Opening space in a fishing village in change (X-posted OS-list and Genuine Contact list)
Dear friends in Open Space
I am working with a community organization in a small fishing village here in Sweden. The larger municipality wants to let a contractor build a hotel in the small harbour of the village. There has not been much of a process with people living here in the village. The people using the harbor now, fishers and others are worried and angry.
The community organization reached out to me because they are afraid that this may become very harmful for the community, creating separation, distrust and conflict.
After an initial meeting, it seemed they were not ready to move on. Now they reached out to me again and we had a first planning meeting two days ago, where parts of the community was present, 12 persons were present, some but far from all stakeholders. So another or two more prep-meetings will hopefully happen-
Then the plan is to organize two 4-hour meetings in May where people will be invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor. Some people may be able to be on both occasions others will only be present on one of them. There will be space for big groups to gather for these meetings.
Part of the intention is to identify and communicate some kind of common vision to the politicians of the municipality to let them know what people living in the village think about this. The community organization also wants to open space for other ideas regarding the future of the village, in the planned meetings.
Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing. I would have loved us to have three days, but this is what they think is possible.
We will have some follow-ups and I'm also considering if we can use the time in between the two meetings and possibly to make some kind of convergence after the second meeting.
I would have liked to have space for storytelling but maybe this pre-work is all the time we can dedicate to sharing memories. My plan is to use open space for the half day meetings and I would love some input, experiences and ideas.
Best regards
Thomas Herrmann
Thomas Herrmann
Open Space Consulting AB
Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81
Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.commailto:thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.comhttp://www.openspaceconsulting.com/ / www.5toFold.comhttp://www.5tofold.com/
Profile on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsulthttp://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer och samhälle.
We release lifepower in people, organizations and society.
Trainings/workshops (Info & registrationhttps://openspaceconsulting.com/kategori/aktiviteter/kommande-aktiviteter/)
2025
Sept 9-11: Working with Open Space Technology, the Netherlands
Sept 17-19: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.
Sept 23-25: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige
Okt 8: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)
Nov 7-9 WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya
Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy + mentoring - leadership and facilitation incl Open Space
[cid:image001.png@01DBB6D0.E2E2AA80]
Dear Thomas,
this appears to me to be one of the many films I have seen on TV.
The village against the local politicians that are in one bed with the
folks that want to build a resort or a hotel to invest their capital.
In all of the films its the village that scrambles and succeeds to prevent
such projects with lots of "separation, distrust and conflict".
As an old hand (no longer active) I never wanted to know anything about
all the data the angry and worried and other stuff.
What happened in your first planning meeting? Did they think of the theme
for the two events? Did they express a vision of what the situation
looks like
after the two events? Did they answer the question of who all needs to be
at the events so that their vision and theme will be reached?
So far it seems that the folks coming to the two events "invited to
express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the
village, including what is being planned in the harbor". The stuff that
is collected will then be given to the politicians to have a look at.
I would call if fake participation and wonder why the politicians are
not at the events.
What they really should get involved in is the issues they have.
Regarding the time available: If the first gathering is actually done in
OST you will have
many more people show up in the second gathering. (I experienced this in
several occasions in hospitals, schools, churches... where the
participants met for two short periods
to allow everyone to take part which also led to a third gathering to
have a planning ost on the projects they would be involved in.)
"Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of
a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing."
Well, you dont do nothing if you tell them that they cant get what they
want if this and
that is missing. You actually do a lot, saying that.
Please look at page 163 of "Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!"
(the edition of 2007) with the title "Learn to Say No if You Want To Mean
Something". Marv and Sandra show how to handle such a situation, which I
think you are involved in.
From other experiences in my work I learned not to accept the assumptions
of "insiders" (external consultants, internal OD department, etc.).
In one situation they told me that no more than half a day will be
tolerated by
the top gun (and it looked like they wanted to have deep change). Not only
in that situation but eventually every time I wanted to have one hour
with the
top guns. In the case mentioned here, I told the small group with the
leaders and the
insideres that what they want to achieve would require three days (one
half day, a full day and another half day, 16 hours, two times
sleeping). The top gun said "no problem".
One of the approaches in the very early stage when I am more of a
consultant
I would also tell them that there are other approaches that OST that
might fit
their needs... and talk of those a bit. And if they skip OST and want to
find
other approaches I would suggest somebody...
By the way, Birgitt has done stunning research a long time ago on "givens"
on various levels of organizations or systems: The number of "givens"
was the
highest at the lowest level of the hierarchy... and if I remember at the
highest level
they had only very few "givens".
You have a tough situation to handle. It seems that the situation might
contain the
5 or 6 prerequisites that OST needs to be actionorienting. I always ask
whether those
5 or 6 prerequisites are in place, at the very first meeting I have with
the deciders.
Have a great day
Greetings from Berlin
mmp
Am 26.04.2025 um 18:02 schrieb Thomas Herrmann via OSList:
Dear friends in Open Space
I am working with a community organization in a small fishing village
here in Sweden. The larger municipality wants to let a contractor
build a hotel in the small harbour of the village. There has not been
much of a process with people living here in the village. The people
using the harbor now, fishers and others are worried and angry.
The community organization reached out to me because they are afraid
that this may become very harmful for the community, creating
separation, distrust and conflict.
After an initial meeting, it seemed they were not ready to move on.
Now they reached out to me again and we had a first planning meeting
two days ago, where parts of the community was present, 12 persons
were present, some but far from all stakeholders. So another or two
more prep-meetings will hopefully happen-
Then the plan is to organize two 4-hour meetings in May where people
will be invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on
the future of the village, including what is being planned in the
harbor. Some people may be able to be on both occasions others will
only be present on one of them. There will be space for big groups to
gather for these meetings.
Part of the intention is to identify and communicate some kind of
common vision to the politicians of the municipality to let them know
what people living in the village think about this. The community
organization also wants to open space for other ideas regarding the
future of the village, in the planned meetings.
Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results
of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing. I
would have loved us to have three days, but this is what they think is
possible.
We will have some follow-ups and I’m also considering if we can use
the time in between the two meetings and possibly to make some kind of
convergence after the second meeting.
I would have liked to have space for storytelling but maybe this
pre-work is all the time we can dedicate to sharing memories. My plan
is to use open space for the half day meetings and I would love some
input, experiences and ideas.
Best regards
Thomas Herrmann
Thomas Herrmann
Open Space Consulting AB
Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81
Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
mailto:thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.com
http://www.openspaceconsulting.com/ / www.5toFold.com
http://www.5tofold.com/
Profile on LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
http://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer och
samhälle.
/We release lifepower in people, organizations and society./
Trainings/workshops (Info & registration
https://openspaceconsulting.com/kategori/aktiviteter/kommande-aktiviteter/)
2025
Sept 9-11: Working with Open Space Technology, the Netherlands
Sept 17-19: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.
Sept 23-25: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige
Okt 8: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)
Nov 7-9 WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya
Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy +
mentoring – leadership and facilitation incl Open Space
OSList mailing list --everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email toeveryone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here:https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
Michael M Pannwitz
Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
+49 30 7728000mmpannwitz@posteo.de
This year the WOSonOS will be in Kenya in November, have a look
https://www.wosonos2025.org/
Michael,
What 5-6 prerequisites do you have in mind? I’m aware of (paraphrasing Daniel Mezick)…
-
A significant challenge or question of import to the many people.
-
A diversity of people and perspectives in the group.
-
Potential for conflict.
-
Decisions/action required yesterday!
What are yours?
Thanks, and be well,
Marc
Marc TrudeauTeam Dynamics Coach
Adjunct Faculty at WPI
LikeBreathin.com
Mobile 774-641-8302
On Apr 26, 2025, at 3:57 PM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear Thomas,
this appears to me to be one of the many films I have seen on TV.
The village against the local politicians that are in one bed with the
folks that want to build a resort or a hotel to invest their capital.In all of the films its the village that scrambles and succeeds to prevent
such projects with lots of "separation, distrust and conflict".
As an old hand (no longer active) I never wanted to know anything about
all the data the angry and worried and other stuff.What happened in your first planning meeting? Did they think of the theme
for the two events? Did they express a vision of what the situation looks like
after the two events? Did they answer the question of who all needs to be
at the events so that their vision and theme will be reached?So far it seems that the folks coming to the two events "invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor". The stuff that is collected will then be given to the politicians to have a look at.
I would call if fake participation and wonder why the politicians are not at the events.
What they really should get involved in is the issues they have.Regarding the time available: If the first gathering is actually done in OST you will have
many more people show up in the second gathering. (I experienced this in several occasions in hospitals, schools, churches... where the participants met for two short periods
to allow everyone to take part which also led to a third gathering to have a planning ost on the projects they would be involved in.)"Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing."
Well, you dont do nothing if you tell them that they cant get what they want if this and
that is missing. You actually do a lot, saying that.
Please look at page 163 of "Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!"
(the edition of 2007) with the title "Learn to Say No if You Want To Mean
Something". Marv and Sandra show how to handle such a situation, which I
think you are involved in.From other experiences in my work I learned not to accept the assumptions
of "insiders" (external consultants, internal OD department, etc.).
In one situation they told me that no more than half a day will be tolerated by
the top gun (and it looked like they wanted to have deep change). Not only
in that situation but eventually every time I wanted to have one hour with the
top guns. In the case mentioned here, I told the small group with the leaders and the
insideres that what they want to achieve would require three days (one half day, a full day and another half day, 16 hours, two times sleeping). The top gun said "no problem".One of the approaches in the very early stage when I am more of a consultant
I would also tell them that there are other approaches that OST that might fit
their needs... and talk of those a bit. And if they skip OST and want to find
other approaches I would suggest somebody...By the way, Birgitt has done stunning research a long time ago on "givens"
on various levels of organizations or systems: The number of "givens" was the
highest at the lowest level of the hierarchy... and if I remember at the highest level
they had only very few "givens".You have a tough situation to handle. It seems that the situation might contain the
5 or 6 prerequisites that OST needs to be actionorienting. I always ask whether those
5 or 6 prerequisites are in place, at the very first meeting I have with the deciders.Have a great day
Greetings from Berlin
mmpAm 26.04.2025 um 18:02 schrieb Thomas Herrmann via OSList:
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div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; }Dear friends in Open SpaceI am working with a community organization in a small fishing village here in Sweden. The larger municipality wants to let a contractor build a hotel in the small harbour of the village. There has not been much of a process with people living here in the village. The people using the harbor now, fishers and others are worried and angry.
The community organization reached out to me because they are afraid that this may become very harmful for the community, creating separation, distrust and conflict.
After an initial meeting, it seemed they were not ready to move on. Now they reached out to me again and we had a first planning meeting two days ago, where parts of the community was present, 12 persons were present, some but far from all stakeholders. So another or two more prep-meetings will hopefully happen-
Then the plan is to organize two 4-hour meetings in May where people will be invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor. Some people may be able to be on both occasions others will only be present on one of them. There will be space for big groups to gather for these meetings.
Part of the intention is to identify and communicate some kind of common vision to the politicians of the municipality to let them know what people living in the village think about this. The community organization also wants to open space for other ideas regarding the future of the village, in the planned meetings.
Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing. I would have loved us to have three days, but this is what they think is possible.
We will have some follow-ups and I’m also considering if we can use the time in between the two meetings and possibly to make some kind of convergence after the second meeting.
I would have liked to have space for storytelling but maybe this pre-work is all the time we can dedicate to sharing memories. My plan is to use open space for the half day meetings and I would love some input, experiences and ideas.
Best regards
Thomas Herrmann
Thomas Herrmann
Open Space Consulting AB
Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81
Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.com / www.5toFold.com
Profile on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer och samhälle.
We release lifepower in people, organizations and society.
Trainings/workshops (Info & registration)
2025
Sept 9-11: Working with Open Space Technology, the Netherlands
Sept 17-19: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.
Sept 23-25: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige
Okt 8: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)
Nov 7-9 WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya
Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy + mentoring – leadership and facilitation incl Open Space
<image001.png>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">OSList mailing list -- <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:everyone@oslist.org">everyone@oslist.org</a> To unsubscribe send an email to <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org">everyone-leave@oslist.org</a> See the archives here: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org">https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org</a><pre class="moz-signature" cols="72" signature-switch-id="886ea44f-b30f-4cd4-82dc-0d40cf7e04df">Michael M Pannwitz Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany +49 30 7728000 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:mmpannwitz@posteo.de">mmpannwitz@posteo.de</a> This year the WOSonOS will be in Kenya in November, have a look <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.wosonos2025.org/">https://www.wosonos2025.org/</a>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
Dear Mark, Thomas and all you others...
here are the 6 prerequisites that need to be in place for the success of
the experiment we call an OST event. If they are in place the experiment
is always successfull:
1 Is the issue complex? The more complex, the better.
2 Is the composition of participants diverse? The more diverse, the better.
3 Is the issue conflict-prone? The more conflict-prone, the better.
4 Is it urgent? The more urgent, the better.
5 Is the issue open-ended? The more open-ended, the better. Nobody has
the answer.
6 Is participation voluntary? The more voluntary, the better.
The check on the prerequisites is done in the first contact meeting with
the sponsor/organizer, takes about one hour. I dont take a fee for the
contact meeting
and my role is to consult the sponsor/organizer with the goal that the
sponsor/organizer
can find a decision. They contact me if they want to have an OST event.
Have a great day and dont miss the WOSonOS in Kenya this year
mmp
Am 26.04.2025 um 22:27 schrieb marc@likebreathin.com:
Michael,
What 5-6 prerequisites do you have in mind? I’m aware of (paraphrasing
Daniel Mezick)…
- A significant challenge or question of import to the many people.
- A diversity of people and perspectives in the group.
- Potential for conflict.
- Decisions/action required yesterday!
What are yours?
Thanks, and be well,
Marc
Marc Trudeau
Team Dynamics Coach
Adjunct Faculty at WPI
LikeBreathin.com
Mobile 774-641-8302
On Apr 26, 2025, at 3:57 PM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList
everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Dear Thomas,
this appears to me to be one of the many films I have seen on TV.
The village against the local politicians that are in one bed with the
folks that want to build a resort or a hotel to invest their capital.
In all of the films its the village that scrambles and succeeds to
prevent
such projects with lots of "separation, distrust and conflict".
As an old hand (no longer active) I never wanted to know anything about
all the data the angry and worried and other stuff.
What happened in your first planning meeting? Did they think of the theme
for the two events? Did they express a vision of what the situation
looks like
after the two events? Did they answer the question of who all needs to be
at the events so that their vision and theme will be reached?
So far it seems that the folks coming to the two events "invited to
express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the
village, including what is being planned in the harbor". The stuff
that is collected will then be given to the politicians to have a
look at.
I would call if fake participation and wonder why the politicians are
not at the events.
What they really should get involved in is the issues they have.
Regarding the time available: If the first gathering is actually done
in OST you will have
many more people show up in the second gathering. (I experienced this
in several occasions in hospitals, schools, churches... where the
participants met for two short periods
to allow everyone to take part which also led to a third gathering to
have a planning ost on the projects they would be involved in.)
"Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results
of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing."
Well, you dont do nothing if you tell them that they cant get what
they want if this and
that is missing. You actually do a lot, saying that.
Please look at page 163 of "Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!"
(the edition of 2007) with the title "Learn to Say No if You Want To
Mean
Something". Marv and Sandra show how to handle such a situation, which I
think you are involved in.
From other experiences in my work I learned not to accept the
assumptions
of "insiders" (external consultants, internal OD department, etc.).
In one situation they told me that no more than half a day will be
tolerated by
the top gun (and it looked like they wanted to have deep change). Not
only
in that situation but eventually every time I wanted to have one hour
with the
top guns. In the case mentioned here, I told the small group with the
leaders and the
insideres that what they want to achieve would require three days
(one half day, a full day and another half day, 16 hours, two times
sleeping). The top gun said "no problem".
One of the approaches in the very early stage when I am more of a
consultant
I would also tell them that there are other approaches that OST that
might fit
their needs... and talk of those a bit. And if they skip OST and want
to find
other approaches I would suggest somebody...
By the way, Birgitt has done stunning research a long time ago on
"givens"
on various levels of organizations or systems: The number of "givens"
was the
highest at the lowest level of the hierarchy... and if I remember at
the highest level
they had only very few "givens".
You have a tough situation to handle. It seems that the situation
might contain the
5 or 6 prerequisites that OST needs to be actionorienting. I always
ask whether those
5 or 6 prerequisites are in place, at the very first meeting I have
with the deciders.
Have a great day
Greetings from Berlin and dont miss this years WOSonOS in Kenya
mmp
Am 26.04.2025 um 18:02 schrieb Thomas Herrmann via OSList:
Dear friends in Open Space
I am working with a community organization in a small fishing
village here in Sweden. The larger municipality wants to let a
contractor build a hotel in the small harbour of the village. There
has not been much of a process with people living here in the
village. The people using the harbor now, fishers and others are
worried and angry.
The community organization reached out to me because they are afraid
that this may become very harmful for the community, creating
separation, distrust and conflict.
After an initial meeting, it seemed they were not ready to move on.
Now they reached out to me again and we had a first planning meeting
two days ago, where parts of the community was present, 12 persons
were present, some but far from all stakeholders. So another or two
more prep-meetings will hopefully happen-
Then the plan is to organize two 4-hour meetings in May where people
will be invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on
the future of the village, including what is being planned in the
harbor. Some people may be able to be on both occasions others will
only be present on one of them. There will be space for big groups
to gather for these meetings.
Part of the intention is to identify and communicate some kind of
common vision to the politicians of the municipality to let them
know what people living in the village think about this. The
community organization also wants to open space for other ideas
regarding the future of the village, in the planned meetings.
Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results
of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing. I
would have loved us to have three days, but this is what they think
is possible.
We will have some follow-ups and I’m also considering if we can use
the time in between the two meetings and possibly to make some kind
of convergence after the second meeting.
I would have liked to have space for storytelling but maybe this
pre-work is all the time we can dedicate to sharing memories. My
plan is to use open space for the half day meetings and I would love
some input, experiences and ideas.
Best regards
Thomas Herrmann
Thomas Herrmann
Open Space Consulting AB
Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81
Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
mailto:thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.com
http://www.openspaceconsulting.com/ / www.5toFold.com
http://www.5tofold.com/
Profile on LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
http://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer
och samhälle.
/We release lifepower in people, organizations and society./
Trainings/workshops (Info & registration
https://openspaceconsulting.com/kategori/aktiviteter/kommande-aktiviteter/)
2025
Sept 9-11: Working with Open Space Technology, the Netherlands
Sept 17-19: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.
Sept 23-25: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige
Okt 8: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)
Nov 7-9 WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya
Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy +
mentoring – leadership and facilitation incl Open Space
<image001.png>
OSList mailing list --everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email toeveryone-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
Michael M Pannwitz
Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
+49 30 7728000mmpannwitz@posteo.de
This year the WOSonOS will be in Kenya in November, have a look
https://www.wosonos2025.org/
Thomas,
It’s beautiful hearing about opening more space.
One way we have incorporated storytelling directly into open space is by providing storytelling topics as a type of session topic We use specially shaped post-it notes alerting participants that the topic posted will be one person talking, we sometimes call these one-way-downloads. We use a post-it shaped like a lightbulb 💡 or a tree 🌲. This allows those who choose to go to the storytelling session/topic to know what will transpire.
Zelle
Zelle Nelson
Center for Collaborative Awareness
Phone: (+1) 847.323.7976
www.collaborativeawareness.com
Read my Blueprint of Me
On Apr 26, 2025, at 7:14 PM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear Mark, Thomas and all you others...
here are the 6 prerequisites that need to be in place for the success of
the experiment we call an OST event. If they are in place the experiment
is always successfull:1 Is the issue complex? The more complex, the better.
2 Is the composition of participants diverse? The more diverse, the better.
3 Is the issue conflict-prone? The more conflict-prone, the better.
4 Is it urgent? The more urgent, the better.
5 Is the issue open-ended? The more open-ended, the better. Nobody has
the answer.
6 Is participation voluntary? The more voluntary, the better.The check on the prerequisites is done in the first contact meeting with
the sponsor/organizer, takes about one hour. I dont take a fee for the contact meeting
and my role is to consult the sponsor/organizer with the goal that the sponsor/organizer
can find a decision. They contact me if they want to have an OST event.Have a great day and dont miss the WOSonOS in Kenya this year
mmp
Am 26.04.2025 um 22:27 schrieb marc@likebreathin.com:
Michael,
What 5-6 prerequisites do you have in mind? I’m aware of (paraphrasing Daniel Mezick)…
A significant challenge or question of import to the many people.
A diversity of people and perspectives in the group.
Potential for conflict.
Decisions/action required yesterday!
What are yours?
Thanks, and be well,
Marc
Marc TrudeauTeam Dynamics Coach
Adjunct Faculty at WPI
LikeBreathin.com
Mobile 774-641-8302
On Apr 26, 2025, at 3:57 PM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear Thomas,
this appears to me to be one of the many films I have seen on TV.
The village against the local politicians that are in one bed with the
folks that want to build a resort or a hotel to invest their capital.In all of the films its the village that scrambles and succeeds to prevent
such projects with lots of "separation, distrust and conflict".
As an old hand (no longer active) I never wanted to know anything about
all the data the angry and worried and other stuff.What happened in your first planning meeting? Did they think of the theme
for the two events? Did they express a vision of what the situation looks like
after the two events? Did they answer the question of who all needs to be
at the events so that their vision and theme will be reached?So far it seems that the folks coming to the two events "invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor". The stuff that is collected will then be given to the politicians to have a look at.
I would call if fake participation and wonder why the politicians are not at the events.
What they really should get involved in is the issues they have.Regarding the time available: If the first gathering is actually done in OST you will have
many more people show up in the second gathering. (I experienced this in several occasions in hospitals, schools, churches... where the participants met for two short periods
to allow everyone to take part which also led to a third gathering to have a planning ost on the projects they would be involved in.)"Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing."
Well, you dont do nothing if you tell them that they cant get what they want if this and
that is missing. You actually do a lot, saying that.
Please look at page 163 of "Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!"
(the edition of 2007) with the title "Learn to Say No if You Want To Mean
Something". Marv and Sandra show how to handle such a situation, which I
think you are involved in.From other experiences in my work I learned not to accept the assumptions
of "insiders" (external consultants, internal OD department, etc.).
In one situation they told me that no more than half a day will be tolerated by
the top gun (and it looked like they wanted to have deep change). Not only
in that situation but eventually every time I wanted to have one hour with the
top guns. In the case mentioned here, I told the small group with the leaders and the
insideres that what they want to achieve would require three days (one half day, a full day and another half day, 16 hours, two times sleeping). The top gun said "no problem".One of the approaches in the very early stage when I am more of a consultant
I would also tell them that there are other approaches that OST that might fit
their needs... and talk of those a bit. And if they skip OST and want to find
other approaches I would suggest somebody...By the way, Birgitt has done stunning research a long time ago on "givens"
on various levels of organizations or systems: The number of "givens" was the
highest at the lowest level of the hierarchy... and if I remember at the highest level
they had only very few "givens".You have a tough situation to handle. It seems that the situation might contain the
5 or 6 prerequisites that OST needs to be actionorienting. I always ask whether those
5 or 6 prerequisites are in place, at the very first meeting I have with the deciders.Have a great day
Greetings from Berlin and dont miss this years WOSonOS in Kenyammp
Am 26.04.2025 um 18:02 schrieb Thomas Herrmann via OSList:
@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math"; }
@font-face { font-family: Calibri; }
@font-face { font-family: Aptos; }
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span.E-postmall18 { }
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div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; }Dear friends in Open SpaceI am working with a community organization in a small fishing village here in Sweden. The larger municipality wants to let a contractor build a hotel in the small harbour of the village. There has not been much of a process with people living here in the village. The people using the harbor now, fishers and others are worried and angry.
The community organization reached out to me because they are afraid that this may become very harmful for the community, creating separation, distrust and conflict.
After an initial meeting, it seemed they were not ready to move on. Now they reached out to me again and we had a first planning meeting two days ago, where parts of the community was present, 12 persons were present, some but far from all stakeholders. So another or two more prep-meetings will hopefully happen-
Then the plan is to organize two 4-hour meetings in May where people will be invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor. Some people may be able to be on both occasions others will only be present on one of them. There will be space for big groups to gather for these meetings.
Part of the intention is to identify and communicate some kind of common vision to the politicians of the municipality to let them know what people living in the village think about this. The community organization also wants to open space for other ideas regarding the future of the village, in the planned meetings.
Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing. I would have loved us to have three days, but this is what they think is possible.
We will have some follow-ups and I’m also considering if we can use the time in between the two meetings and possibly to make some kind of convergence after the second meeting.
I would have liked to have space for storytelling but maybe this pre-work is all the time we can dedicate to sharing memories. My plan is to use open space for the half day meetings and I would love some input, experiences and ideas.
Best regards
Thomas Herrmann
Thomas Herrmann
Open Space Consulting AB
Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81
Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.com / www.5toFold.com
Profile on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer och samhälle.
We release lifepower in people, organizations and society.
Trainings/workshops (Info & registration)
2025
Sept 9-11: Working with Open Space Technology, the Netherlands
Sept 17-19: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.
Sept 23-25: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige
Okt 8: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)
Nov 7-9 WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya
Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy + mentoring – leadership and facilitation incl Open Space
<image001.png>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">OSList mailing list -- <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:everyone@oslist.org" moz-do-not-send="true">everyone@oslist.org</a> To unsubscribe send an email to <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org" moz-do-not-send="true">everyone-leave@oslist.org</a> See the archives here: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org" moz-do-not-send="true">https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org</a>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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72" signature-switch-id="886ea44f-b30f-4cd4-82dc-0d40cf7e04df">Michael M Pannwitz Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany +49 30 7728000 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:mmpannwitz@posteo.de">mmpannwitz@posteo.de</a> This year the WOSonOS will be in Kenya in November, have a look <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.wosonos2025.org/">https://www.wosonos2025.org/</a>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
The only thing I’d add to Michael’s wonderful counsel is in talking about alternative approaches, I’d mention Future Search as an option.
I find when people feel the need for a bit more structure, it is a reassuring option.
Peggy Holman 206-948-0432
Sent from my iPad
On Apr 27, 2025, at 2:13 AM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear Mark, Thomas and all you others...
here are the 6 prerequisites that need to be in place for the success of
the experiment we call an OST event. If they are in place the experiment
is always successfull:1 Is the issue complex? The more complex, the better.
2 Is the composition of participants diverse? The more diverse, the better.
3 Is the issue conflict-prone? The more conflict-prone, the better.
4 Is it urgent? The more urgent, the better.
5 Is the issue open-ended? The more open-ended, the better. Nobody has
the answer.
6 Is participation voluntary? The more voluntary, the better.The check on the prerequisites is done in the first contact meeting with
the sponsor/organizer, takes about one hour. I dont take a fee for the contact meeting
and my role is to consult the sponsor/organizer with the goal that the sponsor/organizer
can find a decision. They contact me if they want to have an OST event.Have a great day and dont miss the WOSonOS in Kenya this year
mmp
Am 26.04.2025 um 22:27 schrieb marc@likebreathin.com:
Michael,
What 5-6 prerequisites do you have in mind? I’m aware of (paraphrasing Daniel Mezick)…
A significant challenge or question of import to the many people.
A diversity of people and perspectives in the group.
Potential for conflict.
Decisions/action required yesterday!
What are yours?
Thanks, and be well,
Marc
Marc TrudeauTeam Dynamics Coach
Adjunct Faculty at WPI
LikeBreathin.com
Mobile 774-641-8302
On Apr 26, 2025, at 3:57 PM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear Thomas,
this appears to me to be one of the many films I have seen on TV.
The village against the local politicians that are in one bed with the
folks that want to build a resort or a hotel to invest their capital.In all of the films its the village that scrambles and succeeds to prevent
such projects with lots of "separation, distrust and conflict".
As an old hand (no longer active) I never wanted to know anything about
all the data the angry and worried and other stuff.What happened in your first planning meeting? Did they think of the theme
for the two events? Did they express a vision of what the situation looks like
after the two events? Did they answer the question of who all needs to be
at the events so that their vision and theme will be reached?So far it seems that the folks coming to the two events "invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor". The stuff that is collected will then be given to the politicians to have a look at.
I would call if fake participation and wonder why the politicians are not at the events.
What they really should get involved in is the issues they have.Regarding the time available: If the first gathering is actually done in OST you will have
many more people show up in the second gathering. (I experienced this in several occasions in hospitals, schools, churches... where the participants met for two short periods
to allow everyone to take part which also led to a third gathering to have a planning ost on the projects they would be involved in.)"Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing."
Well, you dont do nothing if you tell them that they cant get what they want if this and
that is missing. You actually do a lot, saying that.
Please look at page 163 of "Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!"
(the edition of 2007) with the title "Learn to Say No if You Want To Mean
Something". Marv and Sandra show how to handle such a situation, which I
think you are involved in.From other experiences in my work I learned not to accept the assumptions
of "insiders" (external consultants, internal OD department, etc.).
In one situation they told me that no more than half a day will be tolerated by
the top gun (and it looked like they wanted to have deep change). Not only
in that situation but eventually every time I wanted to have one hour with the
top guns. In the case mentioned here, I told the small group with the leaders and the
insideres that what they want to achieve would require three days (one half day, a full day and another half day, 16 hours, two times sleeping). The top gun said "no problem".One of the approaches in the very early stage when I am more of a consultant
I would also tell them that there are other approaches that OST that might fit
their needs... and talk of those a bit. And if they skip OST and want to find
other approaches I would suggest somebody...By the way, Birgitt has done stunning research a long time ago on "givens"
on various levels of organizations or systems: The number of "givens" was the
highest at the lowest level of the hierarchy... and if I remember at the highest level
they had only very few "givens".You have a tough situation to handle. It seems that the situation might contain the
5 or 6 prerequisites that OST needs to be actionorienting. I always ask whether those
5 or 6 prerequisites are in place, at the very first meeting I have with the deciders.Have a great day
Greetings from Berlin and dont miss this years WOSonOS in Kenyammp
Am 26.04.2025 um 18:02 schrieb Thomas Herrmann via OSList:
@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math"; }
@font-face { font-family: Calibri; }
@font-face { font-family: Aptos; }
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; }
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }
span.E-postmall18 { }
.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; }
div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; }Dear friends in Open SpaceI am working with a community organization in a small fishing village here in Sweden. The larger municipality wants to let a contractor build a hotel in the small harbour of the village. There has not been much of a process with people living here in the village. The people using the harbor now, fishers and others are worried and angry.
The community organization reached out to me because they are afraid that this may become very harmful for the community, creating separation, distrust and conflict.
After an initial meeting, it seemed they were not ready to move on. Now they reached out to me again and we had a first planning meeting two days ago, where parts of the community was present, 12 persons were present, some but far from all stakeholders. So another or two more prep-meetings will hopefully happen-
Then the plan is to organize two 4-hour meetings in May where people will be invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor. Some people may be able to be on both occasions others will only be present on one of them. There will be space for big groups to gather for these meetings.
Part of the intention is to identify and communicate some kind of common vision to the politicians of the municipality to let them know what people living in the village think about this. The community organization also wants to open space for other ideas regarding the future of the village, in the planned meetings.
Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing. I would have loved us to have three days, but this is what they think is possible.
We will have some follow-ups and I’m also considering if we can use the time in between the two meetings and possibly to make some kind of convergence after the second meeting.
I would have liked to have space for storytelling but maybe this pre-work is all the time we can dedicate to sharing memories. My plan is to use open space for the half day meetings and I would love some input, experiences and ideas.
Best regards
Thomas Herrmann
Thomas Herrmann
Open Space Consulting AB
Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81
Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.com / www.5toFold.com
Profile on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer och samhälle.
We release lifepower in people, organizations and society.
Trainings/workshops (Info & registration)
2025
Sept 9-11: Working with Open Space Technology, the Netherlands
Sept 17-19: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.
Sept 23-25: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige
Okt 8: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)
Nov 7-9 WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya
Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy + mentoring – leadership and facilitation incl Open Space
<image001.png>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">OSList mailing list -- <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:everyone@oslist.org" moz-do-not-send="true">everyone@oslist.org</a> To unsubscribe send an email to <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org" moz-do-not-send="true">everyone-leave@oslist.org</a> See the archives here: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org" moz-do-not-send="true">https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org</a>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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72" signature-switch-id="886ea44f-b30f-4cd4-82dc-0d40cf7e04df">Michael M Pannwitz Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany +49 30 7728000 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:mmpannwitz@posteo.de">mmpannwitz@posteo.de</a> This year the WOSonOS will be in Kenya in November, have a look <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.wosonos2025.org/">https://www.wosonos2025.org/</a>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
Thanks so much Michael, Peggy, Zelle and others for your contributions!
Much juice to continue thinking about!
This is for sure an interesting and challenging opportunity. I forwarded your answers to my two main speaking partners/sponsors, and invited them to the list 😊 if they want to join.
Yes, I do think the prerequisites are in place. Then we need to create/secure conditions to have a good chance for useful results.
The planning meeting we had went quite well (3 hours, facilitated in a Whole Person Process Facilitated container).
- Welcoming and landing (Transfer in /hopes and fears)
- Storyline was co-created – what lead up to us meeting here today
- I shared a bit about working sustainably with co-creative methods
- Hopes for outcome – short, medium and long sight.
- Who should be invited
- Next steps
- Closing circle
We will have to continue planning, including deciding on a theme, if we’re moving ahead with OST.
I will for sure keep you posted and continue to ask. I am very open for more input and ideas.
Grateful & All the best
Thomas
Från: Peggy Holman via OSList everyone@oslist.org
Skickat: den 27 april 2025 05:37
Till: everyone@oslist.org
Ämne: [OSList] Re: Opening space in a fishing village in change (X-posted OS-list and Genuine Contact list)
The only thing I’d add to Michael’s wonderful counsel is in talking about alternative approaches, I’d mention Future Search as an option.
I find when people feel the need for a bit more structure, it is a reassuring option.
Peggy Holman
206-948-0432
Sent from my iPad
On Apr 27, 2025, at 2:13 AM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList <everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear Mark, Thomas and all you others...
here are the 6 prerequisites that need to be in place for the success of
the experiment we call an OST event. If they are in place the experiment
is always successfull:
1 Is the issue complex? The more complex, the better.
2 Is the composition of participants diverse? The more diverse, the better.
3 Is the issue conflict-prone? The more conflict-prone, the better.
4 Is it urgent? The more urgent, the better.
5 Is the issue open-ended? The more open-ended, the better. Nobody has
the answer.
6 Is participation voluntary? The more voluntary, the better.
The check on the prerequisites is done in the first contact meeting with
the sponsor/organizer, takes about one hour. I dont take a fee for the contact meeting
and my role is to consult the sponsor/organizer with the goal that the sponsor/organizer
can find a decision. They contact me if they want to have an OST event.
Have a great day and dont miss the WOSonOS in Kenya this year
mmp
Am 26.04.2025 um 22:27 schrieb marc@likebreathin.commailto:marc@likebreathin.com:
Michael,
What 5-6 prerequisites do you have in mind? I’m aware of (paraphrasing Daniel Mezick)…
- A significant challenge or question of import to the many people.
- A diversity of people and perspectives in the group.
- Potential for conflict.
- Decisions/action required yesterday!
What are yours?
Thanks, and be well,
Marc
Marc Trudeau
Team Dynamics Coach
Adjunct Faculty at WPI
LikeBreathin.com
Mobile 774-641-8302
On Apr 26, 2025, at 3:57 PM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org wrote:
Dear Thomas,
this appears to me to be one of the many films I have seen on TV.
The village against the local politicians that are in one bed with the
folks that want to build a resort or a hotel to invest their capital.
In all of the films its the village that scrambles and succeeds to prevent
such projects with lots of "separation, distrust and conflict".
As an old hand (no longer active) I never wanted to know anything about
all the data the angry and worried and other stuff.
What happened in your first planning meeting? Did they think of the theme
for the two events? Did they express a vision of what the situation looks like
after the two events? Did they answer the question of who all needs to be
at the events so that their vision and theme will be reached?
So far it seems that the folks coming to the two events "invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor". The stuff that is collected will then be given to the politicians to have a look at.
I would call if fake participation and wonder why the politicians are not at the events.
What they really should get involved in is the issues they have.
Regarding the time available: If the first gathering is actually done in OST you will have
many more people show up in the second gathering. (I experienced this in several occasions in hospitals, schools, churches... where the participants met for two short periods
to allow everyone to take part which also led to a third gathering to have a planning ost on the projects they would be involved in.)
"Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing."
Well, you dont do nothing if you tell them that they cant get what they want if this and
that is missing. You actually do a lot, saying that.
Please look at page 163 of "Don't Just Do Something, Stand There!"
(the edition of 2007) with the title "Learn to Say No if You Want To Mean
Something". Marv and Sandra show how to handle such a situation, which I
think you are involved in.
From other experiences in my work I learned not to accept the assumptions
of "insiders" (external consultants, internal OD department, etc.).
In one situation they told me that no more than half a day will be tolerated by
the top gun (and it looked like they wanted to have deep change). Not only
in that situation but eventually every time I wanted to have one hour with the
top guns. In the case mentioned here, I told the small group with the leaders and the
insideres that what they want to achieve would require three days (one half day, a full day and another half day, 16 hours, two times sleeping). The top gun said "no problem".
One of the approaches in the very early stage when I am more of a consultant
I would also tell them that there are other approaches that OST that might fit
their needs... and talk of those a bit. And if they skip OST and want to find
other approaches I would suggest somebody...
By the way, Birgitt has done stunning research a long time ago on "givens"
on various levels of organizations or systems: The number of "givens" was the
highest at the lowest level of the hierarchy... and if I remember at the highest level
they had only very few "givens".
You have a tough situation to handle. It seems that the situation might contain the
5 or 6 prerequisites that OST needs to be actionorienting. I always ask whether those
5 or 6 prerequisites are in place, at the very first meeting I have with the deciders.
Have a great day
Greetings from Berlin and dont miss this years WOSonOS in Kenya
mmp
Am 26.04.2025 um 18:02 schrieb Thomas Herrmann via OSList:
Dear friends in Open Space
I am working with a community organization in a small fishing village here in Sweden. The larger municipality wants to let a contractor build a hotel in the small harbour of the village. There has not been much of a process with people living here in the village. The people using the harbor now, fishers and others are worried and angry.
The community organization reached out to me because they are afraid that this may become very harmful for the community, creating separation, distrust and conflict.
After an initial meeting, it seemed they were not ready to move on. Now they reached out to me again and we had a first planning meeting two days ago, where parts of the community was present, 12 persons were present, some but far from all stakeholders. So another or two more prep-meetings will hopefully happen-
Then the plan is to organize two 4-hour meetings in May where people will be invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor. Some people may be able to be on both occasions others will only be present on one of them. There will be space for big groups to gather for these meetings.
Part of the intention is to identify and communicate some kind of common vision to the politicians of the municipality to let them know what people living in the village think about this. The community organization also wants to open space for other ideas regarding the future of the village, in the planned meetings.
Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing. I would have loved us to have three days, but this is what they think is possible.
We will have some follow-ups and I’m also considering if we can use the time in between the two meetings and possibly to make some kind of convergence after the second meeting.
I would have liked to have space for storytelling but maybe this pre-work is all the time we can dedicate to sharing memories. My plan is to use open space for the half day meetings and I would love some input, experiences and ideas.
Best regards
Thomas Herrmann
Thomas Herrmann
Open Space Consulting AB
Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81
Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.commailto:thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.comhttp://www.openspaceconsulting.com/ / www.5toFold.comhttp://www.5tofold.com/
Profile on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsulthttp://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer och samhälle.
We release lifepower in people, organizations and society.
Trainings/workshops (Info & registrationhttps://openspaceconsulting.com/kategori/aktiviteter/kommande-aktiviteter/)
2025
Sept 9-11: Working with Open Space Technology, the Netherlands
Sept 17-19: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.
Sept 23-25: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige
Okt 8: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)
Nov 7-9 WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya
Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy + mentoring – leadership and facilitation incl Open Space
<image001.png>
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.orgmailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.orgmailto:everyone@oslist.org
To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.orgmailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org
See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org
Michael M Pannwitz
Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
+49 30 7728000 mmpannwitz@posteo.demailto:mmpannwitz@posteo.de
This year the WOSonOS will be in Kenya in November, have a look
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Dear Thomas,
You are receiving valuable guidance from both the Genuine Contact and OS
list circles of wisdom. I understand that you feel that to do something is
better than to do nothing. I am not so sure. I am more a fan of doing what
is in best service, or I would rather do nothing until the time is right to
do what could be of really good service.
For this amount of complexity and big emotions, how much space is really
open? It is valuable to make a short list of what reduces the amount of
space. I understand that the size of the space gets closed by too nebulous
a reason to meet; the time limitation; the push to have some sort of action
so needing to devote some time to the action.
My first question is 'what is the compelling theme for the OST?'
My second question is 'who is the sponsor who is opening the space in the
community for you to facilitate the OST?'
The balance of what to do depends a lot on the answers to these two. You
may wish to use the Service Delivery Model, a Genuine Contact tool, to
think this through.
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
http://www.dalarinternational.com/upcoming-workshops/ for any of these
workshops here.
Go to www.genuinecontact.net http://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
birgitt@dalarinternational.com, 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
https://dalarinternational.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=35ed818c946a88ba7344da05f&id=6677c35b38&e=e7zyhHfiqG
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On Sat, Apr 26, 2025 at 12:02 PM Thomas Herrmann <
thomas@openspaceconsulting.com> wrote:
Dear friends in Open Space
I am working with a community organization in a small fishing village here
in Sweden. The larger municipality wants to let a contractor build a hotel
in the small harbour of the village. There has not been much of a process
with people living here in the village. The people using the harbor now,
fishers and others are worried and angry.
The community organization reached out to me because they are afraid that
this may become very harmful for the community, creating separation,
distrust and conflict.
After an initial meeting, it seemed they were not ready to move on. Now
they reached out to me again and we had a first planning meeting two days
ago, where parts of the community was present, 12 persons were present,
some but far from all stakeholders. So another or two more prep-meetings
will hopefully happen-
Then the plan is to organize two 4-hour meetings in May where people will
be invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future
of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor. Some people
may be able to be on both occasions others will only be present on one of
them. There will be space for big groups to gather for these meetings.
Part of the intention is to identify and communicate some kind of common
vision to the politicians of the municipality to let them know what people
living in the village think about this. The community organization also
wants to open space for other ideas regarding the future of the village, in
the planned meetings.
Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a
process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing. I would have
loved us to have three days, but this is what they think is possible.
We will have some follow-ups and I’m also considering if we can use the
time in between the two meetings and possibly to make some kind of
convergence after the second meeting.
I would have liked to have space for storytelling but maybe this pre-work
is all the time we can dedicate to sharing memories. My plan is to use open
space for the half day meetings and I would love some input, experiences
and ideas.
Best regards
Thomas Herrmann
Thomas Herrmann
Open Space Consulting AB
Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81
Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.com thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.com
http://www.openspaceconsulting.com/ / www.5toFold.com
http://www.5tofold.com/
Profile on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
http://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer och
samhälle.
We release lifepower in people, organizations and society.
*Trainings/workshops (*Info & registration
https://openspaceconsulting.com/kategori/aktiviteter/kommande-aktiviteter/
)
2025
Sept 9-11: Working with Open Space Technology, the Netherlands
Sept 17-19: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.
Sept 23-25: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige
Okt 8: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)
Nov 7-9 WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya
Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy + mentoring –
leadership and facilitation incl Open Space
--
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Contact online mentoring circle via Google Groups.
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.
I am enjoying and appreciating feedback you are receiving.
As I looked, I am wondering if the community organization's leaders have
reached out to the leader(s) of the "larger municipality"?
If representatives from both entities are represented in creating and
participating in the Open Space, perhaps they will come up with something
that delights and surprises everyone.
What is the question that would invite this an inquiry that could uncover
something that they cannot now see, and the seeing if it could be what
everyone is really wanting to give birth to?
Then there is what the fish would want and the water?
I will stop here...
Dr. Rain
(smiling)
On Mon, Apr 28, 2025, 3:01 PM Birgitt Williams via OSList <
everyone@oslist.org> wrote:
Dear Thomas,
You are receiving valuable guidance from both the Genuine Contact and OS
list circles of wisdom. I understand that you feel that to do something is
better than to do nothing. I am not so sure. I am more a fan of doing what
is in best service, or I would rather do nothing until the time is right to
do what could be of really good service.
For this amount of complexity and big emotions, how much space is really
open? It is valuable to make a short list of what reduces the amount of
space. I understand that the size of the space gets closed by too nebulous
a reason to meet; the time limitation; the push to have some sort of action
so needing to devote some time to the action.
My first question is 'what is the compelling theme for the OST?'
My second question is 'who is the sponsor who is opening the space in the
community for you to facilitate the OST?'
The balance of what to do depends a lot on the answers to these two. You
may wish to use the Service Delivery Model, a Genuine Contact tool, to
think this through.
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
http://www.dalarinternational.com/upcoming-workshops/ for any of these
workshops here.
Go to www.genuinecontact.net http://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
birgitt@dalarinternational.com, 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
https://www.google.com/maps/search/16+Sunny+Acres+Dr.,+Etowah,+North+Carolina,+USA+28729?entry=gmail&source=g
Phone: 01-919-522-7750
Like us on Facebook
https://dalarinternational.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=35ed818c946a88ba7344da05f&id=6677c35b38&e=e7zyhHfiqG
Connect on LinkedIn
https://dalarinternational.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=35ed818c946a88ba7344da05f&id=c26173f86b&e=e7zyhHfiqG
On Sat, Apr 26, 2025 at 12:02 PM Thomas Herrmann <
thomas@openspaceconsulting.com> wrote:
Dear friends in Open Space
I am working with a community organization in a small fishing village
here in Sweden. The larger municipality wants to let a contractor build a
hotel in the small harbour of the village. There has not been much of a
process with people living here in the village. The people using the harbor
now, fishers and others are worried and angry.
The community organization reached out to me because they are afraid that
this may become very harmful for the community, creating separation,
distrust and conflict.
After an initial meeting, it seemed they were not ready to move on. Now
they reached out to me again and we had a first planning meeting two days
ago, where parts of the community was present, 12 persons were present,
some but far from all stakeholders. So another or two more prep-meetings
will hopefully happen-
Then the plan is to organize two 4-hour meetings in May where people will
be invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future
of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor. Some people
may be able to be on both occasions others will only be present on one of
them. There will be space for big groups to gather for these meetings.
Part of the intention is to identify and communicate some kind of common
vision to the politicians of the municipality to let them know what people
living in the village think about this. The community organization also
wants to open space for other ideas regarding the future of the village, in
the planned meetings.
Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a
process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing. I would have
loved us to have three days, but this is what they think is possible.
We will have some follow-ups and I’m also considering if we can use the
time in between the two meetings and possibly to make some kind of
convergence after the second meeting.
I would have liked to have space for storytelling but maybe this pre-work
is all the time we can dedicate to sharing memories. My plan is to use open
space for the half day meetings and I would love some input, experiences
and ideas.
Best regards
Thomas Herrmann
Thomas Herrmann
Open Space Consulting AB
Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
https://www.google.com/maps/search/Pens%C3%A9v%C3%A4gen+4,+434+46+Kungsbacka,+Sweden?entry=gmail&source=g
Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81
Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.com thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.com
http://www.openspaceconsulting.com/ / www.5toFold.com
http://www.5tofold.com/
Profile on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
http://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer och
samhälle.
We release lifepower in people, organizations and society.
*Trainings/workshops (*Info & registration
https://openspaceconsulting.com/kategori/aktiviteter/kommande-aktiviteter/
)
2025
Sept 9-11: Working with Open Space Technology, the Netherlands
Sept 17-19: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.
Sept 23-25: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige
Okt 8: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)
Nov 7-9 WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya
Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy + mentoring –
leadership and facilitation incl Open Space
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Genuine
Contact online mentoring circle via Google Groups.
To post to this group, send email to genuine-contact@googlegroups.com.
While most posts to this list are in English, we welcome posts in any
language. You can use online translators like
https://translate.google.com or www.deepl.com to read posts in languages
you aren't familiar with.
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/genuine-contact
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Thanks dear Birgitt for sharing your wisdom.
I am blessed to have had so much input already and am grateful for more. I am continuously working on the preps incl the design.
The sponsor is the community organization which I perceive as a quite neutral part in the village as well as regarding the hot harbour topic. It seems they can invite different stakeholders and be trustworthy.
The theme is not yet set although we have worked through the MWT once. That’s one of the next steps.
My sponsor wants to give everyone in the village the chance to take part in open conversations about the future of the village. They know that for some the harbour topic is hot and that there are also other ideas and passion for other conversations.
For now the plan is to have some more prep conversations - e g storyline, purpose and expected outcome.
To have two half day/4 hrs OST meetings - same theme - with abt 9 days in between. Thinking abt how to have the space open inbetween - maybe create an online space.
Thinking about ways to do some convergence following the two days. Possibly another half day meeting doing some kind of convergence incl inviting actions.
Then of course follow ups short and longer term.
This is where we are in the planning right now.
Thomas
Skickat från Outlook för iOShttps://aka.ms/o0ukef
Från: Birgitt Williams via OSList everyone@oslist.org
Skickat: Monday, April 28, 2025 9:00:20 PM
Till: genuine-contact@googlegroups.com genuine-contact@googlegroups.com
Kopia: OSLIST (everyone@oslist.org) everyone@oslist.org
Ämne: [OSList] Re: [GC] Opening space in a fishing village in change (X-posted OS-list and Genuine Contact list)
Dear Thomas,
You are receiving valuable guidance from both the Genuine Contact and OS list circles of wisdom. I understand that you feel that to do something is better than to do nothing. I am not so sure. I am more a fan of doing what is in best service, or I would rather do nothing until the time is right to do what could be of really good service.
For this amount of complexity and big emotions, how much space is really open? It is valuable to make a short list of what reduces the amount of space. I understand that the size of the space gets closed by too nebulous a reason to meet; the time limitation; the push to have some sort of action so needing to devote some time to the action.
My first question is 'what is the compelling theme for the OST?'
My second question is 'who is the sponsor who is opening the space in the community for you to facilitate the OST?'
The balance of what to do depends a lot on the answers to these two. You may wish to use the Service Delivery Model, a Genuine Contact tool, to think this through.
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.comhttp://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 & Registerhttp://www.dalarinternational.com/upcoming-workshops/ for any of these workshops here.
Go to www.genuinecontact.nethttp://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 Williamsmailto:birgitt@dalarinternational.com, via email to set up a consultation to discern what is the best option to meet your development goals.
[https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4yeZVf5V4yv3n0uWMWOzEr8VoVyoZcaZP9A8B5a12PLTLtbOnvyqv4aOnUEydYAIR65miWTIav8x39A]
16 Sunny Acres Dr., Etowah, North Carolina, USA 28729
Phone: 01-919-522-7750
Like us on Facebookhttps://dalarinternational.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=35ed818c946a88ba7344da05f&id=6677c35b38&e=e7zyhHfiqG
Connect on LinkedInhttps://dalarinternational.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=35ed818c946a88ba7344da05f&id=c26173f86b&e=e7zyhHfiqG
On Sat, Apr 26, 2025 at 12:02 PM Thomas Herrmann <thomas@openspaceconsulting.commailto:thomas@openspaceconsulting.com> wrote:
Dear friends in Open Space
I am working with a community organization in a small fishing village here in Sweden. The larger municipality wants to let a contractor build a hotel in the small harbour of the village. There has not been much of a process with people living here in the village. The people using the harbor now, fishers and others are worried and angry.
The community organization reached out to me because they are afraid that this may become very harmful for the community, creating separation, distrust and conflict.
After an initial meeting, it seemed they were not ready to move on. Now they reached out to me again and we had a first planning meeting two days ago, where parts of the community was present, 12 persons were present, some but far from all stakeholders. So another or two more prep-meetings will hopefully happen-
Then the plan is to organize two 4-hour meetings in May where people will be invited to express their opinion, passion and perspective on the future of the village, including what is being planned in the harbor. Some people may be able to be on both occasions others will only be present on one of them. There will be space for big groups to gather for these meetings.
Part of the intention is to identify and communicate some kind of common vision to the politicians of the municipality to let them know what people living in the village think about this. The community organization also wants to open space for other ideas regarding the future of the village, in the planned meetings.
Of course, the conditions are far from ideal but I think the results of a process with me will hopefully be better than doing nothing. I would have loved us to have three days, but this is what they think is possible.
We will have some follow-ups and I’m also considering if we can use the time in between the two meetings and possibly to make some kind of convergence after the second meeting.
I would have liked to have space for storytelling but maybe this pre-work is all the time we can dedicate to sharing memories. My plan is to use open space for the half day meetings and I would love some input, experiences and ideas.
Best regards
Thomas Herrmann
Thomas Herrmann
Open Space Consulting AB
Pensévägen 4, 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
Telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81
Email: thomas@openspaceconsulting.commailto:thomas@openspaceconsulting.com
Homepage: www.openspaceconsulting.comhttp://www.openspaceconsulting.com/ / www.5toFold.comhttp://www.5tofold.com/
Profile on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsulthttp://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult
Open Space Consulting frigör livskraft i människor, organisationer och samhälle.
We release lifepower in people, organizations and society.
Trainings/workshops (Info & registrationhttps://openspaceconsulting.com/kategori/aktiviteter/kommande-aktiviteter/)
2025
Sept 9-11: Working with Open Space Technology, the Netherlands
Sept 17-19: Open Space för Demokrati, Gullbrannagården.
Sept 23-25: Att arbeta hållbart med Open Space-metoden, Örby, Sverige
Okt 8: Erfa-utbyte om Open Space (gratis, online)
Nov 7-9 WorldOpenSpaceOnOpenSpace, Nairobi, Kenya
Continous opportunities for online learning - selfstudy + mentoring – leadership and facilitation incl Open Space
[cid:ii_1967dbda75d4cff311]
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You received this message because you are subscribed to the Genuine Contact online mentoring circle via Google Groups.
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For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/genuine-contact
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Genuine Contact" group.
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