Open Space intro at Google Headquarters--I'm looking for intro ideas

Mon Apr 24 12:40:03 PDT 2006

Stories certainly can help, but of course the “real thing” is best. But when
time is short, I find that the video we did some years ago at USWEST (15
min) covers most of the territory with a real live client. You can get a
copy from Peggy Holman peggy at opencirclecompany.com for a small fee which
goes for a good cause.

Or maybe you could use the following – comes from my new book, or at least
what I think might be my new book.

A Hopeful Tale

            In 1995, AT&T, along with other large corporations, was
preparing plans for their pavilion in the Global Village of the 1996
Olympics to be held in Atlanta. An outstanding team of 23 architects,
exhibit designers, public relations folks and security experts had been
assembled for the task, and they had been hard at work over a 10 month
period. By the early fall, the plans were essentially complete and
construction was soon to begin on the 200 million dollar structure. 

            At that point a wonderful opportunity with disastrous
implications emerged. The Olympic Committee was so impressed with the AT&T
design that they invited the corporation to consider moving its pavilion
from its currently assigned location at the edge of the Global Village to
the very center. Since AT&T was contemplating the expenditure of $200
million with only one purpose in mind, exposure, accepting the committee’s
invitation was irresistible. But there was a difficulty. At the edge of the
Global Village, one might anticipate 5000 visitors a day. At the very
center, the expected number of visitors exploded to 75,000. Very obviously a
structure designed for 5000 would be grossly inadequate for 75,000, and even
worse, time was running out. The decision to move was made in November and
the Olympics effectively start in June, at least you have to have your
buildings in place. It had previously taken 10 months to do the old design
and scarcely 7 months remained in which to do both the design and
construction, not to mention the fact that Christmas and New Years’ were
about to put in an appearance, taking further time off the clock.

            The 23 member design team was invited to a two day meeting
outside of New York City. As they entered the conference room, they found a
circle of empty chairs waiting for them. On a blank wall behind the chairs,
there were posted several hand lettered signs bearing the titles, “The Four
Principles” and “The Law of Two Feet.”  The Four Principles, expressed in
terse, colloquial terms, read as follows: Whoever Comes are the Right
People. Whatever Happens is the only thing that could have. When it is over
it is over. The Law of Two Feet was not even outlined. Even worse there was
not a shred of agenda and zero indication of what might happen next. 

            To say that this design team was in some condition of agitation
would be an understatement of major proportions. They knew with a certainty
that they possessed the competence to do the job, if only because they had
done it once before. They also knew that the time available rendered the
completion of the task virtually impossible. Then to be thrown into this
totally weird situation of sitting in a circle gazing at their peers and
colleagues across an empty space – and anxiety quickly became pure outrage.
This outrage was hardly mollified when a gentleman none had ever seen before
walked to the edge of the circle and said, “Welcome to Open Space.”

            What happened next, and over the following two days, was vastly
different from what might have been predicted given the strange and
inauspicious beginning. Within an hour of start, the group had identified
all of the issues and opportunities they perceived as having an impact on
the performance of their task. And half an hour later (1 ½ hours from start)
they were deeply engaged in multiple subgroups working the identified
issues, pausing only for a cup of coffee, a quick meal or to write up their
conclusions on a nearby bank of computers. Whatever questions there may have
been at the beginning were quickly overwhelmed in a firestorm of productive
activity. 

            As the second day commenced the activity continued, but with a
difference. The defined groups dissolved into each other as participants
moved with seeming randomness from one area of discussion to another, or
stopped along the way for new conversations that somehow had not made into
the original agenda. The atmosphere itself was radically altered, as
laughter broke out in the midst of arduous work, and random conversations
yielded unpredictable results. For example, one of the participants who had
been responsible for lighting in the Grateful Dead concerts was overheard in
serious conversation with the security consultant on the possibility of
using lasers to somehow combat potential terrorists. 

            To an outside observer, the scene was one of total chaos and
confusion. The ambient energy was virtually overwhelming, and the logic of
its passage was far from clear. It would hardly be an overstatement to say
that the design process had virtually gone into flow state in which the
borders and boundaries of conversations and work groups merged seamlessly.
Whatever schedule that had existed simply disappeared, time and clocks were
irrelevant, and if anybody was in charge that person was totally invisible. 

            At 5:00 pm on the final day, or thereabouts, all visible
activity ceased, and for a moment, there was silence. It was not the silence
of exhaustion, but satisfaction. The group had done it! A new design had
been created, not just as a vague concept, but in substantive form all laid
out in working architectural drawings. These drawings were not pretty, for
sure, and work remained in terms of filling out the details, but the plan
existed, and the way forward was clear. And there was more. The group agreed
that not only was the design functional (able to handle the expected 75,000
visitors), but that aesthetically it represented a vast improvement over its
predecessor. In addition, they were actually further ahead with the new
design in terms of implementation than they had been with the old one
because as they were working in  New York they were also glued to their cell
phones ordering up supplies and materials for the job. And last, but by no
means least, all 23 participants were still talking to each other. This may
seem like a small point, but intense effort such as had taken place in the
gathering is often productive of frayed nerves and tempers. To be sure there
had been no lack of intense engagement and at moments, hot conflict, but
somehow that had all resolved and resulted in an improved product.

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Drive

Potomac, Maryland   20854

Phone 301-365-2093

Skype hhowen

Open Space Training  <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> www.openspaceworld.com

Open Space Institute  <http://www.openspaceworld.org/>
www.openspaceworld.org

Personal website  <http://www.ho-image.com/> www.ho-image.com 

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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Matthew
Blom
Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 1:13 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Open Space intro at Google Headquarters--I'm looking for intro
ideas

Dear people who open space,

My name is Matthew, and I'm new to the list and a half-year new to open
space facilitation (trained by the bunny lovable Lisa Heft).  I've been so
jazzed by the idea of getting open space to Google, a place which already
explores many new ways of behaving in the business world.

Yesterday, I got an in.

I'll be doing a "tech talk" on May 3rd, and I am now running multiple
scenarios through my head about how to introduce open space there.  These
talks are usually an hour, and I imagine it being rather boring to talk
"about" open space, and I'm unsure how to go about actually experiencing it
in that short a time frame.

Ideas I've had thus far--kick, bite, and scream for more time (what's an
ideal intro. time frame?  3 hours? How long should the sessions be?)

Try an experience of it with very short sessions--like 10 minutes long?

I'm also wondering about a theme.  I'll need to talk more with someone out
there about that piece.

Any ideas and/or experiences from those who have done something like this
would be very helpful!

peace,
Matthew

************************************************
"Once man begins to think about the mystery of his life and the links 
connecting him with the life that fills the world, he cannot but accept,
for his own life and all other life that surrounds him, the principle of
Reverence for Life.

He will act according to this principle of the ethical affirmation of life
in everything he does. His life will become in every respect more
difficult that if he lived for himself, but at the same time it will be
richer, more beautiful, and happier.

It will become, instead of mere living, a genuine experience of life."

-Albert Schweitzer

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