Dear Daniel,
somehow, I dont see what has happened in almost all os gatherings I have
facilitated: people deciding to act and actually going ahead with it
after the gathering not being formally authorized.
As this happened regularly I wondered how those self-authorized
activities fared or got along with formal authorization. Eventually, I
found out that folks knew full well that formal authorization was needed
and had figured out ways addressing that need.
I wondered about Beth. Did she and her group simply suggested something
formal authority should do or was she and others involved in
implementing the stuff they were interested in?
Invariably, I as facilitator would intervene with some off-handed remark
about "suggestions" or "recommendations" or what xyz should do pointing
out that there is nothing wrong with that but ....
cheers
mmp
On 30.11.2015 12:15, Daniel Mezick via OSList wrote:
Hi Koos,
Thanks for your comment on personal passion. There's this very
interesting paper on the various authority types (informal, formal,
personal) which is pretty good, I am including it here if you want to
check it out.
I hear you when you say "I can initiate that process of authorizing
myself by taking responsibility for my passion." This is exactly what we
hope will happen inside company-sponsored OST events.
Within the context of Open Space held in an organization that wants to
explore an enterprise-wide change, we can expect the following to be
true, if the event is to work well:
1. Formally Authorized Leader. A person formally and highly authorized
by the organization sends an invite with a theme. This "formally
authorizes" the time and space for the gathering.
2. Proceedings and Intent to Act- with Inclusion. That same person
welcomes everyone on event-day, and at the opening, encourages the
generation of proceedings, and signals that those proceedings will be
inspected and acted upon, not just by the formally authorized leaders
(the so-called "higher ups") but also with the new and emerging leaders
who have identified themselves during the event ("be prepared to be
surprised.") In other words, the people present are being invited to
have their say, document it, and expect that these issues are going be
input into a formally authorized and inclusive process of deciding,
acting, and improving things.
Now, absent these two facts, how "important" is the OST event? How much
"action" can ensue?
1. Formally Authorized Leader. No formally authorized leader issuing the
invite? Or someone /without enough authorization to matter?/ The signal
is clear: this theme (and this event) is /not important/ to the people
who make the decisions.
2. Proceedings and Intent to Act- with Inclusion. Since no one in the
room has enough formal authority to implement plans suggested in the
proceedings, we can reasonably expect nothing whatsoever to ensue in
formal terms after the meeting. This, because people who /could/ do
something about it (those formally authorized by the organization) "do
not care."
So- the highly authorized Sponsor (or Host) is essential. Otherwise, in
authority terms, the OST event and what happens there just doesn't
matter from an organizational point of view. It cannot have much of an
impact.
Much ado about nothing?
Here's that paper I mentioned earlier:
https://www.it.uu.se/edu/course/homepage/projektDV/ht09/BART_Green_Molenkamp.pdf
I notice that most people prefer to avoid discussing authority. Since
our families are the first place where we encounter this concept and
develop our relationship with it, perhaps it is true that discussing
authority can be very triggering. Thanks for sticking your neck out and
I certainly hope to hear back from you and others on this thread.
Daniel
On 11/30/15 12:57 AM, Koos de Heer wrote:
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for an interesting line of thought. What I am thinking is
that there is also the aspect of a person standing up and speaking for
a passion that they have (be it in the form of raising a topic or just
speaking in a break out session) and in that way claiming authority.
In your essay, authority seems to always come from someone else. And
of course authority only is there when others believe it to be there.
But the initiative to bestow authority on me does not always come from
others. I can also initiate that process of authorizing myself by
taking responsibility for my passion.
Koos
*Van:*OSList [mailto:[email protected]] *Namens
*Daniel Mezick via OSList
*V**erzonden:*maandag 30 november 2015 0:13
*Aan:* [email protected]
*Onderwerp:* [OSList] What's authority got to do with Open Space ?
What's authority got to do with Open Space ? Apparently nothing at
all, at least on the surface...
Wait. Once we peek under the surface, what do we actually find?
This completely heretical essay attempts to answer at least part of
that question.
The context is the use of Open Space in a large business enterprise,
convened with intent to explore the potential for making a very big,
very complex enterprise-wide change.
{Please note, the word "authority" might trigger feelings of:
/soul-sucking bureaucracy/, unfair and /_illegitimate leadership
hierarchy_/, and the like. Some "triggered" readers may want to
opt-out of continuing at this time...)
Authority Distribution in Open Space:
http://newtechusa.net/agile/authority-distribution-in-open-space/
Open Space is a most interesting format for "gathering,", also known
as "meeting."
What exactly is going on in Open Space?
--
Daniel Mezick
Culture Strategist. Author. Keynoter.
(203) 915 7248. Bio. <http://www.DanielMezick.com/> Blog.
<http://www.NewTechUSA.net/blog/> Twitter.
<https://twitter.com/DanielMezick>
Book: The Culture Game. <http://theculturegame.com/>
Book: The OpenSpace Agility Handbook.
<http://www.amazon.com/OpenSpace-Agility-Handbook-Daniel-Mezick/dp/0984875336>
--
Daniel Mezick
Culture Strategist. Author. Keynoter.
(203) 915 7248. Bio. <http://www.DanielMezick.com/> Blog.
<http://www.NewTechUSA.net/blog/> Twitter.
<https://twitter.com/DanielMezick>
Book: The Culture Game. <http://theculturegame.com/>
Book: The OpenSpace Agility Handbook.
<http://www.amazon.com/OpenSpace-Agility-Handbook-Daniel-Mezick/dp/0984875336>
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