Hi Rosa,
/
//"...it's amazing how much energy can be freed up, when people are
willing to reconsider the assumption of needing to come up with "a
single action"/
Yes, and I notice that when the invite is really sincere, and people
feel they can opt-out with no sanctions, that is exactly what some of
the folks do. Especially the 2nd meeting, the one with far less novelty
about it. They just do what they want to do. "Everyone gets what they
want" from a sincere invite to Open Space.
Now, there are no formal sanctions (from the org) for not attending.
People are people and when the passionate and responsible show up, for
sure they notice who is and is not also present. Right? And what they do
with that information is up to them right? How each individual responds
to the new info is part of the process of continuous self-organization
and org-wide integration of the learning.
One of my current beliefs is that, when OST is used in organizations, it
has a huge "spectator sport" dimension to it. By this I mean one of the
great things that happens is the org gets new information about itself,
and what it wants, merely by observing and watching.
I notice that the 2nd meeting usually has more intensity. The people
have some experience with experiments now, and OST, and they pretty much
know who is passionate and who is not. There are usually fewer sessions
on the wall, and those sessions are much more focused on a few
known-to-be-very-important topics, and the sessions are typically much
more provocative.
/
//
//"...and instead begin to open to the possibility of having a
multiplicity of actions emerge."/
Yes, and so interesting: The people who end up in the closing circle of
the 2nd Open Space typically start DOING THINGS after that meeting. Not
just ONE thing. Individuals acting alone and more often in small groups
of 2,3,4 etc start DOING different THINGS, typically without seeking
"permission" (aka "authorization") from anyone whatsoever.
Its all very curious and mysterious.
On 8/5/14 11:18 PM, Rosa Zubizarreta wrote:
Yes, great story, Daniel!
One of the ways that my experiences with OST have profoundly
influenced me,
is in making very apparent, the futility and sheer madness of
attempting to "get everyone to agree" to anything...
One place where I often find people still deluded into thinking that
it's "how many" that matters,
is in some old-style social change circles... it's amazing how much
energy can be freed up, when people
are willing to reconsider the assumption of needing to come up with "a
single action" that everyone will subscribe to...
and instead begin to open to the possibility of having a multiplicity
of actions emerge.
The old idea of "strength in numbers" can be a hard one for people to
let go of.. and yet there can be so much more power in small committed
groups of people following their own inspiration... especially when
there is reasonable communication among them.
On Mon, Aug 4, 2014 at 6:01 PM, Harrison Owen <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Wonderful story, and marvelous lesson: It is never about "how
many" -- but always about "Who cares, and how much." Those who
care ALWAYS make the difference. I think. Have fun!
Harrison
Winter Address
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854
301-365-2093 <tel:301-365-2093>
Summer Address
189 Beaucaire Ave.
Camden, ME 04843
207-763-3261 <tel:207-763-3261>
Websites
www.openspaceworld.com <http://%20www.openspaceworld.com>
www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com>
OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
archives of OSLIST Go
to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
*From:*OSList [mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>] *On Behalf Of
*Daniel Mezick
*Sent:* Monday, August 04, 2014 4:50 PM
*To:* [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
*Subject:* [OSList] Open Agile Adoption experience report
As some of you may know, ASCAP (The American Society of Composers
Authors and Publishers) recently won the coveted CIO100 award from
CIO MAGAZINE.
You can learn more about that here:
http://www.ascap.com/press/2014/0610-ascap-to-receive-cio-100-award.aspx
ASCAP is an organization that uses Open Agile Adoption with Open
Space. They are one of the 1^st to stick their necks out, and
avoid mandates, and try the self-organized approach to figuring
out what Agile adoption might actually mean to their organization.
When we did the 2^nd Open Space ("OST2") at ASCAP, the event was
not as well attended, and had a smaller closing circle than the
1^st OAA Open Space or "OST1".
At the time, I felt like we failed. However, a couple of
interesting patterns emerged:
·The people who participated all the way to the closing circle
were full of passion and responsibility
·Those same people were the people who took the whole Agile
adoption forward from there !
Imagine my astonishment as ASCAP completed their mission-critical
task of delivering a new business operating system- the system
that pays royalties to hundreds of thousands of members. AND they
got this done at a time when the business was under tremendous
pressure to perform. Furthermore they got this done using agile
ideas inside a 100-year-old-culture that was highly resistant to
change.
What looked like a total failure in the closing Open Space was
actually the beginning of very significant culture change inside
the company.
The next client to use OAA was a progressive, FORTUNE Top-20
employer, a software company. You would think they would NOT have
a 2^nd Open Space that was less attended than the 1^st , but they
did. I recognized the pattern again---the really passionate and
responsible people were there, in the closing circle. Furthermore,
while the numbers of people were down, the level of intensity was
way UP---one participant remarking in the closing circle said "I
don't understand why the whole company isn't here right now. We
are making tremendous improvements!"
Moral of Story: If you use Open Agile Adoption, expect the 2^nd
Open Space (about 3 to 4 months later) to have lower attendance.
This is a normal pattern. The people who are present in the
closing circle are your new leaders- the people who are going to
carry the culture change forward.
I welcome your questions as you ponder the futility of mandates
(and the power of invitation) in your own work with organizations
that are working hard to improve their culture-- and their results.
--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 <tel:%28203%29%20915%207248> (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter
<http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
Examine my new book:The Culture Game
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for
the Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and
Coaching. <http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
Explore the Agile Boston
<http://newtechusa.net/user-groups/ma/>Community.
_______________________________________________
OSList mailing list
To post send emails to [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
To unsubscribe send an email to
[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
_______________________________________________
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
--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter <http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
Examine my new book:The Culture Game
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the
Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and Coaching.
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
Explore the Agile Boston <http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/>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
