[OSList] OST / Gaming
Daniel Mezick
dan at newtechusa.net
Wed Oct 23 07:25:06 PDT 2013
Diane,
Your keen insights have directly influenced the Open Agile Adoption
technique.
I have posted this today to the Facebook group
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/openagileadoption/)
....and plan to update the Handbook as well:
<BEGIN>
TRAINING IN PRACTICES. Team training in a method (say, Kanban for
example) sends the message that the org is clearly invested in a
particular practice-set.
This "we already decided" signal is contrary to the spirit of Open Agile
Adoption in general, and Open Space in particular. For this reason,
training in practices is best scheduled AFTER the proceedings-output of
the beginning Open Space event are processed by leadership.
Special thanks for Diane Gibeault, who wrote me by email, and noted the
important nuance, as follows:
"...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."
"...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."
<END>
On 10/22/13 2:25 PM, Diane Gibeault wrote:
> 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
> <mailto: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>
> [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
> <mailto: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.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
> <http://www.acompletelossforwords.com/>
>
> *The Copenhagen Interpretation
> *www.thecopenhageninterpretation.co.uk
> <http://www.thecopenhageninterpretation.co.uk/>
>
>
>
>
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> --
>
> 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
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--
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.
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