International Symposia on Organizational Transformation: OT 1-23
OT YEAR LOCATION & NOTES
OT1 1983 Durham, New Hampshire-Convened by Harrison Owen, Frank
Burns, Jim Shannon, Linda Ackerman, Linda Nelson, Lawry DeBivort, John Adams and others.
OT2 1984 Columbia, Maryland
OT3 1985 Monterey, California-Open Space Technology (OST) was “invented” by Harrison Owen as the methodology for OT3, which has been used as the basis of every subsequent OT Symposium. Harrison Owen was the convener for 15 years from OT3 in 1985-OT18 in 2000.
OT4 1986 Tarrytown, New York
OT5 1987 Ashridge Management College, Berhamsted, UK- Convened by John Adams. OT5 gave birth to a ten-year stream of European OT Symposia and in 1998 one in India.
OT6 1988 San Diego, California and Djuro, which is near Stockholm, Sweden
OT7 1989 Madison, Wisconsin and Amsterdam, The Netherlands
OT8 1990 Princeton, New Jersey and Lake Lucerne, Switzerland
OT9 1991 Winter Park, Colorado and Galosfa, Hungary
OT10 1992 Los Vegas, New Mexico (Armond Hammer University); ? Sweden and St. Petersburg, Russia
OT11 1993 Berkley Springs, West Virginia and Yekaterinaber, Russia
OT12 1994 Napa Valley, California; Wimborne, Dorset UK (Gaunts House); and Jurmala, Latvia
OT13 1995 Sturbridge, Massachusetts; Crete; and Altai, Russia
OT14 1996 Olympia, Washington (Evergreen State College); Wicklow Mountains, Ireland and El Bloque, Spain
OT15 1997 Highlands, North Carolina; ? Austria and El Bloque, Spain
OT16 1998 Twin Harbors, Minnesota and Auroville, India
OT17 1999 Cannon Beach, Oregon.
OT18 2000 Stowe, Vermont – Stowe was the last OT symposium convened by Harrison Owen.
OT19 2001 Pauling, New York; Dawlish, Devon UK in January and Grimstone Manor, Yelverton, devon, UK in May/June.
OT20 2002 Twin Harbors, Minnesota- This OT Symposium ended with a symbolic funeral based on the OST principle “when it’s over, it’s over.”
OT21 2003 Glentruim, Scotland- Jo Cummings, Ian Hall, John Adams and Rhoda Nussbaum and others decided that OT was not yet over! Jo and Ian hosted the OT 21 meetings in their home, which is near the center of Scotland, and assisted in arranging for bed & breakfast accommodations in the area.
OT22 2004 Forres, Scotland (Newbold House) near the Findhorn
Community- John Adams, Maggie Buxton and Ben Fuchs co-hosted and facilitated OT22, which included visit to and conversations with Findhorn residents.
OT23 2005 Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA. John Adams has been a co-
convener of OT since 1983!
To: [email protected]
From: Artur Silva <[email protected]>
Sent by: OSLIST <[email protected]>
Date: 06/01/2010 06:36PM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Organizational Transformation Conferences (was: Re: [OSLIST] ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!)What attachment are you talking about?Artur
From: Michael Herman <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tue, June 1, 2010 11:23:27 PM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Organizational Transformation Conferences (was: Re: [OSLIST] ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!)
well, well. look at that. first attachments that actually go attached and made it to the list in about a hundred years. guess we're allowed to attach files now. m
--
Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
http://www.michaelherman.com
http://www.ronanparktrail.com
http://www.chicagoconservationcorps.org
http://www.openspaceworld.org
312-280-7838 (mobile)On Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 5:13 PM, Susan M Kerr < [email protected] > wrote:
Hello Jack.
Yes, it was. I'm sorry that I hadn't read the archives you attached when I posted. I see now where you call it Chicago; it was actually just up the lake a bit in Milwaukee. The theme was Welcoming Spirit which could be, I guess, a tad amorphous but I don't recall any weirdness nor intrigue unless one counts the polka dancing that took place by some participants when we joined the Polish fest at the lakefront one evening...
The invitation is attached here. I believe Sheila truly hosted it solo as I remember being more amazed than helpful - I'm a bit institutionalized I'm afraid and was unclear of my role. (I was unsure about giving what I had which seems to be what happens around OS.)
It was a small group - about 15 from the participant list I have but it may not be the final one. Most were from the US with a few from Sweden and Scotland.
The 2nd attachment is something Sheila may have put together. It lists all the OTs, year and location, up to and including that OT23 one. I apologize for the Word docs but I don't have a webpage to post them to.
I hope this is helpful. It looks as though when the OT was in two places one year they were "numbered" the same.
Susan
Jack Martin Leith < [email protected] > Sent by: OSLIST < [email protected] >06/01/2010 04:18 PM
OSLIST < [email protected] >
[email protected] Re: [OSLIST] Organizational Transformation Conferences (was: Re: [OSLIST] ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!)
Hiya Susan.
Thanks for the information about the final OT conference, held in Milwaukee.
Is this the one that I had pegged as Chicago, convened by Sheila Isakson, Bill Isakson, Susan Kerr, and facilitated by John Adams?
Thanks for your help.
Jack
Jack Martin Leith
Leith Co-creation
London, United Kingdom
email: [email protected]
Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)
Skype: jackmartinleith
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Twitter: http://twitter.com/jackmartinleith
On 1 June 2010 03:09, Susan M Kerr < [email protected] > wrote:
Dear Artur, Jeff, and All:
Jeff, I'm sorry to contradict you but the last OT I attended did indeed take place in my home town of Milwaukee. It may have been OT 23 in 2005 but I don't keep up with dates and numbers very well. I had attended the year before in northern Scotland and fell in love with the people and the rich dialogue we had. There was richness to be found that following year in Milwaukee as well. I was (still consider myself to be) "new" to OS and thought that group was a kind of subset of this larger community and the way they stayed in contact was through this very list.
Even though I was there for the last two, if indeed they were they last two, I didn't hear any news of one the following year, in London or elsewhere. So I cannot help you, Artur, with what happened after the one in Milwaukee. Perhaps someone else who attended but hasn't had an opportunity to chime in yet will be able to shed more light.
Grateful for the learning,
Susan Kerr
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
-----OSLIST < [email protected] > wrote: -----
To: [email protected]
From: Jeff Aitken < [email protected] >
Sent by: OSLIST < [email protected] >
Date: 05/31/2010 06:24PM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Organizational Transformation Conferences (was: Re: [OSLIST] ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!)
Thanks for posting some history of the OT symposia Jack.
I attended many in the US from 1991-1996, and the European OT9 in Hungary. I remember one participant convening a workshop that included burning money. To me, it was not outside the range of typical behavior with a few hundred 'transformation' oriented folks being together for three or four days in open space with a somewhat amorphous theme statement. There was a great deal of weirdness and intrigue. They were all very different events, and great fun and great learning for the most part. And I don't blame open space for any of the troubling parts.
John Adams told me that the last OT symposium in Wisconsin did not take place because of lack of interest, about five years ago, and at that point there was the decision to discontinue.
Jeff
Mount Tamalpais
Date: Mon, 31 May 2010 17:04:47 +0100
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Organizational Transformation Conferences (was: Re: [OSLIST] ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!)
To: [email protected]
Thanks for raising this, Artur.
I've pulled a couple of old web pages about the OT symposia from my very dusty digital archives, blown off the cobwebs, and uploaded them to www.leithcocreation.com/ot .
Hope these are useful.
In 1988, John Adams ( www.eartheart-ent.com ) wrote:
Sometime during the very early years of this decade [the 1980s], probably in 1981 or 1982, a large number of people began to use the term organisation transformation to describe their work. During the Spring of 1982, a few of these people recognized each other at a conference outside of Boston, and began to discuss their common interest in concepts like vision, purpose, spirit in the workplace and global perspective .
Could it be that the ideas highlighted in red are taken as read (sorry - no pun intended) these days, and that OD has - to some extent - morphed into OT, as you mention?
The rest of the John Adams article can be found here: www.leithcocreation.com/ot .
With regard to your earlier email, I agree that PC is rife in the Open Space community, and that it is not safe to raise certain issues - not only in these posts, but beyond OSList.
Two years ago, Paul Levy and I announced a discussion session, Open Space 2.0: Beyond the Dogma. The announcement triggered some hostility and a heap of defensive responses. Paul received an item of what can only be called hate mail from a prominent member of the so-called OS community (perhaps more like what Scott Peck would call 'pseudo-community').
Pseudo-community: Where participants are "nice with each other", playing-safe, and presenting what they feel is the most favourable sides of their personalities.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community
I've had similar responses to other posts, which is why I rarely post to this list these days.
25 years down the track, if they survive that long, most organisational concepts and tools have splintered and evolved. Open Space hasn't, and I'm not sure this is a good thing. It seems to reflect a degree of orthodoxy.
I await howls of protest.
Thank you again, Artur. These things need to be said.
If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile, hoping he'll eat you last. – Ronald Reagan
Jack
Jack Martin Leith
Leith Co-creation
London, United Kingdom
email: [email protected]
Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)
Skype: jackmartinleith
Professional website: www.leithcocreation.com
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On 29 May 2010 19:19, Artur Silva < [email protected] > wrote:
Dear all
Thanks for the map, Jack.
The map, and some clarifications by Harrison, reminded me of a different thing.
OST was born in the "Organization Transformation Conferences".
In WOSonOS in Berlin, I met a lady (that I cannot remember the name and later have not seen her again to ask for the contacts) that told me that the last OT Conference was to be held in London, but there were insufficient registrations and it did not took place. Nor any other after that.
In ancient mails, in the OSLIST Archives, I can see that OT22 took place in Scotland, in 2004, and OT23 was planned to take place in Milwaukee, in 2005. I also remember to later receive an invitation to London, and I even considered to go there (and profit to see my sister and my English family, in Brighton). But later I could not. But that exchange of mails is lost with a computer that crashed many moons ago.
If there is anyone that can complete the story from OT22 to the last one that took (or not) place, I would be grateful.
I would also like to understand why the OT Conferences died (without any trace that I could discover in the Internet).
And why have the OT Conferences died if the distinction between OD and OT is IMHO more needed now than ever before?
Maybe this can be somehow related with my previous post.
If there is no longer a clear distinction between OD and OT, than OST and all the other "large group facilitation methods" belong after all to the same stream - OD.
Interesting, don't you think?
Regards
Artur
From: Harrison Owen < [email protected] >
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thu, May 27, 2010 10:34:02 PM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!
Jack – I have always loved your “map” – if only because it provides me and (indirectly I presume), and Open Space Technology with an impressive lineage which is at once colorful, although perhaps undeserved. It is true that my first public foray into the realm of Organization Transformation happened at a regional conference of ODN (Organization Development Network) – I gave a paper. What is also true is that at the time I had no real clue what Organization Development might be, where it came from, or what it might be useful for. My inspiration, training and experience came from a rather different place, including but not limited to a layman’s understanding of the New Physics, a rather deeper understanding of the myth and ritual of the ancient near east, and an appreciation of a variety of (what now would be called) esoteric traditions. Strange things like Tibetan Buddhism, Sufi thought (Rumi), some deep learning at the feet of (West) African Shamans, the work of Joseph Campbell, Ken Wilbur – and other assorted denizens of the Fringe. I wouldn’t claim academic expertise for most of this, but existential, on the ground experience for sure. Truth to tell, when Organization Transformation first reflected the light of day it was not viewed in a positive fashion by the powers that be (were) in the world of OD. Definitely heretical! Off the Wall! Out of Sight!! Some still feel that way, I am sure – but times change. And a lot of the people who found the idea of Organization Transformation radically abhorrent became friends. I can’t say we have always agreed – but we are friends.
And then we come to Open Space Technology. It does not come from, nor is it part of the great tradition (lately created) of Large Scale Interventions. It began as it remains – The product of two Martinis (and before that the Big Bang)! There was no careful research, no critical analysis of preceding efforts – just a little Gin and (much less) vermouth. And with all that as ancestors, you got to keep it simple. – Sit in a circle, create a bulletin board, open a market place – and Go to work. Hasn’t changed a bit ever since. But I am sure that our understanding of what happens has gone a lot deeper – which is not to say that we are getting anywhere near the depths we must achieve. But we are moving in the right direction, I think. And it is fun.
Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Dr.
Potomac, MD 20854
USA
Phone 301-365-2093
www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
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From: OSLIST [mailto: [email protected] ] On Behalf Of Jack Martin Leith
Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 3:11 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: ODWS - Journey through time; suggestions please !!
Thanks for mentioning the map, Michael.
I've just uploaded it to my server in case anyone wants to see it.
Here's the URL: www.leithcocreation.com/documents/history-of-large-group-methods.doc
It's a big file ... sorry ... I don't have time right now to make it any smaller.
Jack
Jack Martin Leith
Leith Co-creation
London, United Kingdom
email: [email protected]
Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)
Skype: jackmartinleith
Professional website: www.leithcocreation.com
Personal website: www.jackmartinleith.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jackmartinleith
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jackmartinleith
Slideshare: www.slideshare.net/jackmartinleith
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jackmartinleithOn 27 May 2010 15:05, Michael Herman < [email protected] > wrote:
i'll second jeff's recommendation of marv weisbord's 'productive workplaces.' that was the first thing that came to mind here. another was a map that jack martin leith did some years ago, showing overlapping development paths of various methods and leading practitioners. jack?
m
--
Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
http://www.michaelherman.com/
http://www.ronanparktrail.com/
http://www.chicagoconservationcorps.org/
http://www.openspaceworld.org/
312-280-7838 (mobile)
On Thu, May 27, 2010 at 4:39 AM, VISUELLE PROTOKOLLE < [email protected] > wrote:
Dear Gerard,
Our friend Jon Jenkins, who sadly died recently, said as the father of the IAF Method Database, that right now the three most important elements in our profession are VISUALIZATION, STORYTELLING and ONLINE METHODS.
Greetings from Italy
Reinhard Kuchenmüller
VISUELLE PROTOKOLLE®
www.visuelle-protokolle.de
+39-0566-88929
Am 27/05/10 08:16 schrieb "Gerard Muller" unter < [email protected] >:Dear All,
At the upcoming Organisational Development World Summit (see http://www.odworldsummit.org/ , which is organised in collaboration with several organisations and communities - amongst which several who are on this list , we are organising part of the program as a special journey through the history of our profession, before we move into it’s future.
I would like to ask for your help in identifying what you feel are the 2-3 elements which deserve a place in this journey. This could be either in the history of the profession (a book, a bit of research, the birth of an method or theory), or in the history of the society around (political, technological, ...).
If you have a specific idea how to represent the elements which come to mind, that would be great.
In the case of a publication, it could be the book itself, in the case of an event maybe the invitation,
a poster, pictures. But we’ll also have space for filmclips and music.
Please mail any ideas to my E-mail at [email protected] , in the course of the coming week.
Thanks for your assistance !!
Greetings from Denmark,
Gerard Muller
Open Space Institute Denmark
Phone: (+45) 21269621
Mail: [email protected]
Skype: openspace1www.openspace.dk < http://www.openspace.dk/ >
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