SV: Report From the Field (Longer than I thought it would be)

Wed Dec 14 14:45:50 PST 2005

Dear Harrison
Thanks for sharing from your European fieldtrip. Sounds like quite a trip! I
had hoped to be able to take part in another round of celebrations but
decided to settle with the great party (-ies) in Halifax. Did spend time
with my family instead, which was very nice! Good to hear you had a great
time in Finland, I met Pepe last year at our Scandinavian OSonOS, he sure is
a great guy. Hope to meet you for ScandOSonOS in Denmark coming year, Pepe!
And in Moscow of course.

I?m thrilled there seems to be another book coming on - you?re an amazing
maaaan - how could possibly someone else but you write it?
Warmest regards
Thomas

> -----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
> Fran: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]For Harrison Owen
> Skickat: den 14 december 2005 18:15
> Till: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Amne: Report From the Field (Longer than I thought it would be)
>
>
> "Report from the Field" sounds pretty official and maybe even
> ominous, but I
> certainly don't intend it that way. However, having just returned from a 3
> week journey through the open spaces of Europe (at least some of them) I
> have to say the field is in full flower despite the season. Blossoms
> everywhere and it just sort of took my breath away.
>
> The journey began in Bologna, Italy where some 65 good folks responded to
> the invitation of Gerardo de Luzenberger along with his colleagues
> Nicoletta, Frank, and the "Mayor" of Bologna, to come together for a
> combination Introduction to Open Space and The Practice of Peace.
> Most were
> from Italy but with a sprinkling from elsewhere: Holland, Germany and
> Serbia. We met in a grand room (I mean GRAND) on the top floor of a 15th
> century structure. Could have been a palace of sorts, right on the main
> square of the city. In a word, we had space with a history. I had been to
> Italy the preceding year (Florence) when about 35 brave souls took the
> initial plunge into Open Space. Seems like the introduction was positive,
> witness double the number of participants this time - and most
> impressively
> - the level of activity over the course of the intervening year.
> I remember
> particularly two wonderful young women from Sardinia who regaled me with
> tales of the 8 Open Spaces they had conducted in the last several months.
> Their enthusiasm was almost overwhelming and seizing the moment, I said,
> "What you need here is the Open Space Institute of Italy." "How do we do
> that?" they responded. "Simple" I said. "It just happened - and
> you are the
> President and Vice President. You will only have to figure out
> who is which.
> And just remember you don't have a shred of authority to do anything, but
> only the power of invitation." It seemed like they might need a Secretary,
> so I informed my host Gerardo that he had the job. Fortunately everybody
> took my imperious manner in the spirit in which it was offered -
> all in fun.
> But I think they took me seriously and I can't wait to find out
> what happens
> next.
>
> Next stop: Berlin - the home of BOSCOP (Berlin Open Space Cooperative),
> Michael Pannwitz and friends. The program was The Practice of
> Peace, and the
> participants came from more countries than I can remember,
> probably most of
> them lying to the East. Over the years, Michael and his colleague, Jo
> Toepfer, have spent a lot of time in that part of the world. Most recently
> they did a training program in the Ukraine and a number of their new
> colleagues from that country joined us. And innovation was the name of the
> game. On the first day I opened space pretty much by the book (in
> English) -
> the next day, the language was Russian. And on the final day, not
> a word was
> spoken. Michael P. is always one to push boundaries and the space
> was opened
> in silence. Mind blowing and wonderful! I am not sure how it would have
> worked had the participants been totally new to Open Space - but I guess
> that is the next experiment. Talk about thinking of one more thing not to
> do!! Our "Program Manager" was a delightful young woman by the
> name of Anna
> - who had first experienced Open Space some 5 years ago while
> still in High
> School. It seems that Michael had come to her school and from
> that point on,
> she was part of the team. She did a wonderful job, and I think one of my
> lasting memories of Berlin will be the number and energy of people well
> below the age of 40 - which from my advanced condition seems very young
> indeed. As I said, the flowers are blooming. One other thing that really
> caught my attention was the elegant way in which all the logistics were
> handled. Combining a German sense for detail and a very open way of being,
> Michael and his friends at BOSCOP have created a model of how to set up
> shop. I guess the whole thing would be a little bit of over-kill for small
> groups, but anything over 50 participants and I can only say that BOSCOP
> ROCKS. Seriously, Michael and friends have created a number of aids in the
> logistics department which I know they would be willing to share.
> So if you
> need some help or suggestions, you know where to go. And last,
> but certainly
> not least - a Birthday party to end all birthday parties. Seems
> like my 70th
> has been celebrated for most of this year, but Berlin surely put
> the cap on
> the festivities. Needless to say we had Martinis for all and dancing for
> those who cared - two of my favorite things! And birthday cards from all
> over the world. Thanks to all of you from wherever!! You made my day!!!
>
> Last stop: Helsinki. Finland is one of the few places in the world that I
> had never visited and always wanted to see. It is not so much about the
> land, although it is beautiful, at least as much as I could see
> of it in the
> brief hours of sunlight. It is the people. Finns have a habit of wandering
> around the world, and I have met a number in my travels. They
> always seemed
> to be bright and welcoming with a marvelous, droll (some might say "sick")
> sense of humor which I find wonderful. So when Pepe Nummi asked if I might
> like to visit his country my response was immediate and positive. But then
> we got to the question of what, exactly, I might do. Some sort of
> "Introduction to Open Space" seemed appropriate, and I suggested
> my current
> love affair with The Practice of Peace. There was a slight pause in the
> email communication. The Introduction to OS was fine, but there was a
> problem with Peace. It seemed that most of Pepe's contacts were corporate
> sorts, and while there was no objection to Peace it was a little unclear
> whether requests for attendance (read financial support) at a program on
> Peace would pass corporate muster. And did I have an alternative? Seizing
> the moment, I said, Sure! How about something like, "Opening
> Space for High
> Performance?" Knowing that all corporate types and others
> concerned with the
> bottom line are anxious to achieve optimal performance, I thought
> that might
> really sell. And more to the point, it had been my experience
> (and I am sure
> yours as well) that in Open Space people regularly do the
> impossible, and if
> that meant creating a new product in record time - that is what they did.
> High Performance! It seems that ever since Peters and Waterman wrote "In
> Search of Excellence" - true High Performance had become the Holy Grail -
> often glimpsed but never quite grasped. We have trained for it,
> designed for
> it, schemed for it - but somehow it always seems to be just out of reach.
> And then in Open Space ordinary people do the extraordinary.
> Regularly! But
> how could that work, and more importantly, how could we make that work for
> us?
>
> Truth to tell a fascination with High Performing Systems had been an
> affliction of mine since the early 70's when an old friend and colleague,
> Peter Vaill wrote a paper entitled, "Towards a Behavioral Description of
> High Performing Systems." It was a short paper, but it captured a lot of
> attention, not the least of which was the attention of Peters and
> Waterman,
> and it became part of the inspiration of their book. Some time last year I
> was taking a sentimental journey through my "collected works of
> Peter Vaill"
> (joke, for no such thing exits, but it should) - when I happened upon the
> paper one more time and became re-entranced with those "Behavioral
> Characteristics." But there was a difference, because it suddenly
> struck me
> that what Peter was describing was precisely what I had been
> witnessing over
> the past 20 years every time space is truly opened and people performed at
> their optimum levels. Making a supra-logical jump it occurred to me that
> when pursuing excellence (High Performance) all you have to do is open
> space! But was Open Space Technology the magic? No! One more time
> it is all
> about self-organizing systems. In simple terms, a high performing
> system is
> just a self-organizing system doing what it does -- in style. Nothing new,
> nothing added, just breath taking and totally out of (external) control.
>
> So there was my program, I thought. And here is the sneaky part. I felt I
> already had the logic of presentation and the necessary "overheads" (power
> points) - just sitting there in the old Practice of Peace
> Program. All I had
> to do was add some material on the behavioral characteristics of High
> Performance (a la Peter Vaill) and change "Peace" to "High Performing
> System" and I was home free! After all, a High Performing System is a
> Peaceful System, or so I thought.
>
> I confess to certain feelings of guilt and was reminded of the old joke
> about the man coming into a clothing store to buy a suit. Seemed
> he wanted a
> green suit, but the salesman knew they had nothing in that color. So the
> salesman consulted with the store manager who said - "That's simple. Man
> wants a green suit - Turn on the Green light." I told Pepe that
> story after
> we had finished the program, but he didn't seem to mind, perhaps because
> like a true Finn he appreciated "sick humor." But truthfully, I
> don't think
> the humor was sick, and actually I feel another book coming on - unless of
> course some of you want to write it before I get there.
>
> My time in Finland concluded in the appropriate fashion with Sauna and
> Massage, including that wonderful part where you are standing
> outside in the
> snow dressed in your all-together. Real treat, but I found the snow a bit
> chilly on the feet. But all of that was more than compensated for by the
> warmth of Pepe and his friends. Thank you!!!
>
> Harrison
>
>
>
> NEW EMAIL ADDRESS!!!!
> hhowen at verizon.net
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20854
> Phone 301-365-2093
> Skype hhowen
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
<http://www.openspaceworld.com/>

Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.ho-image.com
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