Re: [OSList] OSList Digest, Vol 99, Issue 16

[David Osborne via OSList]

I am finding these messages offensive.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 20, 2019, at 2:28 AM, Mark Carmel via OSList 
>  wrote:
> 
> Yeah seek out the leader and prepare to be misled and deceived by the leader. 
> Fuck the lying leaders   Let the people lead...  
> 
>> On Fri, Jul 19, 2019, 2:33 PM  wrote:
>> Send OSList mailing list submissions to
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>> 
>> 
>> Today's Topics:
>> 
>>1. action reflection learning track for leaders who have
>>   experienced OST in their organizations (Birgitt Williams)
>>2. Re: WOSonOS 2019 registrations open (Thomas Herrmann)
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> 
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2019 21:07:39 -0400
>> From: Birgitt Williams 
>> To: OS list 
>> Subject: [OSList] action reflection learning track for leaders who
>> have experienced OST in their organizations
>> Message-ID:
>> 
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>> 
>> Dear friends and colleagues in Open Space,
>> When you facilitate an OST meeting in an organization, it is the formal
>> leader who opens the space inside his/her organization for this meeting to
>> take place. Whether the leader feels well versed in what OST is or is
>> simply going along with something that has been recommended, that person
>> has an experience that is also a big opportunity...for the single leader
>> and/or the leadership team.
>> 
>> If you also recognize the wonderful opportunity in front of this leader as
>> you have discussions with the leader and leadership team, you may be
>> interested in the five self study modules that our team is calling our Next
>> Level Leadership learning track
>> . The
>> five modules are designed for just such a leader to go through in a self
>> study mode to encourage some of the thinking that is important to lead an
>> organization within the new leadership paradigm within which OST fits
>> "Leading So People Will Lead".
>> 
>> Since 1992 I have been fascinated by what happens when formal leaders
>> including leadership teams sponsor and experience an Open Space Technology
>> meeting in their workplace. There are a few different story lines that
>> emerged. First, it is important to share with you that within how we teach
>> about Working with Open Space Technology in our Genuine Contact program, we
>> encourage facilitators of the OST meeting to have a 'debrief meeting' with
>> these leaders (the sponsors). The questions we ask in the debrief meeting
>> are kept simple and are intended for heightening learning from the shared
>> experience of having been in an OST meeting. Yes, simple action-reflection
>> learning.
>> 
>> In my experience, OST always works. And always, the quality and quantity of
>> outcomes surpasses all expectations. So...that is part of what is reflected
>> on during the debrief meeting. Within an OST meeting, there is always the
>> experience of leadership popping up by just about everyone; people stating
>> that they experience a shared vision during the meeting; a real sense of
>> community with good communication throughout; and self management within
>> the container created. This is also discussed in the debrief meeting. Then
>> comes the question that for me is of utmost importance. Here it is "During
>> the OST meeting, you experienced exceptional performance by the people who
>> participated as you have just discussed. If you are not getting that
>> exceptional performance every day, would you like to?".
>> 
>> Silence is the first response.
>> The second response is "no, this is not our daily experience"
>> Then comes the discussion of "we want this in our daily experience BUT we
>> are not ready". I reply "you say you want exceptional performance. Your
>> people have shown you within the OST meeting that they are capable of
>> exceptional performance already. If you are not having this exceptional
>> performance on a daily lived basis and you want it, what is it you are not
>> ready for?"
>> 
>> The answer has consistently been about the leadership capacity of the
>> leadership team to lead an organization of people who are engaged in the
>> ways that were visible in the OST meeting. This is a vulnerable
>> conversation to be having and I feel a lot of respect for the leaders and
>> the discussion.
>> 
>> My personal favorite outcome of the discussion is the leader (leadership
>> team) expressing an 

Re: [OSList] OSList Digest, Vol 99, Issue 16

[Michael M Pannwitz via OSList]

Dear Mark,

had a good laughing attack, reading your message.

The approach I have developed to improve on the role and task of the 
"leader" goes like this:


1. Contact:
I get a call from someone, not necessarily the "leader", sometimes a 
person from the OD department of the organization requesting an OST 
event. This professional person, as anyone else, can really have a 
number of assumptions about the organization she or he works for. After 
listening for a very short while (since I dont want to get confused) I 
suggest my standard procedure, a contact meeting with those that decide 
on this event.


2. Contact meeting face-to-face, never online or similar stuff:
Usually three or four or five people (I suggested to the first caller 
that it should be a bit of a diverse small group) gather for this 
contact meeting which lasts exactly 1 hour and maybe 15 minutes. For 
this meeting I dont charge anything regardless of the outcome. The 
potential client simply pays the costs (if I have to fly to Paris and 
spend a night there which happened in the early stage of the 300 leaders 
with Muslims, Jews and Christians engaged in World Peace in Sevilla (HO 
facilitated, I helped).)
In this meeting I suggest the present folks have an exchange on what the 
gathering is planned for (usually there is a pretty divergent response 
but the central issue becomes clearer).
After that I tell them about the 5 or 6 prerequites for an OST event and 
have them exchange on those.
At the end I also ask them how aware they are about the role of leaders 
after an OST event in face of the fact that participants start to lead 
themselves. Oh, yes, they exclaim, thats what we would love. Hmmm. I 
also add that nobody from the organization should make any promises in 
regard to the potential actions that people will engage in after the 
event. Them then also leading will know what kind of support they need 
and how to get it.

Before leaveing I tell them to sleep over all this and give me a ring.
If they call me and if I have a hunch that it will all work out, the 
third step is the :


3. Planning Meeting (preparatory meeting):
A group of 8 to 35 people (thats the range I have experienced in my 
career of working with OST) that the "leaders" selected, mirroring 
approximately the expected participants, meet for exactly 3.5 hours to
- exchange their expectations re the outcome (Thinking of the first 
working day after the event, what has changed?)
- develope the overall theme (in four steps: everyone for himself 
followed by random small groups to come to one theme, followed by a 
quick round of weighing the various themes, a round of three or four 
that want to come to a final suggestion (in fishbowl with the rest of 
the group watching, one empty chair for folks watching to come in and 
make a suggestion and immeditately leaving the chair again) and fourth 
an exchange of all to see whether the theme is it
- a brainstorming on who all needs to be invited to the event to 
actually work successfully on action that would carry the expectations 
forward under the chosen overall theme... usually a long list pops up 
which is reduced by a quick check on whether concrete people are behind 
the suggestions. For instance if someone says "The press" it will not 
count unless someone comes up with a particular organ or best a 
particular person...). The list is then checked on once more by 
identifying who is essential. If it turns out that someone mentioned as 
"essential" will definitely not come (for whatever reason) I suggest 
that then expectations have to be reduced or the overall Theme changed. 
That can lead to more clarifications and strenghens the common ground.
- produce a list of stuff that needs to be worked on and who will be in 
charge of that for each item, such as producting an invitation, 
designing different invitation procedures for different target groups 
(some will need an letter, others a letter and a phone call, some you 
have to go and see, etc.)


Shortly before the end of the Planning Meeting I ask folks to sit in a 
closing circle and briefly state what they experienced in the last 3.5 
hours. Amazing stuff will surface such as: I came doubting this would 
make any sense, now I am on fire and have taken charge of finding a 
venue... I have been working as an executive for 20 years and never had 
a more productive and fun gathering... we have developed into a real 
group even though several of you I never met before...
(in other words this group together with the "leader" is now leading and 
spreading the word about the event in their system.)


This kind of approach has always worked also because the formal 
"leaders" were present and even though it was not done in "OST" nothing 
happened in the 3.5 hours that was not what those present worked and 
decided on.


There was, however, one event that I was asked to faciliate a year after 
a massacre in a school in a town south of Berlin, where the folks of the 
 

Re: [OSList] OSList Digest, Vol 99, Issue 16

[Mark Carmel via OSList]

Yeah seek out the leader and prepare to be misled and deceived by the
leader. Fuck the lying leaders   Let the people lead...

On Fri, Jul 19, 2019, 2:33 PM 
wrote:

> Send OSList mailing list submissions to
> oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>
> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> oslist-requ...@lists.openspacetech.org
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> oslist-ow...@lists.openspacetech.org
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of OSList digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
>1. action reflection learning track for leaders who have
>   experienced OST in their organizations (Birgitt Williams)
>2. Re: WOSonOS 2019 registrations open (Thomas Herrmann)
>
>
> --
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2019 21:07:39 -0400
> From: Birgitt Williams 
> To: OS list 
> Subject: [OSList] action reflection learning track for leaders who
> have experienced OST in their organizations
> Message-ID:
> <
> cakf340js1xkaoqgelzwfxxtgq0uono6ryti+us7vvsktape...@mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Dear friends and colleagues in Open Space,
> When you facilitate an OST meeting in an organization, it is the formal
> leader who opens the space inside his/her organization for this meeting to
> take place. Whether the leader feels well versed in what OST is or is
> simply going along with something that has been recommended, that person
> has an experience that is also a big opportunity...for the single leader
> and/or the leadership team.
>
> If you also recognize the wonderful opportunity in front of this leader as
> you have discussions with the leader and leadership team, you may be
> interested in the five self study modules that our team is calling our Next
> Level Leadership learning track
> .
> The
> five modules are designed for just such a leader to go through in a self
> study mode to encourage some of the thinking that is important to lead an
> organization within the new leadership paradigm within which OST fits
> "Leading So People Will Lead".
>
> Since 1992 I have been fascinated by what happens when formal leaders
> including leadership teams sponsor and experience an Open Space Technology
> meeting in their workplace. There are a few different story lines that
> emerged. First, it is important to share with you that within how we teach
> about Working with Open Space Technology in our Genuine Contact program, we
> encourage facilitators of the OST meeting to have a 'debrief meeting' with
> these leaders (the sponsors). The questions we ask in the debrief meeting
> are kept simple and are intended for heightening learning from the shared
> experience of having been in an OST meeting. Yes, simple action-reflection
> learning.
>
> In my experience, OST always works. And always, the quality and quantity of
> outcomes surpasses all expectations. So...that is part of what is reflected
> on during the debrief meeting. Within an OST meeting, there is always the
> experience of leadership popping up by just about everyone; people stating
> that they experience a shared vision during the meeting; a real sense of
> community with good communication throughout; and self management within
> the container created. This is also discussed in the debrief meeting. Then
> comes the question that for me is of utmost importance. Here it is "During
> the OST meeting, you experienced exceptional performance by the people who
> participated as you have just discussed. If you are not getting that
> exceptional performance every day, would you like to?".
>
> Silence is the first response.
> The second response is "no, this is not our daily experience"
> Then comes the discussion of "we want this in our daily experience BUT we
> are not ready". I reply "you say you want exceptional performance. Your
> people have shown you within the OST meeting that they are capable of
> exceptional performance already. If you are not having this exceptional
> performance on a daily lived basis and you want it, what is it you are not
> ready for?"
>
> The answer has consistently been about the leadership capacity of the
> leadership team to lead an organization of people who are engaged in the
> ways that were visible in the OST meeting. This is a vulnerable
> conversation to be having and I feel a lot of respect for the leaders and
> the discussion.
>
> My personal favorite outcome of the discussion is the leader (leadership
> team) expressing an interest in developing personal and group leadership
> capacity so that they can successfully lead an organization with a
> participatory architecture along the same lines as the