[OSList] A tale of two companies
doug
os at footprintsinthewind.com
Mon Jul 11 18:38:03 PDT 2011
Artur and all--
Just what are the assumptions inherent in a phrase like "learn faster
and more profoundly than other organizations?" Do they align with what
we know of reality?
:- Doug.
On Sat, 2011-07-09 at 20:50 -0700, Artur Silva wrote:
> Peggy, Harrison, Suzanne, David, Doug and Chris:
>
>
> I ended last Friday a very intensive work period, to finish the first
> (and bigger) phase of my students' examinations and submitting a paper
> to a Conference. In the meanwhile, I have read the first marvelous
> initial post of this thread from Peggy, and the interesting answers
> that followed.
>
>
> After Peggy's first mail I had the intention - but not the time - to
> write some comments. This afternoon, when I had the time, I reread
> everything, but before beginning to write I have received all the
> careful answers that Peggy sent to each of the comments.
>
>
> Now it is almost all said, and my comment is only concerned with a
> small point where this thread relates with the paper I wrote, namely
> the importance of Power and Care (that I prefer to "Love") in the tech
> company's experience Peggy shared with us.
>
>
> As many of you know, I have been struggling, after some years, with
> two related questions:
>
>
> 1) first, how can we create the "Patterns of a Learning Architecture"
> for a company (or other organization) so that it can learn faster and
> more profoundly than other organizations, especially in what concerns
> questions of generative (double-loop) learning, and namely when
> "sensible questions" are at stake? In other words: how can we change
> the learning patterns of a company (which usually have strong learning
> disabilities) if and when that change is possible? (which btw assumes
> that it is not always possible...)
>
>
> 2) Second, what is - or can be - the role of OST in all of this?
>
>
> Of course, one can always say that power doesn't exist at all, or that
> "you never have to let go of it, because you never had it in the first
> place" (I am paraphrasing a recent answer from Harrison to Eleder's
> "Quote").
>
>
> Or, at least, we can say that, in many situations we all know of,
> Power can be kind of "dissolved" in the OST event(s) - in a way that
> it can't be in other more "directive approaches", like "team
> building", to give only one example.
>
>
> But what happens in those situations were power doesn't "dissolve"?
> (Having worked 20 years for IBM, I know a lot of situations where the
> best intentions of senior professionals and middle managers couldn't
> change what was decided "at the Top".)
>
>
> And what happens in those situations where it is not even good for the
> future of the organization that power dissolves too quickly, as the
> "person in charge" has a more clear and compassionate vision that the
> people that contest her/him, even if - or especially when - those ones
> are the majority?
>
>
> Any comments?
>
>
> Best regards from late night in Lisbon
>
>
> Artur
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> From: Peggy Holman <peggy at peggyholman.com>
> To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
> <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>
> Sent: Sat, July 9, 2011 9:31:55 PM
> Subject: Re: [OSList] A tale of two companies
>
> Hi Chris,
>
>
> I have followed up with my client. To paraphrase a comment from the
> client: when the community is part of creating the change and
> leadership is engaged, the invitation may seem more authentic and
> therefore participating is less of a stretch.
>
>
> Ironically, the group is in the midst of a re-org, with little
> information to anyone. Based on my contact's reflections, I see no
> appetite to reflect on the experience. And I doubt there will be
> much, if any, forward motion.
>
>
> The power dynamic was certainly an important factor. Thanks for the
> reference to Adam's work.
>
>
> Even when the agenda isn't hidden, if it is coming from the middle, as
> this event demonstrated, it may well be rejected. The group took on
> some real business issues but steered clear of anything related to the
> power structures. In retrospect, that makes sense. Management didn't
> open the door to that arena.
>
>
> And you're so right: when that opening appears, things will shift.
> Given the amount of denial at play, it will likely be pretty messy
> when it happens. So Engaging Emergence may well be a help! In fact,
> my contact just gave a copy to the group's manager.
>
>
> Peggy
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jul 8, 2011, at 11:50 AM, Chris Corrigan wrote:
>
> > Both Suzanne and Harrison have made some excellent reflections
> > here...Peggy, have you had a chance to follow up with the tech
> > company folks? Seems like an important harvest from that experience
> > is a naming of some of the things that are holding them back. They
> > may choose to use OST or some other process for these conversations,
> > but it certainly seems apparent that without talking about this
> > stuff, they are not going to move forward well.
> >
> >
> > Your story does point to an important question that I have been in
> > recently, and that is, how do we relate what we are doing to the
> > realities of power in the organization? Adam Kahane's recent work
> > on Power and Love has highlighted the need to be sensitive to both
> > the relational and the transactional contexts at play in an
> > organization. Using processes like OST is often a vote for the
> > relational to be activated in the work, but if the transactional
> > power dynamics are at play, people will often behave the way you
> > describe. Suzanne names it well - a well-intentioned hidden agenda
> > - and the effect can be that it increases mistrust and confusion and
> > people feel that the intervention has not actually dealt with the
> > real issues.
> >
> >
> > When the opening appears for THAT conversation, things will flow.
> > And that is where YOUR book has much to offer around the skills of
> > working with emergence and disruption.
> >
> >
> > C
> >
> > On Thu, Jul 7, 2011 at 6:28 PM, doug <os at footprintsinthewind.com>
> > wrote:
> > Peggy and all friends--
> >
> > Question 1: It was 1975 when I last lived inside a Fortune
> > 200
> > corporation, so take this with a grain of salt. What came
> > through my
> > sixth sense on reading this was that somehow it was not a
> > good mix to
> > have both managers and field people in this particular OS.
> > They had
> > different issues to be worked by.
> >
> > Question 2: speaks of the same dynamic to me: a very highly
> > controlled
> > group, where the inside circle did not want interlopers, or
> > were so
> > perceived.
> >
> > Had one company just recently acquired another in this tech
> > company? It
> > feels we/they to me.
> >
> > Hopefully this gives a bit of a different echo from the
> > hills across the
> > way.
> >
> > :- Doug.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sat, 2011-07-02 at 16:29 -0700, Peggy Holman wrote:
> > > In the last few months, I opened space at a tech company
> > and a biotech
> > > company. On one level, they looked similar: one functional
> > area,
> > > international participation, a mix of managers and
> > individual
> > > contributors.
> > >
> > > Yet the experiences and the outcomes couldn't have been
> > more
> > > different! I'll describe the two events and my
> > reflections on what
> > > made the difference between them.
> > >
> > > Note: I wrote the story about the tech immediately
> > following the Open
> > > Space but didn't have a chance to edit and send it before
> > the second
> > > experience. You'll see a couple of questions that the
> > experience
> > > raised for me embedded in the story. They took on a
> > little different
> > > light following the second experience.
> > >
> > > Corporate dynamics at play in a technology company...
> > >
> > > This OS was with an international sales and marketing
> > meeting for the
> > > launch of a new year. Day 1 was not in Open Space. It was
> > a manager’s
> > > only session, using a mix of conversational forms (a huge
> > stretch for
> > > the power point, info-out culture). It went well. People
> > appreciated
> > > talking rather than just listening. Many of the field
> > people
> > > acknowledged the quality of listening from headquarters
> > people who
> > > usually do most of the talking.
> > >
> > > On the first afternoon, the larger meeting – 100 people –
> > began with a
> > > conversation between execs and the people in the room. A
> > great, candid
> > > conversation.
> > >
> > > On day 2, we opened the space. During the Open Space, I
> > ran into a
> > > several issues that I haven't experienced before and
> > wondered if
> > > others have.
> > >
> > > Overall, it was a terrific day. And one of the unexpected
> > dynamics
> > > surfaced: the managers didn't feel complete with the
> > conversations
> > > that they wanted just amongst themselves. And they didn't
> > feel they
> > > had the space for their private conversation in the Open
> > Space. My
> > > client caught wind of the situation as they planned to
> > organize a
> > > session during day 3's action planning/next step breakout
> > session
> > > time. That meant the management layer wouldn't be part of
> > action
> > > planning/next step conversations.
> > >
> > > We negotiated having the manager session posted in the
> > context of
> > > action planning/next steps so that it would be visible
> > even if not
> > > open to everyone. In practice, it was announced but not
> > posted.
> > >
> > > We added a second action oriented round of breakout
> > sessions in the
> > > afternoon following a short briefing of what came out of
> > the morning
> > > group to fit the timing of the manager’s session, It made
> > room for
> > > managers or others to host more action/next step sessions.
> > >
> > > So question 1: have others run into the managers-only
> > dynamic? If so,
> > > how have you dealt with it? Are there questions you use
> > in your
> > > pre-work for the OS to surface the issue and deal with it
> > in advance?
> > > We thought we had handled the need with the pre-meeting
> > among
> > > managers. What signs might have tipped us off to the need
> > for more?
> > >
> > > The second dynamic completely blindsided me. Normally the
> > second
> > > morning of an OS just buzzes! Perhaps it was the party
> > the night
> > > before but the group was really subdued. When I opened the
> > space for
> > > action, no one came forward. Given the energy in the room,
> > I had the
> > > sense that an elephant was sitting there untouched. I
> > asked if anyone
> > > would speak to what was up. Someone said they didn't want
> > to step on
> > > headquarter people's toes by proposing action sessions
> > that were
> > > really HQ responsibilities. The exec in the room
> > encouraged people to
> > > do so, saying that HQ was there to serve the field's
> > needs.
> > > Ultimately, five sessions on topics of importance were
> > posted.
> > >
> > > After the meeting, my client said she thought the
> > reluctance came from
> > > a pattern of headquarters taking field input and having
> > the
> > > suggestions disappear without any feedback on what
> > happened to the
> > > ideas or why. So why should field people offer anything?
> > >
> > > I got the impression that the field saw it as the
> > responsibility of
> > > headquarters people to take the lead. And the HQ people
> > already felt
> > > full up so they weren't stepping in. Plus, people didn't
> > see a need
> > > for action sessions since they felt they’d been
> > identifying actions
> > > throughout the Open Space.
> > >
> > > Question 2: Given that tension between field and
> > headquarters is
> > > common, have others run into this sort of reluctance to
> > post action
> > > sessions? Might we have anticipated this perception before
> > it put a
> > > damper on things?
> > >
> > > It was one of the only Open Space gatherings I've ever
> > done in which
> > > people didn't come away saying, "Wow! Best meeting I've
> > ever
> > > attended." Instead, we heard from many that the meeting
> > was too open
> > > and confusing. People wanted to hear more from the senior
> > managers
> > > about what was on their minds. I left the experience
> > pondering the
> > > dynamics that led to that outcome. The contrast with this
> > second
> > > meeting helped me identify some possibilities.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > High times in a biotech...
> > >
> > > The work was part of a company-wide change initiative. The
> > senior
> > > manager was its host. He was actively involved. For
> > example, he
> > > opened the meeting by speaking of his aspirations for the
> > department.
> > > He also said a few words at morning announcements and
> > evening news on
> > > each of the two days.
> > >
> > > Like the tech company, this session was basically one
> > function --
> > > human resources -- with a few others invited for spice.
> > Also similar
> > > to the tech meeting, people came from around the world.
> > >
> > > The meeting was a hit! People instantly leaped out to
> > post sessions.
> > > With about 100 participants, more than 50% posted
> > something. I don't
> > > think I've ever had a group that size post in that ratio.
> > The
> > > conversations were rich and useful. Along with the variety
> > of topics,
> > > people worked through issues around organizational levels
> > as well as
> > > field/headquarters dynamics. At least three Open Space
> > meetings
> > > resulted, to be hosted by different attendees over the
> > coming
> > > weeks. In fact, I was invited to help with one of them.
> > >
> > > One other aspect of this session: I ran a workshop before
> > and after
> > > the OS for about a half a dozen internal people to support
> > them in
> > > opening space in the organization. We also met to reflect
> > on the
> > > experience before morning announcements and after evening
> > news during
> > > the Open Space. In other words, they had already adopted
> > Open Space
> > > as a key element of how they wanted to work. The
> > organization is
> > > investing in a group of people to support creating a
> > conversational
> > > culture.
> > >
> > > At a second OS I did with them a few weeks later, we
> > brought most of
> > > the new practitioners together to continue to learn
> > together. It's
> > > wonderful because they now have an internal community of
> > practice to
> > > support each other.
> > >
> > > I was grateful to have the biotech meeting on the heels of
> > the
> > > technology meeting! I went from questioning what I thought
> > I knew to
> > > having some ideas of what created the differences in the
> > experiences.
> > >
> > >
> > > Reflections on the differences that made a difference
> > >
> > > The biotech was committed to changing their culture and
> > open to new
> > > ways of working. The OS was focused on the group
> > envisioning how it
> > > can best perform its role in the company in light of those
> > changes.
> > > The tech company meeting was more of a “stealth action” by
> > a mid-level
> > > individual contributor familiar with Open Space. She was
> > seeding the
> > > idea of a conversational culture. In other words, the
> > biotech event
> > > occurred in fertile soil, the tech company event was
> > breaking up the
> > > hardpan.
> > >
> > > At the biotech, the sponsor was a senior manager who was
> > explicit
> > > about using the event to spark culture change. His whole
> > team
> > > participated throughout the event so there was no issue
> > around hearing
> > > what senior people were thinking. They were in the room.
> > In contrast,
> > > the tech company host was a mid-level individual
> > contributor. She is
> > > highly trusted and used her influence to bring Open Space
> > in. Her
> > > goal was to take steps towards creating a more
> > conversational
> > > culture. Both intentions are valid. They just created
> > different
> > > experiences.
> > >
> > > At the biotech, the sponsor had used Open Space at a
> > previous
> > > organization as part of a successful culture change
> > initiative. He
> > > "got" the simplicity of Open Space, not even feeling a
> > need for an
> > > action round. Instead, as part of session notes, we asked
> > people to
> > > include both a discussion and a "next steps/commitments"
> > section. That
> > > dealt with one of the disconnects in the tech company
> > meeting. They
> > > were confused when I re-opened the space for action,
> > saying they had
> > > been naming actions throughout. The biotech meeting helped
> > me see that
> > > re-opening the space for action turned out to be an
> > unnecessary thing
> > > to do.
> > >
> > > The biotech meeting was offsite, so even those who were
> > stretched by
> > > the Open Space stuck around because it was a big effort to
> > leave.
> > > That gave them time to warm to the experience over the two
> > days. The
> > > tech company meeting was onsite, making it easy for the
> > senior
> > > managers and others to show up briefly and leave.
> > >
> > > Finally, the biotech is thriving and growing while the
> > tech company is
> > > really struggling to rediscover its identity. This
> > external factor
> > > strikes me as a key difference in the environments.
> > >
> > > So what does it all mean? I would still Open Space in the
> > tech
> > > company. There were plenty of people who found the
> > experience
> > > worthwhile, even if their feedback was quieter than those
> > who were
> > > frustrated or confused. I believe we prepared the soil for
> > a few seeds
> > > to take root.
> > >
> > > For the tech company to take further steps, it strikes me
> > that the
> > > person who hosted the Open Space would benefit from
> > finding informal
> > > partners, other inside change agents. I like to believe
> > that even
> > > without strong leadership support, she can make a dent.
> > As the
> > > biotech company shows, management involvement can be an
> > accelerator.
> > > Still, as I think about what someone sitting in the
> > middle of an
> > > organization can do, enlisting partners who share interest
> > in creating
> > > a conversational culture could be a way to continue to
> > move forward.
> > > By forming an informal community of learners, she can
> > create a system
> > > of support.
> > >
> > > Could we have done better? No doubt. I look forward to
> > any thoughts
> > > you have.
> > >
> > > Appreciatively,
> > >
> > > Peggy
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _________________________________
> > > Peggy Holman
> > > peggy at peggyholman.com
> > >
> > >
> > > 15347 SE 49th Place
> > > Bellevue, WA 98006
> > > 425-746-6274
> > > www.peggyholman.com
> > > www.journalismthatmatters.org
> > >
> > >
> > > Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning
> > Upheaval into
> > > Opportunity
> > >
> > > "An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire
> > and not get
> > > burnt, is to become
> > > the fire".
> > > -- Drew Dellinger
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > CHRIS CORRIGAN
> > Facilitation - Training - Process Design
> > Open Space Technology
> >
> > Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
> > Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/
> >
> > upcoming Art of Hosting retreats:
> > Bowen Island, BC - October 23 - 26th
> > Saskatchewan - September 19 - 22nd
> >
> >
> >
> >
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