Birgitt, thank you for your answer. You asked me also:
>I loved your story about the merger. Could you give details about how the >companies "were convinced" to use Open Space and what feedback you've >gotten since the event. I would really like to know much more. Let me start with the feedback. It was very enthusiastic after the event. Already three weeks later another smaller group in this company had tried OST on it's own. At the end of the Open Space event many participants said that this was the best thing that could have happened to start the merger. Several of them said also that this event would save them many trips from Berlin to Cologne or vice versa. How did I convince them? I don't know. An OD-person invited me in and introduced me to the CEO. He liked the idea. He saw the chance to demonstrate to the employees that the old times with authoritarian leadership are over. (His predecessor was a very authoritarian type.) And he saw a chance to integrate the western and the eastern part smoothly. Since the unification of both germanies 7 years ago is in "the new states" (the eastern ones) generally perceived as a takeover and not a merger, it was especially important to do it differently with this merger. Paradoxically the company is "the materialization" of the german longing for security and for "staying in control". Its business is technical surveillance. It started 200 years ago with inspecting steam engines (to keep them from exploding). Nowadays this company scrutinizes and certifies everything from cars (every car has to be inspected every two years in Germany and you are not allowed to drive if it is not technically ok), nuclear power plants, elevators to quality management systems. I am glad that I had the chance to open up space there. Matthias zur Bonsen Frankfurt, Germany mzurbon...@compuserve.com
