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<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial><SPAN class=820364002-25012000><STRONG>Dear
Susan,</STRONG></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial><SPAN class=820364002-25012000><STRONG>Your
dilemma is one that I come up with frequently. Harrison's suggestion of the need
of more time ie: a day so that they can get right into it is good. I would add
to this. In my experience, when I have a chance to have people experience an
Open Space, I make sure that there is time given at the end for collective
voting and convergence so that participants can see how things can get moved
into action. I find that when people are not exposed to collective voting
and convergence, that they go forward and believe that Open Space doesn't really
take things to action, or great detail, and of course if all the steps are
included, it does. My reasoning for being so insistent on an experience of
collective voting is as follows: if we are looking for passion/responsibility
and the data of knowing what is really important to a collective of people,
without the collective voting, we are missing critical data. From posting
topics, we get a sense of the passion/responsibility of an individual;
from who attends a group, we get a sense of the passion/responsibility of
smaller groups; from polling the collective at the end, we get a sense of what
the group really thinks is important NOW for action/resourcing. When I actually
facilitate Open Space events, I am often surprised that in the voting at the
end, a topic becomes a top vote getter that no one actually attended the session
for. And if we hadn't had the vote, we would never have had the more complete
picture of what is going on. So....this step in my experience, is one that I add
whenever I have the chance to do a one day open space so that I give a
chance to the group to examine more of the possibilities of what can
be achieved with Open Space.</STRONG></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial><SPAN
class=820364002-25012000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial><SPAN class=820364002-25012000><STRONG>When
a group stays with a short time frame, I usually do a half hour introduction to
why Open Space works, looking at the cycle of transformational change and why we
need open space for wonder, creativity and imagination to be expressed. I also
speak of Change Management being an oxymoron. And that we need to build our
capacity to navigate change, as individuals and as organizations. Open Space is
a vehicle that assists organizations in navigating change and in building
capacity to navigate change, the more often it is used. And then I go through
the opening of space, the building of an agenda and so on which takes about 30
minutes. The agenda is up, passion has been fuelled in people, they are amazed
by what they have put up and they are very very very desirous of having those
discussions. We don't have them. People see what is possible, talk about
it, and ask questions. The hard thing is to get them to stop at the end of your
time period. </STRONG></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial><SPAN
class=820364002-25012000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial><SPAN class=820364002-25012000><STRONG>Good
luck with your group!</STRONG></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial><SPAN
class=820364002-25012000><STRONG>Birgitt</STRONG></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial><SPAN
class=820364002-25012000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial><SPAN
class=820364002-25012000></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<P><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial size=2>Birgitt Bolton</FONT> <BR><FONT
color=#000000 face=Arial size=2>www.openspacetechnology.com</FONT> <BR><FONT
color=#000000 face=Arial size=2>Striving for Success?</FONT> <BR><FONT
color=#000000 face=Arial size=2>Make Genuine
Contact!</FONT><B></B><B></B><B></B> </P>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]<B>On Behalf Of</B> Harrison
Owen<BR><B>Sent:</B> Monday, January 24, 2000 4:50 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Fw: Seeking counsel on
presenting OS to a group<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>At 12:02 PM 1/24/00 -0800, you wrote:</DIV>
<DIV>>I got this request from a colleague - Susan Partnow and suspect
that there</DIV>
<DIV>>are some people who have dealt with the sort of situation she is
facing.</DIV>
<DIV>>Any advice would be appreciated!</DIV>
<DIV>></DIV>
<DIV>>Peg Holman</DIV>
<DIV>></DIV>
<DIV>>----- Original Message -----</DIV>
<DIV>>From: <Susan4Ps@aol.com></DIV>
<DIV>>To: <pholman@msn.com></DIV>
<DIV>>Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2000 4:12 PM</DIV>
<DIV>>Subject: Seeking counsel on presenting OS to a group</DIV>
<DIV>></DIV>
<DIV>></DIV>
<DIV>>> I have an opportunity to introduce a group of HR Executives to
Open Space.</DIV>
<DIV>>> This is a group of about 15 individuals from the private sector
who meet</DIV>
<DIV>>at a</DIV>
<DIV>>> bi monthly roundtable. Typically they share stories of their
own</DIV>
<DIV>>experience</DIV>
<DIV>>> or initiatives for discussion; often an outsider is brought in to
present</DIV>
<DIV>>a</DIV>
<DIV>>> particular topic, as would be the case with my presentation.</DIV>
<DIV>>></DIV>
<DIV>>> The dilemma I face is a very limited time frame of 1 hour 15
minutes --</DIV>
<DIV>>plus</DIV>
<DIV>>> a requested topic. My original proposal was that we use a
longer time</DIV>
<DIV>>frame</DIV>
<DIV>>> and have the participants participate in an open space --
focussing on the</DIV>
<DIV>>> opportunities of their roundtable association as the topic.
However, the</DIV>
<DIV>>> coordinator is now requesting this shorter time frame with the
following</DIV>
<DIV>>as</DIV>
<DIV>>> the focus question: "How must we change our compensation
systems,</DIV>
<DIV>>benefits</DIV>
<DIV>>> programs and employee practices in light of the aging workforce,
longer</DIV>
<DIV>>> lifespans, and expanding definition of family." Does this
seem like</DIV>
<DIV>>'mission impossible' --</DIV>
<DIV>*******************</DIV>
<DIV>Short answer YES!</DIV><BR>
<DIV>If they are interested in experiencing Open Space take the time (I would
say at least a day) to do it -- and also get something useful done. If what they
want to do is hear about it -- show the (USWEST) video with a brief
introduction, and take any questions. There will be a bunch. And they will
actually get something out of the experience. The approach suggested by the
"coordinator" is (in my judgement) a one way ticket to frustration at best, and
maybe disaster. Don't do it.</DIV><BR>
<DIV>Harrison</DIV><BR><BR>
<DIV align=center>Harrison Owen<BR>7808 River Falls Drive<BR>Potomac, MD
20854<BR>USA<BR>phone 301-469-9269<BR>fax 301-983-9314<BR>website <BR><A
href="http://www.mindspring.com/~owenhh"
eudora="autourl">www.mindspring.com/~owenhh</A><BR>Open Space Institute
websites<BR><A href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/"
eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.org</A><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>