[OSList] Brief OST Case Studies - Feel Free to Add

Sat Sep 28 19:18:43 PDT 2019

Birgitt,
Thank you for your comments as you refer to "outcomes" or things that
happened under the influences beyond your control.  Some use the words
"surprises" or "unexpected".  These are often the game changers.

Why do we not have a great list of these things?   I think it is because we
are often contracted to do a job in a very complex system involving many
"jobs".  In "Who moved my Cheese"  we are reminded that the prudent
operator spends some time looking around and checking the environment and
changes.  In the business world this level of thinking is not common.  The
Fortune 500 group do this and "we" developed a program called "Group
Business Visits" that got business people out of their own business and
into another business to confidentiality review that business and its
practices, direction etc.   A very powerful process and one that is much
valued by those who have chosen to us it.  "To see ourselves as other see
us" and to be humble enough to accept what is said.

The breakdown in most contracts is that the focus is on "outputs" things
that can be directly controlled.    Systemic integrated evaluation is
uncommon in most contracts and that is where this "outcome" data comes from.

In our "irrigation Futures" project the contact was for specific outputs
over three years.  We engaged over 500 people in a wide range of
conversations and meetings at a time when the allocation of irrigation
water in South East Australia was under significant review (cities were
running out if water) at the same time a massive deregulation of the dairy
industry was undertaken.  The major secondary industries in the irrigation
area process milk fruit and vegetables was under considerable strain with
over $100 million put in to prop up one industry alone.
The participants of our workshops included all levels of management in
primary and secondary industries and the wider community.
80% of the dairy farms have disappeared one process company worth over $900
million was sold for under $30 million.  many smaller dairy processing
plants closed.  Once viable towns struggle to field their own football
teams and empty shops are everywhere.
I am sure that around the globe this story can be told in many places about
the local primary and secondary industries.  The big difference in our case
was all these changes were identified and discussed as plausible
possibilities and appropriate responses generated.  OST was used
extensively to work through issues and opportunities and complexity was the
order of the day.
Consequences have been the adjustments in this multi billion dollar
industry area of Australia have been in  some way based on prior
discussions the people involved had had.
The surprise moment came when the local member stood up in defense of her
community and publicly denounced  the leader of her party and the prime
minister in the Parliament House  for telling a lie about her community.
This is not your normal outcome from a process as it reflects that the
local member has the support of the whole community and that she could
speak out safely about issues that needed to be addressed.

Regretfully we had limited fund to continue on annual debrief sessions to
capture the changes and the growth of the community.  The outcome referred
to has now resulted in the election of independents in once very strongly
held conservative party areas in the electorates in the irrigation
districts involved.

Dis OST cause this? It is certainly drawing a long bow to even think this
way.  As the facilitator of this multi million dollar project I believe
that as the participants learned the art of conversation and truly valued
others inputs while not seeking single answers we had a community that was
ready and able to adapt to change.  Change that has completely changed
their community and their ability to do business.

I am sure others have similar stories, and when you see them in this short
form the response is  this is not possible.   The next thing is to retreat
back to the area of outputs where there is a high level of control and keep
things simple.   I say beware when the time has come for an idea to express
itself and one thing that OST does is lift the lid on issues and
opportunities.
Again in "who moved my Cheese" we need to lift our head and be brave enough
to say "wrong paddock or field" when things are coming up roses.    OST
does expand the writing on the wall and we avoid this at our peril.

One other issue is that we are always ready to blame things like OST for
poor outputs, a scapegoat.  When things work and we have outstanding
outcomes we must include OST as part of the fabric of success.  How much we
include it is dependent on the faith of the decision makers and their
openness to the power of good process.

Much longer than I wished.  The outcomes from OST events and process are
far reaching and very powerful we should try and track them through good
evaluation process.

Regards
Rob

On Tue, 24 Sep 2019 at 10:37, Birgitt Williams via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

> Hi Jake,
> I appreciated the way that you organized this case study data. I
> appreciated a lot that the way that you reported the data gives OST its due
> credit while simultaneously not claiming that it does more than it does in
> a given business situation. Mostly it is presented a a chosen tool/method
> for specific tasks within larger business processes, thus showing one
> aspect of the versatility and value of OST.
>
> I feel that the case studies would be enhanced if there was an addition of
> a category that I refer to as 'outcomes'. These outcomes are the additional
> qualitative benefits that emerge. People have a shared experience of their
> leadership, vision, community, and management in ways that surpass what
> they assumed was possible. Something happens within that OST meeting that
> cannot be unremembered or undone.
>
> in genuine contact,
> Birgitt
>
> *Birgitt Williams*
> *Supporting Next Level Leadership "Leading So People Will Lead"*
> Author, Senior Consultant, President Dalar International Consultancy, Inc
> <http://www.dalarinternational.com/>
> Founder Genuine Contact Program
> <http://www.dalarinternational.com/genuine-contact>
> Co-owner Genuine Contact Group, LLC
> <https://genuinecontact.net/about/co-owners/>
> Founder Extraordinary Leadership Network
> <http://www.extraordinaryleadershipnetwork.com/>
>
> *Learn with us for your skill and capacity development for leading and
> working in the new leadership paradigm "Leading So People Will Lead"*
>
> Upcoming learning module: Working with Open Space Technology
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>
> On Fri, Sep 20, 2019 at 7:17 PM Jake Yeager via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> I've compiled OST case studies in a brief format
>> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rgdvm6APRQ1ne-ipTBK5lnCc89PsFXEuieL2phwQDTw/edit?usp=sharing>
>> that I find useful for contracting. Others might too.
>>
>> I compiled them from Open Space World, the User's Guide, and Tales from
>> Open Space.
>>
>> Feel free to add.
>>
>> Much love,
>> Jake
>> ________________
>>
>> When the mind is quiet, the sun of your heart will shine once again, and
>> you will be free of problems.
>>  - Robert Adams <http://www.robert-adams.info/>
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