Raffi -- Using Open Space at the beginning of a new venture, particularly a
business venture may seem to be the height of foolishness. After all you are
supposed to keep everything a dark secret and under control until you roll out
the great new Mouse Trap. However, from where I sit Opening Space on the
opening day is nothing more than a blinding flash of the obvious. After all it
is all open space anyhow, so why not do it intentionally and effectively. Open
Space!
But there is a risk, and you have put your finger right on the painful spot. As
the initiator you have a dream -- call it a vision. It has some degree of power
and purity for you or you wouldn't bother. But as long as that dream/vision is
yours alone it will never be the foundation of a new viable venture. And here
is the rub . As soon as that dream is shared it will change. For the better or
worse you don't know in advance -- but for sure it will change. And you may
even discover that it was a silly dream which can be extremely painful and
hard on the old ego. But better to cut your losses and run before the
expenditure of major resources.
I have always thought that a critical aspect of Leadership was what I called
Collective Story Telling. The point is we all have our stories, but as long as
they are exclusively MY story -- the story will go nowhere. Only when the story
becomes OUR story will the potential power be made manifest. No guarantees, of
course -- but one thing is certain -- without the public telling, you will
never know. If you care about this line of thinking you might look at my book,
"The Spirit of Leadership" (Barrett-Koehler) -- in the section (guess what?)
called "Collective Story Telling.
Anyhow -- to get to the point. I have always thought of Open Space as an
occasion for story telling, and best of all, Collective Story Telling. So Go
for it my friend. You will certainly have a lot of fun, learn a great deal --
and who knows -- you might even create a business.
Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Dr.
Potomac, MD 20854
USA
301-365-2093
207-763-3261 (summer)
website www.openspaceworld.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Raffi Aftandelian
To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu
Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 1:48 AM
Subject: conducting OST meeting for an organization that is just forming
Dear colleagues and friends,
In mid-July I intend to invite some new/old OST colleagues to run a 2
day OST meeting on the question of the development of the consulting
firm that I am creating/have created, essenceworks consulting group
(it was born in my heart May 20th).
The intent behind this is obvious: why should I develop a business
plan when the "system" has the answers. Let them help me find the
answers with me.
I know that the wider the invitation, the more potential there is to
bring the wisdom into the room. That said, it is rather scary to share
a dream so openly. The dreams are big. If this is indeed a wide-open
invitation, then I should invite all potential clients. Am I ready for
clients to see the inner workings of something so new and not yet
clearly formed? I tell myself, though, in response to this that to a
trained eye/mind/heart/spirit *everything* is visible. Nothing is truly
hidden in this
world. And that there is nothing to fear.
The way I have conceived of the OST meeting thus far is for this to be
2 days of divergence. No time for action planning set aside. Might it
be possible/sensible to set time aside for action planning?
The firm as I conceive of it is really just made up of me, later I
imagine I will have a part-time bookkeeper, personal assistant. And
maybe, maybe, another OST facilitator as partner.
I would be curious to learn of the experience/use of OST in other OST
consulting firms or any other organization that is just forming. What
have been the considerations? What might be stumbling blocks? What
have you done to motivate people (including potential clients)to come?
Warmly,
Raffi
mailto:ra...@bk.ru
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