Michael Herman's Blog (2003-2016)
Inviting Agility in Challenging Environments
Over the course of several years, I wrote and taught and wrote some more about Open Space Technology as the skillful practice of Inviting Leadership. Along the way, I wrestled mightily with what we called “The Four Practices,” trying to articulate what it was that we are really doing when we Open Space. Eventually, I …
Try on this updated version of the four “anti-practices” suggested in the last post… Analyzing, the opposite of Appreciating; Facilitating, the opposite of Inviting; Problem-Solving, the opposite of Supporting; and Making a Good Case, the opposite of Making Good. Yes, I think that Inviting might just be the opposite of the sort of facilitation that …
Chris Corrigan and I have been refining our thinking and language for open space leadership. We have it down to four inter-informing and inter-supporting practices: Appreciating, Inviting, Supporting and Making Good. While the practices themselves are each quite whole and robust, tolerant of description but not of disecting, that’s not actually how it is when …
I’m getting ready for the leadership practice retreat I’ll lead with Chris Corrigan, on Bowen Island, April 18-20th. I’m thinking some more about the four practices of Open Space. Here is the updated view: Opening Heart Inviting Connection Supporting Collaboration Making a Difference On a personal level, these practices begin with passion, perhaps even some …
I woke up New Year’s Day with new language for what I’ve posted previously as “Open Space Practices”. That is, what is it that I think I’m really doing when I’m facilitating Open Space — or working or just living in it? opening heart – might be a physical embrace or simply a time of …
My earlier posting on Open Space Practices has been updated to include the following distinctions… Being Open-Hearted: The vehicle is experience in body (heart, perception); the product is care, a sense of personal passion. Telling Visionary Stories: The vehicle is invitation (literally, “please join us…”); the product is organization, a sense of focus, future, and …
Last night was one of those “go to bed, have an idea, get up and get a pen, go back to bed, get up again with the next thought, go back to bed, puleeease can I not have another insight, oh good I do see now that I’ve got enough of it staked out that …
Still, yes still, rolling around with this notion of the Four Practicesof OpenSpaceTech. Finally occured to me today that these map perfectly to the four D’s of Appreciative Inquiry. This came as no surprise to my partner in crime here, Chris Corrigan, but it did make me wonder if teaching these practices still constitutes teaching …
Thanks to Dave Pollard for his posting about the recent work on Open Space Practices kicked off by Chris Corrigan with Dave Stevenson. I’ve been slowly refining the descriptions of the practices and a two-day workshop design. Hoping to get out to Seattle WA and Bowen Island BC in August or September to run the …
Still noodling on these four practices of Open Space that Chris got me thinking about again. Thinking that we can refine the naming, notice tools and conditions and effects, as well. For instance, the first practice is Opening or Expanding. The primary tool for this is our Passion, those things we really care about, are …
chris corrigan sent me his notes from his latest incarnation of ouropen space technology training and practice workshop. i’ve been noodling on it as i cook lunches and scrub pots at the center these last couple of days. i’ve pushed his four around a bit and we’ve yet to duke it out over the details. …
Thanks to Deb Preuss and Steve Holyer to the first Agile Cocktails virtual (and international) lean coffee meetup today, where a small group of us just had a great conversation with Josh Kerievsky, CEO of Industrial Logic and one of the leading voices in the Modern Agile refactoring of the Agile Manifesto. I’ve already made a bunch of connections between …
Still churning through all the ideas and connections that popped up at the Agile2016 conference in July. Collaborated with Mark Kilby on the design and facilitation of a two-part session on distributed Agile teamwork, in the Audacious Salon track. Flew drones in the hotel with Tim Ottinger and friends. Josh Kerievsky’s keynote presentation of Modern Agile …
The simple negotiation tactic brought 195 countries to consensus The Jensen Group’s Future of Work report outlined what it will take to make disruptive change work for people and organizations The Learning Consortium Report about the implications of innovative management practices such as the goals, practices, and values of Scrum Chuck Blakeman’s TED Talk on the …
Continue reading “Best Wishes and Big Pictures for the New Year”
Congratulations to Daniel Mezick and friends, who’ve done some great work to connect invitation, engagement, Open Space and Agile software development. The OpenSpace Agility Handbook, v.2.0 has just hit the shelves at Amazon. This is practical, powerful stuff – for every kind of change in any kind of organization.
The most remarkable thing about the four-day, online Open Space conference I ran with Lucas Cioffi at QiqoChat.com last week is how strongly it replicated what so many of us have experienced in face-to-face open space meetings and events. See the complete proceedings document here. From my Summary…
The intention was to extend and expand the best of the Organization Transformation symposium (where OST started), Open Space on Open Space, and OSLIST and support the sharing of all manner of practices, innovations and learnings. The invitation was to bring forth what’s been working – and learn together how to make more of it…
The plan was simple: Invite the world. Do three Openings, with start times
Please join us for an experiment I’ve been working to organize…
Inviting Community, Sharing Learnings, Evolving Practice
Everywhere, July 8-11th or 9-12th (depending on where you are)
Conference Schedule | QiqoChat Platform and Registration | Questions
We have learned so much about bringing people together. We have imagined, invited, and unleashed. We are agile and appreciative, artful and improvisational. Our media is social, our networks are linked, and upstart movements can have national and international effects. We mix the newest technologies and the oldest human patterns. We work on peace AND high performance, passion and purpose, sharing and storytelling. We focus on what’s working, why it works, and how we can make more of it.
So what? And now what?
This morning I read David Holzmer writing recently suggesting that mechanistic order, stability and rationality, the core assumptions underlying what we think organization is and how it should function, are crumbling under the pressure of increasing change and disruption. Our bias for order and stability shows up in what Harold Shinsato described this morning on …
Daniel Mezick’s been doing with what he calls the Prime/OS™ approach, where two Open Space meetings bookend a 100-days period of intense experimenting, to create a rite of passage process in support of transformation in organization. Prime/OS is a generalization of his Open Agile Adoption practice, wherein the “transformation” being achieved is the understanding and embrace of Agile software development. Daniel’s approach effectively broadens and deepens the Inviting center of Open Space. This Agile Coaching Institute points to the needs served by Daniel’s approach… The paper goes on to describe a “Sense and Respond” approach to leadership that fits well with what I called “Post and Host,” way back in 1998. Like my Inviting Organization story, they also rely on Ken Wilber’s work.
euan semple muses today about what to call our new way(s) of doing social-media-powered business. He suggests the term “literate business.” my response: my dad used to work in public relations for ford motor company. along the way he wrote things like the marker at henry ford’s birthplace and materials that went out to every …