Beautiful! I personally feel both: values and principles as well as practice. I 
love the way Michael explains the practice holding us. 

I remember when I first experienced Open Space in Diane Gibault's training, the 
posters of principles and law resonated incredibly deeply, as they put words on 
how I was trying to live my life then, and still do. The values I associate 
with these words and the practice of Open Space are, of course, openness and 
authenticity.

And yes, everywhere in my life, I hold these values and principles. And the 
practice of Open Space holds me.

Beautiful! Thank you Harold and Michael!

Esther Matte 
Discover - Engage - Accomplish
Nurturing Life in Organizations
450-955-1693
www.esthermatte.com

Le 2013-09-24 à 23:29, Michael Herman a écrit :

> When I hear folks simplifying open space into a tool or technique, my usual 
> response is to point out that circle is a tool, bulletin board is a tool, 
> etc.  Open Space is a practice, incorporating a number of these different 
> tools.  And hopefully, my use of them together is getting more and more 
> skillful over time.  To me, "practice" includes the suggestion that we do it 
> once, as best we can, and then we try again, and again, learning and refining 
> as we go.  
> 
> My felt sense of this is a little different from "values and principles" 
> though I don't think calling OS or agile or scrum that is incorrect.  For me 
> the difference is that I hold values and principles, but practice is 
> something that holds me.
> 
> I also like to suggest that open space is a robust practice, a sufficient 
> practice.  Everything that's needed is there in the basic story and 
> mechanisms.  We don't need to do anything more, add in different things.  
> Just do the practice and we get the experience, get the learning, the 
> performance, the self-organizing, the breathing.
> 
> Thanks for your story, Harold.
> 
> M  
> 
> 
> 
>  
> --
> 
> Michael Herman
> Michael Herman Associates
> 312-280-7838 (mobile)
> 
> http://MichaelHerman.com
> http://OpenSpaceWorld.org
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 12:58 PM, Peggy Holman <[email protected]> wrote:
> 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
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> 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. 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
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>> 
>> 
>> -- 
>> Harold Shinsato
>> [email protected]
>> http://shinsato.com
>> twitter: @hajush
>> _______________________________________________
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> 
> 
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