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At 08:27 AM 8/2/00 +0200, you wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite cite>The group of dismissed employees asked me
if I would help them with the facilitating of an Open
Space.</blockquote><br>
******************************<br>
Great Tale! It reminds me of some work that Hugh Huntington did about 10
years ago with a large American Aerospace Co. (Honeywell I think) When
peace (of sorts) broke out following the dissolution of the Soviet Union,
American defense companies faced a major change in the economic
situation. For Honeywell this mean a 50% reduction in force in something
like 6 months. They had to go from 2400 employees to 1200! Hugh helped
them through their Open Space -- not only to build moral and say good by
-- but also to do the re-design of the business. He tells this story in
<i>Tales From Open Space.<br>
<br>
<br>
</i>A related story rolled out at Proctor and Gamble -- They had a 50
year old plant with three generations of folks working there. The plant
was more than a place of work -- it was really a way of life. But it had
to go. The equipment was too old, the product was a "dirty"
one, which made meeting environmental standards in the town where the
plant was located almost impossible. Anyhow, I had the privilege of
doing what I could to help them through. Open Space didn't exist (as far
as I was concerned) at that point, but in retrospect we all worked in
Open Space. I have tried to tell that tale in <i>"The Spirit of
Leadership.</i>" -- (used to be called "Leadership
Is"")<br>
<br>
Anyhow -- there seems to be somewhat of a body of experience using Open
Space productively in what we in the US call downsizing situations. I
guess other folks call it differently -- but by whatever name, the
situation is familiar, and maybe a little discussion around the issue
would be useful?<br>
<br>
Harrison<br>
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<div align="center">
Harrison Owen<br>
7808 River Falls Drive<br>
Potomac, MD 20854 USA<br>
phone 301-469-9269<br>
Summer Phone 207-763-3261<br>
fax 301-983-9314<br>
website
<a href="http://www.mindspring.com/~owenhh" eudora="autourl">www.mindspring.com/~owenhh</a><br>
Open Space Institute website
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.org</a><br>
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