Open Space Institute of Canada

NEWS / 

 LES NOUVELLES

www.openspacecanada.org

December / Décembre 2003

In this issue / dans ce bulletin :

  1. An Angel from OZ Taking Care of Business (Larry Peterson)
  2. Open Space Concluding in a Crescendo (Diane Gibeault)
  3. Un Forum Ouvert se termine en crescendo (Diane Gibeault)
  4. The 45-Minute Open Space Challenge (Doug Marteinson)
  5. News from other Open Space Institutes / Les nouvelles Forum Ouvert provenant de d'autres pays
  6. Call for Newsletter Articles / Appel pour des articles pour le bulletin de nouvelles

 

An Angel from OZ Taking Care of Business
by Larry Peterson

Fr. Brian Bainbridge (first person on left) is joined by Toronto based OSers, Meg Salter, Audrey Coward, Larry and Becky Peterson, and Judy Gast at a local Toronto hangout.

 

 

 

 

Fr. Brian Bainbridge of Melbourne and OSI Australia paid a visit to Toronto a day after the World Health Organization said not to (April 23).  I was glad to host him on this part of his journey in North America and neither one of us got SARS.  Unlike other trips, he was not going around the world, just to Palm Springs, Seattle, Chicago, New Orleans, New York, Toronto, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco (and likely some other places as well) on this little trip.  The Western Academy of Management conference was one motivator and conversations with Open Space folks about OS and Business another. 

Brian Opened the Space at OSonOS in OZ last November.  (He also drove me to the airport at 4:30 in the morning when I had to leave.)  So, I owed him at least one.  OSonOS in OZ was a delight.  John Moore put me up the first night in Cockatoo, a suburb of Melbourne, and we explored Open Space and Projects over a nice dinner – it became a discussion theme for me.  The trip to the Conference Centre at Marylands, just north of Melbourne in the mountains, was beautiful.  It was a great gathering of folks from Nepal to Haiti and from Canada to New Zealand.  There were wonderful people and conversations, Australian food (including Kangaroo), and that Spirit that we all can find in Open Space but had its own special taste “downunder”.  Brian showed me a computer video that will soon be available (after another edit) – 5 minutes on the Open Space at Marylands with great pictures.  There is also a CD available with all of the reports and some pictures and it is on the openspaceworld.org site.

On this visit, Brian and I were able to spend a day together sharing stories and perspectives.  Brian had been in conversation with the likes of Joelle Everett, Peggy Holman, Chris Corrigan and Michael Herman about a current concern of his, “Why is business not picking up Open Space?”  Certainly my experience is that I get the occasional business client, but the folks who seem to be loving Open Space right now are in the government, health care and education sectors.  Since January, I have been involved in or am planning 14 events with Open Space as a central or key component.  People are requesting it in the Ontario Government, see its real value when it is proposed and give it great reviews after.  I know of at least 6-7 other Open Space events during that time frame and that is not counting the number that I believe the folks in Ottawa are doing – I have heard of some of those as well.  None of those are with businesses as the primary client.  Some do include business and government together.  It may be that it is happening a lot and I just haven’t heard about it.

One thing that many of us have been trying is to do better in talking with clients is to be clear about what Open Space Technology can accomplish.  I know that Michael Herman has been exploring this.  Certainly Sharon King has been my example here.  Starfield Consulting’s patented “Jump Start” image as part of the Project Accelerator approach captured Brian’s imagination and I agree it is a great metaphor.  (I thought it would mean more in Canada than Australia, given the -40 temperatures and all.)  One thing I like about Harrison’s new book, the Practice of Peace is that it talks about some particular outcomes of Open Space in a focused way, applying it to peace.  Of course, when suggesting a “jump start” recently to an Assistant Deputy Minister at MNR, he said “Oh, you mean Open Space, we’ve always had success with that”. But, I agree that the emphasis in most organizations is on the results but some know that how you get where you want to be going is also critical. 

Brian and I agreed that many businesses like to control their consultants and so try to build the internal capacity or go for the “big boys”.  Many of the businesses I have worked with have loved Open Space and wanted to hire internal capability to do it if they didn’t have it, but were still frightened of it.  It could still be that timing thing, as well.  The time is not yet right.  Powerful uses of Open Space seem to be mushrooming in some sectors, but not yet in business.  Another factor I do believe is that Open Space is not documented in academic or business journals.  There has been a bit of research, but not much has reached the mainstream.  Certainly Appreciated Inquiry has gotten there because it started as an academic exercise, as a doctoral dissertation.  It also stared as an improvement on Action Research and so can be understood as incremental change and acceptable to more people.  Open Space Technology has different roots and we practitioners have different sets of connections than most academics.  Anyway, Brian and I explored the ins and outs of all these things and had a wonderful time. 

Then Audrey Coward joined us and we planned Harrison Owen’s next excursion to Toronto (September 29, 30 and October 1).  The merriment continued as Judy, Meg and Becky joined us for a wonderful dinner. (see picture).  I hated to take Brian to the airport the next morning really early, but I had an Open Space to do fortunately at an airport hotel. 

Fr. Brian has quite a few years to go before he will be a real angel, but he has certainly been about an angelic journey as a consultant, priest and a central supporter and distributor of Open Space.  He was the first in Australia and now there is a whole institute with a growing list of experienced practitioners – half of OSonOS were OZ folks somewhere on that journey.  It was great to have him light her in Toronto for awhile – maybe that’s why SARS seems to be going away. 

 

Open Space Concluding in a Crescendo
by Diane Gibeault

In July 2002, 190 people from 31 countries, of all continents of the world gathered for five days in Guelph, Ontario around the theme "Participation for Global Action and Change". Organized by the Participatory Development Forum (PD-Forum) which is based in Canada, this event connected practitioners, communities, networks, organizations, grassroots activists, development professionals, donors, academics and youth to explore and share best practices and lessons learned in participatory development.

The Conference began with capacity and skills building workshops, presentations and panel discussions on best practices and lessons learned, then for the last two days moved into Open Space exploration and action planning.

Creative opening: The Conference officially started with a roar and a song from the popular theatre group Amani People's Theatre of Kenya and Ubuntu Afrika of Zambia. They then presented the play "When Lions Become Historians" which was a perfect segue into the central theme of the Conference. On the first night, participants shared some of the deep conversations sparked that day and were easily coaxed onto the dance floor with lively beats from World Music.

Open Space began on the third day. Led by volunteer facilitator, Diane Gibeault, it revolved around the theme: «How can we best strengthen participation for global action and change?» This provided participants with an opportunity to deepen their thinking on how to work together more effectively to shape international development agendas, and to support the principles and practices of PD at all levels and within all communities. There were thirty-eight Open Space discussions in total, ranging from one-day to one- hour long sessions.

To read about the CRESCENDO at the end of the OS and for the complete article click here.

 

Un Forum Ouvert se termine en crescendo
par Diane Gibeault

En juillet 2002, 190 personnes provenant de 31 pays et de tous les continents se sont réunies à Guelph, Ontario, pendant cinq jours pour adresser le thème suivant : « Participation à l’action et au changement mondial ». Organisé par le PDForum (Forum de développement participatif) qui est basé au Canada, cet événement a réuni praticiens, communautés, réseaux, organisations, mouvements populaires, professionnels du développement, donateurs, académiciens et jeunes gens, afin qu’ils puissent explorer et partager les meilleures méthodes et leçons apprises dans le domaine du développement participatif (DP).  

La Conférence a débuté avec des ateliers portant sur le rendement et le développement des compétences, ainsi qu’avec des présentations et des panels de discussion adressant les meilleures méthodes et les leçons apprises. Les deux derniers jours de la conférence ont été consacrés à l’exploration d’idées et à la planification de l’action par le biais d’un Forum Ouvert. 

Un début créatif : La Conférence a été officiellement ouverte avec les clameurs et le chant de la troupe de théâtre populaire Amani People’s Theatre du Kenya et du groupe Ubuntu Afrika de la Zambie. Ils ont ensuite présenté une pièce de théâtre intitulée : « When Lions Become Historians » (Lorsque les lions deviennent des historiens). Cette pièce a servi de lien parfait avec le thème clé de la conférence. Au cours de la première soirée, les participants et participantes ont échangé entre eux sur les sujets de conversation intenses suscités pendant la journée, tout en se laissant facilement entraîner sur le plancher de danse par le rythme mouvementé de «Musiques du monde». 

Le Forum Ouvert a commencé lors de la troisième journée. Guidé par l’animatrice bénévole Diane Gibeault, le Forum Ouvert a évolué autour du thème : « Comment pouvons-nous mieux augmenter la participation à l’action et au changement  mondial ? » Ceci a permis aux participants d’approfondir leur façon de penser quant aux manières plus efficaces de travailler ensemble pour façonner les agendas du développement international, et pour appuyer les principes et pratiques de DP à tous les niveaux et au sein de toutes les communautés. Au total, il y a eu trente-huit groupes de discussions, la durée des sessions pouvant s’étendre d’une heure à une journée.

Pour lire  à propos du CRESCENDO et pour l'article au complet, cliquez ici.

 

The 45-Minute Open Space Challenge
by Doug Marteinson

This is a story of a short OS meeting facilitated for the Calgary Association of Professional Coaches (CAPC), a chapter of the International Coach Federation (ICF).  It was a very successful experiment at meeting together and no doubt will be utilized again in the near future by the CAPC. 

First, some context.  The CAPC meets on the third Thursday of every month from 7am to 9am.  Attendance welcomes both members and non-members.  The venue is very structured – 7:00 to 7:30 is continental breakfast and networking, 7:30 to 7:40 is CAPC news and business, 7:40 to 8:30 is presentation by guest speaker, 8:30 to 9:00 is networking.  I am sure you have all been to those types of meetings before. 

The CAPC held a strategic members-only meeting in February 2003 with the purpose of identifying how the local ICF chapter could deliver greater value to its members.  One notion that surfaced was to orient the breakfast meeting towards more intimate small group discussions on topics relevant to coaching.  The world café concept was batted around.  I volunteered to facilitate this experiment in meeting together for the April breakfast meeting. 

In mid-March, the invitation for the April meeting went out as follows: 

“The Wisdom is In The Room”

This is your day – this is your time.  This is an opportunity for you to raise a coaching issue, challenge, or question that you really care about, and to tap the wisdom of your peers in broadening and deepening your insight.  This is an opportunity to practice empathic listening and discovery questioning.  This is an opportunity for us to learn from each other.

 

The purpose of this meeting is to combine rich learning with effective networking.  The desired outcome is that people will walk away with new perspectives on issues, and new appreciation of coaching colleagues.  The meeting methodology will borrow slightly from the world café model, with acknowledgement of our tight, early morning 45-minute timeframe.

 

Just as important as learning about content, we would like to learn about process.  Feedback will be an important element of this experiment in meeting together.  What worked well?  What would enhance the learning experience?   

Forty-two people showed up for the event.  The room was set up in its usual format of tables and chairs – and that was about all that was borrowed from the world café model.  The rest was OS.  Tables were identified by the letters A to H.  One 45-minute time slot was available for sessions.  The introduction repeated the invitation, identified the theme, talked about passion and responsibility, raised the principles and the law, pointed to the blank marketplace wall, and opened the space.  One qualifier was placed on “When it is over, it is over” – that being, at 8:25 conversations would be temporarily interrupted for five minutes of feedback on the process. 

Eight topics surfaced in minutes.  People relocated their chairs to the table of their choice.  Discussions began and the room was buzzing.  Forty minutes flew by.  Finally, the bells sounded to warn of the feedback interruption. 

What went well?  Comments were that it was great to sit and talk with colleagues, that there was openness and honoring of each other, that people valued the element of choice in picking the agenda, that there was a goldmine of experience in the groups, and that the discussion groups demonstrated rotating leadership. 

What needs improvement?  All comments came back to NOT ENOUGH TIME.  The CAPC President asked for a show of hands of who would like to do this again.  In seconds, an army of arms shot into the air.  “We want more!”, was the message.  And more is what they will get.

 

News from other Open Space Institutes

In the past, the Open Space Institute of Canada sometimes distributed the OS newsletters from Australia and the United States.  In the spirit of not overburdening members' email in-boxes these documents will no longer be distributed by the OSIC.  If you are interested in receiving these newsletters, please email the following contacts with your request to be added to their mailing list:

Australia:  Father Brian Bainbridge, briansb@mira.net
United States:  Peggy Holman, peggy@opencirclecompany.com

 

Les nouvelles Forum Ouvert provenant de d'autres pays

Dans le passé, l'Open Space Institute of Canada distribuait parfois les nouvelles Forum Ouvert provenant de l'Australie et des États-Unis.  En vue de ne pas surcharger les boîtes de réception de courriels de nos membres, ces documents ne seront plus distribués par l'OSIC.  Donc, si vous êtes intéressés de continuer à recevoir ces bulletins de nouvelles, veuillez svp communiquer avec les personnes suivantes pour faire ajouter votre nom à leurs liste de distribution :

L'Australie :  Father Brian Bainbridge, briansb@mira.net
Les États-Unis :  Peggy Holman, peggy@opencirclecompany.com

 

Call for Newsletter Articles

We are continuously looking for OS stories and experiences to share with our members in this newsletter.  If you are interested in contributing an article, please send your information to Raymonde Lemire at raymondelemire@videotron.ca.  If your article is already on your website and you would like to share it in the newsletter, you may provide an introductory paragraph and the appropriate link for the complete article on your website (for example, articles from Diane Gibeault in this newsletter).

 

Appel pour des articles pour le bulletin de nouvelles

Nous sommes continuellement à la recherche d'histoires et d'expériences liées au Forum Ouvert afin de les partager avec nos membres dans ce bulletin.  Si vous êtes intéressés à fournir des articles, veuillez s.v.p. envoyer les faires parvenir à Raymonde Lemire, raymondelemire@videotron.ca. Si votre article existe déjà sur votre site Internet et que vous aimeriez le partager dans ce bulletin de nouvelles, vous pouvez nous fournir un paragraghe d'introduction ainsi que le lien approprié pour l'article au complet sur votre site Internet ( par exemple, les articles de Diane Gibeault dans ce bulletin).

Happy Holidays!

Joyeuses fêtes !