is it still open?

Joelle Lyons Everett JLEShelton at aol.com
Tue Apr 6 21:17:22 PDT 2004


I don't talk a lot about "givens," though I do ask some questions about what
will happen, post OS, to ideas and recommendations.

I've had a couple of projects where givens seemed important to address
explicitly.   My current client is building a new building that will bring many
changes to the organization.   The whole organization met in Open Space soon after
the groundbreaking for the building, to talk about the issues and
opportunities involved in moving staffs from two separate offices into a new facility in
a new location.

By this time, the architect's plan (with much input from the staff) was
finished, the contractors and suppliers had been hired, an open-office concept was
central to the design--there were a lot of things about the new building and
its operation that had already been decided and would not be changed.   And it
seemed useful to review those.   The director opened with a brief summary of
the decisions that had already been made, and encouraged the group to discuss
everything else, and they did.

In another instance, a nonprofit group was facing restructuring, mandated by
their funding agency.   The director insisted that she did not want to talk
about possible courses of action, or the magnitude of the proposed change, for
fear of limiting people's creativity.   She had gone to each group earlier,
stating the need for restructuring and offering some possible scenarios.   No one
had heard or remembered anything but the worst-case scenario, and the
possible loss of jobs was the Dead Moose under the table.   The first day of OS was
tense, and not as open as everyone had hoped.   And on the morning of Day 2, a
young man in the group convened a session (which included more than 3/4 of the
participants) "to get answers to his questions, from the management team."
Forty-five minutes later, the givens were laid out, the trust level shifted
noticeably, and groups went to work with new energy and creativity.

You never step in the same river twice . . . and sometimes givens, by
whatever name, are important.

Joelle

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