[OSList] Impact of open space

Birgitt Williams via OSList oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Fri Feb 17 14:58:38 PST 2017


Hi Karl,
Thank you for answering. A key ingredient that you mentioned was that the
space was already open for something to happen.

you also mention that much of the creative energy falls into the fissures
and cracks of the organization. I have spent some time in the last couple
of decades plus figuring out what we do that reduces this loss. I have had
feedback that 100% of the strategic plan was successfully accomplished as a
result of our process using OST, in record time...ie: the ten year plan
accomplished in two years, even with layers of government to contend with.

I find that in every OST meeting, there are great conversations that
otherwise wouldn't happen and by the end the circle includes people deeply
moved by what they accomplished and WHO they could BE together. Once this
is a lived and shared experience, it is difficult to pretend that this
potential isn't in the organization.

I have found as you did that there is some feeling of goodwill and better
cooperation etc that can be tied back to the beginnings of same in the OST
meeting.

I have also found that when the ongoing life of the organization doesn't
support this sufficiently, a backlash happens with the frustration that
people feel when they have experienced their potential and it is not
allowed to shine. I have found a backlash from leaders who feel poorly
equipped personally to lead an organization that actually capitalizes on
the potential.

Long ago, I lost my interest in whether the OST went well and we had lovely
comments in the closing circle. I am deeply passionate about what happens
months later.

I look forward to more of your posts as you go forward with these ventures,
Warmly,
Birgitt

On Fri, Feb 17, 2017 at 4:40 PM Royle, Karl <K.Royle at wlv.ac.uk> wrote:

> Hi
>
> I think in this case the idea coincided with necessity and existing
> external drivers for enhancing the student experience ...outcomes. So I
> think there was already space opening for something to happen. I also think
> the head of faculty ... for all her faults, and she had many, was willing
> to take a chance on OS...to try to bind us together or at least get us all
> talking. The otherness of the external facilitator was crucial too. At the
> event people came to me and said that it was the first time they had felt
> able to speak at an event and felt
> Listened to.
>
> Since then we have used os with school kids and next month with our health
> and art faculty to start projects that combine the two disciplines... so I
> think there is space for os and still space for what happens afterwards...
> it certainly releases creative energy... much of which falls into the
> cracks and fissures of the organisation but other bits lodge and take root
> like benevolent viruses within the culture
>
> :-)
>
> Sent by iPhone
> Karl Royle
> Head of Enterprise and Commercial Development
>
> Faculty of Education Health and Wellbeing
> University of Wolverhampton
> 01902323006
> 07815416698
> @karlroyle. On Twitter
> Karlr61 Skype
> Www.academia.edu/karlroyle
>
> On 17 Feb 2017, at 21:31, Birgitt Williams via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
> Beautiful example Karl!!!! I also like that you have a faculty of
> educational health and well being. That is awesome too.
>
> Would you be willing to say more about how the outputs from the OST
> meeting(s) bumped up against the existing 'reality' of structure etc., and
> what happened to soften all of that up sufficiently for the outputs from
> the OST to make the difference that they did. This is the transition point
> that I am personally so dedicated to that can be challenging...and it seems
> that you all did so successfully!
>
> Warmly,
> Birgitt
>
> On Fri, Feb 17, 2017 at 4:22 PM Royle, Karl via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
> About three years ago in
> 2013 our university decide to merge four schools into an über faculty. We
> needed to get people working together . So I suggested an open space
> meeting ably facilitated by my colleague Jasmina Nikolic and supported by
> Suzanne Daigle's guide to open space. We had about 300 people in a sports
> hall...
>
> Fast forward 4 years and the university is running a careers development
> week across all faculties and some 20000 students opening up opportunities
> for our students in one of the most deprived areas of the uk. The guy
> organising it messaged me saying he could draw a direct line from careers
> week back to the os event where he first had the idea.
>
> Just thought I would share that story with you all...
>
>
>
> Sent by iPhone
> Karl Royle
> Head of Enterprise and Commercial Development
>
> Faculty of Education Health and Wellbeing
> University of Wolverhampton
> 01902323006
> 07815416698
> @karlroyle. On Twitter
> Karlr61 Skype
> Www.academia.edu/karlroyle
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> --
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 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
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> --







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 the leadership skills
and capacity you need to perform in a performance environment of constant
change.



PO Box 19373, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA 27619

phone: 1-919-522-7750
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