Dear Ian, There is quite a bit of experience using OST in a Chinese environment. It was first introduced in the early 2000s with several practitioners using and teaching this practice. We invited Harrison for conferences in Hong Kong and ZhongShan and my colleague, Karen Lim, has translated *Open Space Technology: A User's Guide 3rd Edition*. l
Over the last twenty years, we have used OST in a range of corporate, governmental and NGO forums. My experience is that most participants find it an exciting experience and a welcome change from a traditional 'talk at you' approach to meetings while the leaders can find it challenging though they usually welcome the results. It is important to ensure that the leader understands the process and will welcome the results. There is often a feeling that the leader is suppose to know the answers and this process may feel like abdicating that responsibility. It is helpful if the senior leaders have experienced the process before they use it within their organization. We had one meeting for an industry chamber of commerce where a senior leader walked in, looked around and walked out and refused to participate. After some discussion, we found that he objected to not having a table in front of him. We arranged for a table to be provided for him when he joined a session. Later he apologised for the inconvenience he had caused. Also, much effort must be taken to determine what is the theme/question for the Open Space. It can be particularly challenging to find out what needs to be talked about and say it so everyone will feel safe. My colleagues will often emphasize what is not being said, rather than what has been said. There is often a fear that participants will not contribute questions and lead topics. I have seen a facilitator change the process by giving blank papers to each participant and asking everyone to write at least one question. They then gather these questions and organize them into groups of similar questions. They told me that this was OST with Chinese characteristics. My own experience is that as long as the space is safe there will be lots of topics. If you have further questions, feel free to reach out... Best Regards, Mark Mark Pixley Principal Facilitator LEADERSHIP INC Facilitating Organizational Change in Greater China 86-186 8895 0841 [email protected] [email protected] On Thu, Mar 7, 2024 at 11:09 PM Ian Andersen via OSList <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Friends, > In a conversation with a friend aiming to introduce OST in a Chinese > university I was trying to locate an overview of Chinese experiences. Does > anyone have an idea? Even a partial idea or some examples of situations, > challenges and outcomes? > I am particularly interested to learn if anyone has come across Chinese > cultural “resistance” to OST. > Warm regards, > Ian Andersen > Brussels > > Sent from my iPhone > OSList mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org --
OSList mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
