>Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 17:36:24 -0400 >To: [email protected] >From: owen <[email protected]> >Subject: Re: A Perplexing Problem > >At 02:54 PM 9/16/99 -0500, you wrote: >>Open Space Colleagues: >> >>I need the benefit of your thinking. >> >>Let's suppose members (with passion and responsiblity) from two >>depts at a university (say A and B) are invited to come together to >>work on designing a new curriculum. The mindset of the dean is to >>extend genuine invitations to whomever wants to work on designing >>the new program. But further suppose that dept A wants to house >>the program after it's created. Dept A decides to stack the deck >>by sending all of its members to the joint project. >> >>Open Space is built on the premise of inviting people with passion >>and responsibility to step forward. My question is this: Can Open >>Space be sabotaged by organization politics (i.e., turf grabbing)? >> >>I would greatly appreciate your thinking on this question. Thank >>you. >> >>Dave Cox >*********************************** >I think you would really have to work at the job. But. If Dept A could >really keep everybody else away, I suppose it could be done. If I were >concerned that something like you describe could take place, I guess I would >just enlarge the invitation list -- extend it to "anybody who cares" -- >students, potential students, folks who might hire the students, folks who >might work with the students... and anybody else -- just so long as they >care. Actually, that would be my inclination anyhow -- just to get the >highest levels of diversity possible, which always improves the end result. > >Harrison >
Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, MD 20854 USA 301-469-9269 (phone) 301-983-9314 (fax) email [email protected] Website http://www.tmn.com/~owen Open Space Institute website http://www.tmn.com/openspace
