
OS sessions, more OS sessions, and so on) but that the activities taking
place within this very tight and explicit structure are designed by the
participants. Or rather, by a subset of the participants - i.e. the ones
that choose to offer sessions. I'm just noticing that this isn't so very
different from RTSC, where the activities are designed by ... a subset of
the participants!

In fact, if someone were to suggest that RTSC is _more_ emergent than OST,
it would be hard to disagree. Using the RTSC model, if things start going
what we quaintly call "tits up" here in the UK, the design team calls a
break and quickly redesigns the agenda. Under OST, if something similar
happens, the facilitator does little or nothing, trusting (hoping? praying?)
that matters will resolve themselves.

OK, I'm being a bit provocative here, but viewed from the client's
perspective RTSC and its siblings can look much more attractive than OS.

On many occasions I and others I know (including Romy Shovelton, a
longstanding contributor to OSList) have effectively combined Category 1 and
Category 2 approaches, usually an RTSC-style pre-designed sequence with an
Open Space chunk somewhere along the way (typically in the middle or towards
the end). This requires a wide range of facilitation styles, from very
hands-on to totally hands-off (invisible and present). But I believe that
all professional facilitators need to be acomplished in all styles of
facilitation, and be adept at switching from style to another in a
microsecond.

If anyone reading this would like to know more about Category 2 methods (and
category 1 for that matter), you can download various documents from
www.martinleith.com/downloads. You can also see the chapter, "Creating
Collaborative Gatherings Using Large Group Interventions", that I
contributed to the Gower handbook of Training & Development, at
www.martinleith.com/lgi/chapter.html. I've included the six principles of
RTSC below.

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Warm wishes to everyone on OSList,

Martin

Martin Leith Limited
The Open Space Agency

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Six key principles of Real Time Strategic Change
By Robert Jacobs (originator of RTSC)
Source: http://www.rwjacobs.com/ActionIdeas111.html

There are steps organizations can take to enhance the success rate of their
current change efforts while creating greater capacity to navigate future
changes as well. By implementing the SIX KEY PRINCIPLES OF REAL TIME
STRATEGIC CHANGE, organizations succeed because they learn to change while
they change.

EMPOWER AND INCLUDE. This principle is about developing commitment to and
alignment with a shared purpose and future direction by engaging people in
ways that matter to them and in which they can make a valuable contribution.

THINK AND ACT IN REAL TIME is about accelerating the pace of change by
bringing your preferred future into the present thinking and acting as if
the future were now.

GET CLEAR ON YOUR PREFERRED FUTURE is based on energizing and guiding plans
and actions with compelling possibilities for the future that are informed
by the past and present.

RERALTY IS A KEY DRIVER counsels us to anticipate and respond to new
realities by seeking out and making sense of emerging issues and
opportunities.

BUILD AND MAINTAIN A COMMON UNDERSTANDING is about creating shared meaning,
and freedom to act, by appreciating important issues based on diverse
perspectives.

CREATE COMMUNITY is about fostering learning, growth, and spirit by
developing an environment where people come together as part of something
larger than themselves that they create and believe in.

Real Time Strategic Change compels organizations to think and act as if the
future were now to engage entire organizations in the strategic thinking and
action required to create rapid and sustainable change.

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Martin Leith Limited, 1 Princes Road, Wells, Somerset BA5 2DT, United
Kingdom
Telephone 01749 673999 (+44 1749 673999)
Mobile 07808 773713 (+44 7808 773713)
email martin at martinleith.com
www.martinleith.com

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