AM de Lange wrote:
> If I may ask, what advice will you give to fellow learners in "asking
> questions"?
this is an important point, At, and thank you for bringing it up. The
person(s) convening the Open Space (these are the people with the
organizational role authority to make and implement decisions) define the
boundary. Some "boundaries" that I've seen used in the past include
budgets, values, certain political realities (where boards or legislators,
for instance, may change "reality" for an organization with their
decisions or deliberations). The key is to openly define the boundaries
that might exist...usually, people know what many of the boundaries might
be, but when they are acknowledged openly, it lends a lot of credibility
to the process and doesn't raise expectations for change that won't or
can't happen.
Open Space is a very dynamic example of people self-organizing around
shared purpose. Ideas (topics generated from the framing question) are
the commodity in a free market place, where consumers (participants)
choose where they will spend their time and passion by choosing the topics
that most interest them. There are currently some schools, and I've heard
of some organizations, that are using open space principles around which
to operate. I think it would be accurate to say that learning
organization characteristics and open space methodology and principles are
compatible and complementary.
best regards,
-- "A mind once stretched by a great idea or new understanding will never fully return to its original dimensions." William JamesThresholds <http://www.thresholds.com> Meeting Masters <http://www.thresholds.com/masters.html> Richard Charles Holloway - P.O. Box 641, Long Beach, WA 98631 Voice 360.642.8487 ICQ# 10849650
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