I loved the OS origin story Birgitt . It helped me to realise that we mostly work with OS at what you call a 'conference ' bringing the whole system together to look what they can do together around specific issues . Most recently 'improving Maternal and Neonatal journeys' 'Getting it right for black Asian and Ethnic minority women in maternity services' . 'Improving mental health in a London bourgh'. working together to 'make Croydon a great place to grow old'. These are almost always commissioned as partnerships, or collaboratives, so effectively Open Space has been a way of really helping these organisations to really work together with each other and their communities , service users . Anna and I have been reflecting on what has really 'worked' in terms of taking the emerging priorities into real actions - it is of course, as you say, good leadership . So useful food for thought about different uses of OS. Amazing for codesign but not real co production at the level we work with it.

Warm wishes

Roma
Roma IskanderPublic Service Works Network Mobile 07956635802

www.publicserviceworks.com

On 8 May 2025, at 02:29, Birgitt Williams via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Hi Thomas,

you asked if I would share about the categories of givens. I think it best if you do a search in the archives. I have written volumes about the givens. Our archives and the wiki site are rich in info and even some wisdom.

Warmly,

Birgitt

Birgitt Williams

Senior consultant-author-mentor to leaders and consultants

Specialist in organizational and systemic transformation, leadership development, and the benefits of nourishing a culture of leadership.

www.dalarinternational.com

Upcoming Workshops

Holistic Leadership Development | June 23-27, 2025 | Waterloo, Canada

Individual Health and Balance for Leaders | November 29, December 5, 12 & 19, 2025 | Online

>> Learn More & Register for any of these workshops here.

Go to www.genuinecontact.net to see the public Genuine Contact training and mentoring options by Genuine Contact trainers internationally. If you wish to schedule an "in-house" training for people in your organization, please contact me, Birgitt Williams, via email to set up a consultation to discern what is the best option to meet your development goals.

16 Sunny Acres Dr., Etowah, North Carolina, USA 28729

Phone: 01-919-522-7750

Like us on Facebook
Connect on LinkedIn

On Fri, May 2, 2025 at 3:52 AM Thomas Perret via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Birgitt,

I’m wondering about givens, and I read "realizing that they fell into categories” and wonder which you have found and hoe you have benefitted from categorising – will you disclose?

Kindly,

Thomas P

On 2. May 2025, at 5.04, Birgitt Williams via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Dear friends and colleagues,

Today I am sharing the origin story of Working With Open Space Technology, a module of the Genuine Contact Way. Recently, Thomas Herrmann posted about upcoming OST Trainings in the Netherlands and in Sweden. These trainings are based on this Working With Open Space Technology module, of which Thomas is one of the exceptional trainers.

In this origin story of Working With Open Space Technology, you'll see that I include my story of the start of Open Space Technology, with a well deserved emphasis on Anne Stadler's contribution. In my perspective, we owe a lot to Anne for the existence and worldwide use of OST. I have copied this from the newly updated workbook.

Origin Story of Working With Open Space Technology

The origin story of Working With Open Space Technology is told by Birgitt Williams, co-creator of the Genuine Contact Program and Genuine Contact Way of working and living. Working With Open Space Technology is a module of the Genuine Contact Program.

As a CEO of a non-profit health and social service agency, my Board of Directors had given me the mandate (1986) of transforming our organization. The members of the Board, all astute people in the world of business, had become aware that the merger of three separate agencies into one hadn’t worked as anticipated. There was a lot of resistance by staff, volunteers and our donors to the newly formed agency. In 1986 the first books about organizational transformation were coming out, The Board members didn’t know how to accomplish an organizational transformation yet they knew that this new agency would survive and thrive only through the transformation of the merged agency into one well-functioning organization.

I stated that I also didn’t know how to accomplish an organizational transformation. They responded by saying that they trusted me to figure it out. I would be supported by them in my learning and applying what I learned.

I sought out help from my peers in organizational development and organizational psychology as well as other CEO’s and Executive Directors in the non-profit sector. I sought help from colleagues of my Board members who were leaders in the private sector businesses in our city, and met with members of City Council and met with a couple of Members of Parliament that I knew. My quest was to receive their guidance based on their experiences. I applied some of what I learned. Over a period of five years, I was unable to accomplish the desired organizational transformation. The merged agencies still operated in separate silos. Unifying into one organization hadn’t worked. The Board of Directors remained supportive. They were still hopeful that the organization could be transformed.

In 1990 I came across a small subset of fellow organizational development peers who were exploring how to achieve organizational transformation. This small group of organizational development professionals were in the margins of the profession of organizational development, holding their own annual conferences, using a method that they had co-created of conferences that didn’t have a pre-determined agenda, no speakers, and the opportunity of posting topics of interest to them so that the conference attendees had a number of topics to choose from for small group sessions. At the heart of these conferences was Harrison Owen who was becoming known as an interesting speaker about organizational transformation. In 1987 he published Spirit: Transformation and Development in Organizations, talking about spirit in organizations as a key to both transformation and development. This was breakthrough thinking at the time, offering his peers the opportunity to take spirit into account when carrying out their organizational development work. He was an advocate of organizational transformation as an important skill for practitioners of organizational development to learn.

Around the same time as the release of this first book, Harrison had an opportunity provided by the Taj Hotels in India, to use the more open meeting method that was used with such success at the annual organizational transformation conferences at their conference. He followed the steps of what we now know as Open Space Technology and was pleased at how well his facilitation was received and the feedback about the experience of the participants.

Anne Stadler, a videographer, was at the same conference. Anne was passionate about connection and community development. She understood, more than Harrison did at the time, how brilliant the meeting method was and talked to Harrison about the importance of what she had experienced in the conference. The method didn’t yet have a name. At the end of the conference, when the press was asking questions about what had taken place, Harrison said that this new method for meetings was Open Space. One of the Taj executives added the word Technology and the name Open Space Technology was created.

Anne remained vital to what happened next that got Open Space Technology out into the world. I credit her insight, wisdom, perseverance and skills with getting Open Space Technology out into the world and in the growing global use of this method for meetings and conferences. She continued to dialogue with Harrison in their growing and life long friendship. As a result of that first Open Space Technology meeting at the Taj Hotel, she convinced Harrison to let her make a video featuring his work with Open Space Technology. She encouraged him to write a book and to offer training in Open Space Technology, to undertake the step by step work that it would take to get this method out into the world. At this time in the evolution of Open Space Technology, the understanding was about opening enough space for the power of spirit to do the work of spirit.

Within the broader perspective of educating people about organizational transformation and the power of opening space for spirit as essential in successful transformation, Harrison wrote the book Open Space Technology: a User’s Guide and self-published it. He wrote it from the perspective of capturing the method sufficiently that anyone who read the book could facilitate an Open Space Technology meeting. He noted that the requirement of the facilitator following what he had written in the book was to have a good head and a good heart. With the copyrighting of the book, the method Open Space Technology was copyrighted. Harrison made the decision that although copyrighted, he welcomed anyone who was interested in doing so to use Open Space Technology, to teach about it, to promote it. Thus, he was credited with giving Open Space Technology away. Anne was instrumental in helping Harrison develop a four day module for training people in Open Space Technology. She and Harrison co-facilitated this training several times. Harrison then began a many year tour until about 1997 of offering these four day training sessions in Open Space Technology wherever he was invited to do so in the world.

Peggy Holman, a long time facilitator of Open Space Technology, referred to Anne and Harrison as the god-mother and god-father of Open Space Technology. This suited their role as I experienced it also.

A core concept researched and written about at that time including in Training Magazine was critical mass thinking. The theory postulated that if a certain percentage of the people representative of the whole system chose a common way of thinking, others would align with this critical mass. This percentage could be as low as 10% but it couldn’t be 10% of only one grouping, it needed to be 10% with representation from the whole system.

At the same time in the late 1980’s a few other organizational development consultants were experimenting and developing methods that would work with large numbers of people in conferences and meetings. These methods, taking critical mass thinking into account, were grouped together in the category of Large Group Interventions, written up by Barbara Bunker and Billie Alban in their book Large Group Interventions, capable of system change.

Barbara and Billie included Open Space Technology as a Large Group Intervention. Over time, others referred to this category of methods as Large Scale Interventions and as Whole System meetings. Of note, in the Large Group Intervention book, Billie and Barbara captured Open Space Technology as the original form described in Open Space: a User’s Guide that didn’t include prioritization and action planning. They described prioritization and action planning as an add-on to Open Space Technology.

To understand what Harrison was working on, one either needed to take his training in Open Space Technology and read Open Space: a User’s Guide, or to study both of his books Spirit: Transformation and Development in Organizations and the User’s Guide. Between the two books, the essence and the technique could be understood.

I attended his first training that was offered in Canada in 1992 and was captured by what Harrison taught, how he taught, and was enamored with Open Space Technology itself. Harrison was a gifted story teller and cautioned his audience not to accept everything he said as truth as some of it might simply be story. He was well versed in how stories are told, and the roots of story in understanding how to use mythology. He would say that that he didn’t create Open Space Technology, although today he is often attributed to its creation by others.

I understood that Open Space Technology was the missing key in my efforts to accomplish a successful organizational transformation. Following the training, I invited staff, Board members, our many volunteers and some donors to the first meeting I facilitated using Open Space Technology. The theme was “issues and opportunities for our organization” with the intention of using what we discussed in the formulation of a strategic plan.

Although Harrison had taught us that an Open Space Technology meeting should be two to two and one-half days in length for sufficient space for the conversations, my first meeting was a full day followed by a half day. It was a remarkable success. Topics were posted that attracted a mixture of people, who had great conversations. People from the different parts of the organization (the different silos), the Board, the donors and the volunteers discovered that they had common ground in what they really cared about. Productive conversations took place that continued on over the lunch and supper breaks. A palpable shift took place in the spirit of the people who participated. And this was articulated in the closing circle. Clear and caring statements were made about the importance of working together as one organization. For the first time, the people realized that they wanted to work together and break out from their silos of the former agencies that they had been part of.

With the shift in energy, and how well the OST meeting had been received, I decided that we could have shorter OST meetings of a half a day replacing our regular staff meetings. I also opened the invitation to the meetings to the Board members, volunteers, and donors. The theme for each meeting was one of the four key themes that emerged in that first OST meeting. Each of these was a theme of its own that could move our organizational transformation forward.

We learned a lot…together.

The first OST with its theme, invitation, openness and participants was a conference. By the time it was complete, we reflected on just what Harrison had taught me would be experienced. We used his version of the Medicine Wheel of the indigenous peoples of the world, adapted by Harrison for use in organizations. We reflected about what we had experienced during the OST regarding leadership (north), vision (east), community (south) and management (west). All of these attributes of an organization in its well-being was experienced during the OST meeting. People could have gone away from this OST conference, maybe moved some things into action that wouldn’t have happened without the OST as a catalyst, and we all would have known that we had the capacity to be engaged differently with each other.

Would enough of a difference have been made for us to experience a transformation in our organization? It was not my experience. Some forward movement happened, people were more engaged with each other across the silos, people enjoyed being at work more, and they talked about what a great experience the OST had been. I have no certain answer about why one OST conference wasn’t enough to achieve a transformation. The closest I come to an answer is that the existing structure, policies, and habits of the organization got in the way. If the OST as a conference hadn’t been sponsored by an organization for the purpose of the organization, those barriers wouldn’t be there. Might such a conference have more post conference actions dependent on an individual moving something into action? Yes. There are lots of examples of follow-through from conferences based on people taking leadership for moving actions forward.

The action I took of organizing follow up meetings within our organization went well for the first three meetings. We learned that it was possible to have an OST meeting of only a half day in length with great success. The high spirit we experienced in the first OST conference was felt again during these meetings.

After the third of the monthly meetings held using OST, staff members said that they didn’t want to have any more OST meetings. Their explanation was that during the meeting, they would get excited and feel energized about doing something with their ideas for both small and large improvements in our organization as part of its transformation. And then when the meeting was done and they approached the formal leaders of the organization, myself included, they met with barriers. They said that when they talked with me, I would explain why their idea couldn’t move forward, possibly it was against the law, against one of our procedures, against Board policy, or we didn’t have the financial resources to support the action. The experience in between meetings was very disheartening for everyone who had put such enthusiasm into their conversations in the OST meetings. There was a difference between OST for a conference, OST for a single meeting, and OST used on a regular basis within an organization. It was important to understand this difference.

The result of our conversations was that we identified that there were ‘givens’ or non-negotiable aspects of the organization that affected action being taken following an OST meeting within an organization. Together, we realized that if we could work out the ‘givens’ prior to an OST meeting, making it clear how much space for action was really open, then having more OST meetings would work well. We spent time identifying and then distilling the givens, realizing that they fell into categories.

From then on, we were clear that during the OST meetings anything could be talked about. The ‘givens’ didn’t restrict conversations. However, when it came to taking actionable items away from an OST meeting, everyone was aware of the givens that pertained to follow up action. We were the first organization to use OST meetings on a regular basis as the means to carry out a successful organizational transformation. We did it, we won awards as an organization of excellence, and we used our experiences to learn together. We reflected on our progress using Harrison’s version of the Medicine Wheel, exploring what we were learning about leadership, vision, community and management as a way of tracking our learning during the transformation.

Our learning became the basis of this Working With Open Space Technology module of the Genuine Contact program. The facilitation of OST improved when we understood the essence of OST beyond the form of facilitating. Follow up from OST was improved when we learned how to work with OST in an organization.

The learning journey of myself and others of Working with Open Space Technology in organizations is rooted in the understanding that Open Space Technology within an organization, especially if used frequently, is substantially different than using Open Space Technology as a method for a conference. We have been doing this work for thirty years in organizations that realize that they need transformation of a project, a team, and/or their organization.

For all purposes, Open Space Technology has also been adapted to being used successfully on line. As OST facilitators experimented and learned, it is now possible to have short OST meetings of even as short as one-half day. For organizational transformation, the initial OST meeting continues to the longer version as per Harrison’s original OST of two and one-half days (or longer).

Harrison Owen continued his teaching until his death in early 2024. Anne continued her teaching until her death in late 2023. They often didn’t agree with each other. Peggy and I were having a conversation recently in which we were talking about their difference of opinion on the meaning of the Law of Two Feet. Harrison maintained that this law was a law of freedom, to move on if you were neither learning or contributing. For him, it was a law of detachment. Anne maintained that this Law of Two Feet was a law of taking a stand, firmly, for what you believed in. For her, it was a law of leadership. I imagine their animated conversations are continuing.

Birgitt Williams

Senior consultant-author-mentor to leaders and consultants

Specialist in organizational and systemic transformation, leadership development, and the benefits of nourishing a culture of leadership.

www.dalarinternational.com

Upcoming Workshops

Holistic Leadership Development | June 23-27, 2025 | Waterloo, Canada

Individual Health and Balance for Leaders | November 29, December 5, 12 & 19, 2025 | Online

>> Learn More & Register for any of these workshops here.

Go to www.genuinecontact.net to see the public Genuine Contact training and mentoring options by Genuine Contact trainers internationally. If you wish to schedule an "in-house" training for people in your organization, please contact me, Birgitt Williams, via email to set up a consultation to discern what is the best option to meet your development goals.

16 Sunny Acres Dr., Etowah, North Carolina, USA 28729

Phone: 01-919-522-7750

Like us on Facebook
Connect on LinkedIn

OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org

OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org

OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org

This link explains co-production. Better than I can! At its core are 5 principles , you will see they are very in line with Open Space. It's been very trendy in the UK for a number of years. Sheila and I used to teach it, it's quite complex to achieve . The biggest challenges we came across were the difference between co- design , co commissioning, and co producing and delivering services . A frequent challenge is that for people to really be equal, professionals needed to give up some power . We also ran some amazing co production initiatives . Eg Working with Young People with Life Limiting Condition , over 2.5 years. The Department of Health commissioned us to develop internet /social media initiatives for these young people . We spent 3 months asking them if this was what they wanted - the answer was firmly no- they wanted 'an ordinary life' We developed what this meant by a series of OS events around the country which led to all sorts of amazing initiatives. They wanted to meet face to face , and they developed and ran a small grants scheme, A prototype of an online game that reflected their challenges. Festivals , a launch at the House of Lords and some very progressive work with Professionals.

19b632_113996f4aea046ec82b2f9e516981dc8

PDF Document · 892 KB

https://www.learningforinvolvement.org.uk/topic/co-production/
Roma IskanderPublic Service Works Network Mobile 07956635802

www.publicserviceworks.com

On 16 May 2025, at 16:38, Peggy Holman via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Hi Roma,

Could you say more about what you mean by co production? I have a hunch there are OS-informed approaches that support the spirit of what begins with an Open Space. For example, I suspect the Open Agile community has much to offer in that area.

Peggy

---

Peggy Holman

peggy@peggyholman.com

Bellevue, WA 98006
206-948-0432
www.peggyholman.com

Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity

"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger

Join the Open Space practitioner’s conference - the World Open Space on Open Space (WOSonOS) - in Kenya, November 6-8.

On May 16, 2025, at 7:38 AM, Roma Iskander via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

I loved the OS origin story Birgitt . It helped me to realise that we mostly work with OS at what you call a 'conference ' bringing the whole system together to look what they can do together around specific issues . Most recently 'improving Maternal and Neonatal journeys' 'Getting it right for black Asian and Ethnic minority women in maternity services' . 'Improving mental health in a London bourgh'. working together to 'make Croydon a great place to grow old'. These are almost always commissioned as partnerships, or collaboratives, so effectively Open Space has been a way of really helping these organisations to really work together with each other and their communities , service users . Anna and I have been reflecting on what has really 'worked' in terms of taking the emerging priorities into real actions - it is of course, as you say, good leadership . So useful food for thought about different uses of OS. Amazing for codesign but not real co production at the level we work with it.

Warm wishes

Roma
Roma IskanderPublic Service Works Network Mobile 07956635802

www.publicserviceworks.com

On 8 May 2025, at 02:29, Birgitt Williams via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Hi Thomas,

you asked if I would share about the categories of givens. I think it best if you do a search in the archives. I have written volumes about the givens. Our archives and the wiki site are rich in info and even some wisdom.

Warmly,

Birgitt

Birgitt Williams

Senior consultant-author-mentor to leaders and consultants

Specialist in organizational and systemic transformation, leadership development, and the benefits of nourishing a culture of leadership.

www.dalarinternational.com

Upcoming Workshops

Holistic Leadership Development | June 23-27, 2025 | Waterloo, Canada

Individual Health and Balance for Leaders | November 29, December 5, 12 & 19, 2025 | Online

>> Learn More & Register for any of these workshops here.

Go to www.genuinecontact.net to see the public Genuine Contact training and mentoring options by Genuine Contact trainers internationally. If you wish to schedule an "in-house" training for people in your organization, please contact me, Birgitt Williams, via email to set up a consultation to discern what is the best option to meet your development goals.

16 Sunny Acres Dr., Etowah, North Carolina, USA 28729

Phone: 01-919-522-7750

Like us on Facebook
Connect on LinkedIn

On Fri, May 2, 2025 at 3:52 AM Thomas Perret via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Birgitt,

I’m wondering about givens, and I read "realizing that they fell into categories” and wonder which you have found and hoe you have benefitted from categorising – will you disclose?

Kindly,

Thomas P

On 2. May 2025, at 5.04, Birgitt Williams via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:

Dear friends and colleagues,

Today I am sharing the origin story of Working With Open Space Technology, a module of the Genuine Contact Way. Recently, Thomas Herrmann posted about upcoming OST Trainings in the Netherlands and in Sweden. These trainings are based on this Working With Open Space Technology module, of which Thomas is one of the exceptional trainers.

In this origin story of Working With Open Space Technology, you'll see that I include my story of the start of Open Space Technology, with a well deserved emphasis on Anne Stadler's contribution. In my perspective, we owe a lot to Anne for the existence and worldwide use of OST. I have copied this from the newly updated workbook.

Origin Story of Working With Open Space Technology

The origin story of Working With Open Space Technology is told by Birgitt Williams, co-creator of the Genuine Contact Program and Genuine Contact Way of working and living. Working With Open Space Technology is a module of the Genuine Contact Program.

As a CEO of a non-profit health and social service agency, my Board of Directors had given me the mandate (1986) of transforming our organization. The members of the Board, all astute people in the world of business, had become aware that the merger of three separate agencies into one hadn’t worked as anticipated. There was a lot of resistance by staff, volunteers and our donors to the newly formed agency. In 1986 the first books about organizational transformation were coming out, The Board members didn’t know how to accomplish an organizational transformation yet they knew that this new agency would survive and thrive only through the transformation of the merged agency into one well-functioning organization.

I stated that I also didn’t know how to accomplish an organizational transformation. They responded by saying that they trusted me to figure it out. I would be supported by them in my learning and applying what I learned.

I sought out help from my peers in organizational development and organizational psychology as well as other CEO’s and Executive Directors in the non-profit sector. I sought help from colleagues of my Board members who were leaders in the private sector businesses in our city, and met with members of City Council and met with a couple of Members of Parliament that I knew. My quest was to receive their guidance based on their experiences. I applied some of what I learned. Over a period of five years, I was unable to accomplish the desired organizational transformation. The merged agencies still operated in separate silos. Unifying into one organization hadn’t worked. The Board of Directors remained supportive. They were still hopeful that the organization could be transformed.

In 1990 I came across a small subset of fellow organizational development peers who were exploring how to achieve organizational transformation. This small group of organizational development professionals were in the margins of the profession of organizational development, holding their own annual conferences, using a method that they had co-created of conferences that didn’t have a pre-determined agenda, no speakers, and the opportunity of posting topics of interest to them so that the conference attendees had a number of topics to choose from for small group sessions. At the heart of these conferences was Harrison Owen who was becoming known as an interesting speaker about organizational transformation. In 1987 he published Spirit: Transformation and Development in Organizations, talking about spirit in organizations as a key to both transformation and development. This was breakthrough thinking at the time, offering his peers the opportunity to take spirit into account when carrying out their organizational development work. He was an advocate of organizational transformation as an important skill for practitioners of organizational development to learn.

Around the same time as the release of this first book, Harrison had an opportunity provided by the Taj Hotels in India, to use the more open meeting method that was used with such success at the annual organizational transformation conferences at their conference. He followed the steps of what we now know as Open Space Technology and was pleased at how well his facilitation was received and the feedback about the experience of the participants.

Anne Stadler, a videographer, was at the same conference. Anne was passionate about connection and community development. She understood, more than Harrison did at the time, how brilliant the meeting method was and talked to Harrison about the importance of what she had experienced in the conference. The method didn’t yet have a name. At the end of the conference, when the press was asking questions about what had taken place, Harrison said that this new method for meetings was Open Space. One of the Taj executives added the word Technology and the name Open Space Technology was created.

Anne remained vital to what happened next that got Open Space Technology out into the world. I credit her insight, wisdom, perseverance and skills with getting Open Space Technology out into the world and in the growing global use of this method for meetings and conferences. She continued to dialogue with Harrison in their growing and life long friendship. As a result of that first Open Space Technology meeting at the Taj Hotel, she convinced Harrison to let her make a video featuring his work with Open Space Technology. She encouraged him to write a book and to offer training in Open Space Technology, to undertake the step by step work that it would take to get this method out into the world. At this time in the evolution of Open Space Technology, the understanding was about opening enough space for the power of spirit to do the work of spirit.

Within the broader perspective of educating people about organizational transformation and the power of opening space for spirit as essential in successful transformation, Harrison wrote the book Open Space Technology: a User’s Guide and self-published it. He wrote it from the perspective of capturing the method sufficiently that anyone who read the book could facilitate an Open Space Technology meeting. He noted that the requirement of the facilitator following what he had written in the book was to have a good head and a good heart. With the copyrighting of the book, the method Open Space Technology was copyrighted. Harrison made the decision that although copyrighted, he welcomed anyone who was interested in doing so to use Open Space Technology, to teach about it, to promote it. Thus, he was credited with giving Open Space Technology away. Anne was instrumental in helping Harrison develop a four day module for training people in Open Space Technology. She and Harrison co-facilitated this training several times. Harrison then began a many year tour until about 1997 of offering these four day training sessions in Open Space Technology wherever he was invited to do so in the world.

Peggy Holman, a long time facilitator of Open Space Technology, referred to Anne and Harrison as the god-mother and god-father of Open Space Technology. This suited their role as I experienced it also.

A core concept researched and written about at that time including in Training Magazine was critical mass thinking. The theory postulated that if a certain percentage of the people representative of the whole system chose a common way of thinking, others would align with this critical mass. This percentage could be as low as 10% but it couldn’t be 10% of only one grouping, it needed to be 10% with representation from the whole system.

At the same time in the late 1980’s a few other organizational development consultants were experimenting and developing methods that would work with large numbers of people in conferences and meetings. These methods, taking critical mass thinking into account, were grouped together in the category of Large Group Interventions, written up by Barbara Bunker and Billie Alban in their book Large Group Interventions, capable of system change.

Barbara and Billie included Open Space Technology as a Large Group Intervention. Over time, others referred to this category of methods as Large Scale Interventions and as Whole System meetings. Of note, in the Large Group Intervention book, Billie and Barbara captured Open Space Technology as the original form described in Open Space: a User’s Guide that didn’t include prioritization and action planning. They described prioritization and action planning as an add-on to Open Space Technology.

To understand what Harrison was working on, one either needed to take his training in Open Space Technology and read Open Space: a User’s Guide, or to study both of his books Spirit: Transformation and Development in Organizations and the User’s Guide. Between the two books, the essence and the technique could be understood.

I attended his first training that was offered in Canada in 1992 and was captured by what Harrison taught, how he taught, and was enamored with Open Space Technology itself. Harrison was a gifted story teller and cautioned his audience not to accept everything he said as truth as some of it might simply be story. He was well versed in how stories are told, and the roots of story in understanding how to use mythology. He would say that that he didn’t create Open Space Technology, although today he is often attributed to its creation by others.

I understood that Open Space Technology was the missing key in my efforts to accomplish a successful organizational transformation. Following the training, I invited staff, Board members, our many volunteers and some donors to the first meeting I facilitated using Open Space Technology. The theme was “issues and opportunities for our organization” with the intention of using what we discussed in the formulation of a strategic plan.

Although Harrison had taught us that an Open Space Technology meeting should be two to two and one-half days in length for sufficient space for the conversations, my first meeting was a full day followed by a half day. It was a remarkable success. Topics were posted that attracted a mixture of people, who had great conversations. People from the different parts of the organization (the different silos), the Board, the donors and the volunteers discovered that they had common ground in what they really cared about. Productive conversations took place that continued on over the lunch and supper breaks. A palpable shift took place in the spirit of the people who participated. And this was articulated in the closing circle. Clear and caring statements were made about the importance of working together as one organization. For the first time, the people realized that they wanted to work together and break out from their silos of the former agencies that they had been part of.

With the shift in energy, and how well the OST meeting had been received, I decided that we could have shorter OST meetings of a half a day replacing our regular staff meetings. I also opened the invitation to the meetings to the Board members, volunteers, and donors. The theme for each meeting was one of the four key themes that emerged in that first OST meeting. Each of these was a theme of its own that could move our organizational transformation forward.

We learned a lot…together.

The first OST with its theme, invitation, openness and participants was a conference. By the time it was complete, we reflected on just what Harrison had taught me would be experienced. We used his version of the Medicine Wheel of the indigenous peoples of the world, adapted by Harrison for use in organizations. We reflected about what we had experienced during the OST regarding leadership (north), vision (east), community (south) and management (west). All of these attributes of an organization in its well-being was experienced during the OST meeting. People could have gone away from this OST conference, maybe moved some things into action that wouldn’t have happened without the OST as a catalyst, and we all would have known that we had the capacity to be engaged differently with each other.

Would enough of a difference have been made for us to experience a transformation in our organization? It was not my experience. Some forward movement happened, people were more engaged with each other across the silos, people enjoyed being at work more, and they talked about what a great experience the OST had been. I have no certain answer about why one OST conference wasn’t enough to achieve a transformation. The closest I come to an answer is that the existing structure, policies, and habits of the organization got in the way. If the OST as a conference hadn’t been sponsored by an organization for the purpose of the organization, those barriers wouldn’t be there. Might such a conference have more post conference actions dependent on an individual moving something into action? Yes. There are lots of examples of follow-through from conferences based on people taking leadership for moving actions forward.

The action I took of organizing follow up meetings within our organization went well for the first three meetings. We learned that it was possible to have an OST meeting of only a half day in length with great success. The high spirit we experienced in the first OST conference was felt again during these meetings.

After the third of the monthly meetings held using OST, staff members said that they didn’t want to have any more OST meetings. Their explanation was that during the meeting, they would get excited and feel energized about doing something with their ideas for both small and large improvements in our organization as part of its transformation. And then when the meeting was done and they approached the formal leaders of the organization, myself included, they met with barriers. They said that when they talked with me, I would explain why their idea couldn’t move forward, possibly it was against the law, against one of our procedures, against Board policy, or we didn’t have the financial resources to support the action. The experience in between meetings was very disheartening for everyone who had put such enthusiasm into their conversations in the OST meetings. There was a difference between OST for a conference, OST for a single meeting, and OST used on a regular basis within an organization. It was important to understand this difference.

The result of our conversations was that we identified that there were ‘givens’ or non-negotiable aspects of the organization that affected action being taken following an OST meeting within an organization. Together, we realized that if we could work out the ‘givens’ prior to an OST meeting, making it clear how much space for action was really open, then having more OST meetings would work well. We spent time identifying and then distilling the givens, realizing that they fell into categories.

From then on, we were clear that during the OST meetings anything could be talked about. The ‘givens’ didn’t restrict conversations. However, when it came to taking actionable items away from an OST meeting, everyone was aware of the givens that pertained to follow up action. We were the first organization to use OST meetings on a regular basis as the means to carry out a successful organizational transformation. We did it, we won awards as an organization of excellence, and we used our experiences to learn together. We reflected on our progress using Harrison’s version of the Medicine Wheel, exploring what we were learning about leadership, vision, community and management as a way of tracking our learning during the transformation.

Our learning became the basis of this Working With Open Space Technology module of the Genuine Contact program. The facilitation of OST improved when we understood the essence of OST beyond the form of facilitating. Follow up from OST was improved when we learned how to work with OST in an organization.

The learning journey of myself and others of Working with Open Space Technology in organizations is rooted in the understanding that Open Space Technology within an organization, especially if used frequently, is substantially different than using Open Space Technology as a method for a conference. We have been doing this work for thirty years in organizations that realize that they need transformation of a project, a team, and/or their organization.

For all purposes, Open Space Technology has also been adapted to being used successfully on line. As OST facilitators experimented and learned, it is now possible to have short OST meetings of even as short as one-half day. For organizational transformation, the initial OST meeting continues to the longer version as per Harrison’s original OST of two and one-half days (or longer).

Harrison Owen continued his teaching until his death in early 2024. Anne continued her teaching until her death in late 2023. They often didn’t agree with each other. Peggy and I were having a conversation recently in which we were talking about their difference of opinion on the meaning of the Law of Two Feet. Harrison maintained that this law was a law of freedom, to move on if you were neither learning or contributing. For him, it was a law of detachment. Anne maintained that this Law of Two Feet was a law of taking a stand, firmly, for what you believed in. For her, it was a law of leadership. I imagine their animated conversations are continuing.

Birgitt Williams

Senior consultant-author-mentor to leaders and consultants

Specialist in organizational and systemic transformation, leadership development, and the benefits of nourishing a culture of leadership.

www.dalarinternational.com

Upcoming Workshops

Holistic Leadership Development | June 23-27, 2025 | Waterloo, Canada

Individual Health and Balance for Leaders | November 29, December 5, 12 & 19, 2025 | Online

>> Learn More & Register for any of these workshops here.

Go to www.genuinecontact.net to see the public Genuine Contact training and mentoring options by Genuine Contact trainers internationally. If you wish to schedule an "in-house" training for people in your organization, please contact me, Birgitt Williams, via email to set up a consultation to discern what is the best option to meet your development goals.

16 Sunny Acres Dr., Etowah, North Carolina, USA 28729

Phone: 01-919-522-7750

Like us on Facebook
Connect on LinkedIn

OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org

OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org

OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org

OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org

OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org