Greetings All,
...I notice these well-worn, well-understood set of starting conditions
for great Open Space, on Wikipedia...hmm...
<WIKIPEDIA>
Hundreds of Open Space meetings have been documented.^[4]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Space_Technology#cite_note-4> ^[5]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Space_Technology#cite_note-5>
Harrison Owen explains that this approach works best when these
conditions are present,^[3]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Space_Technology#cite_note-OST-3>
namely high levels of
1. /Complexity/, in terms of the tasks to be done or outcomes achieved;
2. /Diversity/, in terms of the people involved and/or needed to make
any solution work;
3. /Conflict, real or potential/, meaning people really care about the
central issue or purpose; and
4. /Urgency/, meaning that the time to act was "yesterday".
</WIKIPEDIA>
In an organization, we could work with formally authorized leaders to
gauge the magnitude of each dimension. So for example we could gauge or
rank the magnitude, with 1 being lowest and 10 being the highest
magnitude for gauging each dimension. For a really nice opportunity to
use Open Space, we might be looking for a combined score of, say, 32 or
higher (out of a possible 40)
The Public Conference Event
Now let's consider the PUBLIC conference event. What is the typical
combined score in a public conference... for these 4 elements? I am
guessing the combined score is something like 20 or lower for the
typical conference event. Maybe 25 out of a perfect 40? The cohesion is
just (generally speaking!) /so much lower/ in a public vs org-based
(private) event...
<HERESY>
And that is why I think OST is for "development and transformation in
organizations" (that actual subtitle of the SPIRIT book) and that it is
not at all as effective, in terms of impact, when implemented in a
public conference.
</HERESY>
I am guessing the scores for the 4 dimensions are almost always be lower
in a public vs. private event.
Certainly that is my general subjective observation, based on a small
sample of direct experience (less than 20 experiences doing OST inside
corporations...)
...Yes: some exceptions do exist. As is almost always the case. Right?
That said, I feel these exceptions prove the general rule... that
private events have a much higher combined score, all else being equal.
Ironically, the OST format was originally formulated to ease the effort
required to arrange and execute public conference events.
And then....
Daniel
--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 (cell)
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<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the
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