Open Space with an National Sporting Team (long)

[Gijs Van Wezel]

Hi Brendan,

Indeed a nice story and great you are sharing this story with us.
Being a sport-fan myself, I can see the use of these technique's.
Hopefully I will have chance to meet you and or sandy. Should you visit Shanghai
(where I live), let me know.

Gijs van wezel

Quoting Brendan McKeague <mckeague at iprimus.com.au>:

> Hi folks
> A friend of mine here in Western Australia, Sandy
> Gordon, a sports psychologist at one of the local
> universities, has been experimenting with the use
> of Open Space since he first encountered the
> process (and me!) a few years ago. He's recently
> written an interesting article in the Feb 2008
> edition of InsPsych, the bulletin of the
> Australian Psychological Society about his
> combination of Appreciative Inquiry and Open
> Space with a national Cricket team.....a
> fascinating story.....thanks Sandy....and I
> wonder if there are any other stories about the
> use of OS with professional, or other, sporting teams...???
> Cheers
> Brendan
> (Howzat! = cricket slang for 'How is that, umpire'?)
>
> Enhancing the team work of the Sri Lankan cricket team
> A case study of applying Appreciative Inquiry
>
> By Dr Sandy Gordon FAPS
> School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health, The
> University of Western Australia
>
>   This case study describes a strengths-based
> approach to enhancing the teamwork of the Sri
> Lankan cricket team prior to their April-July
> 2006 tour of England. As the team’s sport
> psychologist I was asked to facilitate the first
> team meeting upon our arrival in London. I chose
> the theme ‘What gives life to Sri Lankan Cricket
> when it is at its best?’ and used a combination
> of ‘Appreciative Inquiry’ (AI), including ‘Naming
> Elephants’ and ‘AI 4-D Cycle’, and ‘Open Space Technology’.
>
>   The Appreciative Inquiry process
> Appreciative Inquiry (AI) was first
> conceptualised in 1980 by doctoral student David
> Cooperrider and his thesis supervisor Sruresh
> Srivasta, who had both been engaged in an
> organisation change project. Instead of detailing
> root causes of failure, they learned to focus on
> the root causes of success, and called their
> approach ‘Appreciative Inquiry’. AI is
> underpinned by core principles and core processes
> that are understood to have emerged from
> theoretical and research foundations grounded in
> social constructionism, the ‘new’ sciences (e.g.,
> positive psychology, chaos theory and
> self-organising systems), and research on the
> power of imagery (Cooperrider, Whitney, &
> Stavros, 2005). For the purposes of this article,
> AI is regarded as a positive, strengths-based
> operational approach to change, learning and
> development that seemed suitable to enhancing teamwork in professional
> cricket.
>
> Various models and approaches for applying AI
> have emerged including the ‘4-D Cycle’, which is
> widely used and can be as rapid and informal as a
> conversation with a colleague, or as formal as a
> four-day organisation-wide process. In order of
> presentation, the four key processes in the AI 4-D cycle are:
>
> 1.      Discovery: Identifying the ‘best of what
> has been or what is’ and supporting the clients’ belief in a positive future
> 2.      Dream: Creating a clear results-oriented
> vision in relation to discovered potential and
> encouraging clients to conceive images of possibilities
> 3.      Design: Creating possibility propositions
> of the newly expressed dream and assisting
> clients in bringing the dream into focus
> 4.      Destiny: Strengthening the affirmative
> capability of clients and helping them recognise the dream in the present.
>
> At the centre of the cycle is the ‘affirmative
> topic choice’ or theme, which is the starting
> point and most strategic aspect of any AI process.
>
>   Appreciative Inquiry Coaching (AIC) is the
> practical application of the core AI principles
> and is highly effective for various coaching
> purposes, e.g., leadership, development, and
> working relationships. Table 1 lists the
> assumptions of both AI and AIC about life, people
> and the change process itself, which form the
> basis of Orem, Binkert, and Clancy’s (2007, p.
> 26) model of Appreciative Coaching.
>
>   Table 1. Assumptions of Appreciative Inquiry
> and Appreciative Coaching Inquiry
> (Orem, Binkert, & Clancy, 2007)
> ·            In every society, organisation,
> group or individual something works
> ·            What people focus on becomes their reality
> ·            Reality is created in the moment,
> and there are multiple realities
> ·            The act of asking questions of an
> organisation, group, or individual influences the
> group or individual in some way
> ·            People are more confident and
> comfortable in their journey to the future (the
> unknown) when they carry forward parts of the past (the known)
> ·            If people carry parts of the past
> forward, those parts should be what is best about the past
> ·            It is important to value differences
> ·            The language people use creates their reality
>
> Sri Lankan teamwork breakdown
> Having been appointed to Sri Lankan Cricket in
> June 2005 and toured with the team in Sri Lanka
> and Australia later that year, I observed that
> most players did not speak up when opportunities
> arose at meetings, and younger players in
> particular didn’t appear to either want to or
> know how to say what they felt. This was just one
> example of poor teamwork and effectively shut
> down possibilities for innovative ideas from
> younger players who possessed exciting potential.
> I suggested to the coach that, prior to an AI
> team meeting, that I engage the players in
> ‘Naming Elephants’ (Hammond & Mayfield, 2004),
> which is a metaphor for  making implicit issues
> explicit, bringing certain Sri Lankan Cricket
> ‘undiscussables’ into the open, or having ‘difficult conversations’.
>
> The intent of the workshop was to learn how to
> name and recognise unnamed ‘Elephants’, to
> understand the primary benefit of naming them
> (i.e., innovation and taking action), and to
> learn from each other, not to attack or blame.
> The rules were simple: expect and respect
> different points of view; avoid trying to
> identify who wrote what; and avoid naming names –
> if the ‘Elephant’ is a person, only describe his
> behaviour and its impact on Sri Lankan Cricket.
>
> For Step 1 of the workshop, I asked them: “What
> are the ‘things’ we aren’t openly talking about
> as a team that you think we should be talking
> about?”. Players wrote one ‘undiscussable’ per
> sheet of paper in pencil and could write as many
> as they liked in 5-10 minutes before returning
> all sheets to me. In Step 2, I read out each
> sheet and together we grouped those items that
> seemed related and came up with a name for each
> category. In 10-15 minutes I also asked the
> players to clarify what the ‘Elephant’ category
> looked like in behavioural terms and its impact
> or cost to Sri Lankan Cricket. Finally in Step 3,
> I spent 10-15 minutes enquiring about solutions
> and asking: “What do we propose to do about it?”.
>
> In less than 60 minutes, 15 players produced 18
> sheets of paper, 13 of which identified the same
> ‘Elephant’, namely “intimidation, negative and
> pessimistic communication to junior players by
> senior players generally”. The impact of this
> behaviour was “lower morale among junior players
> who emotionally switched off and suppressed ideas
> and thoughts of voicing contributions”. In
> addition to meeting all workshop intentions, this
> session created a much safer environment at
> subsequent team meetings for younger players to
> offer innovative suggestions and ideas about both
> individual and team work. It was clear to me that
> ‘Naming Elephants’ was an essential precursor to the meeting that followed.
>
>
> Adding ‘Open Space Technology’ to the AI team meeting
> Later, during the same AI team meeting and after
> the Discovery phase, I introduced the four
> Principles and one Law of ‘Open Space Technology’
> (OST), which Harrison Owen (1997) first developed
> in 1984. OST has since been used around the world
> with all types of organisations including
> corporations, community groups, government
> agencies, schools and churches, and with groups
> of 5-2500 people (Bunker & Alban, 2006). I had
> trained as an OST facilitator in Perth and had
> previously used it with the Western Australian
> Cricket Association, however, this was my first
> opportunity to combine AI with OST. While the
> former provides clear and powerful direction
> using questions that connect participants with
> each other as they discover universal stories
> about ‘What gives them life?’, the latter allows
> freedom to learn from and listen to others who
> share the same heart, passion and responsibility for their collective future.
>
> I used the following OST Principles during the
> Dream and Design phases within the AI 4-D Cycle.
> OST begins with an invitation to participants to
> attend. Players were also invited to form a
> circle so, without a word spoken, no hierarchy
> was evident in the team room. OST is guided by
> four Principles and one Law and each in their own
> way advanced the appreciative team environment.
>
> The first Principle of OST, ‘Whoever comes is the
> right people’, reminded players that they cared
> enough to come to discuss the session theme (What
> gives life to Sri Lankan cricket when it is at
> its best?). The second Principle, ‘Whatever
> happens is the only thing that could have’,
> focused their attention on the present moment.
> The third Principle, ‘Whenever it starts is the
> right time’, and the flip-side fourth Principle,
> ‘When it’s over it’s over’, provided a beginning,
> middle and end structure to all discussions. The
> one ‘Law of Two Feet’, meant that at any time
> players who felt that they were neither learning
> or contributing could use their two feet to go
> somewhere else and do something more useful, such
> as visit another group discussion or simply have
> time out. Both the Principles and Law gave the
> players permission to self-organise and say and
> do what they wanted in the time available. The
> invitation was to be fully and completely
> themselves as they discussed ‘what gives life to
> their batting, bowling, fielding, training, and
> off-field social activities, when it is at its best?’.
>
> The meeting ran for five hours (three hours over
> schedule), nobody left the room, and both senior
> management and senior players rated it as the
> “best team meeting ever”. Sri Lanka subsequently
> drew the three Test series 1-1 and white washed
> England 5-0 in One Day Internationals, their best
> overseas tour performance in 25 years.
>
> Applications of AI in other settings
> Both Kelm (2005) and Stavros and Torres (2005)
> appear to have made transferable applications of
> AI to enhancing daily living convincingly
> possible, and examples of  ‘success stories’ in
> business and workplace settings are available at
> <http://www.aiconsulting.org/>www.aiconsulting.org/.
> I believe strengths-based strategies like
> Appreciative Inquiry are ideally suited for
> helping teams enhance their teamwork and, in
> addition to the references listed below, I
> encourage those charged with the responsibility
> of coordinating coaching and leadership
> development programs to browse the resources on
> the AI Commons website
> (<http://www.appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/>www.appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/).
>
> References
> Bunker, B. B., & Alban, B. T. (2006). The
> handbook of large group methods: Creating
>              systemic changein organizations and
> communities. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
> Cooperrider, D. L., Whitney, D., & Stavros, J. M.
> (2005). Appreciative inquiry handbook: The first
> in a series of AI workbooks for leaders of
> change. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
> Hammond, S. A., & Mayfield, A. B. (2004). The
> thin book of naming elephants: How to
>              surface undiscussables for greater
> organizational success. Bend, OR: Thin Book
>              Publishing.
> Kelm, J. B. (2005). Appreciative living: The
> principles of Appreciative Inquiry in personal life. Wake Forest, NC: Venet.
> Orem, S. L., Binkert, J., & Clancy, A. L. (2007).
> Appreciative coaching: A positive process for
> change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
> Owen, H. (1997). Expanding our now: The story of
> Open Space Technology. San Francisco,
>              CA: Berrett-Koehler.
> Stavros, J. M. & Torres, C. B. (2005). Dynamic
> relationships: Unleashing the power of
> appreciative inquiry in daily living. Chagrin Falls, OH: Taos Institute.
>
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ------------------------------
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
> view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
> To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
> http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
>

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist