[OSList] OST for big changes in company

Daniel Mezick via OSList oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Mon Jun 6 07:55:35 PDT 2016 

Greetings All,

This thread is interesting to me.

When I started paying attention to OST, I noticed that participation in 
the event was “by invitation” and that OST events by definition cannot 
mandate anyone's participation.


For me, that took awhile to grasp. I learned that an essential feature 
of OST is the authentic invitation, one where the “no, thank you” is 
genuinely respected.

Since then, I continue to try to learn more about invitation. And then 
this thread appears.

Karolina says “…some time ago *they decided* to make a major change…” 
and that this change“…most probably a. will make quite some people in 
the company experience negative emotions and b. *is coming quite 
unexpectedly.*”


So it appears that the last chapter of this big-company story is already 
written. Right? The higher-ups are calling the tune.

They are the de facto authors of the new story. The ending is already 
written...

Hmm. As Harrison has previously explained in the Wave Rider book (pg 132...)

“...High Play is the antidote to dogmatic thinking and therefore an 
essential companion to High Learning. It is also fun.

"In [some organizations], play is strictly prohibited, for after all 
there is work to be done, and it is always very serious. Even worse, 
Play, almost by definition, is out of control – which is what makes it 
fun. *Can you imagine anything worse than playing a game where the 
results are always known in advance? Boring!”*


And so I like also what Bhavesh says. Is this heresy? If so, I like it:

"...*Maybe there is more work to be done* in presenting and processing 
the information together to reach a point where *everyone understands 
what is happening* and why, and can raise their questions and concerns, 
and *can be listened to*, etc, and when that phase is over, to then 
explore where we go from here within the given constraints, and then 
having clarified the theme/scope, go into OST?"


A sort of add-on to this idea, is the idea that we can invite the folks 
to "try the contemplated change on, to act as if", or to "suspend 
disbelief," as an experiment. An experiment to be inspected. With 
nothing set in stone- yet. We can issue an invitation to write the new 
story and be a character in the new story. This is one of the essentials 
of agile thinking, the idea that nothing is set in stone, everything is 
to be inspected, and the awkward learning from that is then rolled into 
the next awkward chapter of the (emerging) story.

But that's far too ambiguous. Dangerous too. After all, who knows how it 
might end?




On 6/6/16 2:32 AM, Bhavesh Patel via OSList wrote:
> Hey Karolina,
>
> My reaction to this email was to ask WHY OST?
>
> As an employee I hear about an unexpected change, therefore I have not 
> been consulted, it looks like it will lead to some negative emotions 
> and maybe consequences, and then I am told that I am now free to take 
> responsibility for what I am passionate about... will this lead to 
> "​/the best change experience they can in the moment of communicating 
> the changes and after/"?
>
> Maybe Yes, maybe No, I feel concerned. Maybe there is more work to be 
> done in presenting and processing the information together to reach a 
> point where everyone understands what is happening and why, and can 
> raise their questions and concerns, and can be listened to, etc, and 
> when that phase is over, to then explore where we go from here within 
> the given constraints, and then having clarified the theme/scope, go 
> into OST?
>
> Having said all that, you know the company and the context and OST, so 
> if it feels right for you, then you would be the best judge of that.
>
>
> Smiles Bhav...
>
>
>
>
> On 2 June 2016 at 16:53, Karolina Iwa via OSList 
> <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org 
> <mailto:oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:
>
>     dear group,
>
>     i am seeking advice and stories.
>
>     on monday i have a meeting with the board of a company we've been
>     supporting for the last year in their growth. some time ago they
>     decided to make a major change (cannot get into more details at
>     this point), which most probably a. will make quite some people in
>     the company experience negative emotions and b. is coming quite
>     unexpectedly.
>
>     the board intends at designing
>     ​​
>     the best change experience they can in the moment of communicating
>     the changes and after.
>
>     we intend to open the space after the news has been shared + the
>     reasons behind it & consequences for the company & employees have
>     been communicated, so i am wondering - from your experience:
>
>     - what would be similar stories you took part in / heard of?
>     - what can be helpful / should we pay attention to while preparing
>     the meeting for the board and with the board preparing the whole
>     organisation meeting?
>
>     thanks in advance for sharing.
>
>     karolina.
>
>
>
>     ____________________________________
>     *karolina iwa*
>     social innovation
>     senior facilitator
>     blog <http://www.karolinaiwa.com> I twitter
>     <https://twitter.com/karolinaiwa> I l
>     <http://de.linkedin.com/pub/karolina-iwa/58/9b6/403>inkedin
>     <http://de.linkedin.com/pub/karolina-iwa/58/9b6/403>
>     +49 15774 932193 <tel:%2B49%2015774%20932193>
>     ____________________________________
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Daniel Mezick
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