Harold, Thanks for bringing your knowledgable and eloquent perspective.
Great to see these two communities working through an understanding of each other. With you and others as translators, I think Agile is in good hands. Peggy __________________________________ Peggy Holman Journalism that Matters 15347 SE 49th Place Bellevue, WA 98006 425-746-6274 www.journalismthatmatters.org www.peggyholman.com Twitter: @peggyholman JTM Twitter: @JTMStream Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity Check out my series on what's emerging in the news & information ecosystem On Sep 23, 2013, at 7:53 AM, Harold Shinsato <[email protected]> wrote: > Harrison, > > About your statement "Open Space is a terrible way to introduce some new > process, and especially to assure 'buy in'". > > You're clearing going directly against the heart of what Dan is trying to > promote. Maybe I invite disaster for myself by speaking an alternative view > from what you are saying given your founding status of this community - but > perhaps given my 12+ years working in the Agile space - I have something > worthwhile to say. > > Harrison, you've been opposed to calling "Open Space" a tool. And I hear Lisa > Heft (the best Open Space trainer) talking about it being a tool all the time. > > I agree with both of you. Open Space is most emphatically *not* a tool at > it's heart. It's a set of values and principles. But it is also definitely a > tool. Or as Dan says, a 'game'. A beautifully designed game. > > Agile is most DEFINITELY not a process. It's a set of values and principles. > You can see this in the Agile Manifesto - especially the first item, we value > Individuals and Interactions *over* Processes and Tools. Yes, the Agile > community applies many very specific tools and processes. And very heated > debates happen around the application (or misapplication) of those tools and > processes, such as Scrum. > > But oddly - even Scrum isn't *Really* a tool or a process. At the heart of > Scrum is also a set of principles and values. If you want to get a sense of > this - go to the end of the first book on Scrum, by Schwaber & Beedle "Agile > Software Development with Scrum" - where it lists the 5 values of Scrum - > Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect & Courage. Or read Tobias Meyer's "The > People's Scrum". Very powerful assertion and meditation on the core values > and how to apply the processes to get > > Open Space has already been used with great success to introduce, promote and > sustain Agile in the world through many uses of Open Space in conferences > such as the AgileOpen, Coaching Camps, and Open Agile Adoption such as what > Dan Mezick is explaining. From my vantage point, Open Space is critical for > helping the values and principles to be successfully absorbed. > > From my vantage point - Open Space Technology's values and principles are > eternal and aren't going away. The Universe won't suddenly stop > self-organizing. If anything, we'll only get better at understanding and > dancing with Order and Chaos. This dance, with the help of Open Space > Technology the Game (or Tool) has changed my life and infused it with spirit. > I'm eternally grateful to you, Harrison, to Lisa Heft, and to and this > community. And maybe Open Space Technology the game or tool will pass away. > The same goes for Agile values and principles. They're eternal. They're not > going away. The Process will never be more important than the Individuals. > The People are always more important than the Game. > > BUT - there are powerful forces behind trying to adopt agile as merely a tool > or a process, because it's easier to understand. And that invites failure - > and it's the exact kind of failure you're writing about, Harrison, about how > our creations are "inevitably clunky." To succeed, any implementation of > Agile or Scrum needs to be able to self-organize - "Inspect and Adapt" is one > of the anthems of the agile and scrum communities. I hope that the Open Space > community will step up and help the Agile community to do that. > > Thanks, > Harold > > > On 9/22/13 10:45 AM, Harrison Owen wrote: >> Dan wrote: “I've learned that there are actually more ways to fail with Open >> Space in Agile adoptions than there are ways to succeed. There are many ways >> to stumble when trying this.” >> >> Actually, Dan – I am not at all surprised. I learned a long time ago that >> Open Space is a terrible way to introduce some new process, and especially >> to assure “buy in.” Typically, problems arise because folks take Open Space >> seriously. Instead of buying into the proposed process, they begin to invent >> their own! Somewhere I wrote that OS was a great way to design a new >> accounting system, but a horrible way to “implement” it. >> >> And just to be contrarian... I wonder whether the failure is a function of >> Open Space or Agile (and/or the SCRUM flavor of Agile)? As I think we have >> come to understand, Open Space is a total scam if people mistake it for some >> process we invented or “do.” It is simply an invitation to be what we always >> have been – self organizing. The process itself (SO) has been around for >> some time, and apparently has done quite well, witness the fact that we, >> along with all the rest of the Cosmos are here and seemingly functional. In >> a “face off” between a well functioning self-organizing system and any >> process we might have designed to create the system, install the system, or >> enhance the system – the designed process doesn’t have a chance. The reason >> is simple. No matter how wise, careful, diligent or skillful we may be – our >> creation is inevitably clunky. We may get the big blocks right, even some of >> the finer points, but at the end of the day we always miss the nuances – and >> as always, the devil is in the details. Put somewhat differently, our >> designed processes are always “averages” of what we think the process should >> look like. And “averages” do not exist anywhere in nature. To push an >> “average” on a natural system is always to make it function at some >> sub-optimal level, and usually to kill it. >> >> So maybe the order of precedence should go the other way? Use Agile to >> introduce Open Space, and then abolish Agile. Or, if you like ... >> Self-Organization is the natural agility. It doesn’t get any better than >> that. Or something >> >> Harrison >> >> >> Harrison Owen >> 7808 River Falls Dr. >> Potomac, MD 20854 >> USA >> >> 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer) >> Camden, Maine 04843 >> >> Phone 301-365-2093 >> (summer) 207-763-3261 >> >> www.openspaceworld.com >> www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST >> Go to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org >> >> From: [email protected] >> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Daniel Mezick >> Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 11:26 AM >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: [OSList] Open Space with Agile: Failure patterns >> >> Greetings to you, >> >> In Paris this week at the Global Scrum Gathering I plan to issue certain >> warning about specific failure patterns I have experienced when working with >> Open Space inside Agile adoptions. I can tell you right now that Open Space >> by itself is not a panacea for the complex problems associated with Agile >> adoption. >> >> Agile is actually a cover story about the wider act of bringing culture >> change (a new and unfamiliar game) to an enterprise situation (the old story >> we all want to cling to). The SPIRIT book pretty much spells out the >> problem. >> >> I've learned that there are actually more ways to fail with Open Space in >> Agile adoptions than there are ways to succeed. There are many ways to >> stumble when trying this. I'll be enumerating some of these subtle >> Agile-related pitfalls and traps in the Paris keynote on Tuesday, and in >> upcoming blog posts. Simply holding one or more canonical Open Space >> meetings (with full pre-planning and post processing) is not enough to >> neutralize the forces that oppose healthy and well Agile adoptions. The game >> mechanics, storytelling and passage-rite-structure elements must be present >> and robust for Open Space to be an effective tool in Agile adoptions. Open >> Space and these elements are composed in harmony with each other in the Open >> Agile Adoption technique. >> >> If you offer training in Open Space for Facilitators and/or Sponsors, I >> invite you to send me your links and I will make sure they are added to the >> list of resources I am beginning to compile at OpenAgileAdoption.com. I plan >> to list in the Paris slides some specific French-language OST course >> offerings from French-speaking instructors located in Europe, and Quebec. >> >> Kind Regards, >> Dan >> >> -- >> >> Daniel Mezick, President >> New Technology Solutions Inc. >> (203) 915 7248 (cell) >> Bio. Blog. Twitter. >> Examine my new book: The Culture Game : Tools for the Agile Manager. >> Explore Agile Team Training and Coaching. >> Explore the Agile Boston Community. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> OSList mailing list >> To post send emails to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: >> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > > -- > Harold Shinsato > [email protected] > http://shinsato.com > twitter: @hajush > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
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