As much as I love OST meetings, what I love even more is when the outcomes make a significant difference in an organization. For some, the excitement comes in sustaining the new paradigm after using an OST meeting or series of meetings to shift from one paradigm to another. For others, the excitement comes when new growth and regeneration occurs from the new paradigm as a launching pad for what emerges.
In about 1992 I first learned from Harrison the stages of an organization going from reactive-->responsive-->proactive-->interactive-->inspired. I examined this like holding a treasure in my hand, looking at it from every angle. And then I said, it seems to me that all organizations at their core are inspired....they simply need to get their patterns unlearned to get back to their natural state of inspired organizations. If it is true that the natural state of the organization is the state of being inspired, then what do we need to do to unlearn patterns that keep us in what I think of as a life depleting state...and hold ourselves and our organizations in the life nurturing state of being an inspired organization. >From 1992 through 1995, I worked from this belief with what I at the time called the Conscious Open Space Organization. My hypothesis was that all organizations are Open Space Organizations. The difference that comes from 1.working frequently with OST in the same organization and 2. use processes and reflection methods to develop awareness/focus on the organization to develop its consciousness about itself as an Open Space Organization, an inspired organization. In 1992 the moment of my breakthrough to this way of thinking and working also came from Harrison. When I watched him use the Medicine Wheel as a reflection tool at the end of an OST meeting, and with my own prior studies with the Medicine Wheel Tool as a foundation for myself, I grasped how important the reflection component was. Via this reflection, the participants could reflect on outcomes of how fantastic leadership was during the meeting, how they all aligned with the vision, how they experienced community, and how they self managed within minimal structure. They were reflecting about themselves, during the meeting, as operating as an inspired organization...at least for the length of the meeting. I sat there completely mesmerized. People were discovering what was already there in the organization, not something that they had to strive for or reach for beyond what they already knew how to do. Today, I come across people who are passionate about OST as a meeting format, and about opening space...and very occasionally I come across and have the joy of conversing with someone who, like me, is interested in the long term outcomes in an organization. I love those conversations. Since 1995 out on my own as a consultant, I have experimented with the Conscious Open Space Organization...eventually I changed the name of this model to the Genuine Contact Organization. The need for that change is another story for another day. For now, I wanted to let you know that I am hosting six people for a week long learning journey with me about the Genuine Contact Organization. Information is at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/genuine-contact-organization-advanced-leadership-development-november-2018-tickets-42690069146 . I believe that there are three spaces left. If you would like to have a conversation about whether this is right for you, please contact me at [email protected] and I will be happy to chat with you. [image: AW803 The Threads.jpg] in genuine contact, Birgitt -- Birgitt Williams Closing the Gap Between Potential and Results Services http://www.dalarinternational.com/services/ Leadership & Organizational Development Training, http:// www.dalarinternational.com/services/training/ Author, President & Senior Consultant of Dalar International Consultancy, Inc. Co-founder: Genuine Contact program Co-founder of the Extraordinary Leadership Network http://www.extraordinaryleadershipnetwork.com Co-owner of the Genuine Contact Co-owners Group Ltd. http://www.genuinecontact.net *Supporting leadership development for leading in a culture requiring agility and flexibility in a performance environment of constant change.* PO Box 19373, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA 27619 phone: 1-919-522-7750
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