<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">I enjoyed your responses Harrison and Diana</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">Daniel, regards the events I described</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">- I have noticed similar behaviour across a few different events, and I don't think the context of invitation makes much difference (except that I can't imagine people really speaking up in an internal business context!).</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">The two strongest examples were a niche 'public' (expensive 'in crowd') conference, and an invite only but otherwise diverse 'crowd of interest' (~'community of practice' without ongoing activity).</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">Cheers</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><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>Cocreation Consultant & CoCreate Adelaide Facilitator</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://www.jsbaxter.com.au/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">jsbaxter.com.au</a> | <a href="http://CoCreateADL.com" target="_blank">CoCreateADL.com</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>Thank you to everyone who came, helped or spread the good word about <b>City Grill</b>!</i></div><div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><i>Summary and links: <a href="http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/" target="_blank">cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/</a></i></div></div><div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Nov 14, 2014 at 12:33 AM, 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 John,<br>
<br>
I wonder what kind of group your report of the [prescriptive
gathering] is describing. <br>
<br>
I wonder if it is:<br>
<ul>
<li>an open-to-the-public event; like a conference, or </li>
<li>a community-type gathering; like people in a community of
practice, or </li>
<li>an event inside a business org, like a corporation.<br>
</li>
</ul>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Daniel <br><div><div class="h5">
<br>
<br>
<div>On 11/13/14 12:46 AM, John Baxter via
OSList wrote:<br>
</div>
</div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div class="h5">
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">So where are all the examples of
failures to open space against the tide? Who has those?<br>
They're the ones we can really learn from...<br>
<br>
<br>
A couple come to mind, essentially the same, not quite
failure, but non-events at least, that reflect the story that
I mentioned earlier...</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">A small handful of people were
fed up with a prescriptive gathering.... mostly as a sense of
lost potential.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">Opportunity was taken to raise
this concern with the whole group.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">The organisers tweaked somewhat
in response, but ultimately in a way that did little to
address the confines of the format. (In both cases, the
organisers had planned in 'open space' working time towards
the end of the event.) That absorbed the energy for
rebellion. And in fact it meant those groups of dissidents
spent more time sharing frustrations in what little space we
could find, than actually getting down to work as we so
desired.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">What didn't work</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">a. Raising dissent about the
formal structure without either a concrete plan of action, or
sufficient space for a group to self-organise to create one...
And also when most fellow participants are probably quite
happy with the status quo. (Reflecting on this thread,
perhaps the better response would have been focusing not on
changing the existing structure, but on extending an
invitation to others from the group to work within the gaps of
that structure to have the conversations that mattered.)</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">b. Tacking on a little bit of
open space (1-3 hours) to the end of a prescriptive
gathering. We know this is a bad idea, but it is interesting
how this then absorbs the energy for self organisation.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444"><br>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all">
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<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>Cocreation
Consultant & CoCreate Adelaide
Facilitator</i></div>
<div><a href="http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">jsbaxter.com.au</a> | <a href="http://CoCreateADL.com" target="_blank">CoCreateADL.com</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>
<div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><i>Thank
you to everyone who came, helped or
spread the good word about <b>City
Grill</b>!</i></div>
<div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><i>Summary
and links: <a href="http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary" target="_blank">cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary</a></i></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Nov 13, 2014 at 4:02 PM,
Suzanne Daigle <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sdaigle4@gmail.com" target="_blank">sdaigle4@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<p dir="ltr">John, some years ago I opened space in the
middle of a 3 day conference. National Alliance of Arts
and Culture... 350 people in a fancy hotel in Boston. No
possibility of creating circle of chairs but at least we
had a market place wall. I opened the space by inviting
people to create a circle in their mind. Quite surprising
that it all worked. People were in their sessions within
the hour, super engrossed to the point where many skipped
lunch.Topics got added over the course of the conference.
Breakouts self-organized in unusual places with notes
posted on walls to meet at the bar or at breakfast. Was
not ideal but it seemed to work<br>
Enough that they created an adapted monthly or bimonthly
open space like conference call for a year or two after. I
was not involved.<br>
The sponsors were pleased and the participants were
engaged. Not what I prefer but if I had to do it over
again, I totally would. <br>
Suzanne</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div>
<div>On Nov 12, 2014 7:38 PM, "John Baxter
via OSList" <<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>>
wrote:<br type="attribution">
</div>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">Thank you everyone
for your examples... I love the demonstrations
of Open Space incorporated symbiotically into
the structure of a more formal event. It is
making me rethink what is possible with
gatherings... there is strong pressure to have
prescriptive formal structures even when
everyone agrees that open space is really
needed... so I very much like the idea of
generative symbiotic combinations.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">I'm curious about
the Official Story that Open Space doesn't work
in parallel. Can anyone speak to that?</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">I look at Open
Space Technology in this context as an attempt
to bring open space from the background or the
cracks of a prescriptive structure, into the
foreground. So it should not be surprising at
all that those cracks can be expanded and built
upon with OST??</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444"><br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#444444">Thanks</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all">
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<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>Cocreation Consultant &
CoCreate Adelaide
Facilitator</i></div>
<div><a href="http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">jsbaxter.com.au</a> | <a href="http://CoCreateADL.com" target="_blank">CoCreateADL.com</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>
<div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><i>Thank
you to everyone who came,
helped or spread the good
word about <b>City Grill</b>!</i></div>
<div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><i>Summary
and links: <a href="http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary" target="_blank">cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary</a></i></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family:arial;text-align:-webkit-auto;font-size:small"><br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Nov 13, 2014 at
10:39 AM, Harold Shinsato 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"> The
Open Jam events at the Agile 20xx
conferences have increasingly been the place
where (at least in my opinion) the cool
things happen. Even though the official
story is that Open Space doesn't work in
parallel, and I've definitely seen it work
horribly in a software conference attempting
to put OST in parallel - the Agile Software
community seems to really enjoy hanging out
in this space and holding interesting
sessions on the fringes of a very well
populated main track. Even though it's not
"official OST", it's very Open Space like.<br>
<br>
Thanks to the Agile 20xx conference folks,
and to you Diane, for having this as a
constant feature in my Agile 20xx
experience!<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Harold
<div>
<div><br>
<br>
<br>
<div>On 11/12/14 3:16 PM, Diana Larsen
via OSList wrote:<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<div> One more story:
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Since 2008,, every year at the
Agile 20xx conference there has been
an area called "Open Jam" (in homage
to a now defunct Music Festival
analogy). It's usually prominently
located near the main traffic
patterns of the conference and
arranged with a variety of sub-areas
variously décor-ed with chairs of
different kinds, some tables, some
not, flip charts, markers and other
supplies for easy access, etc. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The "Open Jam" offers an
opportunity each morning of the
five-day conference to propose new,
not-on-the-formal-program sessions
that will run throughout the day.
It's right out in the Open, not sub
rosa at all, and for some attendees,
it's the best part of the
conference. Every year different
folks step up to organize it with a
very light touch.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Beyond the Open Jam, the
conference organizers work with the
new venue to emphasize the
importance of a variety of seating +
small conversation areas throughout
the facility. People use them a lot,
and at some times of day it can be
hard to find a free one.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>It's an acknowledgement of the
"always open" nature of spaces. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Diana</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
<div>
<div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;word-wrap:break-word">
<div>***********</div>
<div>Diana Larsen</div>
<div>"Your Path Through Agile
Fluency"</div>
<div><a href="http://agilefluency.com" target="_blank">http://agilefluency.com</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<br>
</div>
<br>
<div>
<div>On Nov 12, 2014, at 2:35
PM, Brendan McKeague via
OSList <<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>>
wrote:</div>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">A wee
story of <br>
<br>
Last year at a 200-participant
(tables of 8) conference,
myself and a colleague Peter
Wilde (with the blessing of
the organisers) offered an
'alternative' space to the
mainstream process.<br>
<br>
We introduced the notion of
'self-organising'
conversations at the beginning
of the conference and set up a
'market place' for
offering/requesting
conversations during the
breaks and alongside the
afternoon pre-planned workshop
sessions. The market place was
on a wall in the main meeting
area and people were invited
to go along at anytime and
post their topic, indicating
where they would meet to host
their conversations. Needless
to say, these conversations
started at the right time, at
the right place and continued
until they were over...<br>
<br>
It was a practical way to
provide meeting spaces for
those who wished to connect
with others - and it worked. <br>
<br>
Cheers<br>
Brendan<br>
<br>
<br>
On 12/11/2014, at 4:37 PM,
Jeff Aitken via OSList wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">I
remember that story Michael!
Some year afterward, John
Abbe came<br>
south from Eugene and we
cofacilitated a two day
'recent changes camp'<br>
outside and inside of the
Social Text offices in Palo
Alto. Folks from<br>
Europe were there too.<br>
<br>
Jeff<br>
<br>
On 11/11/14, Michael Herman
via OSList <<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite">first,
to paul, yes i've
definitely done as you
say. was a very small<br>
group of us, not a
conference but a "team
meeting" held too late in
the day<br>
and made everyone ripe for
some harmless mutiny. i
led the charge or made<br>
the suggestion, and the
next day we did the team
meeting in open space. we<br>
put up 8 issues, discussed
only 3, and the next
weekly meeting looked like<br>
all the previous ones,
except that the team
leader's agenda was really
just<br>
an ongoing updating of our
original 8 issues, which
were the answer to "how<br>
do we get this project
finished successfully?"
mission accomplished.<br>
<br>
next, to the main
question...<br>
<br>
some years ago, ted ernst
(who some here will
remember) and some other<br>
friends got excited about
wiki websites. they met
up in portland, drove to<br>
seattle to pick up others,
then drove all the way to
san diego, using<br>
*part* of the minivan
windshield as an open
space bulletin board,<br>
discussing all the way, to
a symposium called
wikisym.<br>
<br>
when they got there, this
merry band made themselves
stickers that said<br>
"ask me about open space."
as they met folks, they
told the story and made<br>
more stickers. pretty
soon everyone knew about
open space, a bulletin<br>
board was created on a
wall in a hallway,
sessions went up and
started<br>
happening. the conference
organizers came to the
merry band and asked them<br>
nicely not to wreck the
conference. since
wrecking was not the
intention,<br>
it was all worked out.<br>
<br>
part of that is that the
organizers asked ted to
facilitate open space at<br>
the next symposium and
make it official, so to
speak. another part was<br>
that some of the merry
band, having been teased
by these first attempts,<br>
wanted to see what
happened in a full-blown
2.5 days. so they
organized<br>
"recent changes camp"
which itself sparked a
bunch of other gatherings.<br>
<br>
gerard muller can maybe
say more about the
follow-on from the wikisym
in<br>
open space, as it was in
denmark or nearby and i
think he ended up working<br>
with ted on that one.<br>
<br>
m<br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
<br>
Michael Herman<br>
Michael Herman Associates<br>
<a href="tel:312-280-7838" value="+13122807838" target="_blank">312-280-7838</a>
(mobile)<br>
<br>
<a href="http://MichaelHerman.com" target="_blank">http://MichaelHerman.com</a><br>
<a href="http://OpenSpaceWorld.org" target="_blank">http://OpenSpaceWorld.org</a><br>
<br>
<br>
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at
9:32 PM, John Baxter via
OSList <<br>
<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">I
hosted an 'Elephants'
Gathering' at a
conference once upon a
time.<br>
<br>
I knew there were people
there I wanted to talk
to, but the program was<br>
of<br>
little interest.<br>
<br>
I didn't try to compete
with the mainstream
agenda, I put it in the<br>
evening.<br>
<br>
Nobody had any intent on
the formalities of Open
Space, but it was indeed<br>
an open space, and the
right people came (far
less than I thought
would<br>
come, but all the ones I
wanted to talk to!).<br>
<br>
Someone (Eisenstein?)
wrote a post recently, I
think posted here, about<br>
trying to subvert the
structure of a
conference and being
beaten down.<br>
My<br>
interpretation of events
obviously...<br>
<br>
The right people can
always be found in the
cracks (at the bar, the<br>
coffee<br>
station etc). Some of
them might need an
invitation.<br>
<br>
I don't think it's
appropriate to force
Open Space on the others
in a<br>
gathering who have
little interest.<br>
Good on anyone that
makes the call that Open
Space is right for
everyone<br>
and goes with it. But I
fear that may likely
more driven by ego than<br>
care<br>
(e.g the above
dramatisation).<br>
<br>
Good discussion!<br>
<br>
<br>
*John Baxter*<br>
*Cocreation Consultant
& CoCreate
Adelaide Facilitator*<br>
CoCreateADL.com <a href="http://cocreateadl.com/localgov%E2%80%8B" target="_blank"><http://cocreateadl.com/localgov%E2%80%8B></a>
|<br>
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0405 447 829<br>
| <br>
@jsbaxter_ <a href="http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_" target="_blank"><http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_></a><br>
<br>
*Thank you to everyone
who came, helped or
spread the good word
about<br>
City<br>
Grill!*<br>
*Summary and links: <a href="http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary" target="_blank">cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary</a><br>
<a href="http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary" target="_blank"><http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary></a>*<br>
<br>
<br>
On Wed, Nov 12, 2014 at
1:55 PM, Skye Hirst via
OSList <<br>
<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">yeah,
indeed flash mob Open
Space always a great
possibility. Thanks,<br>
Skye<br>
<br>
On Tue, Nov 11, 2014
at 4:09 PM, Royle,
Karl via OSList <<br>
<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">Great!<br>
<br>
Sent by iPhone<br>
Karl Royle<br>
Head of Enterprise
and Commercial
Development<br>
<br>
Faculty of Education
Health and Wellbeing<br>
University of
Wolverhampton<br>
01902323006<br>
07815416698<br>
@karlroyle. On
Twitter<br>
Karlr61 Skype<br>
<a href="http://Www.academia.edu/karlroyle" target="_blank">Www.academia.edu/karlroyle</a><br>
<br>
On 11 Nov 2014, at
20:51, "paul levy
via OSList" <<br>
<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://rationalmadness.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/w3.jpg" target="_blank"><http://rationalmadness.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/w3.jpg></a><br>
<br>
I wonder if anyone
reading this has
experiences to share
of what I am<br>
about to describe.
Most published
stories of open
space tend to go by<br>
the<br>
book. The book is
often referred to as
the *user *<br>
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm" target="_blank"><http://www.openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm></a>*guide*<br>
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm" target="_blank"><http://www.openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm></a>“,
and it tends towards<br>
a process that is
largely based on an*
instruction manual*<br>
<a href="http://elementaleducation.com/wp-content/uploads/temp/OpenSpaceTechnology--UsersGuide.pdf" target="_blank"><http://elementaleducation.com/wp-content/uploads/temp/OpenSpaceTechnology--UsersGuide.pdf></a>.<br>
Dogmatic application
manual can then
lead, in my humble
opinion, not to<br>
one<br>
less thing to do,
but often one more
thing to do. These
are “guides”<br>
not<br>
rules, and that is
the spirit in which
they were written.
In many<br>
cases,<br>
the user guide
proves remarkably
resilient and
applicable. Yet
there is<br>
always the next
moment, the new
story, the moment
that needs something<br>
playful.<br>
<br>
There’s a lot in the
manual (and the many
trainings that have
come into<br>
being from it) about
sponsors and
invitations, and the
things that need<br>
to<br>
be done before an
Open Space to ensure
the open spacer er…
opens space.<br>
I<br>
have no difficulty
with the manual.
It’s full of good
advice and is the<br>
foundation you might
just need to open
some space. But,
hey, what about<br>
this… I’m at a
company away day
that is looking at
product innovation.<br>
It<br>
is business
critical, and it is
floundering.
Powerpoint after<br>
Powerpoint<br>
has resulted in a
stifled audience,
and when they get to
breakout<br>
sessions,<br>
the flipcharts look
empty, the energy is
low, and it all
looks a bit<br>
too<br>
quiet. There’s a
feeling in the room
that the event is
dying on its<br>
feet.<br>
Several sessions are
lost in badly
facilitated action
planning. I am on<br>
the<br>
team and the lead
facilitator looks to
me for any ideas. It
must be<br>
because<br>
I am silent and
looking knowing and
wise.<br>
<br>
Actually I’m
seething inside at
this
over-facilitated,
over-designed,<br>
overplanned
conference crash. Do
you mind if I… I
ask, a bit pompously<br>
and<br>
the lead facilitator
is up for whatever
help he can get. I
leap up, and<br>
step into the mess.
I have a loud voice
and it can’t get any
worse than<br>
this. An idea has
just occurred to me
and I decide to hurl
it into the<br>
cluttered room. “Er,
hey.” I roar. “Why
don’t we open some
space?” I’m<br>
loud. It goes
silent.<br>
<br>
This is what I say:
“This is crap isn’t
it?” Silence. “Can
everyone<br>
bring their chairs
and let’s get into a
big circle. Tuts,
irritation,<br>
doubt<br>
and mostly relief.
Two minutes later
there’s a big
circle.<br>
<br>
I introduce open
space in about four
minutes and quickly
crab some flip<br>
chart paper and tack
it to the wall,
creating four
corners at new<br>
breakout<br>
spaces.<br>
<br>
I ask people to take
their chairs with
them and, within
about ten<br>
minutes we have a
whole bunch of
different sessions,
many based around<br>
action.<br>
<br>
The bosses in the
room are gobsmacked.<br>
<br>
We have a two hour
open space until
wrap up and there’s
a huge buzz in<br>
the room from this
pop-up open space.<br>
<br>
The invite was
improvised and
spontaneous.<br>
<br>
The space opened
because it wanted
and needed to. It
popped up and out<br>
as if it were the
most natural thing
in the world. It
transformed the<br>
day<br>
and sent the clutter
fleeing for cover.
It was done without
fuss and<br>
chairs<br>
from the main circle
quickly went into
breakout and back
again. The<br>
facilitator team
were edgy because
they felt they were
supposed to be<br>
doing<br>
something and I
dragged them away
for coffee. We
chatted a bit about<br>
“emergence” and I
was looked on as if
I’d done some kind
of magic. I<br>
was<br>
young and enjoyed
the attention. I was
also looked as as if
I was a bit<br>
weird. Well, I am a
bit weird. I do
wonder if pop-up
open space could<br>
and<br>
should happen a lot
more.<br>
<br>
A lot of open
spacers I know loved
improvisation and
spontaneity, yet<br>
when it comes to
open space are a bit
locked in the
process in the book<br>
of<br>
instructions – the
manual that tends to
overplay the “prep”
for the<br>
event.<br>
So, I’m waving a
flag for pop-up,
guerilla open space.
Why not open<br>
some<br>
space even for the
process of open
space? Let’s shimmy
it a little and<br>
see<br>
what falls out.<br>
<br>
“Flash mob” open
space has, I think,
a big future. My
intuition tells<br>
me<br>
a fair number of
facilitators have
done it, and a fair
few of them<br>
haven’t<br>
reported it, telling
instead there more
“responsible”
by-the-book open<br>
space stories. But
why not? Why not
open some space on
the spur of the<br>
moment? The invite
is still there -it
just takes a hell of
a lot<br>
shorter.<br>
The opportunity is
always there where
an over-organised
event is<br>
disappearing up its
own proverbial…<br>
<br>
It is also there in
an event that has
some inbuilt
flexibility. Why not<br>
throw some open
space into the
flexible mix? But
best of all, why not<br>
open<br>
space when space is
there to be open?
Self-organisation is
often crying<br>
out<br>
for a chance in the
midst of failing
over-organisation.<br>
<br>
So, here’s to some
more pop-up open
space…<br>
On 11 Nov 2014
19:59, "Peggy Holman
via OSList" <<br>
<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">Hi
all,<br>
<br>
I got the query
below from my
friend Tom Atlee.
It seemed like a<br>
great question for
the list. Since
Tom isn’t on it, I
told him that<br>
I’d<br>
forward any
responses.<br>
<br>
appreciatively,<br>
Peggy<br>
<br>
<br>
Begin forwarded
message:<br>
<br>
*From: *Tom Atlee
<a href="mailto:cii@igc.org" target="_blank"><cii@igc.org></a><br>
*Date: *November
10, 2014 at
12:51:54 PM PST<br>
*Subject:
**Guerilla Open
Space?*<br>
*To: *Peggy Holman
<a href="mailto:peggy@peggyholman.com" target="_blank"><peggy@peggyholman.com></a><br>
<br>
Hi Peggy,<br>
<br>
Thinking about the
NCDD conference, I
got the idea for
"guerilla Open<br>
Space" to be used
in conferences
where you want to
open the space in<br>
the<br>
middle of a
too-organized
gathering. It
would involve a
central<br>
website<br>
with instructions
on what to do and
why. It would
involve passing
out<br>
cards with
messages like "Is
there something
that you'd really
like to<br>
talk<br>
about or do here
that the agenda
here is preventing
you from talking<br>
about<br>
or doing?" "Would
you like to be
learning,
contributing, and
having<br>
more<br>
fun here?" with
the web address on
it. Tweets might
also be used.<br>
Then,<br>
on the main
website it would
tell people about
how to do a
guerilla<br>
open<br>
space, referring
them perhaps to <a href="http://meetup.com" target="_blank">meetup.com</a>
to arrange places
to talk.<br>
<br>
Or something like
that. Have you
heard of such
thing before? Do
you<br>
have any
thoughts/responses?<br>
<br>
Hugs,<br>
Tom<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
_________________________________<br>
Peggy Holman<br>
Executive Director<br>
Journalism that
Matters<br>
15347 SE 49th
Place<br>
Bellevue, WA
98006<br>
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<a href="http://www.peggyholman.com" target="_blank">www.peggyholman.com</a><br>
Twitter:
@peggyholman<br>
JTM Twitter:
@JTMStream<br>
<br>
Enjoy the award
winning Engaging
Emergence: Turning
Upheaval into<br>
Opportunity <a href="http://www.engagingemergence.com" target="_blank"><http://www.engagingemergence.com></a><br>
Check out my
series on what's
emerging in the
news &
information<br>
ecosystem<br>
<a href="http://www.journalismthatmatters.net/the_emerging_news_and_information_eco_system" target="_blank"><http://www.journalismthatmatters.net/the_emerging_news_and_information_eco_system></a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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