[OSList] The OST Game (was: Genuinely open Agile adoptions)

[Daniel Mezick]

Hi Harold,

In THE CULTURE GAME book I make the radical/heretical claim that culture 
is a game...and every meeting...a game.... and in fact every 
interaction... is a game.

In the book there are examples that support the idea that all meetings 
are games.

According to this theory, if OST is a type of meeting, then OST is a 
type of game.
Games have: Goal, Rules, Feedback mechanisms, Opt-in Participation.

The OST Game:

The Goal:
Explore the Theme-Question.

The Rules:
1 Law, 4/5 Principles, some defined Roles, a few other suggestions. A 
supporting slogan...

The Feedback Mechanics:
Continuous, rich feedback via all of the senses, in real time for each 
individual and group-as-a-whole.

Opt-In Participation:
YES

By these measures, OST is a beautifully designed meeting-game.


Here is a specific quote from your message, below:

"But I'd never heard anyone describe Open Space Technology as a 
beautifully designed game before."

The reality is that Harrison mentions the word [game] when discussing 
High Play & High Learning as it pertains to self-organizing social 
systems... it shows up in the book Wave Rider. OST encourages a social 
system to reach higher levels of self-organization...Hmmm.

Here is the quote (emphasis added...):

"...High play is the antidote to dogmatic thinking & therefore an 
essential companion to High Learning. It is also fun. In 'X" Company,  
PLAY is strictly prohibited, for after all there is work to be done and 
it is always very serious. Even worse, PLAY, almost by definition, is 
out of control- which is what makes if fun. Can you imagine anything 
worse than PLAYING A GAME where the results are already known in 
advance? Boring! "
-H.O., Wave Rider, page 132


On 9/4/13 6:23 PM, Harold Shinsato wrote:
> Dan,
>
> Thank you for forwarding that interview. I've worked with your 
> interviewer Amr Elssamadisy before in Dr. Christopher Avery's 
> "Leadership Gift" program. Great to hear his voice. Thought he did a 
> great job bringing forward your insights.
>
> It's hard for me to express how deeply your thinking aligned with what 
> I see as the essence of Open Space, and what I feel emerging in my own 
> psyche and that in the collective when we spoke and I got to be 
> present at your session in Nashville at Agile 2013 last month. I 
> continue to find your material to be a critical piece in helping 
> bridge the Open Space and Agile communities - something Peggy Holman 
> called "Sister Communities" at the World Open Space on Open Space in 
> St. Petersburg back in May.
>
> I'd heard your thinking before and it continues to astound me the 
> relevance and power in getting these two communities to work together.
>
> Open Space truly is the "secret sauce" making possible successful 
> Agile adoptions. The science behind this awareness goes deep. The 
> timing of it feels like perfection. You seem to be getting just the 
> right audiences to engage with this idea. And what you posted earlier 
> in terms of a framework for adoption involving interspersed Open Space 
> events to help promote agency and engagement - very exciting. Very 
> simple. Truly elegant. And phrased in a way the holders of the bottom 
> line can "get it".
>
> What's new about your stuff?
>
> Perhaps it's been mentioned before - but here are some points I find 
> most critical.
>
> 1) The Mandate. Perhaps Open Space Technology came out of 
> Organizational Development (and Organizational Transformation). But 
> most attempts to transform the organization that I've seen have been 
> "rolled out". Kind of like a steam roller. It's definitely mandated. 
> You went into great depth in your Agile 2013 presentation how Mandated 
> Agile goes fundamentally against the values and principles in the 
> Agile Manifesto. Open Space can help us bring back the original 
> thinking of the signatories of the Agile Manifesto.
>
> 2) Games and engagement. Jane McGonigal's book "Reality Is Broken", 
> and the whole arena of Gamification, has become a focal point of 
> driving home ideas from positive psychology, and is also driving many 
> huge wheels of industry (and dollars). Because getting people excited 
> about using your products is important. Getting employees excited 
> about contributing to your products - also critical. But I'd never 
> heard anyone describe Open Space Technology as a beautifully designed 
> game before. This perception I think plays directly with the TOOL 
> versus PHILOSOPHY debate in our community.
>
> 3) Agency. This might have been a significant idea as well in Paolo 
> Friere's book - "The Pedagogy of the Oppressed". Without people 
> feeling like they have some say in how they apply their blood, sweat, 
> and tears - engagement is not going to happen. Open Space is a 
> critical way to nurture agency in people.
>
> I'm so thankful that you've started posting on the OSList and I look 
> forward to how things unfold. From what I see you saying, and how I 
> see people are hearing you, it seems as if we're on target for a much 
> more explicit chapter in the relationship between the Agile and Open 
> Space "sister communities".
>
>     Thanks!
>     Harold
>
>
> On 9/4/13 2:37 PM, Daniel Mezick wrote:
>> Here's a 16-minute video that explains the crisis of disengagement in 
>> Agile adoptions, and how the time to act was yesterday, and how Open 
>> Space can help...
>> http://www.infoq.com/interviews/dan-mezick-qcon-new-york-2013
>>
>> -- 
>>
>> Daniel Mezick, President
>>
>> New Technology Solutions Inc.
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Harold Shinsato
>> harold at shinsato.com <mailto:harold at shinsato.com>
>> http://shinsato.com
>> twitter: @hajush <http://twitter.com/hajush>

-- 

Daniel Mezick, President

New Technology Solutions Inc.

(203) 915 7248 (cell)

Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog 
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter <http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.

Examine my new book:The Culture Game 
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the 
Agile Manager.

Explore Agile Team Training 
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and Coaching. 
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>

Explore the Agile Boston <http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/>Community.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20131006/0bb587e5/attachment-0007.htm>