Paul Roberts... Welcome to the list. I've done lots of open space activities in a wide range of organizations, and here are a few thoughts in response to your questions. No doubt you'll get a number of replies.
> I'm intrigued by OST, and wondering how it can be practically used in our > consulting business. > > Here are some specifics: > > 1. If the management of a business unit has already defined business needs > and/or opportunities, would it make sense to use OST > > a. to figure out what kinds of knowledge management initiatives will meet > those needs. > > b. to define what kind of metrics make sense to determine how effective > the KM intiatives are. A simple way of answering: can you complete this question in a way that will make sense to prospective participants... "What are the issues and opportunities before us as we seek to____________?" (Manage our knowledge? Measure our KM activities? Both?) > > 2. Let's say an OST event comes up with 10 possible KM opportunities. Is > it OK if that becomes a series of inputs into a management decision about > which ones to follow up on? Yes. > Or does that taking of control violate the whole OST paradigm? Not if the purpose of the meeting was clearly identified as the generation of possibilities. > > 3. In a large, global organization where even one functional group (like > R&D) might be thousands dispersed across the world, can OST be done > effectively in a virtual setting? Does the magical collaborative energy > get generated under those kinds of virtual circumstances? You can have a virtual meeting, and it might achieve its objectives, and it'll open space on some levels, I suppose, but it won't be the same. Not even close. An alternative is to have a series of local OS gatherings and link them up. > Also, how do you > replace the 1, 2 or 3 day offsite meeting with a virtual meeting that might > have to stretch out over some extended time. I mention this because > telling management that people need to stop working and start travelling > and hotelling might present a big barrier to adoption in the real world I > am seeking to do good work in. I want to give you a bit of an argument here. Who says anybody is going to stop working just because we ask them to gather and think about their collective future? That's work as far as I'm concerned. Since when is work only the thing I'm doing now? (And since when has life in a global corporation ever been the "real world"?) When managers and such genuinely care about outcomes, growth, people, and rich, challenging futures, they don't worry about expense accounts. Don't sell the process. Sell the results. Go open some space. Remember to pick up the coffee cups. Best of luck! -- Ralph Copleman 609-895-1629 www.earthdreams.net * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
