OST for Office Conflict. Yes or No?

[Michael Herman]

wow.  guess you'll earn your fee on this one, elwin.  my two (or three) cents...

first, i'm not sure how having an open space meeting will advance the
outing of this/these folks.  i can imagine that they could convene a
meeting on the "future" and not invite them.  i can imagine letting
them go, and then having the meeting to get on with life and work.
but i can't yet figure how the exiting would be accomplished *in* or
by the open space.

i can imagine how the might leave as the result of any number of
outcomes in the meeting, but i can't see how the meeting in open space
could be made to *cause* the desired departures.  closest i can come
is that everybody has to sign up for actions at the end and the
targets don't follow through, thus marking themselves for the boot.
of course, this only works if everybody else does accomplish their
things... and it seems that nothing is ever as clean and clear as "i
did all my actions and you did none of yours."  so even this scenario
seems no better than where they must already be.

next, i wonder if there are any conditions under which the mgmt would
be glad (or willing) to have them stay.  if so, then seems best to
name those and see if folks will step up.  of course, if there is no
possibility of trust, your terrorist comment, then i don't suppose any
promises would be accepted.  if there are absolutely no conditions
that redeem the situation for six, then maybe best to get on with the
ones they really want to work with.

then again, if these one or two can't be cut directly and immediately,
then for now, they are *in*.  the place does still have some future
and there is still some question about how that future will unfold,
and probably some things the mgmt wants to pull out of the brains of
these two.  may be that there are some things these two still want to
say or try or finish in the story. so if they can't be cut now, then
they're in, and the whole gang goes forward to see what kind of
surprises might show up.

seems to me that rules are same as ever, just harder to follow.  tell
all the truth they can up front, about past disputes, current
preferences, differences of opinion, conditions for employment,
whatever... and then lay it all on the line, er.. wall.  and see what
teh future brings.  even better if there is some common ground of
'respect' or 'peace' or 'good relations' or some common ground of
'grace' that everyone wishes to maintain... some version of "looking
for future that is best for each individual, the whole of the
organization, and all the people it might serve."

go for it?

m



On 8/29/06, Elwin and Joan <elwinandjoan at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> A few days back, while I was on assignment in Ethiopia, a consulting
> firm I have long association with emailed to say they needed me to
> cover a 2 day management training and team building job with a US Gov't
> office in DC.
>
> Fair enough I thought. The consulting firm knows me well and our
> history together has always been one of success.
>
> I asked for and received a Statement of Work (SOW) that was the usual
> referencing of interactive approaches to building cooperation, respect
> and a sense of teamwork.
>
> Based on the SOW, I wrote a proposal for a 1 1/2 day Open Space
> conference with the theme, "Looking for Opportunities to Improve Our
> Teamwork".
>
> The proposal was accepted by the client.
>
>  I am now Stateside. I just talked with the client and things look
> pretty ugly.
>
> I now  know the "real" interest in this exercise is to get rid of one
> or two of the office employees. These two people are viewed by a new
> management (my clients) as subversives, if not terrorists. The new boss
> wants them "gone."
>
> In 5 days I am scheduled to do this Open Space with six employees
> including the boss.
>
> I am not at all reluctant to change my proposal and do my "hard hat"
> management consultant routine.
>
>  On the other hand this might be a perfect OST opportunity.
>
> What say you?
>
> eg
>
>
> Elwin Guild
> Future Development International
> Baltimore
> elwinandjoan at yahoo.com
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ------------------------------
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
> view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
> To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
> http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
>


-- 

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
300 West North Ave #1105
Chicago IL 60610 USA
Phone: 312-280-7838
michael at michaelherman.com

skype: globalchicago

http://www.michaelherman.com
http://www.openspaceworld.org

Inviting Leadership ...getting
the most important things done in
the easiest possible ways.

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist