is it still open?

[Larry Peterson]

Michael:

You said " i certainly here them as givens and work to push them around
in such a way that there is some space within for the opening and
surprise and movement that wants to happen.  but i don't name or invite
them as "givens" anymore.

"To me to ask up front what the sponsor "takes as given" for this event
is a way for sponsors to identify their frame -- and a chance to open
some more of their space as you suggest.  I often use the phrase what
needs to be "taken as a given" from the sponsors perspective.  This
works with Planning Committees as well as senior executives from my
experience.

It then enables the multilayer reconnecting of what happens after an OST
event.  There are personal and cultural shifts for sure and these do not
fit "within givens" but usually transcend them, provide surprises to the
sponsors.  I make sponsors aware of those outcomes.

There are also practical outcomes -- work groups who pursue a topic as a
do it or as an ongoing project.  The major impacts 9 OST events in
different parts of one organization are partly because of the
initiatives or projects that have emerged and moved to completion.
Given the variety of levels of skills and the existing initiatives of
the hierarchy, these "projects" have required some support and
coordination by the Planning Committee -- and they have done amazing
work.  But there clearly were some things, like the broad Strategic
Directions and Management Plan, within which these initiatives fit (and
which they could change over time).  The givens include the procedures
for changing major budget reallocations or strategic initiatives that
had already begun before the Open Space.

The practical success of the initiatives as well as the engaged
leadership and energy are part of the reason OST is increasingly a vital
part of how this large organization meets.  I think some articulation of
what is "taken as given", such as a diversity policy, provides the
context for what can go forward now.

Larry

Larry Peterson
Associates in Transformation
Toronto, ON, Canada
416.653.4829

larry at spiritedorg.com
www.spiritedorg.com

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