[OSList] OST and what makes team work successful

Tue Mar 20 03:04:54 PDT 2018

I’ve been deeply influenced over the years by Christina Baldwin’s principle that “no one person can be responsible for the safety of the group, but a group can learn to take responsibility for it’s own safety.” I too think that the principles of Open Space allow for the right balance for individuals to take responsibility for co-creating group safety.  What is remarkable is that safety is an emergent phenomenon in Open Space, a true artifact of a self-organizing system. Of course I have seen some real conflicts happen in Open Space, but what seems to mitigate them is the double wall of the container.

What I mean by that is that meetings in Open Space happen within break out groups within the larger container. If a break out group breaks down, participants are still held in the larger space. I have seen very few instances where people in conflict left the bigger container, even if the exercised the law of two feet and left their breakout space.  Most often a kind of “neutral ground” emerges in Open Space: near the agenda wall, around the coffee table, sometimes outside on a nice day. These emergent neutral spaces provide participants with a chance to discharge, relax, calm down and get their wits about them.  The facilitator never has to do anything, in my experience, but just keep holding the space. 

I don’t like the idea of safe space though, I prefer the term "safe enough” space, or even “brave space.” For many marginalized people the idea of safe space is always a myth, and there is no way that we can guarantee it will emerge in Open Space.  So instead I encourage people to take a bit of a risk and enter into "safe enough" space, so that they can learn something new and let go of whatever it is they are holding on to.  

I remember an event I did once on Hawaii with indigenous Hawaiians and well heeled Americans looking together at the values of reverence and sustainability. At one point, one of the Americans, a person with a net worth in the millions of dollars, asked the group that we commit to safety in the space.  This raised the ire of the senior Elder in the room who snapped (and I paraphrase) “You have no right to safe space! Your desire for safety has imperilled the entire world. We do not live safe lives as a result. Our lands are colonized, our food supplies are depleted and our oceans are in danger of no longer providing for us. There is no safe space here. You must learn to live with risk and take responsibility for your role in creating it.”

When we are invited into risk together, everyone giving up safety according to their means, the possibility for real relationship exists in the shared challenge to our well held worldviews.

Chris

> On Mar 20, 2018, at 1:27 AM, Suzanne Daigle via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
> 
> Oops interrupted...as I was writing. The email sent itself.
> 
> To continue: The organization is saying, you matter, we want your contribution, we want to know what you think, we value you.
> 
> From a psychological safety point of view, Open Space invites vulnerability in all of us. It invites leaders to let go and it invites everyone to come forward. For each, it is an act of courage. 
> 
> The 5 principles of Open Space and the Law of 2 Feet, each in their own way, create the conditions for feeling safe, connected and surrounded. 
> 
> In Open Space, psychological safety has a chance to unfold naturally, between us and within us. Human connection is ignited.
> 
> At the heart of it all, is this genuine invitation to the most important strategic issues that is embodied in Open Space which leads to and also invites the power of self-organizing.
> 
> Safety does not mean absence of conflict or chaos. Quite the opposite, with Open Space we can embrace both by being willing to take risks, feeling unsafe only to discover feelings of greater safety in the other side. Breakthroughs happen there time and time again.
> 
> Suzanne
> 
> 
>  
> 
> On Tue, Mar 20, 2018, 2:05 AM Suzanne Daigle <sdaigle4 at gmail.com <mailto:sdaigle4 at gmail.com>> wrote:
> Marai, Peggy and Rob,
> 
> How inspired I am by this thread. I read each of your comments and listened to the Google video. Then paused and thought of Google's five team effectiveness elements (Psychological Safety, Dependability, Structure and Clarity, Meaning and Impact) in the context of Open Space with Psychological Safety being the most important.
> 
> In Peggy words here, I saw captured with utter simplicity, why I too felt instantly drawn to Open Space. 
> 
> At its core also is The Invitation to everyone who cares to have the opportunity to contribute to the most important issues of the organization.  To invite is to include. This is so significant... 
> 
> On the major strategic issues in an organization, that which has traditionally been the exclusive territory of senior management is now extended to a much broader and diverse group...most especially to those closest to the work.
> 
> 
> 
> That simple invitation connects directly to this core element of psychological safety. By genuinely inviting and including you, the organization is saying, 
> 
> On Mon, Mar 19, 2018, 6:59 PM R Chaffe via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org <mailto:oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:
> Marai
> 
> It is an insight that rings so true to me.  As we apply the technology or system called Open Space to real and pressing needs, the need for all to be psychologically safe is vital along with any other need that when met results in safety.  Maslow has clearly defined safety as the foundation and my personal experience confirms this as one of the “break through” (beyond the superficial, reaching into the core issues) conditions that allows the participants including the facilitator to participate and move into “real” issues and opportunities.  It is the time when we can be as one with the confidence and freedom to express our needs and ideas/ solutions.
> 
> When the gathering’s participants are psychologically safe the gathered group is “open” and that is when the real work, discussion, decisions, commitments etc take place.  The “space” is primarily the physical area and then becomes the whole environment.  “Open Space”  takes on a new reality when one has the privilege of a gathering that is totally psychologically safe.  The facilitator has the task of assisting this to happen......  Open Space is such a simple statement and the facilitator must treat the meeting  with respect and a passion to do what ever is required to assist the participants to be psychologically safe so that hopes and dreams related to the issue that brought them together in the first place are expressed and transformed into the new reality.
> 
> I wish I could join your discussion so I must participate on the side via the list.
> Regards
> Rob
> 
> On 20 Mar 2018, at 5:02 am, Peggy Holman via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org <mailto:oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:
> 
>> What a lovely question Marai!
>> 
>> I can tell you that I fell in love with OST the first time I experienced it -- in 1996 -- because I saw something that I didn’t know was possible:
>> 
>> The needs of individuals and the needs of the whole could both be met.
>> 
>> 
>> Before then, I thought either one or the other is sacrificed. I now know that this experience of “differentiated wholeness" is an indicator of a transformation to an organization or community with a new story of who it is and who belongs. It makes room for more aspects of itself. 
>> 
>> OST creates the ground for individual expression, in which showing up authentically is valued (as opposed to a common, tragic, unspoken norm that we need to stay quiet in order to belong). In the process of being ourselves, people discover deeper connections to each other. And that causes a shift in the cultural story of who we are as a whole. 
>> 
>> In short, OST creates the space for the full voiced self, connection with others, and sense of being of a larger whole.
>> 
>> 
>> Peggy
>> 
>> 
>> ________________________________
>> Peggy Holman
>> Co-founder
>> Journalism that Matters
>> 15347 SE 49th Place
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>> www.journalismthatmatters.org <http://www.journalismthatmatters.org/>
>> www.peggyholman.com <http://www.peggyholman.com/>
>> Twitter: @peggyholman
>> JTM Twitter: @JTMStream
>> 
>> Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity <http://www.engagingemergence.com/>
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Mar 19, 2018, at 10:40 AM, Marai Kiele via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org <mailto:oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Dear colleagues,
>>> 
>>> Do you know what the core is, of what has drawn you to OST?
>>> 
>>> Last year I came across a word that describes both, a phenomena I have experienced and cherished in OST as well as something that has turned out to be a key ingredient to successful teams:
>>> 
>>> 	Psychological Safety
>>> 
>>> The term was coined by Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School.
>>> 
>>> It is referred to in a study by Google, which they undertook to understand what distinguishes their successful teams from those who do so-so.
>>> Anyone interested in the subject… more here by Google:
>>> 
>>> 	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZlSq_Hf08M <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZlSq_Hf08M>
>>> 
>>> "Psychological Safety" means team members are safe to take risk and be vulnerable in front of others. They know it’s okay or even requested to speak up, disagree, admit mistakes, ask „stupid“ questions or share a crazy idea. All of this without the fear of loosing „belonging“ or lessen one's status within a group.
>>> 
>>> In the study this has proven to be by far the most important ingredient for successful team work, even more important than dependability, meaning, impact…
>>> 
>>> Years back, I found this beautifully described in other words by Tova Averbuch, in her TEDx talk „Opening Space to Collective Wisdom“ (hello Tova! :-) ) 
>>> She opens with the words „To be or to belong“—a tension that I know very well: Being fully myself or belonging to a group seemed often in conflict. Especially during my time in the corporate world as a product manager. Tova describes how in OST she has found both together: „being AND belonging". As I have, too.
>>> 
>>> Back to my opening question: Do you know what the core is, of what has drawn you to OST?
>>> 
>>> I have realised that the phrase „psychological safety“ describes that. That which is at the core of what has drawn me to OST. Something I am dedicated to since years. For myself and in creating spaces for others.
>>> 
>>> I am eager to explore this topic with others, both on this list as in real time conversations. I’ll post a session in tomorrows „Tuesday Open Space Hotline“. 
>>> Anyone else interested in this topic, please come to the OS Hotline OR write on this list OR reach out to me directly.
>>> 
>>> From a sunny and cold evening in Bielefeld, Germany,
>>> Marai
>>> 
>>> https://about.me/maraikiele <https://about.me/maraikiele>
>>> 
>>> 
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