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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Hi
everyone,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The
question of Open spacisms raised recently on this list struck a cord because I
had been thinking about some of my experimentations around Open Space, some
that I consider keepers and others that I have let go a while back.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Peggy
(Holman) in your recent Nov 23 message about<i> Honouring each other, </i> you said
different things about open spacisms (</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>the shouldn’ts in OS practice </span><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>that Kaliya had first
raised)</span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> and
wanting to experiment with them like many do. I agree with the examples you
gave of your personal evolution around OS. I copied those extracts below to
keep a link to that thread. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Here
are a couple of my keeper experiments and an experiment that I let go of.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>A Keeper I’ve experimented with: Personal action
plan. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:36.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:
l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>-<span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span><![endif]>Even
for OS events where collective action plans have been developed, I invite
participants to silently work on a few key questions about what they personally
have passion to move forward in relation with the theme of the OS event. This
lasts just a few minutes just before the closing circle. This gives every
single person a chance to leave with something in hand and ‘’in
heart’’. Many participants have said to me that this gave them
their most important ‘’Ah Ah’’ moment of the whole
event. Or else they felt the completeness of the experience with this
reflection and better anchored. I try to plan for an extra 10 minutes or more
for an exchange with the person of their choice. Not only do they go deeper in
their thinking and get some support but the fact of expressing it out loud
increases the chances of moving forward according to studies I’ve
frequently heard of around change. Those who don’t feel like sharing use
their 2 <span lang=EN-CA>feet</span><span lang=EN-CA> </span>and are usually
found near the coffee pot in the room where they have other kinds of interesting
conversations.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>One to let go: Decision Makers communicating their go
ahead to priorities identified by the group.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Another to keep: Action Groups choosing mentors within
the organization or the community.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Those two come from the same story: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:36.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:36.0pt'>A while ago, an OS facilitator
shared this practice he began. After priorities were identified by the group,
participants would do the exercise of identifying related discussion reports to
each priority and have a coffee. During that 15 minute period, managers would
meet briefly in another room and confirm if they could give a clear go ahead on
those priorities. They would also chose among senior management, a different person
to be a mentor for each priority planning group. The intention was to show the
group clear and strong support from the decision makers, i.e., something good from
the point of view of management. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:36.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:36.0pt'>I thought there was some merit
in this intention. The very first time I tried this, during lunch group representatives
came to me one after the other with strong emotional objections to the specific
choice of mentors and for various good reasons (harassment problems with some,
micromanagement with others etc). They suggested that each group working on a
priority should choose their own mentor, from any level of the organization,
based on their real need and trust relationship. I informed the top manager and
their was quick recognition of the importance to do just that. It worked. I
still offer this option of group selected mentors when the organizers feel it’s
a plus for their organization in follow-ups. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:36.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:36.0pt'>Now about letting go! I
continued trying the practice of management confirming priorities. It gave a
sense of security to decision makers who might be nervous about letting
priorities surface without any chance of intervening if they felt things were
going the wrong way. After a while I realized that it was unnecessary. No one ever
overturned a group’s priority. In reality the management team can be well
informed of what is emerging. In the preparation phase I tell managers they can
do that by fully participating in discussions, being bumble bees and butterflies
and reading reports posted on the wall throughout the event. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:36.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:36.0pt'>I also make available to a key
senior person, if there is interest for it, an advanced copy of the full Book
of reports so they can have a complete overview while reports are being printed
overnight. They often feel so confident about what is happening that they pass.
If by the morning they really feel they have to clarify a given before people
made choices on priorities (much better than after), that can be done
informally during morning news. Still, I’ve yet to see that happen, maybe
because during the preparation, I work closely with the organizing committee
and management to clarify givens – what’s not on the table for
discussion. Even if I encourage them to keep givens to the strict minimum so
that newness can emerge, the exercise of reflecting on this brings a sense of
safe space for everyone. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:36.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-left:36.0pt'>Removing that priority approval
step also sends the right message that when as a leader you open space, you
trust the group, you trust the process, you get out of the way and you allow
yourself to be surprised. Greater things do happen when we let go. I can
almost hear Harrison’s voice here. You are certainly right on that one.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Yes, Harrison does often also say, a system that isn't
changing is dead. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>I do believe experimenting is good even if messy at
times. I also think that sometimes we keep life flowing best by coming back to
what worked well in the first place, to that wisdom of simplicity and the
fundamental truth of the power of letting go. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>This is just another opportunity to say again, thank you
Harrison for all that. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Diane</span><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:navy'>Diane Gibeault & Associé.es-Associates <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:navy'>Ottawa Canada Tel. 613-744-2638 diane.gibeault@rogers.com <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:navy'><a href="http://www.dianegibeault.com"><span style='color:blue;
text-decoration:none'>www.dianegibeault.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";
color:#002060'>Consultation, Facilitation and Training in Support of
Transformation<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=FR-CA style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";
color:#002060'>Conseils, animation et formation en appui à la
transformation </span><span lang=FR-CA style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:
"Cambria","serif";color:#002060'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=FR-CA style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#4F6228'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=FR-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";color:#4F6228'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Peggy
wrote : (a few extracts)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:#4F6228'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>MY STORY<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>When I began working with OS, I fiercely defended the
space from all comers. I worked to keep any pre-work to a bare minimum, sure
that people would understand the brilliant freedom of Open Space the moment
they stepped in. Since then, I've found compassion for those who experience
the disorientation of freedom shock when they first experience Open Space.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>When I began working more in community settings, with
greater diversity and where there aren't the implicit "rules of
engagement", I found that cultivating a sense of connection and clarity of
purpose is part of creating a welcome, nutrient space. And contrary to the
myth that talks don't work in Open Space, even Harrison has successfully given
them in the morning of the second and third day of an Open Space gathering. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>In other words, as my practice has grown, I treat quite
differently "givens" that I used to take as gospel and defend.
Examples:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>* Pre-work (clarifying the intention and calling
question, identifying and inviting stakeholders) is trivial. If you spend a
lot of time on it, you're working too hard.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>* Open Space doesn't mix well with other practices. In
fact, I have found creative, flowing ways in which different practices work
together to meet the needs of the specific situation and culture. It requires
getting creative with design colleagues and sponsors to meet the needs of a
group. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>* Once you're in an Open Space event, stay in Open Space.
While this is still my preference, there are circumstances where integrating
other activities, like a morning talk, serves the needs of the group just fine.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>I want to be clear that I am still there to ensure the
space is as open as possible. I have just come to believe that what keeps the
space open is more nuanced than I understood when I started working with Open
Space Technology in 1993. I no longer defend the space. I co-creatively
ensure it stays open.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>…..Wisdom involves discerning how to navigate the
contradictions. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Yes, whatever happens is the only thing that could have.
This is empowering when used to awaken someone to their own capacity to meet
their needs. When it is used consciously or unconsciously to maintain the
status quo, it becomes destructive. It becomes a way to do nothing. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Rather than just saying "who ever comes..." or
"whatever happens...", when someone raises an issue, I now treat it
as a potential learning moment for either or both of us; an opening to
understand something more fully Most often, exploring the issue leads to them
discovering their own power to act. But through the conversation, they feel
heard, respected, met. And I learn something about their culture. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>With this change in my practice, I have become more fluid
in how I open space, sometimes using other processes as a doorway in, sometimes
hosting a speaker because it serves the needs of the session. I am less glib
than I used to be about the principles, recognizing both their power and their
shadow. And I am more wiling to experiment with form, knowing that the real
work is opening space within and among us.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>What does this sort of experimentation which many of us
are doing mean for how Open Space Technology itself evolves? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Is OST's form perfection as is? It is definitely
elegant. As Harrison often says, a system that isn't changing is dead. Isn't
this an interesting paradox?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>I think that the last OST innovation that has been widely
embraced was when several of us began opening space for convergence following a
conversation at the Toronto OSonOS in 1997!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>So with all the people experimenting with how we use OST,
what might we learn about the nature and form of our work? I suspect there's
more fluidity to the nature of opening space than most of us consider.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>For example, I sometimes hear from colleagues who use
other conversational practices that Open Space doesn't surface the collective
intelligence of a group in easily shared ways. I can hear the "open
spacisms" raised in objection to this statement. Indeed, I have seen
groups come away with a deep sense of how they fit together as a system. Yet,
through their words or the notes, communicating that collective intelligence to
those who weren't there is often a mystery. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>How might we approach this as a design challenge while
staying true to the ethics of "one less thing to do" and trusting the
people of the system to find their own answers? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>I've become more willing to experiment, to seek simple,
natural forms that meet these sorts of objections. For example, I have come to
appreciate the intimacy of reflecting in small groups. Since people don't all
return to the large group at the same time, there's a natural rhythm to
starting small then moving to one circle.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>I don't pretend to have "the" answer of how OST
and our understanding of Open Space evolves. Perhaps the evolution isn't in
the form but in our deeper thinking. It could be that the simple elegance of
internalizing the practice of opening space frees us to experiment more with
the form. After 16 years, I still feel like a novice, learning about the
nature of opening space.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>I think it is an important, creative question for the
evolution of our work and our community to consider how we evolve rather than
dismissing criticisms and objections by naming a principle. Is anyone else interested
in such conversations?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Kaliya, thanks for calling out open spacisms. It gave me
a doorway to speak to something that I haven't been able to figure out how to
say.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>from cold, cloudy Seattle,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Peggy<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=FR-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";color:#4F6228'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=FR-CA style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";color:#4F6228'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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