Volunteers and conscripts

Wed May 27 12:44:25 PDT 2009

Jack I never said that OS would not work with "conscripts." I did say that
the result would be less than optimal - and that if one wanted the very
best, voluntary self-selection was essential. At least that has been my
experience so far. In fact Open Space works very effectively in prisons -
where voluntary self-selection is not an ordinary practice. But I cannot
believe that prison life could be confused with optimal human conditions,
although I grant that a number of places of business have much in common
with many prisons. There may be a lack of concertina wire and guard towers,
but I found the atmosphere very much the same. In such places Open Space
works as well, if only because even such miserable excuses for work
environments are also part of this self organizing world. But I think it
safe to say that high levels of performance, creativity, innovation, and the
like are not commonly found.  As for the birth date of Open Space Technology
- that would be July the 4th weekend in Monterey California. Didn't think of
it at the time, but in retrospect I find that date marvelously appropriate.
Something about -- Revolution and Freedom (from the Crown). You might say
Voluntary Self-Selection! 

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 Jack
Martin Leith
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 12:59 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Volunteers and conscripts

I've turned Bhav's question and Harrison's response into a blog post on the
Osuki website, and added a comment of my own.

Here's the link: www.osuki.net/?p=913 

If you don't want to click on the link you can see my comment below.

Harrison and Bhav, I hope it's OK with you that I've posted this article. I
haven't named Bhav. I'll delete the post if either of you asks me to.

Warm wishes from Bristol, UK.

Jack

P.S. Harrison, can you please remind us of the exact date of the 25th
birthday of Open Space?

Jack Martin Leith
Innovation Next : An emerging hub for innovation next practice
Bristol, United Kingdom
Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)
Skype: jackmartinleith
email: jack at innovationnext.org
www.innovationnext.org | www.jackmartinleith.com

Follow me on Twitter for innovation news: http://twitter.com/jackmartinleith
Join the management renegades at http://moon-shots.ning.com
<http://moon-shots.ning.com/> 

---------------------------------

http://www.osuki.net/?p=913#comments

While I agree with pretty much everything Harrison says here, in the 20
years that I've been working professionally with Open Space Technology, I
can't think of a single client that was seeking to create a self-organising
system. They simply wanted to get a job done, and OST was the chosen tool.

Many of the Open Space events I've co-designed and facilitated were not
organised on a voluntary participation basis, yet the respective clients
were happy with the results. Would voluntary participation have bettered
these results? Maybe . maybe not. We'll never know.

What's beyond doubt is that OST is a very robust process that can be
effective even when prevailing thinking suggests it's doomed to failure.

In the early 1990s I co-facilitated, with
<http://www.osuki.net/?page_id=530> Mo Cohen of this parish, a two-day Open
Space event for the change management practice of a large management
consulting firm.

The client had a hidden agenda that was shockingly revealed at the end of
the first day of a two-day Open Space event. The secret plan was a radical
reorganisation of the change management practice that would have a big
impact on everyone in the room.

At the start of the second day the participants, conscripts one and all,
binned their agenda and created a new one focused on the implications of the
reorganisation.

My friend and collaborator  <http://www.osuki.net/?page_id=126> Jean-Marc Le
Tissier (also of this parish) was an employee of the consulting firm and a
participant in the event. Whenever we recollect those two days we agree that
Open Space was the right tool for the job. It shouldn't have worked - but it
did.

That's all very well in practice - but will it work in theory?
Unknown

Open Space is an extremely resilient 24 year old. Let's start planning the
25th birthday celebrations (early July 2010) now!

---------------------------------

* * ==========================================================
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/20090527/c4a047a4/attachment-0016.htm>