Open Space evidence base

[Harrison Owen]

I thought you all might enjoy the following exchange --

Recently Received: (names removed to protect the innocent)

"I should say that my personal experience of Open Space have convinced me 
of what it can deliver. The evidence I would like to gather is not so 
much for my own benefits as for others. Generally I find that the 
experience of being at a genuinely participative event can often be far 
more persuasive than what is learned from books. However many civil 
servants and others in power will probably never experience an Open 
Space event on their own accord.

Not least because in my opinion Open Space contradicts many 'established 
wisdoms'. Many people firmly believe that humans cannot get together and 
constructively interact without someone to chair, control and coerce the 
participants. For this reason there is some value in providing written 
evidence of what can be achieved through Open Space."


My Reply:

I think it is quite likely that the disparity between the Open Space
experience and what one might call the conventional wisdom is deeper and
broader than you suggest. Personally I can't think of any generally accepted
practice or theory in the area of management (of meetings and/or
organizations) which is not violated. From the point of view of the
conventional wisdom, Open Space not only shouldn't happen, it couldn't
happen. But of course, we both know -- it does happen. When it comes to
understanding what does occur in Open Space, the only theoretical framework
that has made any sense to me is the one currently emerging in the study of
self-organizing systems. On that score, you might be interested in a short
paper I wrote some years ago (http://openspaceworld.com/emergent_order.htm)

At some level I would just love it if you, or somebody, could provide,
"written evidence of what can be achieved through Open Space." But evidence,
to be credible, requires a common, accepted frame of reference, or we might
say paradigm. However, when people hold differing paradigms, you can argue
until the cows come home, and present any and all available "evidence" -- to
no avail. Stated somewhat tongue in cheek, my paradigm forces me to conclude
that "There is no such thing as a non-self-organizing system. There are
however some deluded people who think they did the organizing." So at the
end of the day, if somebody were to produce "credible scientific evidence
based on the traditional paradigm, I would be skeptical and probably upset.
Odd.

More to the point, I am not at all sure that it (evidence) would actually do
that much good. There have been numerous occasions where credible
"witnesses" have described the process and results in a typical Open Space.
And the typical reaction on the part of those who have never "been there" is
"Well that sounds just wonderful -- but it will never work with this (my)
group." 

Having said all of the above, I would be delighted if serious academics
would take a good hard look at Open Space through the eyes of their own
particular discipline. I think we could learn a lot about Open Space, and
more about the phenomenon of self-organization. Of course to do all this
they would have to get beyond the typical response that OS can't happen! It
does happen. More than that, it has happened in excess of 60,000 times in
124 countries over a 20 year period involving millions of people.

I would love it if more people would use Open Space. I think it could do a
lot of good. But the truth of the matter is that, given the "Conventional
wisdom," I think it is a wonder that anybody uses Open Space. So keep the
secret. Don't tell a soul! Something seems to be working.

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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