You're welcome! ;-)
Chris ---- Chris Corrigan [email protected] http://www.chriscorrigan.com On 2010-06-04, at 3:40 PM, Harrison Owen wrote: > Chris – I am not quite sure what you meant by, “often work closely with > people not only to write an invite but practice it as well,” but what I heard > (or maybe wanted to hear??) that you were talking about was what I guess > could be called “coaching.” Doing an Open space is one thing, but building > upon that experience in an ongoing way to the profit and betterment of the > organization/group is the next level up, as far as I am concerned. I am not > talking about, “becoming an Open Space organization” if only because I > sincerely believe that all organizations are already there. They may just not > realize the fact, or are doing it badly (less than optimally). Strange I > suppose, but it all comes from the notion that we live in a self organizing > (Open Space) world, not as a matter of choice – but rather a simple fact of > our existence. Right up there with The Pull of Gravity. Comes with the > territory. But we can all live our lives elegantly and well or just bumble > through. This has nothing to do with resources or the lack of same. It is all > about personal and organizational style – although resources (education, > money, etc) certainly can help. But an abundance of resource is not > sufficient, and in fact may be a detriment. Fastest way to kill a good idea > is to throw money at it, I think. The key is fully utilizing All our > resources – the full power of the community. And here’s where coaching (can) > come in. Helping people to understand and practice the thought the full power > of the community manifests when, and only when, it is REALLY invited. You > can’t command it, you can’t control it, you can’t force it – you MUST invite > it. Of course that invitation can be refused, but that is the nature of a > real invitation. Helping people to get to that point would be a major > opportunity, I think. So – Chris, even if I have totally misunderstood > (represented) you, thanks for the opportunity. > > ho > > Harrison Owen > 7808 River Falls Dr. > Potomac, MD 20854 > USA > Phone 301-365-2093 > www.openspaceworld.com > www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris > Corrigan > Sent: Friday, June 04, 2010 12:22 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: On "Failure" / Invitations > > Echoing Michael's approach here. I learned this from him many years ago, to > pay attention to the clarity of the first five minutes. > > Where it gets sticky is in the gut check conversation and that can take time > too. But I also want to put in a plug for skillful practice of invitation. I > often work closley with people not only to write an invite but practice it as > well. In other words beyond just hitting the send button I find that it > supports action better if people use their networks to invite more deeply. > When the meeting is over these networks often become the place where people > continue to connect to execute action. > > And as for my OS that failed I will say that the shape sometimes doesn't > matter. I always try to put people in a circle but on the odd occaision when > that hasn't been possible i have still managed to do fine. > > There is rather something in what I can only call the energetic architecture > of open space that needs paying attention to. Even under dire logistical > conditions getting that right seems to make all the difference. > > That architecture consists of things like the real business issue, the > invitation, the authentic desire to let go of control and outcome on both the > client and the facilitators part and something about the quality of the > space. Get those things right and you have the actual conditions for space to > open. Get them wrong and even the most orthodox execution of the process will > fall flat and seem like a failure. And people will see that as "open space > doesn't work." > > Chris > > ----- > CHRIS CORRIGAN > http://www.chriscorrigan.com > > Sent from an iPod, typed with thumbs... > > > On 2010-06-04, at 7:03 AM, Michael Herman <[email protected]> wrote: > > yes. this is exactly my experience, harrison, with some exceptions for those > cases where the sponsor was already so thought-into the scene that they > didn't tell a very clear story. but for vast majority of cases, my experiene > goes like this... > > phone rings. caller introduces self and says some version of "calling about > open space." then proceeds to tick off the following... organization name, > we've always been [whatever] sort of an organization, we've had this success > or that success, but now things are different. (or now we want them to be > different.) (or then must be different.) we're up against this, that and/or > the other obstacles or deadlines or usual custom (we have this same meeting > every year)... and we want to do something different, so we thought open > space might do the trick" > > then we talk about who's coming, or should be coming; wehre it might happen, > what's already in place, what sorts of documenting, how people already are > talking in org with current systems, and then it comes back to... now what? > and the only thing left is to pen the invite. "invitation?" they ask, > "what's that?" -- and i always point out that they already said it, they > just have to write it down and tidy it up a bit. > > there is a bit of reality/gut checking. there is a bit of fishing around on > my part to see if they just want to do a different dance or if they really > want it to rain this time. do they want a different meeting or a different > organization, but mostly, it's those first five sentences they give me on the > phone. > > i always pay very close attention to those first five sentences. not as easy > by email. sometimes when it starts that way we're able to recreate it > quickly on the phone. sometimes it takes a bit of swimming upstream. > > and maybe this is one of those lapses in attention... if i miss that moment > of first, true clarity, when that space first opens and somebody dares to ask > if things couldn't be different... you used to talk about that moment of > "wondering...", harrison, then it might well be that no amount of thinking > and such can replace it. that's maybe the place where a lapse in the quality > of attention, in those first lines and first few conversations, when client > and i are still new to each other, where maybe things get more or less lined > up for success or failure. > > 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 Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 8:38 AM, Harrison Owen <[email protected]> wrote: > One of the themes that seems to be surfacing here is the whole subject of > Invitations. The Invitation (theme) is definitely important as it sets the > raison d’être and frame for the gathering. I know that some people spend > terrific amounts of time and effort crafting that invitation – but my > experience has taken me in a different direction. In fact I have found that > the effectiveness of the Invitation is (oddly) inversely proportional to > time/effort expended. The key, I think is the necessity for a “real business > issue” as a first condition for a functional Open Space. And a real business > issue (no matter how you define business) is something that hits you right in > the face. You don’t have to think about it very much, and in fact it is > pretty hard to think about anything else. It is also usually true that the > folks in the organization (those who might care) have already named it. That > name might be something less than elegant and seemingly lacking in precision > as an outsider might see it – but for those in the know, the people who care > (exactly the right people for the Open Space) – they will instantaneously > recognize “it.” Some years ago I received a call about doing an Open Space. > After some initial, rather generalized conversation, the person on the other > end of the line said in some deep pain, “Our system is broke in just about > every way a system can be broken and everybody knows it.” As it happened that > system (business) resided in the state of Arizona – and there was the theme > and invitation. “Fixing Arizona: Issues and Opportunities.” There was no > reason to give all the details, motivational encouragement, pleas for > attendance. Everybody who cared already knew. > > Actually when you think about it, it is probably true that if you have to > spend a lot of effort developing and clarifying the focal issue the chances > are you don’t have a “real business issue.” That being the case, doing an > Open Space may not be the appropriate way to go. Without the passion, focus, > and caring not too much is likely to happen. I guess that is not too > surprising as without passion, focus, and caring not too much happens in any > other part of life either. > > Harrison > > Harrison Owen > 7808 River Falls Dr. > Potomac, MD 20854 > USA > Phone 301-365-2093 > www.openspaceworld.com > www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael > Herman > Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 5:50 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: On "Failure" > > there are some situations that come to mind, harrison, but is sort of reminds > me of that time when louise mitran brought all the drumming gear to one our > trainings at the carleton. she took a group out in one session and > challenged them to play chaos. they really had a heck of time doing it, > sustaining it. for sure there were moments of discord and a lot of > messiness, but the driving force underneath it all was the inclination, some > sort collectively mutual invitation, to entrain with each other... and turn > it into music. so i was thinking not so much about any 'grand failures' but > more those moments of confusion, facilitator choice points, apparent chaos, > but pretty much i they always seem to resolve again. moral of the story > might be, when you find yourself under water, go with the flow, stay in > relationship, let the river take you where it's choosing, try not to get > stuck and hold your breath... you'll likely have another chance for opening > and fresh air, soon enough, even if not exactly soon as you want or expect. > > that said, here are some of the situations that came to mind... > > a buddy of mine called in sick the day before an event, so i walked in to > open space with no experience with the group. the managers had written the > invitation, and invited 100 folks to come work on the issues that made their > stomachs churn, hands sweat, or kept them up at night worrying. the were > working from a language they'd developed around "adaptive challenges" based > on a book they'd read together. when the issues all went up, the managers, > who had their own list of issues, looked at the wall, they were astounded to > see that the group had covered all of the mgrs issues. mission accomplished, > or so it would seem. next day, however, morning news sort of blew up because > all the lower level folks were feeling a bit disheartened, thought they'd > failed miserably, because they hadn't found a single issue that really scared > them. turns out what was freaking the mgrs out was just the everyday > challenge to folks down the hierarchy. the disheartening got turned more > confusing when some of the younger managers, who were very hot for this new > language they'd come up with from this book, tried hard to impose a > "training" in the right way to talk about these things. made for a long > morning news and then required the miracle of "the group catching up" to the > schedule... but none of that is particularly remarkable. in the end, all the > issues that mattered got discussed, documented, and they made a good run at > tackling the various things that were identified for doing post-meeting. > > so is this even a failure? could it have been if i'd made some different > choicse along the way? maybe, maybe not. depends on the definitions, i > think. certainly it was a deviation from the story told in the user's guide. > but we recovered. and i think that's what happens in every, or almost > every, case. > > some of the recoveries happen before the event. the client dodges the real > issue and writes an invitation that says "come to an open space meeting." > well, that's not much of a theme, unless it's an osonos. so we fix that, go > deeper, dare to invite the real thing and get on with it. > > then they want to have three short keynoters to open. well maybe we talk > them out of that, maybe we don't. once we had two of three keynoters cancel. > so one guy talked for 20 mins instead of his allotted 10. circle was 200, > statewide group, very diverse, never worked together. big issue. but this > guy was more readily associated and more active in one side of the story. it > set up a sort of competition because some felt heard and addressed in teh > opening, but others thought they'd been put in second place. i motioned to > the sponsor to pull the plug. he went out and put an arm around the guy, > thanked him and said "let's get started". i walked in, past the podium he'd > been standing at. with one hand, i tipped it over, laid it down. by the > time i got back around to that point of th circle, interns had carried it > off. but the damage was done. later that morning, one of two key sponsors > comes to me and says "fix it. my people are pissed." she happens to be the > one who's got to sign my check. i tell her honestly, "now can do. it's in > their hands now." on the second day, it started to be dealt iwth directly, > our friend ted ernst raised an issue that began to put the two 'sides' > together. we came up with tons of good stuff, over 2.5 days, but i think it > took another couple of annual repetitions of this first event before > everybody really felt like they were on the same side. didn't help, > probably, that one sponsor was a foundation, funding some and not others. > but that's the messiness we work in. i'm not sure that co-sponsor's view of > the thing ever improved, though she did take a lead role in convening > after-event meetings. a city-wide coalition came out of those meetings and > is now active and very successful 9 years later. > > then there is the client who -- after sprinkling a day of open space sessions > into a week of meetings, 150 top people from around the world, fortune 150 > company, all the c-folks there -- came to me, as the proceedings were just > finished being printed, and said "the ceo says we can't distribute these. > there's no time. he hasn't read them. etc." i pushed hard for a > conversation with the ceo and got a very few minutes, in which i was able to > convince notice that he was trying to stop them from giving out notes about > waht everyone in the room was already thinking and speaking about. he agreed > that it was more dangerous to get in the way of it than to just let it go. > but he scuttled the session, can't recall the exact form, of the prioritizing > or conversing or voting or something that was to be done with the > rpoceedings. actually, i seem to remember people have to go through and tear > out the ballot pages from the books. luckily spiral bound, so the page was > never missed. > > and then there is the client that thinks that all they need to do is call the > meeting to order, the facilitator will take it from there, and they're off > the hook forever. you think you've got them lined up, they get it, they're > on for it.. but deep down they want out. this is the sponsor who might let > slip in the opening intro "well, glad you all could get here. we have no > idea what's going to happen. that's michael's problem now...". oops. > checked out. and when the notes were all assembled, the client i'm thinking > of mysteriously managed to avoid sending them out for several weeks. mostly > the high-end consultants in this company, who'd travelled from everywhere to > london for this meeting think this meeting failed. no follow-through. > but... eventually one person, brand new in the office and company, stepped > up, got the notes from the leader, sorted things out and sent them around to > everyone. the conversation never recovered, but four years later, it seems > that that moment of leadership on the part of the new person set her up to > take on a leadership role in rebuilding their entire technology platform. > again, failure depends on definition and time frame. > > but mostly i don't think of open spaces that failed, as much as some were > more fruitful than others, apparently, and moments when it was possible to > take the easy way out, letting that ceo do what he wanted without challenge, > instead of hanging in, and hanging with, no matter what, again, apparently, > happens to me personally. > > 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, Jun 3, 2010 at 3:23 PM, Harrison Owen <[email protected]> wrote: > Michael – it would be really interesting to hear some actual situations where > what you are describing is true. I’ve never seen it, but I did hear of one. > It happened in South Africa where a local consultant took Open Space as a > license for absence. He literally left for most of the day. As it turned out > (as I heard from one of the participants) the group really didn’t miss him, > and was basically sorry to see him return. And that same participant was sure > that there had to be something more than he had seen. As a consequence he > came to a “training program” (back in the days when I used to do something > like that J) and subsequently opened space all over the place. So I guess > there was a happy ending after a rocky start. Or something. > > But you really put your finger on something – “active listening” – which is > not so much about doing anything but rather Being intensely. Definitely hard > to describe but my best shot is the enigmatic phrase – Being totally present > and absolutely invisible. In my experience this is a matter of intention and > practice. And the best part is that it is all definitely rewarding, not only > in terms of facilitating Open Space, but equally in terms of self > understanding and personal presence. It feels good. > > Harrison > > Harrison Owen > 7808 River Falls Dr. > Potomac, MD 20854 > USA > Phone 301-365-2093 > www.openspaceworld.com > www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael > Herman > Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 2:41 PM > > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: On "Failure" > > i have a teacher who likes to put little reminders on pencils and pass them > around. one of my favorite pencils says: "really easy is often quite > difficult." > > i think this is true of open space. i've seen a number of situations where > the facilitator or the process itself was assumed to be a bit of magic, so > nobody needed to do much else to make it happen. this makes all kinds of > large and small "failures" possible -- all owing to some lapses in the > quality of attention, awareness, relationship. > > somebody once told me that carl rogers (some sort of psychologist, i think) > used to listen so intently that he would often break out in a sweat -- just > listening to someone. sometimes i think open space takes this sort of > quality or intensity of attention... or maybe of awareness. that the heart > is this active, even if the body is apparently doing nothing. like when so > many muscles are engaged in walking a balance beam, or timing a jump. > actively pulsing, checking, on and off, holding and releasing, inviting and > reporting. > > i'd guess a fair number of "failures" have their roots in forgetting that os > is this sort of active practice, even if a lot of the action is not outwardly > visible or dramatic or difficult. weirdenss seems to flow from gaps in > clarity, in attention, in awareness, in relationship. not so much, i think, > from gaps in actual outer logistics. > > 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, Jun 3, 2010 at 12:07 PM, VISUELLE PROTOKOLLE > <[email protected]> wrote: > Harrison and all, > > Another example of an OS that went terribly wrong: > > It was a factory producing printing machines, both in Eastern and western > Germany, and the participants were mixed from both areas. We had the o.k. > from the four directors, to whom we had illustrated what to expect, and a > final conference after the OS was already determined. One of the directors, > the one who seemed to be the most employee-oriented, was choosen to say some > words at the end of the OS. Our partner in the company was a young man from > HR, very active, with good contacts to the directors. So he insisted that he > should brief the director what to say at the end of OS. > > Everything went fine. The groups worked with joy and enthusiasm. We > accompanied the whole OS with 3 people visualizing everything, and that was a > big success, because everybody could see what had happened everywhere. After > we had shown the pictures in a final slideshow, the director stood up and > destroyed everything within 5 minutes. He said that he was disappointed, had > expected other outcomes, and that the managers wood have a hard time to use > some of the results. > > That was the end of the project for us, but much worse all the participants > were angry and a big chance was lost for the company. > > Of course the mistake was to let the young HR-man brief the director. > > Reinhard > > Reinhard Kuchenmüller > Dr. Marianne Stifel > VISUELLE PROTOKOLLE > Kuchenmüller & Stifel > > +39-0566-88 929 > www.visuelle-protokolle.de > > > > > Am 03/06/10 18:12 schrieb "Ralph Copleman" unter <[email protected]>: > > Harrison and all, > > I've had a few that sort of fell flat. > > One involved a group concerned about availability of services for senior > citizens across an entire US state. Two-thirds of the room consisted of > seniors themselves and, frankly, a lot of them ran out of energy about an > hour after lunch. So they sat around, a number slumping in chairs with eyes > closed. > > Another involved an exploration of customer service issues for an airline. > Lots of corporate leaders from the airline present, along with their booking > agents (this pre-dates internet booking sites), frequent flyer customers, and > corporate travel execs who make travel policy for their companies. A great > mix, actually. We were set to go from 8:00 a.m to 4:00. About 2:00, a group > of participants more or less seized control of the meeting somehow (I wasn't > in the room when it occurred) and got everyone to agree to shorten the > meeting by a full hour. When I returned at 3:00, someone simply informed me, > and asked that I begin the closing circle. So that's what I did. I never > found out what actually happened. > > Not sure how to think about that last one, since I never found out how it all > developed, but the following one is more like a true failure. > > I was asked to convene a two-day open space gathering for about 200 folks > from around the US. It would be the annual meeting of an association of a > certain type of public health officer (cannot recall the details). The whole > thing was pretty dead from the outset –– I mean 200 people posting a total of > only 15 sessions for two whole days!? I found out the theme was all wrong. > The planning committee chose an idea that turned out to have no juice for the > association's members. I had spent hours in conference calls with the > leadership group and the planning committee, and they'd assured me that the > idea they chose was at the heart of the challenges facing them and their > organizations. Turns out that was dead wrong. Nobody else cared. I don't > know how I might have seen through this situation ahead of time. > > I essentially agree with you, H. If the conditions are appropriate, it will > work. But, if the three experiences above teach me anything, it's clear that > stuff can always happens. > > Ralph Copleman > > * > * > ========================================================== > [email protected] > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > * * > ==========================================================osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your > options, view the archives of [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > * * > ==========================================================osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your > options, view the archives of [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > * * > ==========================================================osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your > options, view the archives of [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > * * > ==========================================================osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your > options, view the archives of [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > * * > ==========================================================osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your > options, view the archives of [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > * * > ==========================================================osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your > options, view the archives of [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > * * ========================================================== > [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, > unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > [email protected]:http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST > FAQs:http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > * * ========================================================== > [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, > unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
