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"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else, is the greatest accomplishment." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that, for what the world needs is more people who have come alive." Howard Thurman

"If you want to build a ship, then don't drum up men to gather wood, give orders and divide the work. Rather, teach them to yearn for the far and endless sea." Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"The art of life lies in a constant readjustment of our surroundings." Kakuzo Okakura

"Life is Change, Growth is Optional." Unknown

"Mistakes are the Portals of Discovery" James Joyce


Open Space Technology

The end of boring and unproductive meetings!

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For over 20 years and on every continent, Open Space Technology (OST) has been used as a meeting methodology enabling all kinds of people, in any kind of organization, to create inspired meetings and events. It has also become clear that opening space, as an intentional leadership practice, can create inspired organizations, where ordinary people work together to create extraordinary results with regularity. 

If you know what to do next, go do it.

If you're in need of clarity and direction, it's a fabulous vehicle. The magic of OST lies in the wisdom of self-organization. If you have a need to control the outcome or manage each step then Open Space is not for you. Then again, it may be perfect. We're all so attached to the illusion of control. In that sense, it may push all the right buttons and reveal where, with the best of intentions, you may be holding your organization and people back. Life has it's own rhythm and timing and by managing, we may be limiting what is trying to be birthed.

"This has been an issue for YEARS,
and it took 1 hour of Open Space to resolve it. WOW! " a participant 

Open Space Technology Success Stories

  • AT&T: Fast tracked 10 months of design and planning for their '96 Olympic Pavilion into a 2 day event...a 15K% increase in productivity
  • Rockport Shoes: Identified a new Product line that generated $18M in sales in it's first year
  • US West: Averted a major Union Strike
  • Wesley Urban Ministries: 50% increase in service deliveries with no added resources

 

os session outdoors 2.jpg"Open Space runs on two fundamentals: passion and responsibility. Passion engages the people in the room. Responsibility ensures things get done. A focusing theme or question provides the framework for the event. The art of the question lies in saying just enough to evoke attention, while leaving sufficient open space for the imagination to run wild.” Harrison Owen

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Open Space is especially valuable when:

  • there are high levels of diversity (in terms of people involved)
  • there is conflict and/or a major issue to be resolved (actual or potential)
  • when a decision is 'needed yesterday'

 

 

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“At the very least, Open Space is a fast, cheap, and simple way to better, more productive meetings. At a deeper level, it enables people to experience a very different quality of organization in which self-managed work groups are the norm, leadership a constantly shared phenomenon, diversity becomes a resource to be used instead of a problem to be overcome, and personal empowerment a shared experience. It is also fun. In a word, the conditions are set for fundamental organizational change, indeed that change may already have occurred. By the end, groups face an interesting choice. They can do it again, they can do it better, or they can go back to their prior mode of behavior." Harrison Owen

 
Open Space in your organization and prepare to be surprised! 

 

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