[OSList] OST / Gaming

Tue Oct 22 11:25:27 PDT 2013

Dan, you confirm that for Agile, the suggested practices (Scrum etc) are up for
discussion during the OST, that invitation should be the way of doing business at every level,
including the implementation stage.

In that case, there are real advantages for Open Agile Adoption (OAA) to
refer to these implementing practices in a more generic way. 

On the Agile web site, information on the implementation phase seems to be
presented in a more prescriptive fashion, with specific structured methods
listed. If that’s not the case, I may have read it too fast or it’s a
presentation issue. Both can be easily fixed.

Naming one or even a few structured existing tools gives the impression
there is a limited number of options and that there is no room for participants
to come up with or create their own ways to get a job done. 
This can feel more like control and mandate, an opposite mindset to the “invitation”
approach you favor Dan for Agile, an approach that is congruent with the spirit
of OST which encourages invitation as a way of working and of managing on an
on-going basis, so that organizations can be more agile.

Sharing tool ideas before and during the OST meeting is not precluded
but how it’s presented can make quite a difference on how it’s perceived by
participants, i.e., how open and real the invitation is.

Before an OS meeting, there is true benefit in reflecting on
implementation with organizers but they should not become attached to tools or
outcome. They must understand that the real discussion on implementation should
take place during the meeting with all participants, and after with the
emergent leadership. 

The IT industry tells us that a very large number of IT projects fail
because they don’t allow people to discuss and co-create the implementation;
they have no sense of ownership. 

Letting the implementation systems emerge, allowing voices to be really heard,
if not making a true choice of a way to implement whether it’s a system or tool
or not, all of this can create that sense of ownership. 

Dan you said earlier (Sept 30 OS List) ‘I believe that people in the
Agile/IT world (and people in general) tend to "medicate" their
pains/worries/etc with processes. tools. frameworks. certifications. etc.’ 
Leaving the implementation processes open as you said today, is likely
to help reduce that medication mentality.

Diane

 Diane Gibeault & Associe.es-Associates 
  Tel 613-744-2638, diane.gibeault at rogers.com

>________________________________
> From: Dan Mezick <dan at newtechusa.net>
>To: World wide Open Space Technology email list <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> 
>Cc: World wide Open Space Technology email list <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> 
>Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 11:21:31 AM
>Subject: Re: [OSList] OST / Gaming
> 
>
>
>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.
>
>Bingo...thats the whole point. Whatever the suggested (formerly MANDATED) practices are, Scrum or whatever...are now up for discussion. This is the *entire* reason to use the OAA approach. Further, this is not manipulation, or its 1st cousin, persuasion. This is invitation in the truest sense if the word. If OAA is used for persuasion, this is a 100% corruption of the actual intent and purpose. OAA does not seek to persuade.
>
>
>As for spirit...give it time. Things may ripen presently, or not. I'm watching for signs of an up-trend.
>
>
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
>On Oct 22, 2013, at 10:59 AM, "Harrison Owen" <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>
>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
>7808 River Falls Dr.
>Potomac, MD 20854
>USA
> 
>189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)
>Camden, Maine 04843
> 
>Phone 301-365-2093
>(summer)  207-763-3261
> 
>www.openspaceworld.com 
>www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
>To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST Go to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
> 
>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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> 
>-- 
>
>
>Daniel Mezick, President
>New Technology Solutions Inc.
>(203) 915 7248 (cell)
>Bio. Blog. Twitter. 
>Examine my new book:  The Culture Game : Tools for the Agile Manager.
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