OS and Master Plan - long

Tue Jan 13 11:50:24 PST 2004

Dear Avner,
Thank you for sharing your powerful story of using OST in master planning.
It is a story that we can all learn from and use as a teaching story for
others. Could you please say a little more about the point that you made
that delaying the OST was an ingredient for its success--was this about
political readiness? And could you please say something about what is in
place to take the ideas from the OST into follow up?

Blessings to you and to all with whom you make Genuine Contact,

Birgitt

Birgitt Williams of Dalar International Consultancy
www.dalarinternational.com

We provide inspirational and practical “how to” guidance for leaders who
want to achieve healthy and balanced organizations to produce exciting,
tangible results for the organization and for its people.

View the calendar for upcoming training in the Organizational Health and
Balance series of workshops featuring the Genuine Contact? program at
http://www.openspacetechnology.com/training.html

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  -----Original Message-----
  From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Avner
Haramati
  Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2004 3:29 PM
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
  Subject: OS and Master Plan - long

  Dear colleagues

  About 10 months ago you helped Tova and myself in your good advise on how
to use OS for the creation of a new Master Plan for a city.

  Last week during 3 days (17.00-22.00) it happened, in a small city (Arad)
in the northern desert of Israel. This city which had glamorous days, sank
in the last 15 years into kind of depression. The youngsters leave, they
feel penetrated by the very fast growing of Bedouin population that
surrounds them, (creating safety anxieties), lack of leadership, and a
traumatic event of death of youngsters in a huge yearly Rock Festival. This
Festival which was a life giving event and Symbol died with police
investigations and court accusations.

  Choosing OS was also in order to elevate the energies and hope. The theme
was " Arad, what is my dream and how will we fulfill it?". About 500 people
participated along the days (250-350 each day), including the planners,
governmental planning authorities, the city management, neighbors (including
Bedouins) and the newly elected Mayor (1.5 month).

  A lot of skepticism prevailed among the professionals, the planners were
afraid to be confronted with over expectations, For the governmental
authorities (who give the money for the Master Plan), they refused at the
beginning that the planners will meet the public, in order to prevent
pushing of private interests. The new Mayor who got the process as a
heritage was for it but hesitantly since he was not sure if it will be a
success.

  As the os evolved more and more young people and diversity showed up, and
the discussions deepened. The lost energies of these talented people were
exposed as the dreams unfolded and their fulfillment’s seemed plausible. For
most of the people it was a great success and they were excited and thankful
for bringing back the hope.

  some anecdotes:

  An 11 old girl who passed by asked what is going on there inside?
"Dreaming your city" was the answer "How much does it cost"? asked "It is
free and you are most welcome" . She walked in and soon she was seating with
an old guy, helped him to finalize his ideas translate them to Hebrew. She
printed his summary, and refused to take credit. This 11 year old girl who
continued to come, speaks Hebrew, Russian, English, French and some
Arabic …and for us she symbolized the future and direction of Arad for the
people (40% Russian new emigrants and surrounded by Arab-Bedouin tribes).

  Originally the plan was to do the OS on August. Since I traveled for 2.5
months, they chose to postpone it to November. I felt unease, but we
remembered the second principle and trusted it. In October they decided to
wait (and it was not easy) until after the elections, in order not to trap
the new Mayor and let him decide if he wants it. It so happened that it
became so obvious now that the postponing was crucial to the success of the
OS.

  At the end, the manger of the planning authorities in the South of Israel
told us that now she believes that it is possible to have a real
participation of citizens in the preparation of Master Plans and she wants
us to present it to all the planners.

  “If we will continue with what we have started in these 3 days we will
have a new Festival in town” said one of the old timers in the closing
circle.

  Summary

  We invested a lot of energy, more than ever, to encourage the steering
committee to choose a committed `project manager`, to invite all the
stakeholders including the all spectrum of citizens and neighbors, and we
insisted on a leading positioning of the new Mayor. We succeeded somehow to
do it without quarreling with the client, even though we felt the urge to do
it.

  We felt that being 2 of us there (with Tova) was needed in order to cope
with the tense political and depressing atmosphere that prevailed.

  Now they are in the process of building the mechanisms to support whatever
came up in order to make it happen, in their daily life and in within the
Master Plan.

  Thank you

  Avner Haramati

  Jerusalem

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