On "Failure" / Invitations

Fri Jun 4 07:03:36 PDT 2010

yes.  this is exactly my experience, harrison, with some exceptions for
those cases where the sponsor was already so thought-into the scene that
they didn't tell a very clear story.  but for vast majority of cases, my
experiene goes like this...

phone rings.  caller introduces self and says some version of "calling about
open space."  then proceeds to tick off the following... organization name,
we've always been [whatever] sort of an organization, we've had this success
or that success, but now things are different.  (or now we want them to be
different.)  (or then must be different.)  we're up against this, that
and/or the other obstacles or deadlines or usual custom (we have this same
meeting every year)... and we want to do something different, so we thought
open space might do the trick"

then we talk about who's coming, or should be coming; wehre it might happen,
what's already in place, what sorts of documenting, how people already are
talking in org with current systems, and then it comes back to... now what?
and the only thing left is to pen the invite.  "invitation?" they ask,
"what's that?"  -- and i always point out that they already said it, they
just have to write it down and tidy it up a bit.

there is a bit of reality/gut checking.  there is a bit of fishing around on
my part to see if they just want to do a different dance or if they really
want it to rain this time.  do they want a different meeting or a different
organization, but mostly, it's those first five sentences they give me on
the phone.

i always pay very close attention to those first five sentences.  not as
easy by email.  sometimes when it starts that way we're able to recreate it
quickly on the phone.  sometimes it takes a bit of swimming upstream.

and maybe this is one of those lapses in attention... if i miss that moment
of first, true clarity, when that space first opens and somebody dares to
ask if things couldn't be different... you used to talk about that moment of
"wondering...", harrison, then it might well be that no amount of thinking
and such can replace it.  that's maybe the place where a lapse in the
quality of attention, in those first lines and first few conversations, when
client and i are still new to each other, where maybe things get more or
less lined up for success or failure.

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 Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 8:38 AM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:

>  One of the themes that seems to be surfacing here is the whole subject of
> Invitations. The Invitation (theme) is definitely important as it sets the
> raison d’être and frame for the gathering. I know that some people spend
> terrific amounts of time and effort crafting that invitation – but my
> experience has taken me in a different direction. In fact I have found that
> the effectiveness of the Invitation is (oddly) inversely proportional to
> time/effort expended. The key, I think is the necessity for a “real business
> issue” as a first condition for a functional Open Space. And a real business
> issue (no matter how you define business) is something that hits you right
> in the face. You don’t have to think about it very much, and in fact it is
> pretty hard to think about anything else. It is also usually true that the
> folks in the organization (those who might care) have already named it. That
> name might be something less than elegant and seemingly lacking in precision
> as an outsider might see it – but for those in the know, the people who care
> (exactly the right people for the Open Space) – they will instantaneously
> recognize “it.” Some years ago I received a call about doing an Open Space.
> After some initial, rather generalized conversation, the person on the other
> end of the line said in some deep pain, “Our system is broke in just about
> every way a system can be broken and everybody knows it.” As it happened
> that system (business) resided in the state of Arizona – and there was the
> theme and invitation. “Fixing Arizona: Issues and Opportunities.” There was
> no reason to give all the details, motivational encouragement, pleas for
> attendance. Everybody who cared already knew.
>
>
>
> Actually when you think about it, it is probably true that if you have to
> spend a lot of effort developing and clarifying the focal issue the chances
> are you don’t have a “real business issue.” That being the case, doing an
> Open Space may not be the appropriate way to go. Without the passion, focus,
> and caring not too much is likely to happen. I guess that is not too
> surprising as without passion, focus, and caring not too much happens in any
> other part of life either.
>
>
>
> Harrison**
>
>
>
> Harrison Owen
>
> 7808 River Falls Dr.
>
> Potomac, MD 20854
>
> USA
>
> Phone 301-365-2093
>
> www.openspaceworld.com
>
> www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
>
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
> oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
>
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
>
> *From:* OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] *On Behalf Of *Michael
> Herman
> *Sent:* Thursday, June 03, 2010 5:50 PM
> *To:* OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> *Subject:* Re: On "Failure"
>
>
>
> there are some situations that come to mind, harrison, but is sort of
> reminds me of that time when louise mitran brought all the drumming gear to
> one our trainings at the carleton.  she took a group out in one session and
> challenged them to play chaos.  they really had a heck of time doing it,
> sustaining it.  for sure there were moments of discord and a lot of
> messiness, but the driving force underneath it all was the inclination, some
> sort collectively mutual invitation, to entrain with each other... and turn
> it into music.  so i was thinking not so much about any 'grand failures' but
> more those moments of confusion, facilitator choice points, apparent chaos,
> but pretty much i they always seem to resolve again.  moral of the story
> might be, when you find yourself under water, go with the flow, stay in
> relationship, let the river take you where it's choosing, try not to get
> stuck and hold your breath... you'll likely have another chance for opening
> and fresh air, soon enough, even if not exactly soon as you want or expect.
>
>
> that said, here are some of the situations that came to mind...
>
> a buddy of mine called in sick the day before an event, so i walked in to
> open space with no experience with the group.  the managers had written the
> invitation, and invited 100 folks to come work on the issues that made their
> stomachs churn, hands sweat, or kept them up at night worrying.  the were
> working from a language they'd developed around "adaptive challenges" based
> on a book they'd read together.  when the issues all went up, the managers,
> who had their own list of issues, looked at the wall, they were astounded to
> see that the group had covered all of the mgrs issues.  mission
> accomplished, or so it would seem.  next day, however, morning news sort of
> blew up because all the lower level folks were feeling a bit disheartened,
> thought they'd failed miserably, because they hadn't found a single issue
> that really scared them.  turns out what was freaking the mgrs out was just
> the everyday challenge to folks down the hierarchy.  the disheartening got
> turned more confusing when some of the younger managers, who were very hot
> for this new language they'd come up with from this book, tried hard to
> impose a "training" in the right way to talk about these things.  made for a
> long morning news and then required the miracle of "the group catching up"
> to the schedule... but none of that is particularly remarkable.  in the end,
> all the issues that mattered got discussed, documented, and they made a good
> run at tackling the various things that were identified for doing
> post-meeting.
>
> so is this even a failure?  could it have been if i'd made some different
> choicse along the way?  maybe, maybe not.  depends on the definitions, i
> think.  certainly it was a deviation from the story told in the user's
> guide.  but we recovered.  and i think that's what happens in every, or
> almost every, case.
>
> some of the recoveries happen before the event.  the client dodges the real
> issue and writes an invitation that says "come to an open space meeting."
> well, that's not much of a theme, unless it's an osonos.  so we fix that, go
> deeper, dare to invite the real thing and get on with it.
>
> then they want to have three short keynoters to open.  well maybe we talk
> them out of that, maybe we don't.  once we had two of three keynoters
> cancel.  so one guy talked for 20 mins instead of his allotted 10.  circle
> was 200, statewide group, very diverse, never worked together.  big issue.
> but this guy was more readily associated and more active in one side of the
> story.  it set up a sort of competition because some felt heard and
> addressed in teh opening, but others thought they'd been put in second
> place.  i motioned to the sponsor to pull the plug.  he went out and put an
> arm around the guy, thanked him and said "let's get started".  i walked in,
> past the podium he'd been standing at.  with one hand, i tipped it over,
> laid it down.  by the time i got back around to that point of th circle,
> interns had carried it off.  but the damage was done.  later that morning,
> one of two key sponsors comes to me and says "fix it.  my people are
> pissed."  she happens to be the one who's got to sign my check.  i tell her
> honestly, "now can do.  it's in their hands now."  on the second day, it
> started to be dealt iwth directly, our friend ted ernst raised an issue that
> began to put the two 'sides' together.  we came up with tons of good stuff,
> over 2.5 days, but i think it took another couple of annual repetitions of
> this first event before everybody really felt like they were on the same
> side.  didn't help, probably, that one sponsor was a foundation, funding
> some and not others.  but that's the messiness we work in.  i'm not sure
> that co-sponsor's view of the thing ever improved, though she did take a
> lead role in convening after-event meetings.  a city-wide coalition came out
> of those meetings and is now active and very successful 9 years later.
>
> then there is the client who -- after sprinkling a day of open space
> sessions into a week of meetings, 150 top people from around the world,
> fortune 150 company, all the c-folks there -- came to me, as the proceedings
> were just finished being printed, and said "the ceo says we can't distribute
> these.  there's no time.  he hasn't read them. etc."  i pushed hard for a
> conversation with the ceo and got a very few minutes, in which i was able to
> convince notice that he was trying to stop them from giving out notes about
> waht everyone in the room was already thinking and speaking about.  he
> agreed that it was more dangerous to get in the way of it than to just let
> it go.  but he scuttled the session, can't recall the exact form, of the
> prioritizing or conversing or voting or something that was to be done with
> the rpoceedings.  actually, i seem to remember people have to go through and
> tear out the ballot pages from the books.  luckily spiral bound, so the page
> was never missed.
>
> and then there is the client that thinks that all they need to do is call
> the meeting to order, the facilitator will take it from there, and they're
> off the hook forever.  you think you've got them lined up, they get it,
> they're on for it.. but deep down they want out.  this is the sponsor who
> might let slip in the opening intro "well, glad you all could get here.  we
> have no idea what's going to happen.  that's michael's problem now...".
> oops.  checked out.  and when the notes were all assembled, the client i'm
> thinking of mysteriously managed to avoid sending them out for several
> weeks.  mostly the high-end consultants in this company, who'd travelled
> from everywhere to london for this meeting think this meeting failed.  no
> follow-through.  but... eventually one person, brand new in the office and
> company, stepped up, got the notes from the leader, sorted things out and
> sent them around to everyone.  the conversation never recovered, but four
> years later, it seems that that moment of leadership on the part of the new
> person set her up to take on a leadership role in rebuilding their entire
> technology platform.  again, failure depends on definition and time frame.
>
> but mostly i don't think of open spaces that failed, as much as some were
> more fruitful than others, apparently, and moments when it was possible to
> take the easy way out, letting that ceo do what he wanted without challenge,
> instead of hanging in, and hanging with, no matter what, again, apparently,
> happens to me personally.
>
> 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, Jun 3, 2010 at 3:23 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Michael – it would be really interesting to hear some actual situations
> where what you are describing is true. I’ve never seen it, but I did hear of
> one. It happened in South Africa where a local consultant took Open Space as
> a license for absence. He literally left for most of the day. As it turned
> out (as I heard from one of the participants) the group really didn’t miss
> him, and was basically sorry to see him return. And that same participant
> was sure that there had to be something more than he had seen. As a
> consequence he came to a “training program” (back in the days when I used to
> do something like that J) and subsequently opened space all over the
> place. So I guess there was a happy ending after a rocky start. Or
> something.
>
>
>
> But you really put your finger on something – “active listening” – which is
> not so much about doing anything but rather Being intensely.  Definitely
> hard to describe but my best shot is the enigmatic phrase – Being totally
> present and absolutely invisible. In my experience this is a matter of
> intention and practice. And the best part is that it is all definitely
> rewarding, not only in terms of facilitating Open Space, but equally in
> terms of self understanding and personal presence. It feels good.
>
>
>
> Harrison
>
>
>
> Harrison Owen
>
> 7808 River Falls Dr.
>
> Potomac, MD 20854
>
> USA
>
> Phone 301-365-2093
>
> www.openspaceworld.com
>
> www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
>
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
> oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
>
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
>
> *From:* OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] *On Behalf Of *Michael
> Herman
> *Sent:* Thursday, June 03, 2010 2:41 PM
>
>
> *To:* OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>
> *Subject:* Re: On "Failure"
>
>
>
> i have a teacher who likes to put little reminders on pencils and pass them
> around.  one of my favorite pencils says:  "really easy is often quite
> difficult."
>
> i think this is true of open space.  i've seen a number of situations where
> the facilitator or the process itself was assumed to be a bit of magic, so
> nobody needed to do much else to make it happen.  this makes all kinds of
> large and small "failures" possible -- all owing to some lapses in the
> quality of attention, awareness, relationship.
>
> somebody once told me that carl rogers (some sort of psychologist, i think)
> used to listen so intently that he would often break out in a sweat -- just
> listening to someone.  sometimes i think open space takes this sort of
> quality or intensity of attention... or maybe of awareness.  that the heart
> is this active, even if the body is apparently doing nothing.  like when so
> many muscles are engaged in walking a balance beam, or timing a jump.
> actively pulsing, checking, on and off, holding and releasing, inviting and
> reporting.
>
> i'd guess a fair number of "failures" have their roots in forgetting that
> os is this sort of active practice, even if a lot of the action is not
> outwardly visible or dramatic or difficult.  weirdenss seems to flow from
> gaps in clarity, in attention, in awareness, in relationship.  not so much,
> i think, from gaps in actual outer logistics.
>
> 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, Jun 3, 2010 at 12:07 PM, VISUELLE PROTOKOLLE <
> mail at visuelle-protokolle.de> wrote:
>
> Harrison and all,
>
> Another example of an OS that went terribly wrong:
>
> It was a factory producing printing machines, both in Eastern and western
> Germany, and the participants were mixed from both areas. We had the o.k.
> from the four directors, to whom we had illustrated what to expect, and a
> final conference after the OS was already determined. One of the directors,
> the one who seemed to be the most employee-oriented, was choosen to say some
> words at the end of the OS. Our partner in the company was a young man from
> HR, very active, with good contacts to the directors. So he insisted that he
> should brief the director what to say at the end of OS.
>
> Everything went fine. The groups worked with joy and enthusiasm. We
> accompanied the whole OS with 3 people visualizing everything, and that was
> a big success, because  everybody could see what had happened everywhere.
> After we had shown the pictures in a final slideshow, the director stood up
> and destroyed everything within 5 minutes. He said that he was disappointed,
> had expected other outcomes, and that the managers wood have a hard time to
> use some of the results.
>
> That was the end of the project for us, but much worse all the participants
> were angry and a big chance was lost for the company.
>
> Of course the mistake was to let the young HR-man brief the director.
>
> Reinhard
>
> Reinhard Kuchenmüller
> Dr. Marianne Stifel
> VISUELLE PROTOKOLLE
> Kuchenmüller & Stifel
>
> +39-0566-88 929
> www.visuelle-protokolle.de
>
>
>
>
> Am 03/06/10 18:12 schrieb "Ralph Copleman" unter <rcopleman at comcast.net>:
>
> Harrison and all,
>
> I've had a few that sort of fell flat.
>
> One involved a group concerned about availability of services for senior
> citizens across an entire US state.  Two-thirds of the room consisted of
> seniors themselves and, frankly, a lot of them ran out of energy about an
> hour after lunch.  So they sat around, a number slumping in chairs with eyes
> closed.
>
> Another involved an exploration of customer service issues for an airline.
>  Lots of corporate leaders from the airline present, along with their
> booking agents (this pre-dates internet booking sites), frequent flyer
> customers, and corporate travel execs who make travel policy for their
> companies.  A great mix, actually.  We were set to go from 8:00 a.m to 4:00.
>  About 2:00, a group of participants more or less seized control of the
> meeting somehow (I wasn't in the room when it occurred) and got everyone to
> agree to shorten the meeting by a full hour.  When I returned at 3:00,
> someone simply informed me, and asked that I begin the closing circle.  So
> that's what I did.  I never found out what actually happened.
>
> Not sure how to think about that last one, since I never found out how it
> all developed, but the following one is more like a true failure.
>
> I was asked to convene a two-day open space gathering for about 200 folks
> from around the US.  It would be the annual meeting of an association of a
> certain type of public health officer (cannot recall the details).  The
> whole thing was pretty dead from the outset –– I mean 200 people posting a
> total of only 15 sessions for two whole days!?  I found out the theme was
> all wrong.  The planning committee chose an idea that turned out to have no
> juice for the association's members.  I had spent hours in conference calls
> with the leadership group and the planning committee, and they'd assured me
> that the idea they chose was at the heart of the challenges facing them and
> their organizations.  Turns out that was dead wrong.  Nobody else cared.  I
> don't know how I might have seen through this situation ahead of time.
>
> I essentially agree with you, H.  If the conditions are appropriate, it
> will work.  But, if the three experiences above teach me anything, it's
> clear that stuff can always happens.
>
> Ralph Copleman
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> 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
>
>
> * * ==========================================================
> 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/20100604/72e3b2fb/attachment-0016.htm>