[OSList] OST / Gaming

Tue Oct 22 07:59:56 PDT 2013

Dan - I guess it is time for me to come clean and reveal all my ulterior
motives. Frankly, I could care less if you and others use OS by way of an
introduction to Agile/Scrum. I have some reservations that, to the extent
that SCRUM is a prescribed process (whether entered voluntarily or not), OST
may not be quite what you want. My experience has been that when a group is
introduced to a definite process and OST is part of the equation, the net
result is often that the process itself is treated like anything else in OST
- up for discussion. That said, it surely can't hurt and is probably much
better than whatever alternatives. As an old Swedish friend of mine put it,
"OST is the WD-40 of group work. One shot will loosen up just about
anything."

But all that is just the tip of the iceberg. I think the discussion will
really get interesting and fruitful when we begin to take  hard look at what
I might call the "Agility Function" of OST. How does it work and why? How
can we amplify the effect? I suggested that agility is a natural act. True?
If so, could it become an everyday natural act?

On your "favorite question" - OST as a Spiritual practice... I did write a
paper some years ago for a book that never happened titled, "Open Space and
Spirit shows up." http://openspaceworld.com/spirt_shows.htm I confess that I
share Linda Stevenson's unease with talking about OS and Spirituality. But
then again...

Harrison

Harrison Owen

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Phone 301-365-2093

(summer)  207-763-3261

www.openspaceworld.com 

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Daniel Mezick
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 9:41 AM
To: oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Subject: Re: [OSList] OST / Gaming

Jenifer,

Yes, and if you feel claustrophobic *reading* about Agile, let's imagine how
claustrophobic the people inside these 'agile' organizations feel...

...when they are told by an entirely well-meaning authority,

     that they must "do" something, and even "be" something...entirely
unfamilar...without their explicit consent.

Is this or is this not the definition of a closed space? 

And finally, my favorite question: Is OST actually a group-spiritual
practice?

Dan

http://newtechusa.net/agile/spirit/
We all want rapid and lasting Agile adoptions. The Open Agile Adoption
technique (OAA) can help. The OAA technique is drawing deeply from the book
SPIRIT by Harrison Owen. It's an amazing and even essential book for any
person who is serious about achieving a rapid and lasting Agile adoption. In
a very real sense the book SPIRIT by Harrison Owen, first published in 1986,
is the first (and perhaps the only) book written on how to achieve a rapid
and lasting Agile adoption. 

"...I have written this book for friends and colleagues, known and unknown,
who find themselves in the midst of a transforming world, and are resolved
to look beneath the surface to the underlying source of change. This source,
which has become manifest in the form and structure of our organizations, I
call Spirit." - Harrison Owen, Prologue, SPIRIT: Development and
Transformation in Organizations. (Circa 1986)

www.OpenAgileAdoption.com
http://www.infoq.com/articles/open-agile-adoption-1
http://www.infoq.com/articles/open-agile-adoption-2

On 10/22/13 8:14 AM, Jenifer Toksvig wrote:

Harrison, you said:

>> ...  our conversation always seems to have (must have?) some frame of
reference with certain metaphors and images. [...] It is not so much about
right or wrong but rather capacity to communicate. <<

It's all about Story, yes, absolutely. I was just saying to Dan in an email
that I had never heard of Agile until this conversation, so I went to read
all about it... and then had to stop reading about it because, as a story,
it makes me feel claustrophobic. Especially as a story that is being linked
to OST.

OST is my guide in so many ways. It's my comparison story: the thing against
which I find myself measuring life stuff.

- because it's not a story. Oddly, I think I made that strong connection
with OST because it seems to me that it is just how things are, rather than
how anyone might want to say things are. Which is not that odd at all,
actually, now I come to think about it.

Although I am not in any way religious, perhaps those who are feel the same
way: that their belief system is not a story, but the core truth of the
world. It seems strange to me that they wouldn't challenge it to make sure
it isn't a story in disguise, though. I challenge OST every day.

In fact, maybe that's what I mean by 'comparison'. I don't measure life
against it, so much as measure it against life, and I am continuously
delighted to find that it is simply a description of how life happens,
nothing more and nothing less.

How wonderful, how refreshing to find a true *description* in a world full
of takes and truths.

When I write stories, I think the characters already exist in the place of
potential, and all they do is choose me to be their conduit onto the page;
I'm the right conduit for a specific few. I am not at all surprised that OST
chose you. Thank you for being open to being chosen, and for staying open
when you recognised it for what it was.

Jen x

Jenifer Toksvig
www.acompletelossforwords.com

The Copenhagen Interpretation
www.thecopenhageninterpretation.co.uk

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