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<div>>1. What are the questions you would ask the CEO to
determine if this is</div>
<div>>really the best course for this group?</div>
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<div>Major question is -- Is he really ready to let go of pre-determined
outcomes? If he/she already has the plan, there is not much space
available to open. I would also ask about possible reactions to what
might be termed "negative" outcomes. Like, suppose the gathered
group basically said this is a lousey idea -- don't do it, and for sure
we won't help. Could be a bummer -- but very valuable information for all
of the pain. However, better pain now than totally failure down the
road.</div>
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<div>>2. What would be the challenges of using OS for
this? (This is a young</div>
<div>>organization--is there any determination as to "when"
a group is ready for</div>
<div>>OS?)</div>
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<div>I can't think of any particular challenges. Sounds like a perfect
application to me. And I suspect the only way to find out if they are
"ready" is given them the chance. I'll bet they are.</div>
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<div>>3. What might de-rail the effectiveness of this
event? Would you recommend</div>
<div>>an alternate method, and if so, what might that be?</div>
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<div>As usual failure to let go, and imposition of pre-determined
outcomes will upend the process. As for an alternative, I can't think of
any that would achieve substantially better results -- and for sure they
would cost a lot more. I would go for a 2 and a hald day OST so that you
could get prioritized results, action teams etc -- in short to be ready
for business. Costs for that would be your fee plus space/logistics (if
any) The only other thing I can think of would be Future Search, which
will cost you a lot more in planning time, and I don't think would get
you to any better end-point. I heard of a guy who is selling Future
Searches in a corporate environment for $100K a pop. That is 5 times what
I would charge for an Open Space to do the same thing. But he will work a
lot harder and longer than I will, so on a $/hour basis, his price is
probably a good deal.</div>
<br>
<br>
<div>Harrison</div>
<br>
<br>
<div align="center">
Harrison Owen <br>
7808 River Falls Drive <br>
Potomac, MD 20854 USA <br>
301-469-9269 (phone) <br>
301-983-9314 (fax) <br>
email owen@tmn.com<br>
Website
<a href="http://www.tmn.com/%7Eowen" eudora="autourl">http://www.tmn.com/~owen</a><br>
Open Space Institute website<br>
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.openspaceworld.org</a></html>