thank you for sharing this description, Birgitt--and to Dylene for asking the question and to Harrison for his contribution. It's been very interesting and important to me.
I'm involved in an organization that is considering becoming an Open Space Organization. There are currently 9 of us...two who own the corporate structure and 7 of us who are independent contractors. We are already a virtual organization...two of us live in the UK; two in Washington; two in Utah; two in Virginia and one in Massachusetts. We meet electronically or via teleconference, and have about 4 meetings (face-to-face ones) a year. We spend about half of our time on the road with our customers...and the rest working remotely with them and one another from our homes. We call ourselves Adventurers, and we help high-tech support organizations change their business processes and learn to adopt new technologies that capture the organizational learning and experience. I've been following this dialog, and sharing (the questions and comments) it with my fellow adventurers. We all have a great interest in the possibilities. The business strategy we help our customers evolve to is called "Solution-Centered Support." It integrates very naturally with the Open Space structure...though we don't "package" it as such. What we do package is the need for organizations to create collaborative cultures where people find it natural to "share, collaborate, use and improve" the collective knowledge that they deliver to their customers. I had the opportunity to share Open Space with one of my fellow adventurers when I facilitated a one-day meeting with one of our client organizations for her. They were quite delighted...and we left the space open for them at the end of the day so that they could continue to meet in that place (she continues to facilitate this very critical change process with this group through OS). That experience has intrigued the other Adventurers with whom she's shared the story. As a result, we have an agreement to meet in open space at our next organizational get-together...for the purpose of creating an Open Space organizational structure. It's quite exciting to be in an open organization...and a virtual organization...and then to have the potential of becoming an Open Space organization is quite exhilarating! So...that's my little story, and a big thank you to all who have enriched my life through Open Space experiences and stories. ------------------ "Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power." —Tao Te Ching Richard Charles Holloway - P.O. Box 2361, Olympia, WA 98507 USA Telephone 253.539.4014 or 206.568.7730 Thresholds <http://www.thresholds.com> Meeting Masters <http://www.thresholds.com/masters.html>
