OST with Armed Forces

[Peggy Holman]

Chris' story reminded me of some feedback I got from a Viet Nam era Army Special Forces veteran.  I met him when I worked with a class at Antioch University Seattle.  We were sitting in a circle and I had been talking about the nature of circles as the fundamental geometry of communication.

He came to me after the session ended and told me that when he trained for the Special Forces, they did all of their work in circles.  He said when you had people with different skills and different ranks coming together on a team, it helped level the ground for the team to work together effectively.  He said that experience had shaped his style of management ever since.

from sunny Seattle,
Peggy

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Chris Corrigan 
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU 
  Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 11:44 PM
  Subject: Re: [OSLIST] OST with Armed Forces


  Hey Jaime:

  I've recently been working with several people individuals who have all been former military personnel in the United States Army, Air Force and Marines.  We have talked often about the role of conversation in carrying out military work.  The best story I heard came from a former US Army Captain who was in command of 25 Lieutenants during the Vietnam war.  As he was learning about Open Space he told me he had done something very much like Open Space in the jungle during the war.  This man's job - his name is John - was to take orders from the higher command and translate them into field manoeuvers.  After getting it wrong twice, meaning that two platoons he sent out didn't come back, he decided that he had to try a different approach to executing orders.  He told me that he shifted his style.  When he got an order, he gathered his 25 lieutenants together and they had a serious, focussed and open conversation about how to execute those orders.  After they had generated a number of options, they choose the course of action that seemed both least risky and best chance for success, not an easy thing to balance.  Although it sounds like a pretty standard planning exercise he said that the only other time he had felt the same quality of conversation was in the Open Space events we were running at his workplace.  It actually reminded him of how important those circles had been in the jungle 

  It seems that when life is on the line - both yours and your "enemy's" - the wise thing to do is open a little space.  If it works there, in actual combat situations, it says something about the rest of the challenges life throws at us. 

  For what it's worth, I echo the sentiment that others have noted here that folks who are in the military and police are generally more frank and truthful and "action oriented" than the average citizen, and they value good conversation before undertaking important jobs.  They are deeply familiar with the consequences of bad planning and an inability to find clarity with one another.  They might tend to operate on faster time cycles than the rest of us too, but that doesn't mean they can't slow into the reflective pace of a nice juicy open space. 

  Also I have heard Birgitt Williams tell the story of her Open Space at the Royal Military College here in Canada a number of years ago, during which the sponsor, the commanding officer, noted that "democracy ends at 5pm!"  Perhaps Birgitt will weigh in on this story.  It's a really good one about control, hierarchy and where smart ideas really come from. 

  Cheers,

  Chris


  On 5/9/07, Kerry <k at napuk.demon.co.uk> wrote:
    Jaime

    We did an event on police and the black community in Glasgow in 2000
    with 47 people, which was the first formal dialogue between police from
    superintendent to constables on the street and activists.

    Good luck with your event.

    Cheers

    Kerry
    Edinburgh
    www.openfutures.com

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  -- 
  CHRIS CORRIGAN
  Facilitation - Training
  Open Space Technology

  Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
  Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com

  Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.
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