Interesting view I have some thoughts on this as an agile practitioner/coach/trainer… mainly based around self-organisation and links to anarcho syndicalism and believe it or not mission command… ☺
No time atm to expand but at some point I will.. K From: Rijon Erickson <[email protected]> Date: Friday, 1 July 2022 at 03:25 To: Michael Herman <[email protected]> Cc: Suzanne Daigle <[email protected]>, [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: [OSList] Open Space, Agile and Grief Work Michael and Suzanne, I must admit I’m envious of your journeys into Open Space that were sponsored by Scrum Alliance and Agile Alliance in the past. They sound like truly transformative and engaging experiences. I’m also quite enthused about what Tobias is planning to do in September with Suzanne holding the space. I’m looking forward to participating. As for the openness of the Agile (industry/profession/community) in 2022, I’m somewhat less enthused. I only discovered Agile in 2015, and Open Space Technology in 2018, so I don’t have the direct experience and connection to the roots of Agile as I expect that many of you here on the list do. I have a rather long story to tell, but as far as the topic of Agile and Open Space goes, it comes down to this: I’ve had a torrid love affair with Agile. We broke up amicably when I got cancer in 2019. Now that I’m back, we’re running in the same circles, but frankly, the magic is gone - and I’m fine with that. As far as Open Space goes, it was love at first sight. She stayed with me during my cancer. She is the love of my life and I couldn’t be happier about it. At this moment, I’m neither seeing nor feeling the heart and spirit of Open Space among those who seem to comprise the Agile community, whatever that means. Maybe that’s my own bubble. In my view, Agile is of sound body and mind, but it has very little heart (Alistair Cockburn and Peter Stevens seem like the lone embers), and no spirit. I grieve for the Agile you knew. I don’t know what to feel about that Agile that exists today. Maybe I’ll feel differently tomorrow. I’m prepared to be surprised. On Tue, Jun 28, 2022 at 3:56 PM Michael Herman <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: This is great to see. I facilitated the open space at the Scrum Gathering in 2008. What I remember, even way back then, is that it was the first time I ever walked around an open space gathering (that wasn't an OT or OSONOS) and could overhear conversations about and references to open space that weren't about the current gathering. They were talking about OS experiments they'd done in other places, in their real work. Later that year, Diana Larsen asked me to facilitate an Agile Alliance board retreat in OS. She deserves a lot of credit for waving the open space banner in the Agile world as it emerged. One of the board members surprised me at that meeting, recounting how impactful it had been when I'd facilitate a track of the first-ever Agile conference back in 2002, soon after the Manifesto showed up. Surprised, cuz I hadn't done anything since then. It was all Diana and others who'd kept blowing on those coals, keeping a slice of open space as part of the annual conference, initiating small grants for local user groups to host small conferences in open space, incorporating it in the board meetings. Larry Peterson was also part of the work with the Alliance board. I told the Agile folks in 2002, when they first explained to me what they were doing, "You're making software in Open Space!" That event was a mutual exchange, as they taught me how to set up and manage a wiki, which for a long time was central to the structure of openspaceworld.org<https://url6.mailanyone.net/scanner?m=1o76LO-000586-4t&d=3%7Cmail%2F14%2F1656642000%2F1o76LO-000586-4t%7Cin6h%7C57e1b682%7C10977208%7C9441127%7C62BE5B0E7DF35E68C3BFC01734030BDD&s=ZCjOAWXARuv-_H7hOgJDGrPDC3g&o=http%3A%2F%2Fopenspaceworld.org>. The more meaningful connection between the two, I think, is that Agile is very great, very rigorous for getting things done, over time. But they don't always get a chance to really understand what we would call the "Issues and Oppportunities" for a given product or domain. Open Space is great for that, of course, but the User's Guide didn't say much about "keeping it going" beyond simply, "repeat." Well, the sprints/cycles of Scrum are the "repeat." So I have been saying for a long time that Agile is a kind of ongoing Open Space. More about this is explained in my website, michaelherman.com<https://url6.mailanyone.net/scanner?m=1o76LO-000586-4t&d=3%7Cmail%2F14%2F1656642000%2F1o76LO-000586-4t%7Cin6h%7C57e1b682%7C10977208%7C9441127%7C62BE5B0E7DF35E68C3BFC01734030BDD&s=1SJq8BCzU2Z5SsZGLbLrEkmiHQo&o=http%3A%2F%2Fmichaelherman.com>. As far as I'm concerned, there's a good case to be made that Open Space IS an "Agile Method." And I'd credit Dan Mezick for recognizing this early on, helping me get started officially as an agile practitioner, coaching scrum teams, and doing much to make practice connections between OS and Agile. Over the years, I've continued work both sides of the story, but when I'm coaching teams, the full-body sensation, all my inclinations, my posture and so on is straight out of what I learned from Harrison and so many others on this list, about working and being in Open Space. So I'd encourage anyone here who loves working in open space to explore Agile, cuz my experience is they're the same sort of fun: "We put all the most important stuff on the wall, and then we get it done!" Michael -- Michael Herman Michael Herman Associates 312-280-7838 (mobile) MichaelHerman.com<https://url6.mailanyone.net/scanner?m=1o76LO-000586-4t&d=3%7Cmail%2F14%2F1656642000%2F1o76LO-000586-4t%7Cin6h%7C57e1b682%7C10977208%7C9441127%7C62BE5B0E7DF35E68C3BFC01734030BDD&s=1SJq8BCzU2Z5SsZGLbLrEkmiHQo&o=http%3A%2F%2Fmichaelherman.com> OpenSpaceWorld.org<https://url6.mailanyone.net/scanner?m=1o76LO-000586-4t&d=3%7Cmail%2F14%2F1656642000%2F1o76LO-000586-4t%7Cin6h%7C57e1b682%7C10977208%7C9441127%7C62BE5B0E7DF35E68C3BFC01734030BDD&s=ZCjOAWXARuv-_H7hOgJDGrPDC3g&o=http%3A%2F%2Fopenspaceworld.org> On Tue, Jun 28, 2022 at 1:25 PM Rijon Erickson <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: How wonderful! It’s so great to see acknowledgment by the Open Space community of the Agile community as well as the converse. I’d love to see the proceedings from the 2010 event. Is that possible? On Tue, Jun 28, 2022 at 3:20 PM Suzanne Daigle <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Hello "Everyone"! This is a special invitation. Colleagues among colleagues. For decades, we have collaborated with our IT Agile and Scrum pals. At their conferences and in their work, many have used and incorporated Open Space Technology. Our values, goals and purpose are deeply aligned. Self-organization at the heart of it. Twelve years ago, Harrison Owen facilitated Open Space on the closing day of a 3-day Scrum Alliance conference in Orlando. Its theme: “Scrumming Forward”. It was dynamite. About 350 people attended. I was there helping in the newsroom. Tobias Mayer, who many of you know, was our lead contact. That gathering became the seminal inspiration for a two-day Open Space on “Scrum Beyond Software”, held in Phoenix Arizona in September 2010. It was preceded by a one-day of Scrum training led by Lyssa Adkins and Gerry Kirk. The convening theme of the Open Space then was: How can we apply Scrum outside of software development, in the broader world of work, in community, in science, education and so many other sectors? Indeed life? A diverse group of 40-50 trailblazers, most from technology with about a dozen from other sectors, had spirited discussions on the topic. It was life-changing and earth-shattering for many, including me. It’s as if we were peering into the possibilities of the future. I deepened my knowledge of Scrum and made many lifelong friends along the way. Today the idea of Scrum and Agile beyond Software has gone mainstream. Big time. Though there is much to expand and deepen if we are to live the philosophy and ways of working that Agile and Scrum invite. In much the same way that Open Space is also a lifelong practice. On September 24-25, Tobias and friends convened a “World in Twenty-Four Hours” virtual gathering<https://url6.mailanyone.net/scanner?m=1o76LO-000586-4t&d=3%7Cmail%2F14%2F1656642000%2F1o76LO-000586-4t%7Cin6h%7C57e1b682%7C10977208%7C9441127%7C62BE5B0E7DF35E68C3BFC01734030BDD&s=oh5WN8ZqK2ngNSDDkPhOeYbTBfM&o=https%3A%2F%2Ftobiasmayer.uk%2Fevents%2Fbeyond> to explore the depth and edges of this same theme. Many from the original group in Arizona have indicated they will attend. It will be in Open Space. Francois Knuchel and I will facilitate. I am beyond excited about this event and hope many in our Open Space community will consider joining us. Please feel free to invite others. Here<https://url6.mailanyone.net/scanner?m=1o76LO-000586-4t&d=3%7Cmail%2F14%2F1656642000%2F1o76LO-000586-4t%7Cin6h%7C57e1b682%7C10977208%7C9441127%7C62BE5B0E7DF35E68C3BFC01734030BDD&s=huPXZg_mYfoyP0UOXbJhm8ALe50&o=https%3A%2F%2Fphotos.google.com%2Fshare%2FAF1QipOTNaUUmrgSefAkbrONYTC9ivnr2uxUsntxZNsKvaNt1zQPnAsOBtilMCcA2EkBQw%3Fkey%3DdVQzdnM0SHF5eTlMY19FRUVBNXV4U09weTlLNExn> a collage of photos from 2010 Have a great day, Suzanne (in Canada for the summer) _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list -- [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list -- [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
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