About Open Space Technology

Last week we had experienced Open Space Technology (OST) as participants and reflected on the process and the result. What I was surprised about were how the dynamic was promoted among us, and how the relevance and the urgency of the topic mattered.

As stated in the book, OST is good for a group of two as well as a group of two thousand. I was skeptical about that, especially about how it might work in a small group and how it would inspire ideas from a limited number of group members. The facilitation we had last class wiped away my doubts and convinced me of the adaptability of OST. We have seven students and two of them were instructor that night. We had no idea that three of the left five group members would not show up until the beginning of the class. Knowing that there were only two of us and Dr. Hurst as the group members in the facilitation process, we got in a slight panic. I was not sure how we would conduct a one-hour meeting without nearly half of the classmates.

Since the morale was low, the facilitators tried to cheer us up by quoting the book "whoever shows up is the right person", and began to lead us into the process. Once we were able to start the conversation, it began to flow naturally. Group members selected the topic they were interested and abandoned those bored them. It was so obvious that once the energy drained, the group would sense it and try to gain it back by negotiating and switching to another topic. In the process, the number of participant did not seem to cause problems. Oppositely, it helped in several ways. First, it helped eliminate the chance for chit-chat. Since everyone was “under the spot light” in the small group, we were all focusing on the core issue. There was little irrelevant chat. Second, it entitled each member enough time to develop her ideas as thoroughly as possible. Extra time for each member allows not only chances to speak, but also chances to think. We dug into our minds and tried to contribute to the topic in a more sophisticated way.

One key element to keep the conversation flow is the choice of topics. Only when the topic is relevant, urgent and clearly identified, will the OST process be productive and meaningful for the individuals. In our last class, the facilitators prepared two topics, and we didn't react to them passionately because they were too general. We had problems narrowing them down to one specific aspect that is relevant and urgent to us. Then I offered a topic based on a story of my friend. It seemed to be a little more concrete, but still caused a lot of silence because none of us was a part of the organization. Our conversation was energized when we switched the topic to the branding of our AL program. All of the people presented are part of the organization, and this issue directly affects our social identity. We want people to understand this program so that they will understand part of who we are as graduate students from this program. All of us were contributing to this topic and a lot of interesting ideas were generated. I could see how ideas were not just exchanged, but actually building on each other.

It was a great learning experience. I am thinking about how to incorporate what I have learned about OST to my class with freshmen. Maybe I can present what they need to achieve in the end of the semester according to the curriculum, and ask them to decide how they would like to work towards it.