use of Open Space in Public Utilities

[Judy Gast]

Harrison, I thank you for your words and suggestions. And I am motivated to
do as you say.. from what I have heard from the engineer client group, they
are È out of options and  have nothing left to loseè 
  and I am certainly
in a situation where numerous people, in my humble perception, would rather
fail badly than try something new and different- particularly something that
challenged their perceived ability to control
.  But that said, given the
engineers that I have engaged, I know they see the value
.and, hopefully,
with or without established Ècase studiesÈ and examples of similar utlitiies
in similar situations, will help me show the value to the power houses who
make the decisions for the utilitiy I work for.
thanks,
Judy

 

From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Harrison
Owen
Sent: March-17-11 11:02 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] use of Open Space in Public Utilities

 

Judy – Welcome back! And have fun!! But when it comes to cases, I would hope
that you get some, and I am sure they will be interesting. That said, I have
never found case all that helpful as a way of introduction. People look
interested, nod their heads – and then say something like, “Sounds
wonderful, but it can’t happen here (for all the usual reasons.) You can
give them all the cases they want, but the refrain is usually the same.
However there is a way in – which you know very well. Do it! Find a target
of opportunity and go for it. That needn’t be large. Somewhere in that
environment you find yourself in there will be dozens of situations where
you have a real screaming issue, lots of complexity, diversity,
passion/conflict – and a need for resolution yesterday. When you see
something like that, wait until the folks are desperate and out of options.
At that point get next to them and whisper in their ear – “if you are out of
options you might want to try
 After all you have nothing left to lose!”An
amazing number of folks would rather fail badly than try something new and
different – particularly something that challenged their perceived ability
to CONTROL. So don’t count on 100% acceptance – but the likelihood is that
somebody will take the bait. And when they do, you have your “case” – right
there in little old downtown Corporate. And all the usual excuses don’t work
anymore. To be sure people can choose to go back and be miserable. They can
choose to fail with abandon. But they will always know there is an
alternative.

 

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 Judy Gast
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2011 11:11 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: use of Open Space in Public Utilities

 

Hello all,

I was introduced to Open Space back in 1996 in a small monastery in Guelph,
Ontario.  It was a seminal experience that changed  my understanding of ‘how
things work’.  

 

Many years later, I now find myself (recently joined a large utility)
wanting to introduce/use Open Space to help a group of internal clients, who
are responsible for improving the grid reliability (aka ‘keeping the lights
on’) for this utility.   From my limited tenure (two months), the culture is
deeply embedded in command and control, and very siloed (I liken it to a
highly authoritarian parenting model.) 

 

I searched the archives for examples that I could present
 of similar
organizations with similar needs
 and didn’t come up with anything.  Can
anyone point me to an article/case study of an OS event that I can use to
help promote the concept to my client.

 

Thanks,

Judy Gast

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