<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">Hi Daniel. Thanks for your considered response.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">I will try to keep my response in line with the topic.... but expect it may meander.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">The OST day I was preparing for has since come and gone.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">I decided in the end to least give OST a crack and see what happened.<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">It didn't go very well; but it also went well enough (vis overall project goals, and client expectations), so I don't feel so bad about it... even if I had personally envisaged more.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">I am not one to worry about the cannon... which means sometimes I break things, as I did this time. There was still an (informal) sponsor, the one that sent the invites. They just did not have a presence on the day. Thank you Daniel as you did make me think critically about the strength of my role as host. I think I dealt with that through my introduction to the day; and as it turns out the authority to host was not an issue.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">But as it turns out, that was not really the biggest challenge!</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">The main lessons I took away about what contributed to the average result:</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><b>There needs to be clear, compelling shared work.</b></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">The overall project was more complicated than OST, so it wasn't clear what turning up actually meant, and I think many did not turn up on the basis of wanting to resolve a shared challenge (the work), as you might expect for OST. In straight OST terms, you could say this was an issue of invitation, but really it was many things.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">So the group was interesting. They had the heart, but not the will. They were committed, but without ownership of the result. I've seen this a lot in the community engagement field, but nowhere that I have used (or seen) OST.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">I thought about this a lot, I thought it might have been about the invitation and self-selection; but at the end of the day I think it comes down to the sense of (and invitation in to) shared work.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><b>It is super hard to dissolve ingrained power and authority relationships in the short term. These can't be sidestepped by an external facilitator.</b></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">I struggled to help the client (the funding body) to really 'empower'. They talked about it and genuinely want to, but old habits and mental models don't change overnight. They really struggled to push beyond managing the process as superiours (to a set of subordinate participants). This is 'empowerment' within a patriarchal system, and it doesn't work. It felt very yucky at times.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">A curious side effect of this partriarchal 'empowerment' was an unwillingness to be clear about the work ("we want to be open and let them lead the process" they would say... I got the client to agree that <i>the</i>y were clearly the leaders, but we didn't quite work out how to put that into practice).</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">Over the course of the engagement, we all took baby steps together that invest in their (/our) capacity to really work together in future. They learned a LOT in a short period of time, and so did I, but it was too short. By the end of the project I had the client calling me up to ask how they could reword things so they didn't reflect a control response. : ) That was good, but obviously if they need me for this then there is some way to go. And different client reps had different levels of self reflection.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">Hosting an isolated OST workshop against this grain was very ambitious, it was always going to be, no matter how we conducted ourselves.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">And perhaps 20% were very proactive, and led the bulk of the work that occurred... they saved the day!<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">But the length of the OST was not enough for this leadership to really be contagious and precipitate a productive culture.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><b>Or in other words: we struggled to free up authorisation to be more dynamic</b></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">Reading your blog post Daniel, the idea of dynamic authorisation would have been very useful earlier in the project. Another way of looking at the project: we struggled to free the space of ingrained authority to enable dynamic authorisation.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">There were lots of other insights into how we could have done it differently, but to me these were the fundamental stumbling blocks for us.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">Still, they were not too big, and I'm pleased we made a good start.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">My favourite feedback was "thank you, this was the first time I have been part of genuine engagement in more than a decade in the sector" : )<br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)">Next time, we will do better.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr"><br><div><div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><font color="#663300" face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif"><b><i>John Baxter</i></b></font></div><div style="text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small;font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><i>CoCreate Adelaide Facilitator, Director of Realise consultancy</i></div><div style="text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small;font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68)"><a href="http://cocreateadl.com/localgov%E2%80%8B" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">CoCreateADL.com</a> | <a href="http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">jsbaxter.com.au</a></div><div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><font color="#444444" face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif">0405 447 829</font><div style="font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif;color:rgb(68,68,68);display:inline"><font color="#444444" face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif"> | </font></div><span style="color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif">@</span><a href="http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-family:'trebuchet ms',sans-serif" target="_blank">jsbaxter_</a></div><div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><i><b><a href="http://citygrill.eventbrite.com.au" target="_blank">City Grill— An Election Forum More Magnificent Than Any Ever Seen</a>!</b>, Saturday 18 October 2014<br>Connect with your candidates, get your voice heard by joining with others in your community, and Influence the future of the city</i></div></div><div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><i><br></i></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Sep 30, 2014 at 12:07 AM, Daniel Mezick <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dan@newtechusa.net" target="_blank">dan@newtechusa.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
Hi John, <br>
<br>
Yours is a very interesting story. <br>
<br>
You say: <br>
<br>
<br>
<big><big><i>"...To be honest</i><i><b> I am not sure</b></i><i> how
I need to deal with this, though </i><i><b>my strategy is to
accept the authority</b></i><i> for hosting the space in the
next workshop, </i><i><b>obsolving the department of their
responsibility</b></i><i> to manage the day.</i><i>"</i></big></big><big><big><i><br>
<br>
"...I don't think it is feasible for the obvious authority
candidates hosting something genuinely participatory. </i><i><b>The
relevant director has said she doesn't want to speak
formally and become The Authority for the day</b></i><i>, a
position I agree with.</i><i>"</i></big></big><br>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
In the situation as described, it sounds like the org is the very
earliest stages of moving in a direction of more
open/participatory/inviting. <br>
<br>
Do you agree with this assessment?<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
If this assessment is correct, based on what you describe, I would
probably avoid attempting Open Space in the canonical form
whatsoever (as described in the OST GUIDE) because the Sponsor
role is vacant. Unoccupied. And so, by my reckoning, if I
understand you right, a true Open Space event isn't even possible,
because the essential OST-Sponsor-role is in fact not willingly
occupied by anyone with enough authority to play that essential
role well. <br>
<br>
What's clear is that someone who could function as OST-Sponsor is
currently unwilling to do so. And so I might try a "taster" or
"demo" event instead, where the goal is to <i>learn about Open
Space in general</i>, and do a <i>little</i> bit of "real" work
too. Especially if the allotted time a mere 1/2 day, I am even
more inclined to strongly favor this re-framing of the stated
goals.<br>
<br>
So the primary and stated goal for the "taster" is learning about
OST. Another goal for a short event might be to see who shows up
super-interested in the art of Facilitation, and then offer to
mentor those who do self-select by showing interest. In this
manner some Facilitation capacity is developed inside the org, to
help with current meetings and processes. Introducing Facilitation
into typical meetings is a easy and effective "culture hack".<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
For me, the total unwillingness of an obvious candidate to occupy
the Sponsor role is a huge warning signal to slow down, pause, or
even stop. <br>
<br>
Lots of people here have more experience than me, and might be
willing to lend you some of their expertise regarding the
authority dynamics of Facilitating an OST event with the essential
OST-Sponsor-role completely vacant<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Kind Regards,<br>
Daniel <br>
<br>
</div><div><div class="h5">
<br>
<div>On 9/28/14 11:30 PM, John Baxter wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default">I am navigating some
challenging authority dynamics in a project at the moment.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">I was brought in a week
out from the first of three forums, and asked to 'facilitate a
codesign process' which was at that stage a black box (with
many hidden expectations) scheduled into that event (1 hour
before lunch and 1 hour afterwards).</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">It's a long journey, but
you can imagine how my role has changed as I prepare for the
third forum which I am hosting in Open Space.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">The overall process is an
engagement between a government department and their funded
agencies. The most obvious direct power dynamics are obvious,
the effective power and authority dynamics are much more
complex (though predictable).</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">
<div class="gmail_default">Department staff have authority
challenges as much as the agencies. They are trying so hard
to be 'neutral' and 'non controlling' that they are
effectively reinforcing their own authority positions (which
often have little real correlation to the power, knowledge
etc that they imagine them to).</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">To be honest I am not sure how I
need to deal with this, though my strategy is to accept the
authority for hosting the space in the next workshop,
obsolving the department of their responsibility to manage
the day.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">It has been interesting to
watch push back so far from agency reps who are committed to
participating, who are genuinely engaged, but are playing to
an us-them tension that is getting in the way of the shared
work (and serves them no good ends except protecting them from
their own responsibility). Stand-offishness is gradually
being resolved, though some pockets are holding firm.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">I am crossing my fingers
for WS3 that we can traverse these and get into Open Space
without being pushed off the bridge by the reactionary
tension; and that once on the other side, the department reps
can embrace Open Space and take responsibility for their role.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">We will get across <i>as
long as I have the authority</i> to host the space for them.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">I don't think it is
feasible for the obvious authority candidates hosting
something genuinely participatory. The relevant director has
said she doesn't want to speak formally and become The
Authority for the day, a position I agree with.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">But it does leave
something of a shell, where I am crossing my fingers that our
time together thus far affords me the authority to host that
space.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default">I think we are ready. I am
bringing my harness and floaties just in case.</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all">
<div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
<div>
<div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><font color="#663300" face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif"><b><i>John
Baxter</i></b></font></div>
<div><i>CoCreate
Adelaide Facilitator, Director of Realise consultancy</i></div>
<div><a href="http://cocreateadl.com/localgov%E2%80%8B" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">CoCreateADL.com
</a> | <a href="http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">jsbaxter.com.au</a></div>
<div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><font color="#444444" face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif">0405
447 829</font>
<div><font color="#444444" face="'trebuchet ms', sans-serif">
| </font></div>
<span>@</span><a href="http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_" target="_blank">jsbaxter_</a></div>
<div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
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Magnificent Than Any Ever Seen</a></i>, Saturday 18
October 2014<br>
Influence your city by building relationships and
joining voices with others in your community</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 12:26 PM,
Daniel Mezick via OSList <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> Hi Harrison,<br>
<br>
So interesting how the Law of 2 Feet authorizes me, and
every other member of an OST event, to go anywhere we may
want to go. <br>
<br>
Without asking anyone else for any kind of "permission"...
<br>
<br>
<br>
Reminds me of this past June, being in Camden with you,
and Ethelyn, and Harold, and friends... when we were
standing on the porch of that Camden restaurant... waiting
for everyone to arrive, and assemble for dinner... <br>
<br>
And as we wait, I notice there is this convenient-looking,
alternate entry-door... into the dining area. <br>
<br>
And I say: "Hmm...I wonder if we are authorized to use
that door."<br>
<br>
And you say: <br>
<br>
"We're authorized to go Anywhere we want to go."<br>
<br>
...and I like that.<br>
<br>
Daniel<br>
<br>
<br>
Picture of that place:<br>
<a href="https://twitter.com/DanielMezick/status/483054326265692161" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/DanielMezick/status/483054326265692161</a><br>
See also:<br>
<a href="https://twitter.com/danielgullo/status/483434622009999360" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/danielgullo/status/483434622009999360</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<img alt="" src="cid:part8.01020705.05070206@newtechusa.net" height="303" width="225">
<div>
<div>
<div>On 9/25/14 4:58 PM, Harrison Owen wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Daniel...
You really did it! I think. Your language
comes from a place I don’t know... which is to
say that I probably wouldn’t say what you say
in the way that you do (duh). BUT when I run
my “translator” it comes out sounding pretty
good! So... I can’t help with the questions
you have raised. Actually I think you are
doing pretty well on your own, and (hopefully)
will incite others to a similarly riotous
performance. Thanks!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Harrison
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Winter
Address</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">7808
River Falls Drive</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Potomac,
MD 20854</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="tel:301-365-2093" value="+13013652093" target="_blank">301-365-2093</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Summer
Address</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">189
Beaucaire Ave.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Camden,
ME 04843</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="tel:207-763-3261" value="+12077633261" target="_blank">207-763-3261</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Websites</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="http://%20www.openspaceworld.com" target="_blank"> www.openspaceworld.com</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"><a href="http://www.ho-image.com" target="_blank">www.ho-image.com</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">OSLIST
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family: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">http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org</a></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d"> </span></p>
<div>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #b5c4df 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext">
OSList [<a href="mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org</a>]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Daniel Mezick via
OSList<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, September 25, 2014
9:39 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [OSList] Authority
Distribution in Open Space</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">Greetings
to All, <br>
<br>
For the past several years I have attended
conferences of the Group Relations community,
and encouraged others to do the same. I've
studied their literature, and harvested some
important learning as a result. One of the
things I have come to understand a little bit
better is the role of "authority dynamics" in
self-organizing social systems.<br>
<br>
Link:<br>
<a href="http://www.akriceinstitute.org" target="_blank">www.akriceinstitute.org</a><br>
<br>
Over the past several years I've been using Open
Space with intent to improve the results of my
work in helping companies implement Agile ideas
in their organizations. We do an initial Open
Space, then the folks get about 3 months to play
with Agile (we carefully use the word
"experimentation" with management,) then we do
another Open Space after that, to inspect what
just happened across the enterprise. The initial
and subsequent Open Space events form a "safe"
container or field in which the members can <i>learn</i>...
as they explore how to <i>improve</i> together
by <i>experimenting</i> with new practices, and
see if they actually work. I call the process
Open Agile Adoption. <br>
<br>
Link:<br>
OpenAgileAdoption.com<br>
<br>
This seems to work pretty good. It seems to
"take the air out of" most of the fear, most of
the anxiety and most of the worry that is
created. The key aspect is <i>consent</i>:
absolutely no one is forced to do anything they
are unwilling to do. No one is <i>coerced</i>
to <i>comply</i>. Everyone is instead
respectfully <i>invited</i> to help <i>write</i>
the story, and be a <i>character</i> in the
story...of the contemplated process change. Open
Agile Adoption encourages a spirit of
experimentation and play. <br>
<br>
The spirit of Open Space is the spirit of
freedom. Isn't it? In the OST community, we
discuss and talk a lot about self-organization,
self-management and self-governance. The Agile
community also talks about these ideas a lot. <br>
<br>
So I have some questions. What is really going
on during self-organization in a social system?
What are the steps? What information is being
sent and received? >From whom, and by whom?
Is the information about <i>authority</i>
important? How important? Can a social system
self organize without regard to who has the
right to do what work? <i>How do decisions that
affect others get made in a self-organizing
system?</i> <br>
<br>
Who decides about <i>who decides</i>? How
important is the process of <i>authorization</i>
in a self-organizing system? Is
self-organization in large part the process of
dynamic authorization (and <i>de-authorization</i>)
in real time?<br>
<br>
What <i>is </i>authorization? Can
self-organization occur without the sending and
receiving of authorization data by and between
the members?<br>
<br>
Is Bruce Tuckman's
forming/storming/performing/adjourning actually
decomposing the <i>dynamics of authorization</i>
inside a social system?<br>
<br>
The essay below attempts to answer some of these
difficult questions. I'd love your thoughts on
it. Will you give it a look?<br>
<br>
<br>
Essay: Authority Distribution in Open Space<br>
<a href="http://newtechusa.net/agile/authority-distribution-in-open-space/" target="_blank">http://newtechusa.net/agile/authority-distribution-in-open-space/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Kind Regards,<br>
Daniel</p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">-- <br>
<br>
</p>
<p>Daniel Mezick, President</p>
<p>New Technology Solutions Inc.</p>
<p><a href="tel:%28203%29%20915%207248" value="+12039157248" target="_blank">(203)
915 7248</a> (cell)</p>
<p><span><a href="http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/" target="_blank">Bio</a></span><span>. <a href="http://newtechusa.net/blog/" target="_blank"><span>Blog</span></a>. <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/" target="_blank"><span>Twitter</span></a>.</span><span><span style="color:black"> </span></span></p>
<p><span>Examine my new book:</span><span><span style="color:black"> </span></span><span><a href="http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/" target="_blank"><span>The Culture Game </span></a></span><span>:
Tools for the Agile Manager</span><span>.</span></p>
<p>Explore Agile Team <a href="http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/" target="_blank"><span>Training</span></a>
and <a href="http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/" target="_blank"><span>Coaching.</span></a></p>
<p>Explore the <a href="http://newtechusa.net/user-groups/ma/" target="_blank"><span>Agile Boston </span></a>Community.<span> </span></p>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<div>-- <br>
<p>Daniel Mezick, President</p>
<p>New Technology Solutions Inc.</p>
<p><a href="tel:%28203%29%20915%207248" value="+12039157248" target="_blank">(203) 915
7248</a> (cell)</p>
<p><span><a href="http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/" target="_blank">Bio</a></span><span>. <a href="http://newtechusa.net/blog/" target="_blank"><span>Blog</span></a>. <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/" target="_blank"><span>Twitter</span></a>.<span> </span></span></p>
<p><span>Examine my new book:<span> </span><a href="http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/" target="_blank"><span>The Culture Game </span></a></span><span>:
Tools for the Agile Manager</span><span>.</span></p>
<p>Explore Agile Team <a href="http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/" target="_blank"><span>Training</span></a> and <a href="http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/" target="_blank"><span>Coaching.</span></a></p>
<p>Explore the <a href="http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/" target="_blank"><span>Agile Boston </span></a>Community.<span> </span></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
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</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
</div></div><div>-- <br>
<p>Daniel Mezick, President</p>
<p>New Technology Solutions Inc.</p>
<p><a href="tel:%28203%29%20915%207248" value="+12039157248" target="_blank">(203) 915 7248</a> (cell)</p>
<p><span><a href="http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/" target="_blank">Bio</a></span><span>. <a href="http://newtechusa.net/blog/" target="_blank"><span>Blog</span></a>. <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/" target="_blank"><span>Twitter</span></a>.<span> </span></span></p>
<p><span>Examine my new book:<span> </span><a href="http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/" target="_blank"><span>The Culture Game </span></a></span><span>: Tools for the Agile Manager</span><span>.</span></p>
<p>Explore Agile Team <a href="http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/" target="_blank"><span>Training</span></a> and <a href="http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/" target="_blank"><span>Coaching.</span></a></p>
<p>Explore the <a href="http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/" target="_blank"><span>Agile
Boston </span></a>Community.<span> </span></p>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote></div><br></div>