[OSList] What's authority got to do with Open Space ?

Mon Nov 30 03:26:42 PST 2015

Dear Daniel,

somehow, I dont see what has happened in almost all os gatherings I have 
facilitated: people deciding to act and actually going ahead with it 
after the gathering not being formally authorized.
As this happened regularly I wondered how those self-authorized 
activities fared or got along with formal authorization. Eventually, I 
found out that folks knew full well that formal authorization was needed 
and had figured out ways addressing that need.

I wondered about Beth. Did she and her group simply suggested something 
formal authority should do or was she and others involved in 
implementing the stuff they were interested in?

Invariably, I as facilitator would intervene with some off-handed remark 
about "suggestions" or "recommendations" or what xyz should do pointing 
out that there is nothing wrong with that but ....

cheers
mmp

On 30.11.2015 12:15, Daniel Mezick via OSList wrote:
> Hi Koos,
>
> Thanks for your comment on personal passion. There's this very
> interesting paper on the various authority types (informal, formal,
> personal) which is pretty good, I am including it here if you want to
> check it out.
>
> I hear you when you say "I can initiate that process of authorizing
> myself by taking responsibility for my passion." This is exactly what we
> hope will happen inside company-sponsored OST events.
>
> Within the context of Open Space held in an organization that wants to
> explore an enterprise-wide change, we can expect the following to be
> true, if the event is to work well:
>
> 1. Formally Authorized Leader. A person formally and highly authorized
> by the organization sends an invite with a theme. This "formally
> authorizes" the time and space for the gathering.
>
> 2. Proceedings and Intent to Act- with Inclusion. That same person
> welcomes everyone on event-day, and at the opening, encourages the
> generation of proceedings, and signals that those proceedings will be
> inspected and acted upon, not just by the formally authorized leaders
> (the so-called "higher ups") but also with the new and emerging leaders
> who have identified themselves during the event ("be prepared to be
> surprised.") In other words, the people present are being invited to
> have their say, document it, and expect that these issues are going be
> input into a formally authorized and inclusive process of deciding,
> acting, and improving things.
>
>
> Now, absent these two facts, how "important" is the OST event? How much
> "action" can ensue?
>
> 1. Formally Authorized Leader. No formally authorized leader issuing the
> invite? Or someone /without enough authorization to matter?/ The signal
> is clear: this theme (and this event) is /not important/ to the people
> who make the decisions.
>
> 2. Proceedings and Intent to Act- with Inclusion. Since no one in the
> room has enough formal authority to implement plans suggested in the
> proceedings, we can reasonably expect nothing whatsoever to ensue in
> formal terms after the meeting. This, because people who /could/ do
> something about it (those formally authorized by the organization) "do
> not care."
>
> So- the highly authorized Sponsor (or Host) is essential. Otherwise, in
> authority terms, the OST event and what happens there just doesn't
> matter from an organizational point of view. It cannot have much of an
> impact.
>
> Much ado about nothing?
>
>
>
> Here's that paper I mentioned earlier:
> https://www.it.uu.se/edu/course/homepage/projektDV/ht09/BART_Green_Molenkamp.pdf
>
>
>
> I notice that most people prefer to avoid discussing authority. Since
> our families are the first place where we encounter this concept and
> develop our relationship with it, perhaps it is true that discussing
> authority can be very triggering. Thanks for sticking your neck out and
> I certainly hope to hear back from you and others on this thread.
>
> Daniel
>
> On 11/30/15 12:57 AM, Koos de Heer wrote:
>>
>> Hi Daniel,
>>
>>
>> Thank you for an interesting line of thought. What I am thinking is
>> that there is also the aspect of a person standing up and speaking for
>> a passion that they have (be it in the form of raising a topic or just
>> speaking in a break out session) and in that way claiming authority.
>> In your essay, authority seems to always come from someone else. And
>> of course authority only is there when others believe it to be there.
>> But the initiative to bestow authority on me does not always come from
>> others. I can also initiate that process of authorizing myself by
>> taking responsibility for my passion.
>>
>> Koos
>>
>> *Van:*OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *Namens
>> *Daniel Mezick via OSList
>> *V**erzonden:*maandag 30 november 2015 0:13
>> *Aan:* oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
>> *Onderwerp:* [OSList] What's authority got to do with Open Space ?
>>
>> What's authority got to do with Open Space ? Apparently nothing at
>> all, at least on the surface...
>>
>> Wait. Once we peek under the surface, what do we actually find?
>>
>> This completely heretical essay attempts to answer at least part of
>> that question.
>>
>> The context is the use of Open Space in a large business enterprise,
>> convened with intent to explore the potential for making a very big,
>> very complex enterprise-wide change.
>>
>> {Please note, the word "authority" might trigger feelings of:
>> /soul-sucking bureaucracy/, unfair and /_illegitimate leadership
>> hierarchy_/, and the like. Some "triggered" readers may want to
>> opt-out of continuing at this time...)
>>
>> Authority Distribution in Open Space:
>> http://newtechusa.net/agile/authority-distribution-in-open-space/
>> Open Space is a most interesting format for "gathering,", also known
>> as "meeting."
>>
>> What exactly is going on in Open Space?
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Daniel Mezick
>> Culture Strategist. Author. Keynoter.
>> (203) 915 7248. Bio. <http://www.DanielMezick.com/> Blog.
>> <http://www.NewTechUSA.net/blog/> Twitter.
>> <https://twitter.com/DanielMezick>
>> Book: The Culture Game. <http://theculturegame.com/>
>> Book: The OpenSpace Agility Handbook.
>> <http://www.amazon.com/OpenSpace-Agility-Handbook-Daniel-Mezick/dp/0984875336>
>>
>>
>
> --
> Daniel Mezick
> Culture Strategist. Author. Keynoter.
> (203) 915 7248. Bio. <http://www.DanielMezick.com/> Blog.
> <http://www.NewTechUSA.net/blog/> Twitter.
> <https://twitter.com/DanielMezick>
> Book: The Culture Game. <http://theculturegame.com/>
> Book: The OpenSpace Agility Handbook.
> <http://www.amazon.com/OpenSpace-Agility-Handbook-Daniel-Mezick/dp/0984875336>
>
>
>
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