Creating Space in Construction (long'ish)

Mon Mar 17 06:44:54 PDT 2008

Congratulations Brendan,

Again OS does it's magic. Would you now go ahead in using the butterfly and
bee metaphor knowing as you said: to his amazement, there was no adverse
reaction from the mob! Your hesitation was discussed just a few weeks ago at
an OS  training where a participant was going to facilitate her first OS
with leaders of 40 large companies and was also intending to avoid quoting
the 2 metaphors. 

Other participants experienced with other daring or so called touchy feely
methods strongly felt that if the facilitator is comfortable and trusts what
he - she is doing and is doing something that has meaning, this trust will
be communicated to participants who will generally not only respect the
process but take full advantage of it to their own greater benefit.

Interesting that you just demonstrated that with the bells.

Diane

From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Brendan
McKeague
Sent: 16 mars 2008 00:45
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Creating Space in Construction (long'ish)

Hi folks 
A few weeks ago I posted a topic on the List about a bunch of construction
folks building a big, long road - $550m project - and how they had become a
bit 'stuck' around communication and mistrust between management team,
supervisors, designers et al....this was an alliance project where a number
of construction companies had joined together to tender.....a couple of
previous interventions by the 'expert' (and thus expensive) HR consultants
had been close to disastrous and there was now a sense of mistrust around
any facilitated processes that involved outsiders....

After a couple of heavy'ish conversations with the managers, and my
confirmation that Open Space does not accommodate a Plan B, they decided,
'with 'positive caution', to proceed with an OS meeting for an afternoon -
with an emphasis on the fact that every minute 'off-the-job' was costly and
could be of critical significance to the success of the project.

And so, we continue the story....

The invitation was languaged and circulated - "how can we shape the alliance
we want?' - no visually appealing lay-out - plain writing/memo-style was the
order of the day.
About 35 folks came together at the site-office dining area to begin with a
12noon 'working lunch' and were then gathered into the circle at 1230
precisely!  (I was amazed at how quickly all the sandwiches disappeared -
mmm, wonder why i noticed that - probable because i missed out!) - here was
a group hungry for something....
I was conscious of the energy levels of 33 big-framed men and two women - in
a relatively confined space and the curious suspicion that permeated the
atmosphere
The Alliance Innovations Manager introduced the meeting, followed by the
Project Director (Big Boss) sponsor thanking everyone for coming and
reiterating that 'time off the job is expensive' and thus the need to use
the time well and then handing over to me....

I entered the circle of mostly rigid blokes, and breathed my way into the
space...

'Welcome to Open Space - you have been invited to come to this meeting - you
have agreed to be here rather than somewhere else this afternoon - you have
said yes to help shape the alliance you want to have at this time...as you
look around this circle, notice your colleagues in this alliance who have
also come here this afternoon to join you in this task...and I now invite
you to consider what it is that you wish to address here today....what is
really important to you to raise and deal with here...the remaining time of
this Alliance, the next twelve months or so can be shaped and influenced by
what you talk about and decide to do here today....an important opportunity
awaits you"

Of course by this time I was around the circle and feeling the energies that
were present....mostly suspicious, unsure, somewhat curious and some
downright hostile....

and then, the rest is history.....into the process of 'opening' and
describing how it works...

After my opening (about 14.5 mins according to my Org Psych colleague who
was observing) - I walked out of the circle and made my way to other end of
the room - out of site so to speak!  There was that pulsating, power-filled
pause - about 10 whole seconds - before the first insertion to the middle -
by one of the women present (i discovered later she was one of the
designers) - and quickly followed by a couple of others - and then they were
off....for the next ten mins, a strange topsy-turvy roller-coaster of
announcements and pauses - nothing happening (on the surface) - then a
couple more postings - until I asked them if they were done - and then they
were off.....

The rest is typically what we see in an OS meeting...in this case it was
very intensified for me - a smaller-than-usual physical space, and a
shorter-than-usual time, with a more heavily male dominated mob of
concrete-operational thinkers - much more accustomed to building spaces than
'being' in them....
Lots of movement and intense levels of engagement throughout most of the
afternoon - some wandering around at times looking unsure what they should
be doing, or which topic was being discussed in each break-out space, little
off-shoot conversations, and plenty of solid work being done...

There were three 1.25 hr conversation slots - and about 30 mins convergence
for any action planning (similar to what has recently been described here as
're-opening the space') in which five action planning groups met to pin down
next steps....and a closing circle....

I thought you might identify with some of the comments: 

*	This afternoon has opened up some trust in this group and I'd like
to think that we can continue this now... 
*	I got to see other people's perspectives - some for the first time -
that is really useful 
*	I think that, although it may be a bit late in the project, the
coming together of design and construction folks has been very positive here
today. 
*	I'm going to spend a whole day next week riding in a truck (from a
designer) 
*	Let's acknowledge that this is a good project - we're on track for
time and within budget...we are doing real well so far....and I was one of
the ones on the management team who was very cynical about this meeting - I
didn't think it could be worthwhile  - and I need to say that I got a couple
of niggling issues sorted out here very quickly. I'm pleased I came. 
*	I didn't think that all the right people were here as it says on the
sign - some of those who came left pretty early - and its a pity they didn't
stay to see how its ended up. They've missed out on something positive and
its up to us to convey that to them. (started with 35 and ended with about
30) 
*	There are so many points of view here - it was good to be able to
hear them all without too much aggression 
*	I really liked the way that people listened to each other
respectfully and really heard what others were saying. 
*	This was so much better than the previous meeting where we had to
draw tortoises with bird's heads....we actually got something done here. 
*	I got a chance to have my say - I feel better about that now. 
*	It didn't solve all my problems with Main Roads dept but it gave me
a good start on some of these. 
*	I now really believe that we're all here because we want to do a
good job and help each other the best way we can. 

And so, the circle concluded with the sponsor thanking everyone for their
contribution and saying that the time together had been productive and
worthwhile for him - now have a beer!

One of my challenging decisions in preparing for this space was to leave out
the 'butterflies and bees' sign - while still referring (in the opening) to
the fluent and dynamic nature of behaviours (floating and buzzing around)
that might be exhibited in the meeting....I also did bring and ring the
temple-bells - with a little trepidation from the org psych - to his
amazement, there was no adverse reaction from the mob!

And so another chapter in the experience of this OS practitioner....
there will be a scheduled debrief meeting with sponsor next week

Cheers
Brendan

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