[OSList] OpenSpace Agility: How Agile can be successful. First Workshop in Germany, June from 13th to 15th

Doug Marteinson via OSList oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Mon Mar 7 19:14:42 PST 2016


Hello Birgitt,

Thanks for opening the door to this dialogue.

In the olden days, when I was formally learning Open Space Technology from you and Chris Corrigan, you planted a seed (for me) about Open Space Organization. Your personal story of hands-on leadership experience using OST in organizational transformation impacted me. I drank the koolaid.

I am fairly new to Agile; my experience is much deeper in private sector utilization of OST for high performance.  My attraction to Agile methods has to do with my perception of complementariness with Open Space Technology.

It seems that true Agile practices enable people to choose with their feet what action to make happen. There seems to be alignment of principles with OST, and both invite people to bring their passion and responsibility to the table.

Another aspect of the complementariness in my view is that OST is a great fit for the big-picture strategic action focus, while Agile methods may provide best fit for the tactical execution of that strategic action.

In the end, as has been alluded to already, it is all about leadership.  OpenSpace Agility, like Open Space Technology, requires extraordinary leadership in order for its utilization in organizations to have staying power beyond the inevitable leadership changes that happen.

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Doug Marteinson
+1-403-284-5144

> On Mar 7, 2016, at 8:19 AM, Birgitt Williams via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
> 
> Dear Rolf, Mark and Leslie,
> Thank you for showing up and participating in my invitation to explore, converse, and be curious. I options for humanity to choose a more life nurturing way to accomplish productivity and results.
>  
> My own experimentation even before I learned OST in 1992, was my quest to understand what it what we had already been working on, OST became the turning point we needed.
>  
> We were among the first, if not the first, to take the original 2 ½ day OST meeting and experiment in the months that follow the OST meeting.
>  
> I have learned over time the critical role of the leaders…they open the space in their organizations for sustain leading a flexible, agile, and emergent organization.
>  
> And some years ago, after many years of working with WPPF and OST meetings in tandem with each or other organization.
>  
> It is my belief that what you are attempting to do with OpenSpace Agility has some parallels to what we were working on over time in our own rich learning and experience journey.
>  
> Kind regards,
> Birgitt
>  
> Birgitt Williams
>  
> President & Senior Consultant of Dalar International Consultancy, Inc.
> http://www.dalarinternational.com
> Co-founder of the Extraordinary Leadership Network http://www.extraordinaryleadershipnetwork.com
> Co-founder of the Genuine Contact™program and author of The Genuine Contact Way: Nourishing a Culture of Leadershiphttp://www.genuinecontactway.com                  
> Co-owner of the Genuine Contact Co-owners Group Ltd. http://www.genuinecontact.net
>  
> Supporting leadership development for leading in a culture requiring agility and flexibility in a performance environment of constant change.
>  
> Leadership development at your own pace? Become a member of the Extraordinary Leadership Network http://www.extraordinaryleadershipnetwork.com to participate in an online leadership development program designed to increase your leadership skills and capacity.
>  
> PO Box 19373, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA 27619
> phone: 1-919-522-7750
>    
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
> From: Rolf Schneidereit [mailto:schneidereit at gut-moderiert.de] 
> Sent: Monday, March 07, 2016 4:24 AM
> To: Mark Sheffield; World wide Open Space Technology email list
> Cc: Birgitt Williams
> Subject: Re: [OSList] OpenSpace Agility: How Agile can be successful. First Workshop in Germany, June from 13th to 15th
>  
> Hi Birgitt,
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for your invitation to an exploration of the OpenSpace Agility concept.
> 
>  
> 
> In the very first moment I was a little bit scared about your disagreement and your definition of this as holistic and that as reductionist.
> 
> Perhaps it is because that in my experience Open Space and World Cafe are not "holistic“ per se. It seems to me that it result in a more holistic or in a more reductionist frame. 
> 
>  
> 
> Similar seems to me with agile. How agile practices unfold depend on the mindset and the commitment. I’m wonderinghttp://openspaceagility.com/big-picture/agile-manifesto/) as the deepest root of agile, I can’t see this perspective in it. I agree with how Harrison Owen put it: "...being Agile“ is simply being fully, consciously, intentionally self organizing”
> 
>  
> 
> Where do I see the limitations? In OST: So far I have experienced it as not a framework to organize the daily and weekly work of small teams (sub-systems). But we have to get the work done (fo
> 
> Limitations of agile: It’s not a container for the whole system. And normally it’s enacted not by the people who have to work in the new agile way, and this is what causes a lot of resistance.
> 
>  
> 
> The promise of OpenSpace Agility is to allow all members/teams of the system to find a way to self-organize their own people who have to do the work.
> 
>  
> 
> I agree, we’re in our infancy and what do we really know? We have to know that we’re not knowing. To keep open for reductionist frames.
> 
>  
> 
> Warm regards
> 
> Rolf
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Am 06.03.2016/ Kw09 um 20:37 schrieb Mark Sheffield via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>:
>  
> Birgitt -
>  
> Thank you for your curiosity about combining Open Space with Agility. I offer my perspective as a co-author of the OpenSpace Agility Handbook.
>  
> One way of combining Open Space and Agility is to hold an Open Space event whose theme is about Agile principles and understanding from participating in this kind of event.  
>  
> Another way is to preface a period of experimentation with an Open Space event and then follow the experimentation next. This is the Prime/OS approach, which OpenSpace Agility applies to an Agile transformation or journey. 
>  
> Open Space bookends around a period of experimentation serve to enhance the learning rather than create dissonance - because of the power of Open Space, which I do not fully understand. 
>  
> Open Space and Agile are about self-organization. Unfortunately many organizations force Agile practices. Attempting to force self-organization makes little sense and seldom works. 
>  
> OpenSpace Agility uses Open Space to empower the members of the organization to self-organize around preferably by becoming active participants. 
>  
> 
> Sincerely,
>  
> 
> Mark Sheffield
> 
> On Mar 5, 2016, at 8:54 AM, Birgitt Williams via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
> 
>> Hi Thomas…and colleagues who are following this thread,
>> I hope you are open to having an exploration on this list about your concept of OpenSpace Agility each from our personal reflections and contemplations as social scientists.
>>  
>> I see that you say that you assume we know the power of Open Space, World Café and other am curious about what you believe the power is.
>>  
>> I see that you say that you assume we know the limitations of these methods in the daily work of an what you believe the limitations are.
>>  
>> I have experienced methods such as Open Space, World Café etc to be rooted in a holistic capacity of leadership to cope with this mix.
>>  
>> I look forward to your answers.
>>  
>> Kind regards,
>> Birgitt
>>  
>> Birgitt Williams
>>  
>> President & Senior Consultant of Dalar International Consultancy, Inc. 
>> http://www.dalarinternational.com
>> Co-founder of the Extraordinary Leadership Network http://www.extraordinaryleadershipnetwork.com
>> Co-founder of the Genuine Contact™program and author of The Genuine Contact Way: Nourishing a Culture of Leadership  http://www.genuinecontactway.com                   
>> Co-owner of the Genuine Contact Co-owners Group Ltd. http://www.genuinecontact.net
>>  
>> Supporting leadership development for leading in a culture requiring agility and flexibility in a performance environment of constant change.
>>  
>> Leadership development at your own pace? Become a member of the Extraordinary Leadership Network http://www.extraordinaryleadershipnetwork.com to participate in an online leadership development program designed to increase your leadership skills and capacity. 
>>  
>> PO Box 19373, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA 27619
>> phone: 1-919-522-7750
>>     
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> From: OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Jäger via OSList
>> Sent: Friday, March 04, 2016 1:40 PM
>> To: oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
>> Subject: [OSList] OpenSpace Agility: How Agile can be successful. First Workshop in Germany, June from 13th to 15th
>>  
>> Hello everyone!
>>  
>> We would like to invite you to a new framework for organizational change: OpenSpace Agility, made of OpenSpace and agile methods.
>>  
>> „Now, as long as I have known about Agile, Scrum, etc. – it has been clear to me that „being Agile“ is simply being fully, Self organizing.“
>> Harrison Owen
>> 
>> Lean, Kanban, Scrum … all these young methods indicates the need for lean and fast processes. On the other hand we know the power of Open Space, World Café and other approaches, but also their limitations in the daily work of an organization. Daniel Mezick, the pioneer of OpenSpace Agility found a way to combine the strengths of both approaches. 
>>  
>> „OpenSpace Agility works for one simple reason: it generates extremely high levels of engagement across your entirethan the OpenSpace Agility method.”
>> Daniel Mezick
>> 
>> We’re happy to bring Daniel Mezick for the first time to Germany in June this year, where he will teach us the concept and methods of OpenSpace Agility (in english).
>> 
>> Who is invited:
>> - Leaders
>> - Scrumteams, ProductOwners and ScrumMasters
>> - People from HR department
>> - (AoH)Hosts, Facilitators and Consultants
>>  
>> If you’re looking for a framework which allows you to combine the Art of Hosting approach with Agile, have a look at these websites:
>> - www.openspaceagility.de (in german)
>> - www.openspaceagility.com
>>  
>> We would be happy to meet you in Munich from June, 13th to 15th
>>  
>> Thomas Jäger, Caroline Rennie and Rolf Schneidereit on behalf of the Hosting team
>>  
>>  
>> Thomas Jäger
>> Art of Hosting Praktizierender
>> Certified Professional Scrum Master (PSM I)
>> naturalconsult
>> Brunnwartsweg 2
>> 82031 Grünwald
>> Thomas.Jaeger at naturalconsult.de
>> www.DieGastgeber.eu
>> openspaceagility.de
>> www.artofhosting-muenchen.org
>> Tel: +49-89-64 94 99 12
>> Fax: +49-89-64 94 99 13
>> Mobil: +49-173-9263743
>>  
>> *** DieGastgeber.eu – Der Blog zum Art of Hosting für den deutschsprachigen Raum *** 
>> *** OpenSpaceAgilty – das Training! Zum erstenmal in Deutschland vom 13. bis 15. Juni in München ***
>>  
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