Daniel,
*Thank You* for this and all that preceded it. I've been going
through my own angst on the same questions that you've just posed.
Plus something that Harrison said earlier:
The “*cure*” would then be to stop the wounding, at least until
we could see how things might go. Of course, if the situation
really is *terminal*, then by all means, Bring it on! That could
be SCRUM, Facilitation, Last Rites, whatever...
Stop the wounding, see how things might go.... less is more and
letting go is a *very tall order*!
I know that from what I personally struggled with _after_ my first
experiences in Open Space. As a manager, a leader, a mom, a friend, I
got a sense of where I had been controlling too much and doing too
much under the auspices of coordinating, helping, and yes, even
leading. For a period of time, I even questioned what my whole life
had been -- these were not easy questions. Others I know will suffer
the same insights (grief indeed!). What's worse is that our top down
hierarchy organizational models have rewarded us for this calling it
good leadership. Control is embedded everywhere...insidious almost.
As a facilitator, I saw the emergent bliss of others experiencing
Open Space. I witnessed the great good that came of it with some
degree of "sticking" power. But I could not deny that people were
going back to stuck systems and practices in their ways of working
with many remaining questions buried inside them. The opportunity of
"seeing of how things go"...with the opportunity to reinvent the work
of the business while also running the business itself seemed a
mammoth task! I felt there was more for me to do, not singlehandedly
or in an enabling way but in a roll up our sleeves, let's figure this
out together. It's why I was so drawn to Agile...because I felt it
supported the journey towards self-organizing, a journey with
collaborative practices that had application beyond software.
Is it considered "terminal" if we help either with Scrum or other
distributed leadership processes/practices that self-management
companies are utilizing now (like Morning Star, W.L. Gore) to break
the cycle of control and predictability embedded in our
command/control structures? Would that be organizing the self-organizing?
What you described Daniel...as raw as it is (body bags is not an
exaggeration!) does strike a deep chord. Thank you for articulating
it so well.
I am heartened by your words as I hope for the same.
Is Open Space JUST for orgs that are in /total crisis/....those
that are /completely freaked out/....and completely out of aces
and perceived options?
Because, I suspect OST is a lot more robust than that. .. A lot
more versatile than that.
I also connected with what Francois so eloquently and passionately
described.
OK, so what? So what, you may say, if you’re not into agile.
Well what Daniel has introduced *goes way beyond agile*. The
framework Daniel has put together, surely, is relevant to any
adoption (implementation of a new system or working practice),
not just agile. It relevant to lean adoption, responsive
adoption, environmental management adoption – indeed it is
*relevant to any change or transformation process*. So guys,
forget the agile bit, what Daniel is introducing is a way of
introducing fundamental transformation into any organisation and
*making it stick*.
In the pursuit towards self-organization (self-management), between
less is more and letting go, I believe there is important work to be
done in the way of "opening space and holding space" with the same
intentionality as is there when we facilitate. I do not want to be in
the sidelines of this work. Nor do I want to control it.
Options, stepping stones, make some stew together, etc. Rolling up
our sleeves to do the work that needs doing and figuring out how the
evolution from "here" to "there" might go, helping each other
however those roles play out, it seems to me that that is what life
and the real work of life is all about.
Having said all this, there is a part of me that still wonders... if
"doing nothing is not the doing of everything" though I have yet to
conceive what "doing nothing that is everything" really is.
For now I won't overthink it cause I fear I'll be missing out on the
best of life if I live in my head too much on these questions. Best
to experience as it unfolds.
Suzanne...trekking on!
Suzanne Daigle
Open Space Facilitator
NuFocus Strategic Group
FL 941-359-8877
Cell: 203-722-2009
www.nufocusgroup.com <http://www.nufocusgroup.com>
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Twitter @Daiglesuz
On Mon, Mar 23, 2015 at 10:59 AM, Daniel Mezick via OSList
<[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Friends and Citizens of OSLIST:
Greetings.
As I continue to think, and get experience and learn, I realize
that what I often "see and hope for an org" and "what is possible
right here right now" .....those 2 items have a big, huge gap.
Certainly a lot of the gap can be closed in one step....but THE
WHOLE THING?
So for example: yes, it is a great aspirational goal to
"eliminate all meetings", and even have Open Space as a passing
aha (...we graduated! We no longer need OST!!) and so on.
Question: How do you get there... without various people going
out in body bags from stress? From freaking out? from culture shock?
Eliminating any and all forms of meeting AND getting rid of any
formal facilitation are all great goals....to bring the org to
such a state of advancement that, well, you know, they are just
AMAZING....all open space all the time....
Now: is speeding that up beyond what people can handle actually a
good idea?
Wondering....
So for example getting rid of all meetings might go like this:
1. Facilitate all meetings or awhile
2. Make all meeting optional, too
3. Eventually, just GET RID OF all meetings.
This progression (through time) makes sense to me.
Because, to tell you the truth, "step 1" ain't as easy as it
looks....
...now, can we just SHOCK an org into evolving?
Does the real world really work that way?
Consider the guidance for the Open Space invitation: "4 to 6
weeks in advance." Yes we can do 2 weeks or 2 days, that said....
the standard guidance is to give them many weeks.... to "figure
out what the invitation MEANS...." ... to "integrate the invite",
etc.
Orgs seem to have "currently-available range of options"
(destinations) for evolving. A range or collection of
/destinations/ they can go to.... from here. Kind of like
stepping stones. Kind of like this:
1. Identify what set of stepping-stone destinations ("leaps") are
immediately possible, and
2. Invite them to pick one, and
3. Help them do that one leap.
I find this works well. Very well actually!
The alternative, a complete annihilation of everything that
"was", a complete annihilation of everything that "is"....in
favor of the All-New Shiny Thing.... the Shiny Thing that in
theory "wants to happen"...or so we say...this seems both
impractical and extremely stressful for the org.
Not to mention: whatever happened to:
* /Whenever it starts is the right time?/
* /Whatever happens is the only thing that could? /
....And so I like the idea of "do a little, learn a little,
integrate...then SHIFT to the next level..."
The dual-OST, before/after Open Space with 100 days in the
middle...what we now call Open Agile Adoption....this seems to
provide the kind of place/space where the folks can actually
"make some stew" together, and boil it down, and enjoy it, and
get to a new level of integration. And fast!
I'm not so sure "annihilation of everything that came before" is
really such a cool idea. It also seems kind of /forced/ as I
think about it. Kind of /violent/. I realize stuff has to "die"
before the new stuff can be "born" but do we have to burn the
forest down to the ground to get legitimate new growth?
How many organizations can live through that level of trauma
without freaking out ?
Is Open Space JUST for orgs that are in /total crisis/....those
that are /completely freaked out/....and completely out of aces
and perceived options?
Because, I suspect OST is a lot more robust than that.
I suspect OST is a lot more versatile than that.
And this has certainly been my experience so far.
Daniel
On 3/21/15 4:18 PM, Harrison wrote:
Dan --- Our organizations are definitely stodgy. Even the best
of them seem to clunk along when compared to what they might be
doing. God knows how you could ever produce any numbers to prove
this assertion, but I have yet to met anybody (even the wildest
enthusiast) who would affirm that their organization was running
in top form. Good yes... but with lots of room for improvement.
But I suspect that the critical issue is NOT a matter of “low
level of development,” rather it is a case of self inflicted
wounds causing radical sub-optimization. The “cure” would then
be to stop the wounding, at least until we could see how things
might go. Of course, if the situation really is terminal, then
by all means, Bring it on! That could be SCRUM, Facilitation,
Last Rites, whatever...
So what would an organization look like if it stopped being
shot? How would it perform?
Sounds pretty abstract and difficult to visualize... but I do
believe we get the picture in wild living color, every time we
have the privilege of opening the space for a damaged
organization, where the trouble is real and palpable. I’m not
talking about the two hour Open Space on some frilly, safe
topic. I mean the real deal where the stakes are seriously high.
Survival stuff.
My experience is shared by many, and the stories are often told.
My most recent encounter was with a very large US federal
agency, which according to its director was so dysfunctional
that “most of the people could not find their rear ends with
both hands” (That’s a direct quote). They were in trouble by any
standard, and the Chief was so out of options that Open Space
sounded like a safe way to go – even though he had never seen one.
Well we did it... and the organization I saw bore no
relationship to the one that had been described to me. The
people were all the same, the issues were familiar... but the
behavior was brilliant. Total flowing conversation with real
engagement and workable solutions. Mind Bending! And the chief
was blown away – walking around with a silly grin on his face.
I invited him to lunch because I wanted to feed him several
drinks and ask a question. We had the lunch, and after the
drinks, came the question: “What are you doing, Sir, as a matter
of everyday business that converts 177 bright, engaged,
competent people into blundering fools?” He looked a little
surprised and I said, “I think you might want to stop doing it.”
Dan – That’s my point. Before we do anything more, different, or
otherwise – I sincerely believe we need to stop and appreciate
what apparently happens very naturally, all by itself, with
minimal or no assistance. And after that appreciative moment, we
might think of a few things to do, but only a very few.
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
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*From:*OSList [mailto:[email protected]]
*On Behalf Of *Daniel Mezick via OSList
*Sent:* Thursday, March 19, 2015 11:32 PM
*To:* [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
*Subject:* Re: [OSList] Agile-in-OpenSpace videos
Harrison and All,
Harrison you once said recently:
"The real operating system is self-organization, Daniel.
Everything else is an app. Open Space included!"
I've just recently integrated this idea more fully into my
thinking. I must admit it has taken "some time."
That said, my current belief is: most organizations are at a
very low level of development and can use/typically need the
"app" of Open Space...and/or the "app" of Scrum... and/or the
"app" of Sociocracy, what have you.
I think [facilitation] does fit nicely as a kind of component or
"widget" in each "app" (facilitation being part of OST, Scrum,
Kanban) ...all of which run on the real OS of self-organization.
So these are all self-org "apps." The "f" word does after all
has the connotation of: "making it easy."
At Frank Tino's company INTUIT, they have embraced the idea of
creating "a culture of facilitation." This has resulted in some
interesting team behaviors...
...Frank Tino's staff, for example, does this very impressively
effective, brief daily-meeting called the 'daily huddle' at 430
PM each day and it's super short like 12 minutes... and someone
plays in the facilitator role each time... and that f-role
orbits/rotates around to someone new each day who jumps in to do
it.
And it seems to work pretty darned good. Everyone is a
facilitator at one time or another. I often observe them
completing each other's sentences in these 430PM meetings...
I like the idea of having a goal of ELIMINATING the need to for
any (facilitated!) 'Open Space' gatherings. These gatherings are
after all simply apps running on the REAL operating system we
call: "you-know-what."
Daniel
On 3/19/15 3:07 PM, Harrison via OSList wrote:
I guess you could say that replying to your own note is
rather like talking to yourself. Guilty as charged – but
then I doit all the time (Talk to myself). Anyhow, I
expressed the hope that Dan’s videos would not only inspire
folks toemulate, but also to think about going to the next
level wherever that might be. I’m not sure I know, but I
didnotice a little anomaly in the marvelous interviews,
which might suggest a direction. Dan’s client obviously was
movedby the Open Space – the quality of conversations, good
ideas, actions generated, and all the good stuff. Presuming
that Dan’s Open Space is just like always, those
generativegroups that the client so enjoyed did it all by
themselves with not a facilitator in sight. No news here –
but then inthe final interview, the client waxed enthusedly
about “facilitation” and said that from here on out he was
alwaysgoing to have a facilitator. Did I see a little
disconnect here? A little anomaly? If the folks could “do
it” in OpenSpace...why not every day, all the time?
Perchance an opportunity to go to the next level?
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]] *On Behalf
Of *Harrison via OSList
*Sent:* Monday, March 16, 2015 4:57 PM
*To:* 'Daniel Mezick'; 'World wide Open Space Technology
email list'
*Subject:* Re: [OSList] Agile-in-OpenSpace videos
Dan –this is just wonderful! And to be clear... I never
could have done what you have done. First off, I don’t
speakAgile/Scrum/... I joke, but seriously. And to
anybody else on this OSLIST, do yourself a favor. Watch
Dan’s videosthrough. Not with the idea of replicating what
happened (although that wouldn’t be bad) but to be inspired
to takeit all to a new level. I so look forward to whatever
discussion...
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]] *On Behalf
Of *Daniel Mezick via OSList
*Sent:* Monday, March 16, 2015 4:01 PM
*To:* [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
*Subject:* [OSList] Agile-in-OpenSpace videos
Greetings,
Find below 15-minute videos of software industry executive
Frank Tino, explaining his org's journey thru Open Space on
the way to a genuine, rapid, lasting, enterprise-wide,
"scaled" Agile adoption.
Frank's 100-person company (now 150++ just one year layer)
authorized several full-day before/after Open Space events.
In between there was 100 days of experimentation and
learning in between those gatherings. In these videos he
explains the astonishing results obtained in just 100 days...
...Open Space is now part of the cultural fabric of his
entire organization. And the coaches are GONE.
<SHAMELESS HYPE WARNING>
Is Open Agile Adoption something completely new? Well yes,
it is actually. Thanks for asking! Explained here:
Open Agile Adoption Theory and Components
http://openagileadoption.com/open-agile-adoption-components/
</SHAMELESS HYPE WARNING>
Here's the links to those executive videos:
http://openagileadoption.com/open-agile-adoption-videos/
PART1: 15 mins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWjNQM7q64o
PART2: 15 mins
http://youtu.be/UdSmGS9JTtU
PART3: 15 mins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9cpRPlLHYU
*
*Open Agile Adoption (OAA) is a new composition of powerful
elements that work together to strongly encourage positive
cultural change in organizations. Open Agile Adoption
incorporates the power of invitation, Open Space, game
mechanics, passage rites, storytelling and more…so your
Agile adoption can actually take root.
OAA is based on people, THEN practices. You can introduce
any practice or framework with it. Open Agile Adoption is
based on www.Prime-OS.com <http://www.Prime-OS.com>, which
is social technology published under an open-source,
free-to-the-world ("free culture") license from Creative
Commons.
www.OpenAgileAdoption.com <http://www.OpenAgileAdoption.com>
www.Prime-OS.com <http://www.Prime-OS.com>
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.
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--
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.
--
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.
_______________________________________________
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