Harrison, To the notion of communities having a "culture of the culture," perhaps it's a question of degree. For sure if the meeting is in Harrisonburg, VA, as in your example, there is a cultural context implicit and different from a corporate culture.
An example where the culture is more ambiguous is something like the Practice of Peace gathering we - you, me, and Spirited Work - did at Whidbey where people came from every continent (except Antarctica) with widely varying backgrounds. That was an amazingly multi-cultural setting. There may have been a thread of Spirited Work culture since we were the organizers but I'd be hard pressed to say that one culture was operating in that situation. We were following the threads of what emerged as it emerged. Peggy Sent from my iPad 425-746-6274 www.peggyholman.com > On Oct 15, 2014, at 2:25 PM, Harrison Owen <[email protected]> wrote: > > Peggy – Great comments! And I might take issue on a small point. You said, > “Public events don’t have the context of an existing culture.” Do you really > mean that? Or would it be more appropriate to say that such (public) events > do have a cultural context... but it is different. In this case the “culture” > of the culture. So for example, I was privileged to participate in the public > Open Spaces that the (then) mayor of Harrisonburg, VA convened on various > concerns of his city (Water, Education, etc) – All of them took place in and > around the central square of the city, and it was “pure” Virginia. And why > not? Everybody there was “Virginian.” They wouldn’t have noticed, but any > “outsider” (me) would have. And I did. The issues were important. The > discussion was intense. But it was “Virginia” with all the “rules” in place. > How could it have been any other way? > > Harrison > > Winter Address > 7808 River Falls Drive > Potomac, MD 20854 > 301-365-2093 > > Summer Address > 189 Beaucaire Ave. > Camden, ME 04843 > 207-763-3261 > > Websites > www.openspaceworld.com > www.ho-image.com > OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > OSLIST Go > to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > From: OSList [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Peggy Holman via OSList > Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2014 1:01 PM > To: Christine Whitney Sanchez; Open Listserv > Subject: Re: [OSList] Private vs Public OST Differences? > > I’d echo Christine’s observations about infrastructure. So much of that is > something that you can take for granted in an organization and requires some > thought when dealing with public settings. > > A couple other distinctions I’ve noticed: > > Organizational events are high context. A calling question is asked within an > existing culture. That’s both a blessing and a curse. It means that there’s > much that doesn’t need explaining. And it means there are unconscious habits > of relating and behaving present. Not bad. Just the territory. > > Examples: I was recently with a group that had an internal clock for half an > hour meetings. It was interesting watching their rhythm shift over the course > of the Open Space. For that same event, I spent about 10 minutes with the > leadership team before we started encouraging them to be themselves and > participate, like everyone else. They bring a unique and valuable > perspective, as do others. And their voices carry a weight they might not > appreciate because of their place in the hierarchy. So if they found > themselves the center of attention, I suggested that it’s a good time to ask > a question that gives the focus back to the group. Or use the law of two feet > and go elsewhere. > > Public events don’t have the context of an existing culture. So the calling > question may have a much wider variation in meaning to people who come. And > there may be fewer existing relationships and norms. Again, not bad. Just > different. > > Many years ago I was part of a team that did a public event with a calling > question so broad that people had multiple interpretations of it. The > question: How do we support a movement toward the conscious evolution of > increasingly conscious social systems? (See > http://www.thegreatstory.org/ev-salon2.html). A number of people on this list > were part of it. People showed up because they were attracted to the hosts > or something about the question spoke to them. It was wild, fun, and > creative. And there was a demand on the second day to hear from the > organizers what we meant by the question, just for more context. > > The other thing I’ve learned is that the process of invitation can be much > more intense for public events. In organizations, the bulk of participation > is internal. While there are certainly issues with ensuring a spirit of > invitation, who to invite and how to reach them is pretty straightforward. > > For public events, I find that if you want a diversity of folks, inviting can > be the most time consuming activity of all. I did some work with the Forest > Service years ago to look at the future of the forests in the San Bernardino > Mountains in California. They were heading into a rough fire season, felt > they’d done everything they could do to prepare. While they had the public’s > attention, they wanted to look to the future, 50 years out. We worked with > them to identify the range of people who cared, including state, local, > federal, and regional government, community organizations, chamber of > commerce, insurance companies (small, but influential), ranchers who leased > land in the national forests, environmental groups, and on and on. Getting > the word out to all these folks took some thought. > > Peggy > > > > > _________________________________ > Peggy Holman > Executive Director > Journalism that Matters > 15347 SE 49th Place > Bellevue, WA 98006 > 425-746-6274 > www.journalismthatmatters.net > www.peggyholman.com > Twitter: @peggyholman > JTM Twitter: @JTMStream > > Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity > Check out my series on what's emerging in the news & information ecosystem > > > > > > > > > On Oct 15, 2014, at 8:43 AM, Christine Whitney Sanchez via OSList > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Daniel and all, > > In my experience, public events have the same buzz and meaningful results as > an in-organization OST. I’ve facilitated a number of them that were > sponsored by a group of organizations in the community. For instance, > Vibrant Phoenix, was a very productive economic development OST, sponsored by > two mayors of large municipalities and several local businesses. One of the > business sponsors agreed to be the contact for folks who wanted to take their > “actionable ideas” to the next level. However, there was no budget and no > infrastructure to really keep folks connected the the ideas they cared the > most about. > > This is where the public open spaces generally fall short. Because the > ongoing action is not the core mission of any of these organizations, it is > hoped that the participants will self-organize going forward. With very few > exceptions, this does not happen. I believe that sponsorship for the work > after the OST is what is called for. > > The Collective Impact model speaks to this. It’s nothing new, really, but > does represent a simple way to talk about the necessary conditions for > sustaining collective action. I now include my version of this model when I > talk with potential sponsors to shine the light beyond the meeting so that we > can discuss their intentions for providing backbone support for > self-organized action going forward. > > I especially love public Open Space events and look forward to working with > sponsors who see the meeting as merely the first small step in collaborative > action. There is so much potential! > > > Warm wishes from a sunny autumn morning in the rain-greened desert, > > Christine > <clip_image002.png> > Christine Whitney Sanchez, M.C. > Phoenix, AZ, USA • +1.480.759.0262 > www.innovationpartners.com > > Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter > > > On Oct 15, 2014, at 6:33 AM, Daniel Mezick via OSList > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Greetings To All, > > I notice that there are many big differences between public-conference-type > OST events, and OST events arranged for organizations. > > Do you also notice this? Maybe I am imagining this....just making stuff up... > > ...maybe not. In many key dimensions, I experience these differences as > striking. Even disturbing. > > > > And so I have been poking around inside the GUIDE (3rd edition) and I notice > that, in some spots, the implication is that the discussion is about a public > event. Up to page 18 for example, this implication is clear: > > > <THE GUIDE PAGE 18> > > Working With The Client if you ARE NOT the Sponsor > > "To this point I have assumed that you (the reader) will be the sponsor and > facilitator of the Open Space, and therefore it is your decision as to > whether or not to proceed...(emphasis added.) > > </THE GUIDE PAGE 18> > > > > My current belief is that having the same person in the Sponsor role **and** > the Facilitator role is probably a very bad idea for an OST event inside an > organization. For the typical public-conference event on the other hand, this > seems to work just fine. Kinda like a Barcamp or Unconference.... > > > Another current belief I hold is that OST is the essential tool for creating > "Development and Transformation in Organizations". It is best suited for use > in organizations. > > It is interesting to note how the Barcamp and/or "Unconference" formats seem > to get the same or as-good results as Open Space, in the public conference > setting. > > Not so inside organizations! In fact, as of now, I don't think Barcamp or > Unconference has any chance whatsoever at being effective in bringing about > Development and Transformation in Organizations the way Open Space can. > Something about the Sponsor? > > Daniel > > > -- > > Daniel Mezick, President > New Technology Solutions Inc. > (203) 915 7248 (cell) > Bio. Blog. Twitter. > Examine my new book: The Culture Game : Tools for the Agile Manager. > Explore Agile Team Training and Coaching. > Explore the Agile Boston Community. > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org >
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