[OSList] Open Space classrooms

Thu Jan 30 12:31:57 PST 2014

Barry said, "It worked so well that they didn't invite me back after the 3rd
time because the School Administration was not keen on the turmoil caused by
the students expressions of freedom and demands for change."

Nice Barry! And yes, for anybody who cares, Barry is my son. Nepotism is
always nice J And for anybody who may have questioned the "Trojan Horse"
character of OS, Barry's story should be interesting. 

I think this story sharply focuses the dilemma most of us face when offering
to open space. Specifically: Who is our client? The traditional answer, of
course, is whoever is paying the bill, which is typically the sponsor. In
service to the client, it is understandable that we should try to shape Open
Space to fit their needs and expectations. This will often take the form of
identifying, and staying within, or away from, what some have called the
"Givens." Those things which supposedly can't be changed or even talked
about. But just suppose that those "Givens" are EXACTLY the thing(s) that
must be talked about if the participants are to experience their own power
and potential in order to bring their full force to bear on the resolution
of  whatever difficulties the organization in question may be facing? 

This can get pretty existential, not to say painful should it becomes clear
that the sponsoring organization is only a degree or two away from being a
prison camp - that most of the difficulties they have identified with
morale, creativity, lack of emergent leadership, innovation, etc. are
precisely what one would predict in the circumstances. And of course, one of
the "Givens," spoken or unspoken, is that the prison guards and senior staff
are not to be questioned. Fortunately this sort of situation doesn't happen
all the time, but when it does, what to do?

I don't think there is any easy answer, at least I never found one. You can,
of course, refuse to do the Open Space. But that leaves you in the
uncomfortable position of deserting a bunch of fellow human beings wallowing
in a miserable situation. Fortunately for our peace of mind, most such
organizations will back out of doing an Open Space before you are confronted
with the issue, but not always. Then what?

For whatever it is worth, I have always made it clear to clients/sponsors,
especially in such situations described above, that they are my client up
until the time we actually open Space. From that time on my allegiance is to
the integrity of "The Space" as a place where every person and every issue
is honored, welcomed, and respected. After all that is what I mean by open
space. Of course, The Powers that be can shut the space down. And if that is
their choice, I leave. The Law of Two Feet applies across the board.

I have only had to "walk" once, and I think that is due to the fact that I
made my position very clear before we started. But I do have to say there
were several situations where I came very close. Nervous making and painful
for sure, but Hey - That's why we get paid the big bucks. J

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)

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Barry Owen
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2014 1:39 PM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] Open Space classrooms

Tricia,

I have done exactly this with a local MBA program

It worked so well that they didn't invite me back after the 3rd time because
the School Administration was not keen on the turmoil caused by the students
expressions of freedom and demands for change.

My "Way" was simply to Open Space as if it were a 3 Full Day Event.

This Time/Place Post-it matrix reflected what any 3 day event would have
(Opening - Sessions - Lunch - Sessions - Evening News - Party . . . ending
with Closing)

The opening was normal - No difference than if it were the full 3 days

Each time I did it, the groups of 30ish students posted @ 30 Issues

We had time for 1 session (45 minutes) and had 4 Break-out spaces

Then we had Evening News.

At the end of evening news, I simply made the suggestion that they could
complete the remaining 26 sessions at other times. What happened was
unfathomable to me and the sponsoring Professor . . . The students
self-organized and DID arrange times and places (Coffee Shops) and
"completed" the sessions on the wall in a period of about 3 weeks.

The topic all three times was centered around "Rankings of MBA programs and
how their MBA program could improve their standings"

The School Administrators were always invited but never showed up, and they
had all the power and squashed all efforts by the students to effect change
. . . I think the professor was ultimately forced to describe Open Space
Technology rather than demonstrating.

DO-IT

You'll have a blast.

Best,

b  

On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 1:30 PM, Tricia Chirumbole
<tricia at mojocollaborative.com> wrote:

Hi all!

I am writing to request your advice and experiences with open space in
classrooms - this is for a one time MBA class. 

the upcoming engagement:

I have been invited to hold an Open Space style class for MBA/International
Affairs students in a Global Perspectives class on Feb 24th at George
Washington University (my former MBA program). The standing theme of this
class in the prof's curriculum is, "Putting it all together"

background: 

This invite was born from discussions I have been having with the professor
of the aforementioned class, about the opportunities of introducing some
Open Space and Scrum practices into their MBA program - she is also the
Associate Dean and involved in program development. 

My real interest was to explore opportunities not just for actual classroom
time, but also for other components, such as: The kick-off orientation week
for FT MBAs, Curriculum/program planning, and for executing projects. My pet
titles include: Hacking my MBA, and the Agile Classroom.  

the conundrum: So, this is cool, BUT, I am concerned about the short time
frame (2.5 hours) and the isolated nature of the engagement. 

I would very much like anyone's direct experience or insight on holding
classes OS style or holding similarly short, one-off Open Space engagements.
I know they are done, I can envision how I would do it, but I still feel
concerned that I may have jumped on low hanging fruit that may not be the
best format for sharing these practices. 

For me, I can definitely see open space style classes and "agile" classrooms
w/out multi-day OS summits, but I see them flourishing more as part of an
ecosystem of principles and cultures being practiced, rather than as a
one-off classroom brouhaha!

All thoughts welcome - thank you in advance! :)))))

Tricia Chirumbole

Open Space Facilitator, Certified Scrum Master

Mojo Collaborative

www.mojocollaborative.com

571-232-0942

skype: tricia.chirumbole

twitter: @themojozone

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