<div>Harrison, thank you for the clarification ... and the birthday date.</div>
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<div>I propose that we declare 4 July 2010 (July 4 2020 if you do it that way round where you live) World Open Space Day, and mark the occasion in some suitable way. Does anyone have some ideas about how we might do this?</div>
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<div>I'll make a post to Osuki - let's see what emerges!</div>
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<div>Regarding the 60 minute Open Space that someone mentioned, I'll describe the way I did it on this list if anyone's interested. The event was the MIT Entrepreneurship Center (<a href="http://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/">http://entrepreneurship.mit.edu</a>) conference that took place in Madrid in May 2008.</div>
<div><br clear="all">Jack<br><br>Jack Martin Leith<br>Innovation Next : An emerging hub for innovation next practice<br>Bristol, United Kingdom<br>Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)<br>Skype: jackmartinleith<br>email: <a href="mailto:jack@innovationnext.org">jack@innovationnext.org</a><br>
<a href="http://www.innovationnext.org">www.innovationnext.org</a> | <a href="http://www.jackmartinleith.com">www.jackmartinleith.com</a><br><br>Follow me on Twitter for innovation news: <a href="http://twitter.com/jackmartinleith">http://twitter.com/jackmartinleith</a><br>
Join the management renegades at <a href="http://moon-shots.ning.com">http://moon-shots.ning.com</a><br><br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">2009/5/27 Harrison Owen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:hhowen@verizon.net">hhowen@verizon.net</a>></span><br>
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<p><font face="Arial" color="red" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Jack I never said that OS would not work with “conscripts.” I did say that the result would be less than optimal – and that if one wanted the very best, voluntary self-selection was essential. At least that has been my experience so far. In fact Open Space works very effectively in prisons – where voluntary self-selection is not an ordinary practice. But I cannot believe that prison life could be confused with optimal human conditions, although I grant that a number of places of business have much in common with many prisons. There may be a lack of concertina wire and guard towers, but I found the atmosphere very much the same. In such places Open Space works as well, if only because even such miserable excuses for work environments are also part of this self organizing world. But I think it safe to say that high levels of performance, creativity, innovation, and the like are not commonly found. As for the birth date of Open Space Technology – that would be July the 4<sup>th</sup> weekend in </span></font><font face="Arial" color="red"><span style="COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Monterey</span></font><font face="Arial" color="red"><span style="COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font><font face="Arial" color="red"><span style="COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">California</span></font><font face="Arial" color="red"><span style="COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">. Didn’t think of it at the time, but in retrospect I find that date marvelously appropriate. Something about -- Revolution and Freedom (from the Crown). You might say Voluntary Self-Selection! </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="red" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" color="red" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Harrison</span></font></p>
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<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><font face="Arial" color="red" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Harrison Owen</span></font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><font face="Arial" color="red" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">7808 River Falls Drive</span></font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><font face="Arial" color="red" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Potomac, Maryland 20854</span></font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><font face="Arial" color="red" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Phone </span></font><font face="Arial" color="red" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">301-365-2093</span></font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><font face="Arial" color="red" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Skype hhowen</span></font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><font face="Arial" color="red" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Open Space Training</span></font><font color="red"><span style="COLOR: red"> <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">www.openspaceworld.com</span></font></a> </span></font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><font face="Arial" color="red" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Open Space Institute</span></font><font color="red"><span style="COLOR: red"> <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">www.openspaceworld.org</span></font></a></span></font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><font face="Arial" color="red" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Personal website</span></font><font color="red"><span style="COLOR: red"> <a href="http://www.ho-image.com/" target="_blank"><font face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">www.ho-image.com</span></font></a> </span></font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><font face="Arial" color="red" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">OSLIST</span></font><font face="Arial" color="red"><span style="COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: </span></font><font color="red"><span style="COLOR: red"><a href="http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html" target="_blank"><font face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html</span></font></a></span></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">-----Original Message-----<br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</span></b> OSLIST [mailto:<a href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU" target="_blank">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</a>] <b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">On Behalf Of </span></b>Jack Martin Leith<br>
<b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, May 27, 2009 12:59 PM<br><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</span></b> <a href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU" target="_blank">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</a><br>
<b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</span></b> Volunteers and conscripts</span></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">I've turned Bhav's question and Harrison's response into a blog post on the Osuki website, and added a comment of my own.</span></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Here's the link: <a href="http://www.osuki.net/?p=913" target="_blank">www.osuki.net/?p=913</a> </span></font></p></div>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">If you don't want to click on the link you can see my comment below.</span></font></p></div>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Harrison and Bhav, I hope it's OK with you that I've posted this article. I haven't named Bhav. I'll delete the post if either of you asks me to.</span></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Warm wishes from Bristol, UK.</span></font></p></div>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><br clear="all">Jack</span></font></p></div>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">P.S. Harrison, can you please remind us of the exact date of the 25th birthday of Open Space?<br><br>Jack Martin Leith<br>
Innovation Next : An emerging hub for innovation next practice<br>Bristol, United Kingdom<br>Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)<br>Skype: jackmartinleith<br>email: <a href="mailto:jack@innovationnext.org" target="_blank">jack@innovationnext.org</a><br>
<a href="http://www.innovationnext.org/" target="_blank">www.innovationnext.org</a> | <a href="http://www.jackmartinleith.com/" target="_blank">www.jackmartinleith.com</a><br><br>Follow me on Twitter for innovation news: <a href="http://twitter.com/jackmartinleith" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/jackmartinleith</a><br>
Join the management renegades at <a href="http://moon-shots.ning.com/" target="_blank">http://moon-shots.ning.com</a></span></font></p></div>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><a href="http://www.osuki.net/?p=913#comments" target="_blank">http://www.osuki.net/?p=913#comments</a></span></font></p></div>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">While I agree with pretty much everything Harrison says here, in the 20 years that I’ve been working professionally with Open Space Technology, I can’t think of a single client that was seeking to create a self-organising system. They simply wanted to get a job done, and OST was the chosen tool.</span></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Many of the Open Space events I’ve co-designed and facilitated were not organised on a voluntary participation basis, yet the respective clients were happy with the results. Would voluntary participation have bettered these results? Maybe … maybe not. We’ll never know.</span></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">What’s beyond doubt is that OST is a very robust process that can be effective even when prevailing thinking suggests it’s doomed to failure.</span></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">In the early 1990s I co-facilitated, with <a href="http://www.osuki.net/?page_id=530" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><font color="#336600"><span style="COLOR: #336600">Mo Cohen </span></font></a>of this parish, a two-day Open Space event for the change management practice of a large management consulting firm.</span></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The client had a hidden agenda that was shockingly revealed at the end of the first day of a two-day Open Space event. The secret plan was a radical reorganisation of the change management practice that would have a big impact on everyone in the room.</span></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">At the start of the second day the participants, conscripts one and all, binned their agenda and created a new one focused on the implications of the reorganisation.</span></font></p>
<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">My friend and collaborator <a href="http://www.osuki.net/?page_id=126" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><font color="#336600"><span style="COLOR: #336600">Jean-Marc Le Tissier</span></font></a> (also of this parish) was an employee of the consulting firm and a participant in the event. Whenever we recollect those two days we agree that Open Space was the right tool for the job. It shouldn’t have worked – but it did.</span></font></p>
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<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><strong><b><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">That’s all very well in practice – but will it work in theory?</span></font></b></strong><b><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><br>
</span></b><em><i><font face="Times New Roman">Unknown</font></i></em></p></blockquote>
<p style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Open Space is an extremely resilient 24 year old. Let’s start planning the 25th birthday celebrations (early July 2010) now!</span></font></p>
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