John -- I'm rather curious what you meant by "The overall project was
more complicated than OST?" My confusion comes in part from my
experience that complexity is actually an essential precondition for
OST, or more exactly the effective operation of self organization. The
essential pre-conditions as I have experienced the are: A Real
business issue (something that people really care about). High levels
of complexity such that no single person or group has a prayer of
figuring it out. High levels of diversity in terms of people and
points of view. Lots of passion and conflict. And a decision time of
yesterday (urgency). Given these 5 conditions, self organization in
the more formal setting of OST or as a natural occurrence just seems
to happen... unless...And this may be the point of problem... It is
arbitrarily constrained... which usually means that somebody already
has the plan/program/design and they are just looking for buy-in or
(worst case) they are simply trying to sugar coat the pill, and make
it seem like the folks are creating something, when in fact the cake
is already baked.
A clue to the dilemma may be in the phrase, "I struggled to help the
client (the funding body) to really 'empower'..." I know we talk a lot
about empowerment, but I have come to the conclusion that it is really
a red herring, and most painfully so in those situations where you
actually try to do it. Sounds odd, I guess, but think about it. If I
empower you...you are in my power. And the more I try to empower you
the worse it gets. Real empowerment, in my book, is not an act that we
(or somebody) do, but an acknowledgement of a pre-existing
condition...you are powerful. Of course I might encourage you a bit to
be as powerful as you are, but it is not something I can give you. You
must claim it for yourself. Strange as it may seem, I find the notion
of "empowerment" to be just the opposite of that fundament of
effective working relationships (or any relationship) RESPECT. And I
suspect that it is precisely here that the fickle finger of fate is
pointing to the critical issue.
Another word that fits in here for me is "Patronizing." Everything may
sound super nice, and all the proper and correct words may be spoken,
but if the implication is that the folks (participants) really do not
have the competence or ability to deal with the issues, it is fairly
predictable that they will not bother to try. Or if they "try" it will
be pretty much of a pro forma situation. Sound familiar?
Harrison
Winter Address
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854
301-365-2093
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189 Beaucaire Ave.
Camden, ME 04843
207-763-3261
Websites
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*From:*OSList [mailto:[email protected]] *On
Behalf Of *John Baxter via OSList
*Sent:* Monday, October 13, 2014 2:41 AM
*To:* Daniel Mezick
*Cc:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
*Subject:* Re: [OSList] Authority Distribution in Open Space
Hi Daniel. Thanks for your considered response.
I will try to keep my response in line with the topic.... but expect
it may meander.
The OST day I was preparing for has since come and gone.
I decided in the end to least give OST a crack and see what happened.
It didn't go very well; but it also went well enough (vis overall
project goals, and client expectations), so I don't feel so bad about
it... even if I had personally envisaged more.
I am not one to worry about the cannon... which means sometimes I
break things, as I did this time. There was still an (informal)
sponsor, the one that sent the invites. They just did not have a
presence on the day. Thank you Daniel as you did make me think
critically about the strength of my role as host. I think I dealt
with that through my introduction to the day; and as it turns out the
authority to host was not an issue.
But as it turns out, that was not really the biggest challenge!
The main lessons I took away about what contributed to the average result:
*There needs to be clear, compelling shared work.*
The overall project was more complicated than OST, so it wasn't clear
what turning up actually meant, and I think many did not turn up on
the basis of wanting to resolve a shared challenge (the work), as you
might expect for OST. In straight OST terms, you could say this was
an issue of invitation, but really it was many things.
So the group was interesting. They had the heart, but not the will.
They were committed, but without ownership of the result. I've seen
this a lot in the community engagement field, but nowhere that I have
used (or seen) OST.
I thought about this a lot, I thought it might have been about the
invitation and self-selection; but at the end of the day I think it
comes down to the sense of (and invitation in to) shared work.
*It is super hard to dissolve ingrained power and authority
relationships in the short term. These can't be sidestepped by an
external facilitator.*
I struggled to help the client (the funding body) to really
'empower'. They talked about it and genuinely want to, but old habits
and mental models don't change overnight. They really struggled to
push beyond managing the process as superiours (to a set of
subordinate participants). This is 'empowerment' within a patriarchal
system, and it doesn't work. It felt very yucky at times.
A curious side effect of this partriarchal 'empowerment' was an
unwillingness to be clear about the work ("we want to be open and let
them lead the process" they would say... I got the client to agree
that /the/y were clearly the leaders, but we didn't quite work out how
to put that into practice).
Over the course of the engagement, we all took baby steps together
that invest in their (/our) capacity to really work together in
future. They learned a LOT in a short period of time, and so did I,
but it was too short. By the end of the project I had the client
calling me up to ask how they could reword things so they didn't
reflect a control response. : ) That was good, but obviously if they
need me for this then there is some way to go. And different client
reps had different levels of self reflection.
Hosting an isolated OST workshop against this grain was very
ambitious, it was always going to be, no matter how we conducted
ourselves.
And perhaps 20% were very proactive, and led the bulk of the work that
occurred... they saved the day!
But the length of the OST was not enough for this leadership to really
be contagious and precipitate a productive culture.
*Or in other words: we struggled to free up authorisation to be more
dynamic*
Reading your blog post Daniel, the idea of dynamic authorisation would
have been very useful earlier in the project. Another way of looking
at the project: we struggled to free the space of ingrained authority
to enable dynamic authorisation.
There were lots of other insights into how we could have done it
differently, but to me these were the fundamental stumbling blocks for us.
Still, they were not too big, and I'm pleased we made a good start.
My favourite feedback was "thank you, this was the first time I have
been part of genuine engagement in more than a decade in the sector" : )
Next time, we will do better.
*/John Baxter/*
///Co////Create Adelaide Facilitator, Director of Realise consultancy/
CoCreateADL.com<http://cocreateadl.com/localgov%E2%80%8B> |
jsbaxter.com.au <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/>
0405 447 829
|
@jsbaxter_ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_>
*/City Grill--- An Election Forum More Magnificent Than Any Ever Seen
<http://citygrill.eventbrite.com.au>!/*/, Saturday 18 October 2014
Connect with your candidates, get your voice heard by joining with
others in your community, and Influence the future of the city/
On Tue, Sep 30, 2014 at 12:07 AM, Daniel Mezick <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Hi John,
Yours is a very interesting story.
You say:
/"...To be honest*I am not sure* how I need to deal with this, though
*my strategy is to accept the authority* for hosting the space in the
next workshop, *obsolving the department of their responsibility* to
manage the day."
"...I don't think it is feasible for the obvious authority candidates
hosting something genuinely participatory. *The relevant director has
said she doesn't want to speak formally and become The Authority for
the day*, a position I agree with."/
In the situation as described, it sounds like the org is the very
earliest stages of moving in a direction of more
open/participatory/inviting.
Do you agree with this assessment?
If this assessment is correct, based on what you describe, I would
probably avoid attempting Open Space in the canonical form whatsoever
(as described in the OST GUIDE) because the Sponsor role is vacant.
Unoccupied. And so, by my reckoning, if I understand you right, a true
Open Space event isn't even possible, because the essential
OST-Sponsor-role is in fact not willingly occupied by anyone with
enough authority to play that essential role well.
What's clear is that someone who could function as OST-Sponsor is
currently unwilling to do so. And so I might try a "taster" or "demo"
event instead, where the goal is to /learn about Open Space in
general/, and do a /little/ bit of "real" work too. Especially if the
allotted time a mere 1/2 day, I am even more inclined to strongly
favor this re-framing of the stated goals.
So the primary and stated goal for the "taster" is learning about OST.
Another goal for a short event might be to see who shows up
super-interested in the art of Facilitation, and then offer to mentor
those who do self-select by showing interest. In this manner some
Facilitation capacity is developed inside the org, to help with
current meetings and processes. Introducing Facilitation into typical
meetings is a easy and effective "culture hack".
For me, the total unwillingness of an obvious candidate to occupy the
Sponsor role is a huge warning signal to slow down, pause, or even stop.
Lots of people here have more experience than me, and might be willing
to lend you some of their expertise regarding the authority dynamics
of Facilitating an OST event with the essential OST-Sponsor-role
completely vacant
Kind Regards,
Daniel
On 9/28/14 11:30 PM, John Baxter wrote:
I am navigating some challenging authority dynamics in a project
at the moment.
I was brought in a week out from the first of three forums, and
asked to 'facilitate a codesign process' which was at that stage a
black box (with many hidden expectations) scheduled into that
event (1 hour before lunch and 1 hour afterwards).
It's a long journey, but you can imagine how my role has changed
as I prepare for the third forum which I am hosting in Open Space.
The overall process is an engagement between a government
department and their funded agencies. The most obvious direct
power dynamics are obvious, the effective power and authority
dynamics are much more complex (though predictable).
Department staff have authority challenges as much as the
agencies. They are trying so hard to be 'neutral' and 'non
controlling' that they are effectively reinforcing their own
authority positions (which often have little real correlation to
the power, knowledge etc that they imagine them to).
To be honest I am not sure how I need to deal with this, though my
strategy is to accept the authority for hosting the space in the
next workshop, obsolving the department of their responsibility to
manage the day.
It has been interesting to watch push back so far from agency reps
who are committed to participating, who are genuinely engaged, but
are playing to an us-them tension that is getting in the way of
the shared work (and serves them no good ends except protecting
them from their own responsibility). Stand-offishness is
gradually being resolved, though some pockets are holding firm.
I am crossing my fingers for WS3 that we can traverse these and
get into Open Space without being pushed off the bridge by the
reactionary tension; and that once on the other side, the
department reps can embrace Open Space and take responsibility for
their role.
We will get across /as long as I have the authority/ to host the
space for them.
I don't think it is feasible for the obvious authority candidates
hosting something genuinely participatory. The relevant director
has said she doesn't want to speak formally and become The
Authority for the day, a position I agree with.
But it does leave something of a shell, where I am crossing my
fingers that our time together thus far affords me the authority
to host that space.
I think we are ready. I am bringing my harness and floaties just
in case.
*/John Baxter/*
/CoCreate Adelaide Facilitator, Director of Realise consultancy/
CoCreateADL.com <http://cocreateadl.com/localgov%E2%80%8B> |
jsbaxter.com.au <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/>
0405 447 829
|
@jsbaxter_ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_>
/City Grill--- An Election Forum More Magnificent Than Any Ever
Seen <http://citygrill.eventbrite.com.au>/, Saturday 18 October 2014
Influence your city by building relationships and joining voices
with others in your community
On Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 12:26 PM, Daniel Mezick via OSList
<[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Hi Harrison,
So interesting how the Law of 2 Feet authorizes me, and every
other member of an OST event, to go anywhere we may want to go.
Without asking anyone else for any kind of "permission"...
Reminds me of this past June, being in Camden with you, and
Ethelyn, and Harold, and friends... when we were standing on the
porch of that Camden restaurant... waiting for everyone to arrive,
and assemble for dinner...
And as we wait, I notice there is this convenient-looking,
alternate entry-door... into the dining area.
And I say: "Hmm...I wonder if we are authorized to use that door."
And you say:
"We're authorized to go Anywhere we want to go."
...and I like that.
Daniel
Picture of that place:
https://twitter.com/DanielMezick/status/483054326265692161
See also:
https://twitter.com/danielgullo/status/483434622009999360
On 9/25/14 4:58 PM, Harrison Owen wrote:
Daniel... You really did it! I think. Your language comes from
a place I don't know... which is to say that I probably
wouldn't say what you say in the way that you do (duh). BUT
when I run my "translator" it comes out sounding pretty good!
So... I can't help with the questions you have raised.
Actually I think you are doing pretty well on your own, and
(hopefully) will incite others to a similarly riotous
performance. Thanks!
Harrison
Winter Address
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854
301-365-2093 <tel:301-365-2093>
Summer Address
189 Beaucaire Ave.
Camden, ME 04843
207-763-3261 <tel:207-763-3261>
Websites
www.openspaceworld.com <http://%20www.openspaceworld.com>
www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com>
OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view
the archives of OSLIST Go
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*From:*OSList [mailto:[email protected]]
*On Behalf Of *Daniel Mezick via OSList
*Sent:* Thursday, September 25, 2014 9:39 AM
*To:* [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
*Subject:* [OSList] Authority Distribution in Open Space
Greetings to All,
For the past several years I have attended conferences of the
Group Relations community, and encouraged others to do the
same. I've studied their literature, and harvested some
important learning as a result. One of the things I have come
to understand a little bit better is the role of "authority
dynamics" in self-organizing social systems.
Link:
www.akriceinstitute.org <http://www.akriceinstitute.org>
Over the past several years I've been using Open Space with
intent to improve the results of my work in helping companies
implement Agile ideas in their organizations. We do an initial
Open Space, then the folks get about 3 months to play with
Agile (we carefully use the word "experimentation" with
management,) then we do another Open Space after that, to
inspect what just happened across the enterprise. The initial
and subsequent Open Space events form a "safe" container or
field in which the members can /learn/... as they explore how
to /improve/ together by /experimenting/ with new practices,
and see if they actually work. I call the process Open Agile
Adoption.
Link:
OpenAgileAdoption.com
This seems to work pretty good. It seems to "take the air out
of" most of the fear, most of the anxiety and most of the
worry that is created. The key aspect is /consent/: absolutely
no one is forced to do anything they are unwilling to do. No
one is /coerced/ to /comply/. Everyone is instead respectfully
/invited/ to help /write/ the story, and be a /character/ in
the story...of the contemplated process change. Open Agile
Adoption encourages a spirit of experimentation and play.
The spirit of Open Space is the spirit of freedom. Isn't it?
In the OST community, we discuss and talk a lot about
self-organization, self-management and self-governance. The
Agile community also talks about these ideas a lot.
So I have some questions. What is really going on during
self-organization in a social system? What are the steps? What
information is being sent and received? >From whom, and by
whom? Is the information about /authority/ important? How
important? Can a social system self organize without regard to
who has the right to do what work? /How do decisions that
affect others get made in a self-organizing system?/
Who decides about /who decides/? How important is the process
of /authorization/ in a self-organizing system? Is
self-organization in large part the process of dynamic
authorization (and /de-authorization/) in real time?
What /is /authorization? Can self-organization occur without
the sending and receiving of authorization data by and between
the members?
Is Bruce Tuckman's forming/storming/performing/adjourning
actually decomposing the /dynamics of authorization/ inside a
social system?
The essay below attempts to answer some of these difficult
questions. I'd love your thoughts on it. Will you give it a look?
Essay: Authority Distribution in Open Space
http://newtechusa.net/agile/authority-distribution-in-open-space/
Kind Regards,
Daniel
--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 <tel:%28203%29%20915%207248> (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter
<http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
Examine my new book:The Culture Game
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools
for the Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and
Coaching. <http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
Explore the Agile Boston
<http://newtechusa.net/user-groups/ma/>Community.
--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 <tel:%28203%29%20915%207248> (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter
<http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
Examine my new book: The Culture Game
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for
the Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and
Coaching. <http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
Explore the Agile Boston
<http://newtechusa.net/user-groups/ma/>Community.
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Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 <tel:%28203%29%20915%207248> (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter
<http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
Examine my new book: The Culture Game
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the
Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and Coaching.
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
Explore the Agile Boston
<http://newtechusa.net/user-groups/ma/>Community.
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