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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Kari, thank you for bringing this theme up again,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Thank you so much for this beautiful reminder Peggy, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>and thank you Birgitt !!!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>for leading the way for Open Space Organizations and sharing you deep knowledge so generously<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>With gratitude to all of you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Tova<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Peggy Holman via OSList<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, August 09, 2018 1:33 AM<br><b>To:</b> Open Listserv <oslist@lists.openspacetech.org><br><b>Cc:</b> Peggy Holman <peggy@peggyholman.com><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [OSList] Is there experience in developing Open Space further in organizations and networks after the initial intervention<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Kari,<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Check out Birgitt William’s stories in the OSlist archives about the social service organization she ran as an Open Space Organization. Among her posts, my favorite is one where she listed her lessons about Open Space Organizations:<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org/msg03764.html">https://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org/msg03764.html</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>My story of the Open Space Organization Part 2 of 4<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>18 Jan 2001<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>I’ve put an excerpt from it below called Ingredients of the Open Space Organization.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Another favorite insight from Birgitt is captured in this <a href="https://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org/msg02865.html">message</a>, called Open Space client opportunity from July 20, 2000:<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><pre style='white-space:pre-wrap;word-wrap: break-word'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>IN EACH AND EVERY EXAMPLE INCLUDING THE ONE AT WESLEY, ABOUT THREE<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>TO<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>FOUR MONTHS AFTER THE FIRST OPEN SPACE EVENT AND ONCE SOME OF THE NEW WAYS<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>OF OPERATING ARE IN PLACE, THERE IS A REVOLT BY STAFF THAT IS VERY LARGE<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>AND AWFUL FOR THE LEADERSHIP. Even though staff want the change at the<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>start, they rebel and get very angry at the leadership. In all cases it is<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>about this time that leadership ends up in tears, wondering if they have<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>made a BIG mistake, doubting themselves as competent leaders.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>COACHING/MENTORING/HAND HOLDING from the consultant is critical at this<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>time just as the midwife holding the hand of the woman in labour when<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>things start to get really bad just before birth. It is exactly the time<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>not to try to fight what is happening, and the most important thing the<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>coach can do is to reassure and to tell stories of how "normal" this stage<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>is. When everyone gets through this stage, staff start talking about how<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>angry they were but how they now get it. And leaders talk about their anger<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>at Open Space but when asked if they would do it over again, always say<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>that they WOULD. In every case they said that although the transition had<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>been very painful, that the stuff was out in the open that had always been<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>under the surface and had always gotten in the way (ie: Dead Moose stuff)<o:p></o:p></span></pre><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>*****<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><pre style='white-space:pre-wrap;word-wrap: break-word'><b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>Ingredients of the Open Space Organization</span></b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>Below, I present a list of what we learned to pay attention to as an Open<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>Space Organization. We refined this during those three years, actively and<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>intentionally learning together to capture what worked.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>1. The grief cycle at work promoting understanding and tolerance<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>All staff were introduced to an understanding of the cycle of griefwork and<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>challenged to view situations within Wesley Urban Ministries from a<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>perspective that rather than dealing with "resistance to change", we could<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>be dealing with a person working through the grief cycle. This promoted<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>understanding and tolerance, and brought a shift towards deferring judgement<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>about others.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>2. Storytelling promoting awareness, collectiveness, empathy, truth<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>Time was taken at regular intervals, every three months or so, for staff to<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>tell stories. These were stories of the organization, of their immediate<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>work in the organization or the larger context. Story telling time was seen<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>as valuable, with all stories-sads, glads, and mads-being valued. Sometimes<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>pictures and other artifacts accompanied the story telling. Through the<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>story telling, we wove a story of a corporate culture that fostered social<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>justice and valued all people as precious.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>3. The story of the organization including purpose, values and vision<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>We worked to achieve great clarity about our purpose, values and vision<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>throughout the organization that was understood by all who were involved<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>with the organization. The purpose, values, and vision were taken into<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>account during every Policy and Operating decision that was made. All<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>decisions and actions were upheld to ensure congruity with the purpose,<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>values and vision.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>4. The deep essence, working with what is not seen including Spirit<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>We realized that much of what we spent our energy on as an organization<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>especially energy in dealing with conflicts involved attention to behaviors<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>and actions. As a staff we started talking about a theory that was known as<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>the "iceberg theory", attesting that most of what was really going on in the<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>organization was below the level of the visible (behaviors and actions) and<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>at the levels of emotion, meaning, perception and interpretation. We started<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>putting more energy to discussing the unseen. Some of this was done by our<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>discussions about purpose, values and vision. Equally as valuable to<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>shifting our attention to what we started calling the deeper essence of the<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>organization was to spend time regularly to discuss our assumptions about<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>the organization, and about specific areas of work. And we had discussions<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>about the role of Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>5. Holding as many meetings as possible using Open Space Technology<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>Every Open Space Technology meeting we held was designed to bring results.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>Sometimes key areas were identified that we agreed required further Open<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>Space Technology meetings. We held an annual two day Open Space Technology<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>meeting for organization-wide strategic planning, periodic full day Open<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>Space Technology meetings within different working units, and regular<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>monthly short four hour Open Space Technology meetings to discuss key items<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>that had emerged.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>6. When holding a meeting that is task focused that is not appropriate for<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>Open Space Technology, we held the meeting with process and format conducive<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>to the values inherent in Open Space Technology including sitting in a<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>circle with no tables, using process facilitation involving whole brain and<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>intuition.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>7. Recognizing when a meeting was open for participation or was simply to<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>provide predetermined direction and information.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>When providing predetermined direction and information, we were clear that<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>the meeting was not a participative one and we kept those to a minimum and<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>short.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>8. Working with chaos by learning about it and navigating with it rather<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>than trying to manage it.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>We had discussions within the organization about chaos, about chaos and<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>change being constant and how to work with it. We started using words like<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>navigating with change and started to talk about and laugh about the<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>impossibility of managing change. This affected how we did our planning,<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>shifting us away from linear goal setting and strategic planning, and<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>leaving room for new opportunities as they emerged.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>9. Formal leadership committed to leading in a different way.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>We altered the role of management to one in which we identified management<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>tasks as those that removed barriers for the job to get done, and one that<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>ensured that we provided resources for the job to get done. A significant<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>way of doing this was managing the organization in a way that paralleled the<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>Open Space Technology meeting, complete with an ongoing bulletin board and<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>opportunities to attend discussion sessions that could be set by anyone,<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>based on passion and responsibility. At the Board level, it was essential<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>that the Board was in a policy governance model.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>10. Clarifying "givens" for the organization and clarifying "givens" for<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>each OST meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>This was probably the biggest breakthrough that we had in our journey to<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>become and then sustain ourselves as an Open Space Organization. After the<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>third month of Open Space Technology meetings, staff rebelled at the start<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>of a meeting saying that they did not want any more of these meetings. When<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>we discussed what the trouble was, amidst a great deal of anger from the<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>staff, they said that every time they came up with a creative solution at an<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>Open Space Technology meeting, they felt shut down afterwards by finding out<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>about some reason why it couldn't be done. Usually the reason was legitimate<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>and usually I was the one who gave it. I had been unaware of this or the<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>impact. My intentions were good. It was also apparent that staff were<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>rebelling against the new responsibilities for solutions in the<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>organization. This is what Harrison Owen called "freedom shock".<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>This took us to discussing the "givens" or limits that we worked within as<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>an organization. We then pared the "givens" down to what truly was a "given"<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>and all staff, Board and volunteers proceeded with our Open Space Technology<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>meetings, knowing up front what was and was not doable.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>11. Bringing the processes and changes to everyone's awareness<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>We frequently discussed organizational processes and changes so that we all<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>paid attention to the organizational whole and how it ran. This enabled us<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>all to be "keepers of the vision" and to move forward as a collective whole,<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>each person being given the chance to make his/her personal meaning out of<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>it all.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>12. Organizational lifecycle<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>We studied and worked with knowledge about organizational lifecycles and<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>worked intentionally to challenge ourselves to keep ourselves at peak<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>performance in relation to structure being appropriate to support the spirit<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>of the organization and of achieving the purpose.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>13. Understanding authority, accountability, and responsibility in a<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>framework of working with energy from passion and responsibility.<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>We worked from a belief that all people were precious and valuable and that<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>the wisdom to do what needed to be done was amongst the people involved with<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>the organization. In doing so, we had discussions about accountability,<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>authority, and responsibility to ensure that we were clear about these while<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>simultaneously working with passion and capturing maximum energy to move<o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Courier'>things forward without getting in our own way with too many rules.<o:p></o:p></span></pre></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='color:black'>Peggy Holman<br>Co-founder<br>Journalism That Matters<br>15347 SE 49th Place<br>Bellevue, WA 98006<br>206-948-0432<br><a href="http://www.journalismthatmatters.org">www.journalismthatmatters.org</a><br><a href="http://www.peggyholman.com">www.peggyholman.com</a><br>Twitter: @peggyholman<br>JTM Twitter: @JTMStream<br><br>Enjoy the award winning <a href="http://www.engagingemergence.com">Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity</a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><br><br><o:p></o:p></p><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><div><p class=MsoNormal>On Aug 7, 2018, at 9:20 AM, Harrison Owen via OSList <<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Kari… The answer is YES – with multiple examples. Long, long ago in the Great State of Kentucky (USA), Some strange things happened…</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b>The University of Kentucky Center for Rural Health Loyd Kepferle and Karen Main</b><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>For reasons remaining somewhat obscure, it turns out that Open Space often migrates from the status of "meeting methodology" towads a new status as, "the way we do business around here." One might assume that an organization doing business in an open space mode would accomplish little. That does not seem to be the reality, for Open Space frames the total operation, and internally there is an appropriate alternation between open exploration of new opportunities and pre-determined, structured responses to known situations. The key word is "appropriate." In those situations where people know what to do and there are systems in place to take care of that particular business, that is the way things work. On the other hand, when novelty is the order of the day open space becomes the dominant mode. The people in Kentucky have been experimenting with all of this, and what follows is a description of their efforts. vvvvvv The employees of the Center for Rural Health believe that the Center exists as one mechanism for making life better for people who live in rural Kentucky and rural America. These people include our students, our patients, our constituents and of course, ourselves. We try to make life better by educating people for better 40 careers in health care, through the health services provided in our clinic, through our Community programs which help people improve their health care systems, through research and policy analysis coupled with advocacy for improving health in rural areas, and through programs which will help all of our employees achieve their potential. The Center is a complex organization functioning within the rules of a much larger bureaucracy to which we are accountable (the University Kentucky Medical School). While the philosophy enunciated below is one of personal empowerment, we recognize that we are not empowered to act in ways that are contradictory to University rules and regulations. Some of our programs, such as the academic programs, may be more constrained by these rules than others, such as Community Programs. In addition, while we espouse an egalitarian philosophy, we recognize that for the purposes of accountability, there is an implicit hierarchy within the Center. For example, while employees interested in technology are strongly urged to explore innovations that may help our programs, they will require information from the Center Administrator regarding availability of funds since the Administrator is accountable to the Director for not overspending the Center's budget. In this example, however, if funds were not available from the Center, this information would only lead the technology group to consider other funding sources. It would not negate their right to improve our programs. We believe that even with these limitations, the vast majority of problems and opportunities which come to the Center can be resolved by maximizing the talents and creativity of our 41 employees through empowerment. In this regard, we believe that all of us are using our abilities to make the Center succeed. ALL OF OUR CONTRIBUTIONS ARE EQUAL. In these efforts there is no hierarchy or "chain of command". We simply perform different functions. To operationalize this philosophy, we are working hard to make a process we experimented with a reality in every day life at the Center. The process is called "Open Space". The main idea of this process is that "People who care most passionately about a problem or opportunity have the RIGHT and the RESPONSIBILITY to do something about it". This basic idea supersedes all notions of a hierarchical organizational structure which requires individuals with problems or ideas to proceed through several layers of authority in order to articulate a problem/solution or idea before it can be addressed or implemented. Underlying this approach is the idea that success is dependent on commitment which comes from Ownership which is dependent on power. There are only five constraints on this model of personal empowerment: 1. When a problem or opportunity is to be discussed, there must be wide notification of the meeting time and place so anyone who is interested can attend. 2. Proposed solutions/ideas must be broadcast widely so they can be acknowledged as Center policies, programs or procedures; or, if they are contradictory to University of Kentucky rules, another solution can be sought. 3. Proposed solutions cannot be hurtful to anyone else. 4. Proposed solutions should channel our limited resources in such a way as to have maximum impact on achieving 42 our goal. 5. Accomplishing the work for which we were hired takes precedence over our group work. However, if the RIGHT people (those who really care) are involved in any topic, they will find a way to make sure their work is completed and the work of the group is brought to a successful conclusion. There are NO CONSTRAINTS on the following: 1. Who can call a meeting. 2. The type of problem or opportunity that is being addressed. 3. The availability of time to have a meeting. 4. Who may attend a meeting. 5. The availability of information necessary for a group to work. Open Space assumes a consensual process will be observed by the ad hoc groups that form and that all ideas will be considered respectfully by the people in the group. Within a group, the convener takes responsibility for articulating the situation under discussion. Another member of the group will act as a recorder. Between the two of them they will develop a brief report of the meeting and circulate it to everyone else at the Center. The ad hoc group may choose to modify its plans based on feedback. In this kind of organization there is little reason for an ongoing committee structure. Some groups, for example the academic program heads, may have reason to meet on a regular basis. But we believe committees are most useful when they are composed of people who are really interested and when they are established to deal with relatively discreet situations and then dissolved. While we believe this is a good way to develop a truly successful organization, it is an approach to organizational behavior which is fraught with insecurity which, in the short run, may produce fear, anger and frustration. It will take a long time for 43 those of us who have lived in hierarchical and paternalistic organizations to believe we are really empowered. We, at the Center for Rural Health, recognize this philosophy is somewhat revolutionary and will be uncomfortable for all of us some of the time. But we also believe people do their best when they are empowered to control the conditions that affect them. We also think that solutions which are imposed on people rather than generated by the people who are affected are doomed to failure. Finally, we think we have a wonderful opportunity to test this theory because of the quality of the people who work for the Center. If we are wrong, then, in the spirit of Open Space, we are empowered to throw it out and adopt another philosophy. For further information contact: Loyd Kepferle / Karen Main Center for rural Health 100 Airport Garden Drive.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>And if you want your own copy (with many other examples) go to<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/"><span style='color:purple'>www.openspaceworld.com</span></a><span class=apple-converted-space> </span>Look in “Books,” and check out “Tales From Open Space.” Can’t rember when we published it, but sometime in the ‘90’s. A while ago.<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Harrison<o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Winter Address</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>7808 River Falls Dr.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Potomac, MD 20854</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>301-365-2093</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Summer Address</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>189 Beaucauire Ave</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Camden, ME 04843</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>207 763-3261</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Websites</span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/"><span style='color:purple'>www.openspaceworld.com</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><a href="http://www.ho-image.com/"><span style='color:purple'>www.ho-image.com</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm'><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span class=apple-converted-space><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> </span></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>OSList [<a href="mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org"><span style='color:purple'>mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org</span></a>]<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><b>On Behalf Of<span class=apple-converted-space> </span></b>Kári Gunnarsson via OSList<br><b>Sent:</b><span class=apple-converted-space> </span>Monday, August 6, 2018 8:06 AM<br><b>To:</b><span class=apple-converted-space> </span><a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org"><span style='color:purple'>oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</span></a><br><b>Cc:</b><span class=apple-converted-space> </span>Kári Gunnarsson<br><b>Subject:</b><span class=apple-converted-space> </span>[OSList] Is there experience in developing Open Space further in organizations and networks after the initial intervention</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Hi my dear open space family<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>I wonder if there is experience in developing Open Space further in organizations and networks after the initial intervention and how we could, each of us, go about inviting this experience to participating in the next and future Wosonos events.<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Who are the people that want to explor how to develop the OST approach further in their organizations and networks? I think we usually call them sponsors!<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>With love <o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal>Kári<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div></div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'>_______________________________________________<br>OSList mailing list<br>To post send emails to<span class=apple-converted-space> </span></span><a href="mailto:OSList@lists.openspacetech.org"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:purple'>OSList@lists.openspacetech.org</span></a><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'><br>To unsubscribe send an email to<span class=apple-converted-space> </span></span><a href="mailto:OSList-leave@lists.openspacetech.org"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:purple'>OSList-leave@lists.openspacetech.org</span></a><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'><br>To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:<br></span><a href="http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:purple'>http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org</span></a><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif'><br>Past archives can be viewed here:<span class=apple-converted-space> </span></span><a href="http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org"><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:purple'>http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></p></div></blockquote></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></body></html>