About Themes for Open Space

Sun Sep 24 16:12:46 PDT 2006

I realize that being more specific would have been helpful. The planning
work we do is especially important for a conference/meeting within an
organization and might be less important for a conference that is for a
network of people.

Birgitt Williams

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
Birgitt Williams
Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 4:10 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: About Themes for Open Space

Diana,
We, with our work with Working with OST, are some of the people who do
work with the client for some time to get the theme right in relation to
the number of days for the OST meeting. If the OST meeting is in
Harrison's original variant of 2 or 2 1/2 days, the theme can be worked
out just as Harrison says because people will generally do what they
need to do on day one including any grief work, and then on day two, get
on with solutions and creativity.

In shorter OST meetings, the way we work with it in our Genuine Contact
program, we work in a longer planning meeting with the client to ensure
that the theme is right to the length of time of the meeting (a present
focused theme if there is a lot of grief work going on and a future
focused theme is fine if the organization is at the open space part of
the grief cycle). In our experience, it is difficult if not impossible,
to work on themes to do with the future, if the present feels hurting.

Birgitt Williams
www.genuinecontact.net
The purpose of the Genuine Contact program is to assist organizations
develop as Conscious Open Space Organizations

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
Harrison Owen
Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 12:00 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: About Themes for Open Space

Diana -- I doubt that there is any such thing as a "generic good theme."
But
I have found that there are some general criteria: 1)Short -- anything
more
than a half dozen words is usually too long. 2) Always stated as a
question
-- questions open space. Statements close it. 3) In the language of the
people. Every organization or group of people has its own special
language
and code words. The theme should be stated in that language/words. This
is
one reason why a great theme for one group will automatically be a dud
for
another. 4) Cuts to the heart of the matter -- there is a place for
diplomatic statement, but not here. Verbal obfuscation rarely arouses
passion -- and you want a lot of passion.

A really good theme will be so specific to that group that others will
simply not notice it, or if noticed then not inspired. My favorite came
from
the USWEST Open Space done years ago. USWEST (the phone company) was in
disastrous shape. Everybody knew it, and this was particularly true in
the
(US) State of Arizona. Theme was: "Fixing Arizona?"  Believe me,
attendance
was not a problem. We were turning them away. As for passion and
conflict --
we had all that in spades.

Lot of folks spend a lot of time working on the theme with the client. I
can
see the sense of that as it provides an essential opportunity to explore
the
issues and not incidentally to be very sure that the client (group)
really
wants to take the trip and is prepared for genuine open conversation
with no
attachment to specific outcomes. All to the good. But when it comes to
creating the theme I have found that (typically) 5 minutes will do it.
If
the reasons for the OS are hot, bothersome, exciting, anxiety producing
--
the essential words are usually right on the tip of everybody's tongue.
They
need only be captured. And if there is no heat, bother, excitement,
anxiety
-- why bother with the Open Space. Likelihood is that it will be Blah.

Harrison    

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20854
Phone 301-365-2093
Skype hhowen
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com 
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.ho-image.com 
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Diana
Larsen
Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 10:51 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: About Themes for Open Space

As I go into planning for an upcoming open space, I want to take a  
fresh vie of Themes. Try out some heretofore unexplored ways of  
thinking about themes. Will you help?

1) What are some avenues you pursue when developing the overarching  
theme for an Open Space? i.e., How do _you_ go about it? Where do you  
look and listen for a theme that intrigues your desired participants?
2) What have been some of the most evocative themes you've developed  
or encountered? When have you been hooked by a theme?
3) What forms the essential elements of a theme?

Just wonderin'
Diana

Diana Larsen
co-author, _Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great_ (Pragmatic  
Bookshelf, 2006)
www.futureworksconsulting.com
503-288-3550

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