Academic articles on OST

[Harrison Owen]

Maya, as you have doubtless discovered there is no shortage of material on
Open Space Technology (see websites below) but there is virtually nothing in
the academic literature with the exception of a few dissertations. This
would seem to be a strange state of affairs given the fact that OST has been
fully functional since 1985, been used in excess of 200,000 times in 136
countries with millions of people. But if you consult the academic
literature it would appear that Open Space Technology never happened.
Strange indeed!

But maybe not so strange. As near as I can tell, Open Space violates
essentially all principles, practices, and theory in terms of the
organization of meetings and indeed organization itself -- along with
related issues of management, leadership, levels of performance, and more.
According the accepted theory and practice, Open Space simply could not
happen. It is essentially impossible, wrong, and probably illegal, immoral,
and fattening. Unfortunately Open Space not only exists -- it works, and has
done so in thousands of iterations for more than 20 years.

And here we may be coming to the nub of the problem. If Open Space actually
works, most (all?) of accepted theory and practice would require radical
revision. This could be profoundly troubling for all those individuals,
departments, and schools in Academe who have built their reputations on the
accepted theory and practice. And obviously this situation could create
genuine problems for all students who are spending large amounts of time and
money studying same. So be very careful! Venturing into Open Space could be
hazardous to your academic career. It could also be very exciting. However,
do not take this plunge lightly -- you have been warned!


Harrison


Ps -- I am not sure that I qualify as an academic, but I have written a
number of books attempting to explore the mysteries of Open Space. You will
rarely find them on the reading lists of academic institutions, but they are
generally available. I suspect that my good friend Tova has a few of them
(but don't blow her cover!). You could also check out
http://www.openspaceworld.com/literature.htm for a full listing. Of
particular interest might be my latest and last, "Wave Rider: Leadership for
High Performance in a Self Organizing World" which will be published in the
fall by Berrett-Koehler.


   

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 Maya Negev
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 2:57 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Academic articles on OST

Dear OST community,

I am a PhD student in Israel. while looking for a participatory method to
research "multicultural approaches to environmental education", i reached
Tova Averbuch, the leading OST consultant in Israel.

OST seems to be the method I was looking for, thanks to it being fully
participatory, and thanks to it enabling people from very diverse
backgrounds to voice their priorities and concerns.

As I am writing a research proposal, I am searching for academic articles
and book chapters on OST, both about using and researching the method. so
far I found very few such resources, and therefore I am writing to you:
should any of you be aware of academic resources on OST, I will be very
grateful if you bring them to my attention.

All the very best, and thank you very much,

Maya
maya.negev at gmail.com

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