My Microsoft experience

Sun Nov 23 12:05:27 PST 2008

I guess we have a mutual admiration society going here Dave - Your
description of Open space as the "Ninja" of change is simply marvelous. And
it certainly accords with both my current feelings and hopes. Definitely
hard on the ego should you be seeking recognition for some great feat - but
when it comes to getting something useful done, slipping in and out with all
the gossamer qualities of a silent shadow is definitely the way. At least
that has always been my experience. 

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Drive

Potomac, Maryland   20854

Phone 301-365-2093

Skype hhowen

Open Space Training  <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> www.openspaceworld.com

Open Space Institute  <http://www.openspaceworld.org/>
www.openspaceworld.org

Personal website  <http://www.ho-image.com/> www.ho-image.com 

OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives
Visit:  <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html>
www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of dave
stevenson
Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2008 1:30 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: My Microsoft experience

I love what Harrison is saying here. Maybe the fact that they "never heard"
of it is good, ie, its slipping under the anti-change cultural software that
holds big systems in their current patterns, as shown when OST is seen as
another one of those facillitation things...but OST comes in many forums,
this time as ninja of change. hopefully they may never hear of it until its
too late....they are open...kind of like being caught off guard by a satori
moment...then the whole system starts to ask not what should we do
next...something easy to defend against, but what have I become...what is
this open...spacious...self-organizing self I am now living...that would be
and is good whole systems identity crisis / opportunity...

Greeting from Vancouver Island

David Stevenson

On Sun, Nov 23, 2008 at 8:51 AM, Michael M Pannwitz <mmpanne at boscop.org>
wrote:

Dear Steven,
I have a hunch that the reason for participants not mentioning you in the
closing circle might have very little to do with you "enabling" them but
much more with them actually being in "self-organisation" (with your
support, no doubt).
Had you "enabled" them they probably would have thanked you.

Greetings from Berlin where we just spent three very good days with a crowd
of 20 folks exploring "Wave Rider".
mmp 

Steven "Doc" List wrote:

Hello, my friends.

I've just finished an interesting couple of days.

As you may or may not know, Microsoft has a highly tarnished reputation when
it comes to Open Space.  They've tried, and pretty much botched it a couple
of highly visible times.

This week was their Strategic Architect Forum, put on by the same fellow who
had me do their Open Space in Redmond in April.

284 software architects and managers from 34 countries and 190 different
organizations/companies.

Roughly 260 of them had no idea what Open Space was about, many of them
being skeptical (as usual :-)).

I had faith, as always, that it would all come together, and it did.  I'm
learning, each time, the importance of what I refer to as the set-up.
Walking the circle, explaining why they're there and what they have a chance
to do and then how they're going to do it - that's the "set-up", combined
with the process of crafting the invitation (thanks, Michael!).

This was my largest event to date.  Three concentric circles of chairs in
the opening and closing circles.  Some reluctance on the part of many of
them to propose topics.  A microphone as the talking stick/token in the
closing circle, passed as often as used to speak.

And afterward, the energy and excitement.

But between the beginning of the closing circle and the "afterward", I
achieved something important for the first time.

I recall Harrison saying something along the lines of "if they thank you at
the end, you haven't done the job of facilitation right."

Always before, someone - or several someones - has thanked me in the closing
circle, praising me, recognizing me.  I admit that I was skeptical about the
whole idea of not being thanked, since it has always seemed that they're all
so aware of me, even as I have worked to be invisibly present.

Today, at the end of the closing circle, I realized that no one had
mentioned my name, thanked me, recognized me in any way.

And I realized that my contribution was in enabling them to have a unique
and meaningful experience, and that by doing so effectively, I had achieved
something new.  I had finally become only a part of the overall experience,
contributing and enabling, but taking a back seat to the community and its
experience.

And along the way, I helped to introduce a wider group to the pleasures of
Open Space Technology, and might get to do so again with some of them.

Wow.

Thanks, Harrison.

..Doc
-- 
Steven "Doc" List, Principal Consultant, ThoughtWorks NA
Mobile: +1 (512) 924-9248 | Skype: steven.list | Yahoo: dadjester
email: doc at thoughtworks.com | doc at anotherthought.com | web:
www.thoughtworks.com <http://www.thoughtworks.com/> 

Watch me being interviewed about Open Space Technology:
http://www.infoq.com/interviews/Open-Spaces-Steven-List

Everyone should know it's the month of Movember! Please donate to the
cause of men's health at http://ca.movember.com/mospace/1794841

*
*
==========================================================
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

* * ==========================================================
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
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20081123/235254a2/attachment-0016.htm>