I’m now at the stage of my life which I describe as semi-retired. I still do consulting, but I no longer view it as an economic requirement. My thoughts have returned to Search Conferences. There’s got to be a better way to help the stakeholders discover a future they can all support, and which they have a chance of realizing. But in the years since I last dipped my toe in the Large Scale Intervention literature, there have been some very interesting developments.

 

Open Space (or Open Space Technology) provides a way to help passionate stakeholders self-organize meaningful discussion around a topic of importance. They attend an Open Space event that is focused on the Topic. There is no agenda published before the event; there are no pre-arranged speeches, lectures, or seminars. The stakeholders decide what they want to discuss. They propose sessions and schedule them on a large display wall. It works, ... consistently.

 

It's now been 25+ years since Harrison Owen began to experiment with Open Space. As he tells it, he dipped into what human beings have been doing for centuries to provide an alternative to the formally structured conference. It worked, and has continued to work for groups of between 5 and 2,000, in all regions of the world. The community (of stakeholders) decides for itself which sessions make the most sense. They self-organize, with each session providing a report on what was discussed. The results are almost always surprising. The process is simple.

 

The stakeholders are invited to attend an Open Space event to consider a Topic. The Topic should be one that generates passion and for which there is no obvious response. On the appointed day, Open Space begins with the stakeholders gathered around an empty circle. The facilitator introduces Open Space and explains the “rules” - this takes only a few minutes. Participants are invited to propose sessions (or mini-workshops) on subjects about which they feel strongly and for which they agree to take responsibility.

 

Those moved to propose a session go to the centre of the circle, announce their session, label a sheet of paper with their session and then post their page into a time slot in the (initially) empty agenda. Within an hour or so, even a large group of stakeholders will develop the agenda for day one. The proposer goes to the appointed place at the appointed time and her session begins. At the end of the session, she is responsible for making sure that a write-up has been prepared and is posed on the bulletin board. At the end of the day, the participants again gather in the open circle. The session reports have already been posted. Participants, if so moved, are invited to say a few words about the event.

 

It seems too simple to work, but it does. Most of the “magic” lies in the “light” structure imposed by the facilitator. The Topic needs to generate passion, and tension. Four principles govern operations:

 

 

There is one “law” that is applied, The Law of Two Feet:

 

If you're not learning or contributing, use your two feet to move elsewhere.

 

Given the framework, given the principles, and given the Law, the stakeholders rapidly become an open community, one that is free of cliques and private political agendas. Everyone has a full and free opportunity to contribute. What emerged really is the best that could be achieved. To be sure, there are limitations. But Open Space does get all the ideas from the community on the table.

 

Given that there are hundreds of active facilitators who have run thousands of Open Space event, there have been an almost endless series of variations on the basic theme. There seem to be some widely accepted constraints. Open Space doesn't really happen if the time window is too short. It needs a full day to surface the stakeholder's concerns, desires, and views. A second day is needed if a degree of convergence is desired. And a third day is required to begin actually planning.

 

Can Open Space break? According to Harrison Owen, if the pre-conditions are met, Open Space will work. It may not produce the expected results and the conclusions may not always be welcomed, but the process will work. The Invitation stating the Topic to be addressed is critical. The participants need to see the Topic as important, they need to have passion for the subject. There must be a willingness to consider all aspects of the Topic. The views of multiple stakeholders must be seen as important and relevant. And there needs to be some urgency to address the Topic.