Organizational Transformation Conferences (was: Re: [OSLIST] ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!)
Susan M Kerr
susan.kerr at aurora.org
Tue Jun 1 15:13:47 PDT 2010
Hello Jack.
Yes, it was. I'm sorry that I hadn't read the archives you attached when I
posted. I see now where you call it Chicago; it was actually just up the
lake a bit in Milwaukee. The theme was Welcoming Spirit which could be, I
guess, a tad amorphous but I don't recall any weirdness nor intrigue
unless one counts the polka dancing that took place by some participants
when we joined the Polish fest at the lakefront one evening...
The invitation is attached here. I believe Sheila truly hosted it solo as
I remember being more amazed than helpful - I'm a bit institutionalized
I'm afraid and was unclear of my role. (I was unsure about giving what I
had which seems to be what happens around OS.)
It was a small group - about 15 from the participant list I have but it
may not be the final one. Most were from the US with a few from Sweden and
Scotland.
The 2nd attachment is something Sheila may have put together. It lists all
the OTs, year and location, up to and including that OT23 one. I apologize
for the Word docs but I don't have a webpage to post them to.
I hope this is helpful. It looks as though when the OT was in two places
one year they were "numbered" the same.
Susan
Jack Martin Leith <jack at leithcocreation.com>
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Re: [OSLIST] Organizational Transformation Conferences (was: Re: [OSLIST]
ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!)
Hiya Susan.
Thanks for the information about the final OT conference, held in
Milwaukee.
Is this the one that I had pegged as Chicago, convened by Sheila Isakson,
Bill Isakson, Susan Kerr, and facilitated by John Adams?
Thanks for your help.
Jack
Jack Martin Leith
Leith Co-creation
London, United Kingdom
email: jack at leithcocreation.com
Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)
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On 1 June 2010 03:09, Susan M Kerr <susan.kerr at aurora.org> wrote:
Dear Artur, Jeff, and All:
Jeff, I'm sorry to contradict you but the last OT I attended did indeed
take place in my home town of Milwaukee. It may have been OT 23 in 2005
but I don't keep up with dates and numbers very well. I had attended the
year before in northern Scotland and fell in love with the people and the
rich dialogue we had. There was richness to be found that following year
in Milwaukee as well. I was (still consider myself to be) "new" to OS and
thought that group was a kind of subset of this larger community and the
way they stayed in contact was through this very list.
Even though I was there for the last two, if indeed they were they last
two, I didn't hear any news of one the following year, in London or
elsewhere. So I cannot help you, Artur, with what happened after the one
in Milwaukee. Perhaps someone else who attended but hasn't had an
opportunity to chime in yet will be able to shed more light.
Grateful for the learning,
Susan Kerr
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
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To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
From: Jeff Aitken <magic.teams at hotmail.com>
Sent by: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Date: 05/31/2010 06:24PM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Organizational Transformation Conferences (was: Re:
[OSLIST] ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!)
Thanks for posting some history of the OT symposia Jack.
I attended many in the US from 1991-1996, and the European OT9 in Hungary.
I remember one participant convening a workshop that included burning
money. To me, it was not outside the range of typical behavior with a few
hundred 'transformation' oriented folks being together for three or four
days in open space with a somewhat amorphous theme statement. There was a
great deal of weirdness and intrigue. They were all very different events,
and great fun and great learning for the most part. And I don't blame open
space for any of the troubling parts.
John Adams told me that the last OT symposium in Wisconsin did not take
place because of lack of interest, about five years ago, and at that point
there was the decision to discontinue.
Jeff
Mount Tamalpais
Date: Mon, 31 May 2010 17:04:47 +0100
From: jack at leithcocreation.com
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Organizational Transformation Conferences (was: Re:
[OSLIST] ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!)
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Thanks for raising this, Artur.
I've pulled a couple of old web pages about the OT symposia from my very
dusty digital archives, blown off the cobwebs, and uploaded them to
www.leithcocreation.com/ot .
Hope these are useful.
In 1988, John Adams ( www.eartheart-ent.com ) wrote:
Sometime during the very early years of this decade [the 1980s], probably
in 1981 or 1982, a large number of people began to use the term
organisation transformation to describe their work. During the Spring of
1982, a few of these people recognized each other at a conference outside
of Boston, and began to discuss their common interest in concepts like
vision, purpose, spirit in the workplace and global perspective .
Could it be that the ideas highlighted in red are taken as read (sorry -
no pun intended) these days, and that OD has - to some extent - morphed
into OT, as you mention?
The rest of the John Adams article can be found here:
www.leithcocreation.com/ot .
With regard to your earlier email, I agree that PC is rife in the Open
Space community, and that it is not safe to raise certain issues - not
only in these posts, but beyond OSList.
Two years ago, Paul Levy and I announced a discussion session, Open Space
2.0: Beyond the Dogma. The announcement triggered some hostility and a
heap of defensive responses. Paul received an item of what can only be
called hate mail from a prominent member of the so-called OS community
(perhaps more like what Scott Peck would call 'pseudo-community').
Pseudo-community: Where participants are "nice with each other",
playing-safe, and presenting what they feel is the most favourable sides
of their personalities.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community
I've had similar responses to other posts, which is why I rarely post to
this list these days.
25 years down the track, if they survive that long, most organisational
concepts and tools have splintered and evolved. Open Space hasn't, and I'm
not sure this is a good thing. It seems to reflect a degree of orthodoxy.
I await howls of protest.
Thank you again, Artur. These things need to be said.
If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals
from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just
feeding the crocodile, hoping he'll eat you last. ? Ronald Reagan
Jack
Jack Martin Leith
Leith Co-creation
London, United Kingdom
email: jack at leithcocreation.com
Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)
Skype: jackmartinleith
Professional website: www.leithcocreation.com
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On 29 May 2010 19:19, Artur Silva < arturfsilva at yahoo.com > wrote:
Dear all
Thanks for the map, Jack.
The map, and some clarifications by Harrison, reminded me of a different
thing.
OST was born in the "Organization Transformation Conferences".
In WOSonOS in Berlin, I met a lady (that I cannot remember the name and
later have not seen her again to ask for the contacts) that told me that
the last OT Conference was to be held in London, but there were
insufficient registrations and it did not took place. Nor any other after
that.
In ancient mails, in the OSLIST Archives, I can see that OT22 took place
in Scotland, in 2004, and OT23 was planned to take place in Milwaukee, in
2005. I also remember to later receive an invitation to London, and I even
considered to go there (and profit to see my sister and my English family,
in Brighton). But later I could not. But that exchange of mails is lost
with a computer that crashed many moons ago.
If there is anyone that can complete the story from OT22 to the last one
that took (or not) place, I would be grateful.
I would also like to understand why the OT Conferences died (without any
trace that I could discover in the Internet).
And why have the OT Conferences died if the distinction between OD and OT
is IMHO more needed now than ever before?
Maybe this can be somehow related with my previous post.
If there is no longer a clear distinction between OD and OT, than OST and
all the other "large group facilitation methods" belong after all to the
same stream - OD.
Interesting, don't you think?
Regards
Artur
From: Harrison Owen < hhowen at verizon.net >
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Sent: Thu, May 27, 2010 10:34:02 PM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!
Jack ? I have always loved your ?map? ? if only because it provides me and
(indirectly I presume), and Open Space Technology with an impressive
lineage which is at once colorful, although perhaps undeserved. It is
true that my first public foray into the realm of Organization
Transformation happened at a regional conference of ODN (Organization
Development Network) ? I gave a paper. What is also true is that at the
time I had no real clue what Organization Development might be, where it
came from, or what it might be useful for. My inspiration, training and
experience came from a rather different place, including but not limited
to a layman?s understanding of the New Physics, a rather deeper
understanding of the myth and ritual of the ancient near east, and an
appreciation of a variety of (what now would be called) esoteric
traditions. Strange things like Tibetan Buddhism, Sufi thought (Rumi),
some deep learning at the feet of (West) African Shamans, the work of
Joseph Campbell, Ken Wilbur ? and other assorted denizens of the Fringe.
I wouldn?t claim academic expertise for most of this, but existential, on
the ground experience for sure. Truth to tell, when Organization
Transformation first reflected the light of day it was not viewed in a
positive fashion by the powers that be (were) in the world of OD.
Definitely heretical! Off the Wall! Out of Sight!! Some still feel that
way, I am sure ? but times change. And a lot of the people who found the
idea of Organization Transformation radically abhorrent became friends. I
can?t say we have always agreed ? but we are friends.
And then we come to Open Space Technology. It does not come from, nor is
it part of the great tradition (lately created) of Large Scale
Interventions. It began as it remains ? The product of two Martinis (and
before that the Big Bang)! There was no careful research, no critical
analysis of preceding efforts ? just a little Gin and (much less)
vermouth. And with all that as ancestors, you got to keep it simple. ?
Sit in a circle, create a bulletin board, open a market place ? and Go to
work. Hasn?t changed a bit ever since. But I am sure that our
understanding of what happens has gone a lot deeper ? which is not to say
that we are getting anywhere near the depths we must achieve. But we are
moving in the right direction, I think. And it is fun.
Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Dr.
Potomac, MD 20854
USA
Phone 301-365-2093
www.openspaceworld.com
www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
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From: OSLIST [mailto: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU ] On Behalf Of Jack
Martin Leith
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 3:11 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!
Thanks for mentioning the map, Michael.
I've just uploaded it to my server in case anyone wants to see it.
Here's the URL:
www.leithcocreation.com/documents/history-of-large-group-methods.doc
It's a big file ... sorry ... I don't have time right now to make it any
smaller.
Jack
Jack Martin Leith
Leith Co-creation
London, United Kingdom
email: jack at leithcocreation.com
Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)
Skype: jackmartinleith
Professional website: www.leithcocreation.com
Personal website: www.jackmartinleith.com
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LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jackmartinleith
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Twitter: http://twitter.com/jackmartinleith
On 27 May 2010 15:05, Michael Herman < michael at michaelherman.com > wrote:
i'll second jeff's recommendation of marv weisbord's 'productive
workplaces.' that was the first thing that came to mind here. another
was a map that jack martin leith did some years ago, showing overlapping
development paths of various methods and leading practitioners. jack?
m
--
Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
http://www.michaelherman.com/
http://www.ronanparktrail.com/
http://www.chicagoconservationcorps.org/
http://www.openspaceworld.org/
312-280-7838 (mobile)
On Thu, May 27, 2010 at 4:39 AM, VISUELLE PROTOKOLLE <
mail at visuelle-protokolle.de > wrote:
Dear Gerard,
Our friend Jon Jenkins, who sadly died recently, said as the father of the
IAF Method Database, that right now the three most important elements in
our profession are VISUALIZATION, STORYTELLING and ONLINE METHODS.
Greetings from Italy
Reinhard Kuchenmüller
VISUELLE PROTOKOLLE®
www.visuelle-protokolle.de
+39-0566-88929
Am 27/05/10 08:16 schrieb "Gerard Muller" unter < gm at openspace.dk >:
Dear All,
At the upcoming Organisational Development World Summit (see
http://www.odworldsummit.org/ , which is organised in collaboration with
several organisations and communities - amongst which several who are on
this list , we are organising part of the program as a special journey
through the history of our profession, before we move into it?s future.
I would like to ask for your help in identifying what you feel are the 2-3
elements which deserve a place in this journey. This could be either in
the history of the profession (a book, a bit of research, the birth of an
method or theory), or in the history of the society around (political,
technological, ...).
If you have a specific idea how to represent the elements which come to
mind, that would be great.
In the case of a publication, it could be the book itself, in the case of
an event maybe the invitation,
a poster, pictures. But we?ll also have space for filmclips and music.
Please mail any ideas to my E-mail at gm at openspace.dk , in the course of
the coming week.
Thanks for your assistance !!
Greetings from Denmark,
Gerard Muller
Open Space Institute Denmark
Phone: (+45) 21269621
Mail: gm at openspace.dk
Skype: openspace1
www.openspace.dk < http://www.openspace.dk/ >
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