Hi, Brigitt Ann Thomas and I talked with you briefly at OT15 and you told us a little about this challenging project.
We have a few thoughts that might be helpful. One of the aspects that struck us is the conflict between union and management. Maybe finding common ground between these two groups is a precursor to moving into open space. In your options, you talk about meetings with senior level management - does this include the union? It could be critical to move management and union in parallel towards the desired future. A risk of further alienation could result from focusing only on management. In view of the short time frame, there may not be time to recover. In the open space events we have participated in, seen on video, or read about either alignment (common ground) among participants is not important (e.g., OT15) or already exists coming in (e.g., Presbyterian Church video). Our sense is that an assumption of reasonable alignment around a common goal/purpose needs to be met for the participants in open space. We speculate that when a group is not aligned, more structure than open space provides may be useful to find the common ground necessary for the group to work together on specific actions. Future Search technology (Weisbord & Janoff) is one way to do this. It shares some principles with open space. While participants do not control they agenda, they do control the content with everyone in the room of equal status. There is much more total group conversation and sharing which helps everyone understand other?s viewpoints and move toward the common ground. We recently did a one day event for people from multiple organizations that participate in a once-a-year large event that requires lots of coordinated action and agreement throughout the year. The 5 key organizations were drifting apart. The future search format worked well for them to see their common ground and incentives to work together. They left with renewed energy; its too soon to tell if this event will bring them together, but it does have promise. We wish you success in your effort. Bob Lee and Ann Thomas EDGE Consulting, Inc. explore . discover . generate . emerge Ann Arbor, MI (313) 669-9968
