ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!

[Jeff Aitken]

very nice idea gerard. as i've composed this email, i realize i want to post to the whole list, to see what kind of conversation might ensue.
after my masters in ODT (the T being transformation) i began to sketch a quick history of the OD practice which i sometimes call "the case for open space" -- trying to show how very good mainstream OD leads us to the practice of open space (not to be shy about it or anything...) of course i honor the allied practices as well. and i emphasize this is my case for open space, showing my own biases and blind spots.
i always appreciated marv weisbord's synopsis of the OD profession in the book 'productive workplaces' aided by his background as a journalist. he outlined four stages mainly during the 20th century: 1. experts telling individuals how to improve their work; 2. 'experts' facilitating individuals to improve their own work; 3. experts telling organizations how to improve their work; and 4. 'experts' facilitating organizations to improve their own work.
the final phase became a 'whole systems redesign' phase which was optimized by getting the whole system into the room to facilitate the redesign. weisbord discussed this evolution in his book "discovering common ground" drawing on the work of emery, trist, et al. -- truly we stand on the shoulders of giants.
as peggy holman and tom devane and steven cady document for us in "the change handbook", practices of "whole system in the room" include future search, world cafe, appreciative inquiry, open space, etc. And the case for open space is that it's not only the most empowering process, but also it's capable of becoming the 'operating system' for the ongoing life and continual redesign of the organization, as harrison and birgitt and larry and michael and chris and brian and others have shared with us.
the case for open space also draws on seminal books which help us to bring more fluidity into our mental models of organization, outgrowing the inherited mechanical models, working to set the stage for leaders being willing to let go of control into self-organization: gareth morgan's "image of organization" and "imaginization"; senge's "the fifth discipline"; wheatley's "leadership and the new science" and "a simpler way"; and harrison's every book.
this is not 2-3 things as you asked, but perhaps it is: weisbord's 4 phases, the developments within the 4th phase, and important supporting works which help leaders prepare for 4th phase work in the organization.
onward,
jeff aitkenmount tamalpais

Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 08:16:21 +0200
From: gm at openspace.dk
Subject: [OSLIST] ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU

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 DenmarkPhone: (+45) 21269621Mail: gm at openspace.dkSkype: openspace1www.openspace.dk*
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