[OSList] Open Space with Agile: Failure patterns

Arno Baltin arno at tlu.ee
Fri Sep 27 01:57:36 PDT 2013


Hi!

I like this conversation about what OS is. And this practice notion is a
bit complicated. I as non Enlgish speaker I looked for the meanings of the
word and got confused. Could you Michael say it in other words what you
mean that OS is practice (first of all). Especially when I read "do the
practice" I cant understand the meaning.

Be well,

Arno


*    *


2013/9/25 Michael Herman <michael at michaelherman.com>

> When I hear folks simplifying open space into a tool or technique, my
> usual response is to point out that circle is a tool, bulletin board is a
> tool, etc.  Open Space is a *practice*, incorporating a number of these
> different tools.  And hopefully, my use of them together is getting more
> and more skillful over time.  To me, "practice" includes the suggestion
> that we do it once, as best we can, and then we try again, and again,
> learning and refining as we go.
>
> My felt sense of this is a little different from "values and principles"
> though I don't think calling OS or agile or scrum that is incorrect.  For
> me the difference is that I hold values and principles, but practice is
> something that *holds me*.
>
> I also like to suggest that open space is a robust practice, a sufficient
> practice.  Everything that's needed is there in the basic story and
> mechanisms.  We don't need to do anything more, add in different things.
>  Just do the practice and we get the experience, get the learning, the
> performance, the self-organizing, the breathing.
>
> Thanks for your story, Harold.
>
> M
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Michael Herman
> Michael Herman Associates
> 312-280-7838 (mobile)
>
> http://MichaelHerman.com
> http://OpenSpaceWorld.org
>
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 12:58 PM, Peggy Holman <peggy at peggyholman.com>wrote:
>
>> Harold,
>>
>> Thanks for bringing your knowledgable and eloquent perspective.
>>
>> Great to see these two communities working through an understanding of
>> each other.  With you and others as translators, I think Agile is in good
>> hands.
>>
>> Peggy
>>
>>
>>
>>     __________________________________
>> Peggy Holman
>> Journalism that Matters
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>> Bellevue, WA  98006
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>> www.peggyholman.com
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>> JTM Twitter: @JTMStream
>>
>> *Enjoy the award winning* Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into
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>> Check out my series on what's emerging in the news & information ecosystem<http://www.journalismthatmatters.net/the_emerging_news_and_information_eco_system>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sep 23, 2013, at 7:53 AM, Harold Shinsato <harold at SHINSATO.COM> wrote:
>>
>>  Harrison,
>>
>> About your statement "Open Space is a terrible way to introduce some new
>> process, and especially to assure 'buy in'".
>>
>> You're clearing going directly against the heart of what Dan is trying to
>> promote. Maybe I invite disaster for myself by speaking an alternative view
>> from what you are saying given your founding status of this community - but
>> perhaps given my 12+ years working in the Agile space - I have something
>> worthwhile to say.
>>
>> Harrison, you've been opposed to calling "Open Space" a tool. And I hear
>> Lisa Heft (the best Open Space trainer) talking about it being a tool all
>> the time.
>>
>> I agree with both of you. Open Space is most emphatically *not* a tool at
>> it's heart. It's a set of values and principles. But it is also definitely
>> a tool. Or as Dan says, a 'game'. A beautifully designed game.
>>
>> Agile is most DEFINITELY not a process. It's a set of values and
>> principles. You can see this in the Agile Manifesto<http://agilemanifesto.org/>- especially the first item, we value Individuals and Interactions *over*
>> Processes and Tools. Yes, the Agile community applies many very specific
>> tools and processes. And very heated debates happen around the application
>> (or misapplication) of those tools and processes, such as Scrum.
>>
>> But oddly - even Scrum isn't *Really* a tool or a process. At the heart
>> of Scrum is also a set of principles and values. If you want to get a sense
>> of this - go to the end of the first book on Scrum, by Schwaber & Beedle
>> "Agile Software Development with Scrum" - where it lists the 5 values of
>> Scrum - Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect & Courage. Or read Tobias
>> Meyer's "The People's Scrum". Very powerful assertion and meditation on the
>> core values and how to apply the processes to get
>>
>> Open Space has already been used with great success to introduce, promote
>> and sustain Agile in the world through many uses of Open Space in
>> conferences such as the AgileOpen, Coaching Camps, and Open Agile Adoption
>> such as what Dan Mezick is explaining. From my vantage point, Open Space is
>> critical for helping the values and principles to be successfully absorbed.
>>
>> From my vantage point - Open Space Technology's values and principles are
>> eternal and aren't going away. The Universe won't suddenly stop
>> self-organizing. If anything, we'll only get better at understanding and
>> dancing with Order and Chaos. This dance, with the help of Open Space
>> Technology the Game (or Tool) has changed my life and infused it with
>> spirit. I'm eternally grateful to you, Harrison, to Lisa Heft, and to and
>> this community. And maybe Open Space Technology the game or tool will pass
>> away. The same goes for Agile values and principles. They're eternal.
>> They're not going away. The Process will never be more important than the
>> Individuals. The People are always more important than the Game.
>>
>> BUT - there are powerful forces behind trying to adopt agile as merely a
>> tool or a process, because it's easier to understand. And that invites
>> failure - and it's the exact kind of failure you're writing about,
>> Harrison, about how our creations are "inevitably clunky." To succeed, any
>> implementation of Agile or Scrum needs to be able to self-organize -
>> "Inspect and Adapt" is one of the anthems of the agile and scrum
>> communities. I hope that the Open Space community will step up and help the
>> Agile community to do that.
>>
>>     Thanks,
>>     Harold
>>
>>
>> On 9/22/13 10:45 AM, Harrison Owen wrote:
>>
>> Dan wrote: “I've learned that there are actually more ways to fail with
>> Open Space in Agile adoptions than there are ways to succeed. There are
>> many ways to stumble when trying this.”****
>>
>>
>>
>> Actually, Dan – I am not at all surprised. I learned a long time ago that
>> Open Space is a terrible way to introduce some new process, and especially
>> to assure “buy in.” Typically, problems arise because folks take Open Space
>> seriously. Instead of buying into the proposed process, they begin to
>> invent their own! Somewhere I wrote that OS was a great way to design a new
>> accounting system, but a horrible way to “implement” it.****
>>
>>
>>
>> And just to be contrarian... I wonder whether the failure is a function
>> of Open Space or Agile (and/or the SCRUM flavor of Agile)? As I think we
>> have come to understand, Open Space is a total scam if people mistake it
>> for some process we invented or “do.” It is simply an invitation to be what
>> we always have been – self organizing. The process itself (SO) has been
>> around for some time, and apparently has done quite well, witness the fact
>> that we, along with all the rest of the Cosmos are here and seemingly
>> functional. In a “face off” between a well functioning self-organizing
>> system and any process we might have designed to create the system, install
>> the system, or enhance the system – the designed process doesn’t have a
>> chance. The reason is simple. No matter how wise, careful, diligent or
>> skillful we may be – our creation is inevitably clunky. We may get the big
>> blocks right, even some of the finer points, but at the end of the day we
>> always miss the nuances – and as always, the devil is in the details. Put
>> somewhat differently, our designed processes are always “averages” of what
>> we think the process should look like. And “averages” do not exist anywhere
>> in nature. To push an “average” on a natural system is always to make it
>> function at some sub-optimal level, and usually to kill it.****
>>
>>
>>
>> So maybe the order of precedence should go the other way? Use Agile to
>> introduce Open Space, and then abolish Agile. Or, if you like ...
>> Self-Organization is the natural agility. It doesn’t get any better than
>> that. Or something****
>>
>>
>>
>> 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
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>>
>>
>> *From:* oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [
>> mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org<oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>]
>> *On Behalf Of *Daniel Mezick
>> *Sent:* Thursday, September 19, 2013 11:26 AM
>> *To:* oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
>> *Subject:* [OSList] Open Space with Agile: Failure patterns****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Greetings to you,
>>
>> In Paris this week at the Global Scrum Gathering I plan to issue certain
>> warning about specific failure patterns I have experienced when working
>> with Open Space inside Agile adoptions. I can tell you right now that Open
>> Space by itself is not a panacea for the complex problems associated with
>> Agile adoption.
>>
>> Agile is actually a cover story about the wider act of bringing culture
>> change (a new and unfamiliar game) to an enterprise situation (the old
>> story we all want to cling to). The SPIRIT book pretty much spells out the
>> problem.
>>
>> I've learned that there are actually more ways to fail with Open Space in
>> Agile adoptions than there are ways to succeed. There are many ways to
>> stumble when trying this. I'll be enumerating some of these subtle
>> Agile-related pitfalls and traps in the Paris keynote on Tuesday, and in
>> upcoming blog posts. Simply holding one or more canonical Open Space
>> meetings (with full pre-planning and post processing) is not enough to
>> neutralize the forces that oppose healthy and well Agile adoptions. The
>> game mechanics, storytelling and passage-rite-structure elements must be
>> present and robust for Open Space to be an effective tool in Agile
>> adoptions. Open Space and these elements are composed in harmony with each
>> other in the Open Agile Adoption technique.
>>
>> If you offer training in Open Space for Facilitators and/or Sponsors, I
>> invite you to send me your links and I will make sure they are added to the
>> list of resources I am beginning to compile at OpenAgileAdoption.com. I
>> plan to list in the Paris slides some specific French-language OST course
>> offerings from French-speaking instructors located in Europe, and Quebec.
>>
>> Kind Regards,
>> Dan****
>>
>> --
>>
>> ****
>>
>> 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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>>
>>
>> --
>> Harold Shinsato
>> harold at shinsato.com
>> http://shinsato.com
>> twitter: @hajush <http://twitter.com/hajush>
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