At 08:27 AM 8/2/00 +0200, you wrote:
The group of dismissed employees asked me if I would help them with the facilitating of an Open Space.
****************************** Great Tale! It reminds me of some work that Hugh Huntington did about 10 years ago with a large American Aerospace Co. (Honeywell I think) When peace (of sorts) broke out following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, American defense companies faced a major change in the economic situation. For Honeywell this mean a 50% reduction in force in something like 6 months. They had to go from 2400 employees to 1200! Hugh helped them through their Open Space -- not only to build moral and say good by -- but also to do the re-design of the business. He tells this story in Tales From Open Space. A related story rolled out at Proctor and Gamble -- They had a 50 year old plant with three generations of folks working there. The plant was more than a place of work -- it was really a way of life. But it had to go. The equipment was too old, the product was a "dirty" one, which made meeting environmental standards in the town where the plant was located almost impossible. Anyhow, I had the privilege of doing what I could to help them through. Open Space didn't exist (as far as I was concerned) at that point, but in retrospect we all worked in Open Space. I have tried to tell that tale in "The Spirit of Leadership." -- (used to be called "Leadership Is"") Anyhow -- there seems to be somewhat of a body of experience using Open Space productively in what we in the US call downsizing situations. I guess other folks call it differently -- but by whatever name, the situation is familiar, and maybe a little discussion around the issue would be useful? Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, MD 20854 USA phone 301-469-9269 Summer Phone 207-763-3261 fax 301-983-9314 website www.mindspring.com/~owenhh Open Space Institute website www.openspaceworld.org
