[OSList] Is it true that Open Space does not really work when there are many internal conflict?

[Blundell, Keith]

Thank you Lisa for your comments.

I agree - my experience of working in Industry is that we adopt a "tick the box" attitude.  We need to get people to change their behaviour, so we roll out some initiative, then in my view tick the box and move on.  I am constantly asking what we are going to put in place in 2, 6, 12 months' time to re-enforce any initial intervention.

Best Wishes for Christmas and New Year,

Keith.


Dr K Blundell

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Lisa Heft
Sent: 19 December 2012 5:42 AM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] Is it true that Open Space does not really work when there are many internal conflict?

Hi, Kári -

My experience is it is not the method / process that is the issue, it is that any process / one meeting does not shift behavior.
A single 'intervention' does not change behavior.
So often a meeting or retreat (Open Space or otherwise) is thought to be the thing that solves conflict, when actually it is a whole series of actions and relationships.
The higher the conflict, the more the relationships may have to be formed and fostered before there is any event such as a meeting.

Passion fuels Open Space. But if an Open Space or any other approach is just dropped in as the thing that is thought to resolve internal conflicts just like that - without looking at the whole ecology of communication, history, context, resources, differences, internal and external reasons for issues that feel like conflict, communication styles, what happens before and after the event, how the event fits into the ongoing work of the community or organization, and so on.... then it may not yet be time to have the event - before other work is done. Sometimes it is as simple as helping an organization look at who does what tasks and re-arranging each role's tasks. Or doing an assessment of what is reasonable pay. Or giving the organization some sample structure for how to hold supervisor-staff individual meetings or quarterly evaluation.

So it is not the Open Space that does or does not work - at least in my experience - Open Space is great when there is passion, of course. It is the need to look at the whole picture and do assessment and analysis to see what is useful, when, why and at the end of that analysis, how.

I look forward to hearing others' input for Kári,

Lisa


On Dec 18, 2012, at 5:17 PM, Kári Gunnarsson wrote:


Is Open Space not working when there are many internal conflicts?

This is stated in one of the reports from the Wosonos2012 "The limits
of Open Space"

I believed that the passion fueling the conflict was the stuff that
fuels the Open Space activities and without this fuel nothing real
will happen for nobody will care sufficiently to have an opinion or
take up a conflict.

I am not able image the case where the many internal conflicts will
inhibit the Open Space if the preconditions are fulfilled, perhaps
someone could enlighten me about such a case.

Is there a different approach that is better for such condition, will
nothing work or will Open Space work?

with love from Iceland and with a hope for an answer
Kári.

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