Greetings,<div><br></div><div>All I've done were 5 short OST meetings plus a longer but biased OST track at a conference.</div><div><br></div><div>I understand that these short meetings were not ideal, they did not lead to strong conclusions. On the other hand, it would have been impossible to ask parents that were strange to each other to commit more time to meet.</div>
<div><br></div><div>These meetings lasted between 2h and 4h. They were still quite effective in opening space between people, having them find out that there are others like them, and identifying shared concerns that deserve further attention.</div>
<div><br></div><div>While people usually complain that there was not enough time to talk, everyone loves it. And I strongly believe that, if I invited them to talk for 1.5 days, they would just refuse.</div><div><br></div>
<div>When the meeting ends, its their responsibility to continue talking elsewhere, if they wish to do so. Sometimes, they do.</div><div><br></div><div>Is it better to open a little space, or to open no space at all? :-)</div>
<div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 6:42 AM, Koos de Heer <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:koos@auryn.nl" target="_blank">koos@auryn.nl</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div>
Hi Catherine,<br><br>
My experiences with really short OST meetings are mixed. My experiences
with OST meetings for demonstration purposes are not so good. Only
spectators, no play. So I only do an Open Space meeting if there is a
real issue to be discussed by passionate people.<br><br>
A short Open Space meeting is at least 3 hours when I do it. I do not
agree to anything shorter. My favorite is a day and a half. There seems
to be a tendency that organizations do want the benefits of Open Space
but have increasing trouble investing the time to make it possible.
Sometimes I think that the biggest change we can offer is not the format
of the Open Space meeting, but the idea to spend time on things, to stop
measuring every minute against the KPIs of a balanced score
card.<br><br>
Having said that, a three hour meeting is much better than nothing at
all. Key is to manage the expectations of the client. The benefits of a
three hour meeting are certainly worthwile, but not way as good as those
of a day and a half. If they are happy with the three hours, you can tell
them they have seen nothing yet and there is much more where this came
from.<br><br>
Cheers<br><br>
Koos<div class="im"><br><br>
<br>
At 00:19 11-6-2012, <a href="mailto:donna.read@managing4wellness.org" target="_blank">donna.read@managing4wellness.org</a> wrote:<br>
</div><blockquote type="cite"><div class="im">Hi, I did a 4-hour open space
last year. It went really well. People seemed to enjoy it and a lot
came out of it but not as much as I would have liked. But
everyone went away happy to have had the experience. Best,
Donna<br><br>
<img width="454" height="98" alt="[]"><br><br>
<br>
</div><dl>
<dd>-------- Original Message --------<br>
</dd><dd><div class="im">Subject: Re: [OSList] Any experience with short OST<br>
</div></dd><dd>From: Graydancer
<<a href="mailto:graydancer@gmail.com" target="_blank">graydancer@gmail.com</a>><br>
</dd><dd><div class="im">Date: Sun, June 10, 2012 3:48 pm<br>
</div></dd><dd><div class="im">To: <a href="mailto:c.pfaehler@bluewin.ch" target="_blank">c.pfaehler@bluewin.ch</a>,
World wide Open Space Technology email list<br>
</div></dd><dd><<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">
oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>><br><br>
</dd><dd><div class="im">My Open Spaces are usually a day (though we have meet & greets
& sunday brunches to provide some wiggle room). They seem to work
well. I was recently asked to do a 6-hour open space for about 350 people
in Chicago. It went well - very well - but we had a LOT of time
beforehand to prep the people through online forums, etc, as well as a
lot of participants who had been to other open spaces.<br><br>
</div></dd><dd><div class="im">That being said, with one or two exceptions, everyone there loved it.
My only frustration was with people who said "No, I didn't go, it
just sounded too disorganized." For some reason, the idea of
something being self-organizing is just anathema.<br><br>
</div></dd><dd><div class="im">I think shorter OS's can work...but I would never want to do one
shorter than the 6 hours. Even that felt way too short. Good, but like a
book that you really wish didn't end...<br><br>
</div></dd><dd>Gray<br><br>
</dd><dd><div class="im">On Sun, Jun 10, 2012 at 4:29 PM, Catherine Pfaehler
<<a href="mailto:c.pfaehler@bluewin.ch" target="_blank">c.pfaehler@bluewin.ch</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div><dl>
<dd><font face="Comic Sans MS" color="#003300">I can only add that the
only time I did such a short OST in order to demonstrate the methode did
NOT lead to a client relationship. I’ve come to notice that even a 5.5
hr OS-event is too short. We deprive people of the experience of what it
is like to have ENOUGH time for their thoughts and ideas and actions and
projects to actually emerge if we agree to such short periods of
time.<div class="im"><br>
</div></font></dd><dd><font face="Comic Sans MS" color="#003300"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Comic Sans MS" color="#003300">Thank you for asking, Catherine C., and thank you for your answer,
Harrison!<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Comic Sans MS" color="#003300"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Comic Sans MS" color="#003300">Love, Catherine P.<br>
</font></dd></dl></dd></dl></blockquote></div><div class="im">
<dd> <br>
</dd><dd><font face="Comic Sans MS" color="#003300">Catherine Pfaehler<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Comic Sans MS" color="#003300">Burckhardtstrasse 2<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Comic Sans MS" color="#003300">CH - 3008 Bern<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Comic Sans MS" color="#003300"><a href="tel:%2B41-%280%2931-536%2005%2031" value="+41315360531" target="_blank">+41-(0)31-536 05 31</a><br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Comic Sans MS" color="#003300"> <br>
<hr>
<div align="center"></div></font></dd></div>
<dd><div class="im"><font face="Tahoma">Von: Catherine Corbaz
[<a href="mailto:cat.corbaz@gmail.com" target="_blank">
mailto:cat.corbaz@gmail.com</a>] <br>
</font></div></dd><dd><font face="Tahoma">Gesendet: Sonntag, 10. Juni 2012 19:20<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Tahoma">An: World wide Open Space Technology email list<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Tahoma">Betreff: Re: [OSList] Any experience with short OST<br>
</font></dd>
<dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times">Dear Harrison<br>
</font></dd><dd><div class="im"><font face="Times New Roman, Times">of course I'll trust you. You put the right words on my inner
feelings and gave me strong arguments to tell the sponsor, if needed.
Your point to do do it after and let emerge an opened discussion, is a
perfect idea.<br>
</font></div></dd><dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times">Thanks a lot,<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times">Catherine<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times">Le 10 juin 12 à 18:07, Harrison Owen a écrit :<br><br>
<br>
</font></dd>
<dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">Catherine – I know you have
maade your plans. And Plans can change. Here are some thoughts that might
move the changes along… First – The best Presentation on Open Sn Space is
“Do it!†Nothing else comes even close. Second – Doing a
Presentation about Open Space before an Open Space creates all sorts
of difficulties, none of which you want. No matter what you say, no
matter how good you are – whatever you say will just confuse people. If
they have never experienced Open Space, they simply won’t believe you.
And if they have had the experience, they don’t need the explanation.
Even worse, a Presentation up front will inevitably put the people in a
“head†mode, thinking about the process. They will be wondering about
other processes, potential modifications, what “they†say in the
literature. All good thoughts, but definitely not needed at the onset of
an Open Space. Just get on with the business, do what comes naturally,
and forget about the process. After all it works all by itself. No help
needed. And don’t try doing “just a little bit of Open Space†It is
always frustrating, because just about the time you get rolling, it is
time to stop. If these people really want to Celebrate – Go for iit and
make sure they have plenty of time/space for the occasion!<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">And then if they really want a Presentation, do it at the end. I
assume you will have a closing circle and after the people have shared
their comments, ask them by way of summary “What did you notice
particularly about our time together that was strange, new, surprising,
different? I think you will find that the People as a whole will create a
marvelous presentation, and of course you can comment if you care
to.<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">Trust me. You won’t be disappointed.<div class="im"><br>
</div></font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">Harrison<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">Harrison Owen<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">7808 River Falls Dr.<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">Potomac, MD 20854<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">USA<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">Camden, Maine 20854<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">Phone <a href="tel:301-365-2093" target="_blank">301-365-2093</a><br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D">(summer) <a href="tel:207-763-3261" target="_blank">207-763-3261</a><br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D"><a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com%20" target="_blank">www.openspaceworld.com</a>
<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D"><a>
www.ho-image.com (Personal</a> Website)<br>
</font></dd>
<dd><div class="im"><font face="Consolas" color="#1F497D">To subscribe, unsubscribe,
change your options, view the archives of OSLIST Go
to:<a href="http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org" target="_blank">
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</font>
</div></dd><dd><font face="Calibri" color="#1F497D"> <br>
</font>
</dd><dd><div class="im"><font face="Tahoma">From:
<a href="mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">
oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org</a>
[<a href="mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">
mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org</a>] On Behalf Of
Catherine Corbaz<br>
</font></div></dd><dd><font face="Tahoma">Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2012 11:31 AM<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Tahoma">To: World email list wide Open Space Technology<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Tahoma">Subject: [OSList] Any experience with short OST<br>
</font></dd>
<dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times"> <br>
</font>
</dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">Dear OS-friends,<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">I’ve been invited to moderate an OST for the 10th birthday of a
studying program of a high Engineering and business school. It is called
Human System engineering.<br>
</font></dd>
<dd><div class="im"><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size="1">The purpose is to
celebrate the anniversary and to make an OST in order to collect ideas,
projects of the students to allow this program to live further. The
purpose is also to present OST as a method to work with collective
intelligence , etc. Inviter people will be students and old students, the
professorship will also be invited. <br>
</font>
</div></dd><dd><div class="im"><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1"> <br>
</font></div></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">At the beginning we spoke of a one day OST. After a first meeting
with the preparation group, they proposed me to do something shorter,
with a presentation about OST. I agreed with their suggestion. But i'll
make my presentation as short as possible, with the message: the best
presentation is to experiment it. So I might have 1/2 more, who
knows?<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">But i've never do such a short OST. So presently the agenda (in may
head) look like:<br>
</font></dd>
<dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size="1"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size="1">- a short introduction (sponsor + OST introduction : 15’), <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size="1">- Market place&agenda (15’). <br><div><div class="h5">
</div></div></font></dd><dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size="1">- Two break-out sessions of 35 min. <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size="1">- closing circle (20') <br>
</font></dd>
<dd><div><div class="h5"><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1"> <br>
</font></div></div></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">We expect 30-50 people.<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">Anyone with a similar experience. I remender reading something about
a 1.5 hours OST?<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">Any comment, remark, welcome.<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">NB: this OST is a short of follow-up of the french publication of
Christine Kohler. <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">Regards<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1"> <br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">Catherine Corbaz<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">Roseaux 20<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1">CH-2503 Bienne<br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1"><a href="tel:%2B41%2032%20323%2038%2043" target="_blank">+41 32 323 38 43</a><br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1"><a href="tel:%2B41%2079%20794%2038%2055" target="_blank">+41 79 794 38 55</a><br>
</font></dd><dd><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size="1"><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/catherinecorbaz/" target="_blank">
https://sites.google.com/site/catherinecorbaz/</a><br>
</font></dd>
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