As someone who does most of my OST work OUTSIDE of organizations, most often in "community" settings, I have to echo Jeff's comment. There is something different about the quality of conversation between the two settings, and I think it has to do with the fact that in a community Open Space, there is a period of "roughing in" where people struggle to establish structures to help them weather the storm that is the rest of the day. People work hard at connecting, establishing themselves and figuring out what is going on, so that by the end of the day, they have only just begun to talk to each other and then it is over. I have yet to do a "community" OST event that lasted longer than a day, but my suspicion is that the usual magic would kick in after people are together for a while.
I do a lot of community consultations in OST, and I have had comments back from people that the problem with this is that folks seem to stray from the question or the task at hand and talk about things THEY want to talk about. Naturally, this seems fine to me, becasue it reflects my operating model about consultation, which is basically, talk to people about what they are interested in, not about what the sponsor is interested in. Especially with government, there is a general inability to see the "off-topic" type of conversations more as an indictment of the sponsors mandate than as a wandering, untethered mob set loose in OST. Of course those who have control issues will often complain to me that the group strayed off topic, but again, that says more about where they are coming from. But, I have also had lots of comments about the way OST helped to empower folks by NOT having facilitators around. I warn you though, don't bring this up in a pre-meeting with the sponsor, as it tends to terrify people! it always comes out in some form or another in the de brief. At any rate, this being said, there is something else to be said for using OST in an organizational setting where folks are already familiar with each other, and they have a very tangible sense of the givens of the event because they work within them every day. Within an organizations of course, I think you are dealing with a smaller space by definition than the ones that are done in community where seemingly "anything goes." And a group that fills a small space fully is happier than one that fills an big space only a little. All of this is to say that what Jeff has observed is true for me too, and what Harrison has said is also true. We can facilitate using interventions, and there are all kinds of times and places for doing so, but as facilitators, I think we owe it to our clients to be honest about what it is we are doing, and to examine our own assumptions and motivations fully. And is is useful to do this WITH the sponsors so that they come to understand just how important process is. There is always a place for good process facilitation using tools like AI, Future Seach, Dialogue and others. We are better facilitators in these contexts if we have thought through what it is we are doing. And of course, it goes without saying that the same is true for facilitating an OST meeting. Anyway, I have had but four hours sleep in the last day, so if this doesn't make sense, get back to me and I'll see if I understand what I'm trying to say tomorrow... Chris ...who is rueing the day that sleeplessness and instant e-communication realized that they could coexist! -- CHRIS CORRIGAN Consultation - Facilitation Open Space Technology http://www.chriscorrigan.com 108-1035 Pacific Street Vancouver BC V6E 4G7 Phone: 604.683.3080 Fax: 604.683.3036 [email protected] * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
