Yo Harrison,
Where are you lately hearing about 'scaling up' OST?
I'm interested in knowing the origin of that.
Daniel
On 4/26/15 12:12 PM, Harrison via OSList wrote:
To add a bit... The 4 (actually 5) “preconditions” were simply what I,
and others, had observed to be the situation. I can’t actually
remember, but I think my original motivation was to question what
seemed to be the conventional wisdom regarding what it took to have a
good meeting. I think we all know the drill – there should be a clear
agenda, closely ordered procedure, something close to absolute
control, and the like. With thoughts like these in mind, Open Space
was not only counterintuitive, but wrong, dangerous, and obviously
heretical. What we were experiencing was definitely a horse of a
different color.
And yes, Jeff, there is certainly no “requirement” that all conditions
be at maximum red alert. That said, if none are present there would
seem to be little reason have a meeting, let alone Open Space. After
all who would want to waste the time when there was no business issue,
everything was crystal clear, everyone thought exactly the same way,
no passion or conflict, and the sense of urgency non-existent? Sounds
like a non-starter to me. Then again it constantly amazes me that
every day in organizations all over the world folks hold meetings just
because you are supposed to. Is it any wonder that people are bored,
disengaged, and cynical?
But actually what really got me excited was when I realized that my “5
Preconditions” almost exactly paralleled the essential preconditions
for self organization as described by Stuart Kauffmann and others.
That made a connection which produced my greatest learning in and
about Open Space. It is all self organization. It is not a process
we/I created, invented, or whatever. All we actually “do” is to invite
people to remember what they have been doing for ever. Well at least
for the last 13.7 billion years.
And just for a tag line .... to those who might be thinking about
“scaling up” Open Space, I would suggest you save your energy. It’s
already happened. It is all self organizing. It is all open space. Of
course it is true that things get pretty sloppy and gooey when we set
about organizing a self organizing system. Oh well.
Harrison
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*From:*OSList [mailto:[email protected]] *On
Behalf Of *Jeff Aitken via OSList
*Sent:* Sunday, April 26, 2015 11:31 AM
*To:* Daniel Mezick; World wide Open Space Technology email list
*Subject:* Re: [OSList] OST: Public vs Private events: apples and oranges?
Hi Daniel. When Harrison's four conditions came out way back when, I
imagined them as a way to tell a client that even in the most
challenging situation it's quite possible that Open Space will work
very well. In other words, don't hesitate to consider it, even if
you're afraid things are just too messy to try this strange new process.
Having hosted and seen many great open spaces in which the scores were
low, so to speak, I never took seriously that these are absolute
preconditions. To me they are a kind of inoculation against a
prospective sponsor being afraid to make that phone call or send that
email.
With lots of appreciation for your good work
Jeff
Lagunitas, California
-------- Original message --------
From: Daniel Mezick via OSList
Date:04/26/2015 6:20 AM (GMT-08:00)
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: [OSList] OST: Public vs Private events: apples and oranges?
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
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(203) 915 7248 (cell)
Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog
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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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