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Board Meeting
Participants: Karen,Tricia, Harold, Linda, Kevin, Suzanne, Daniel
Bin Gardner: Harold
Note taker: Suzanne
Moment of Silence and Check – in
Discussion Topics:
1. Harold describes the work he did in creating two pamphlet pieces one on OIS US and the other a resource on “how to Open Space”. He again asks the board to provide comments or suggestions (design, photos, language). To date only one board member responded. Those who have seen it agree that it is really well done, captures the nuance and intent of Open Space and OSI US. Harold looks forward to making it available to groups in the future; unfortunately it was not completed on time to be used at Agile Washington
2. Harold navigates the bin to move items completed in the “Done” Trello lane.
a. $250 gift for VOSonOS; sent to Lucas’s address
b. $250 for Poland WOSonOS
Harold will send a copy of the thank you notes received from each to the Board.
c. Open Space Learning Opportunities document that lists all training events for the time being will be posted on OSI US and Open Space World. To date, Harold has posted events that have the title Open Space training without any further criteria. It would require a longer conversation to really determine what fits as Open Space training as there have been instances where clearly it did not follow the intent of Open Space. Need to have conversations on “how” to Open Space, how does one learn to do this; would be helpful to have a common understanding of this. There has been resistance in the past in the community to defining this. There is agreement that it’s not easy to define, like myth, religion and yet defining it better is worth doing.
d. OSI Membership sign-up shifted to an annual $15 minimum with $50 recommended; only one sign up to date. Will be waiting before publicizing more until the map work is done.
3. Go over items moved to the “Doing” column
a. Elder Wisdom Virtual Invitation
i. The idea for this came from VOSonOS which Anne Stadler attended. As Suzanne was listening to Anne, she recognized the huge wisdom that exists in Anne and in many others in the Open Space community that is not being captured in the OS list – the stories, the unique perspectives and she was prompted to reach out to Anne and others to explore the possibility of having a QiQoChat that would invite story telling, wisdom sharing and conversations. To date only preliminary conversations on this. Suzanne will follow up. Lucas Cioffi and Michael Herman are keen on this too as is OSI US.
ii. Discussion around oral sharing vs writings in books or the OS list. Some video is available of Anne (recent TV interview, recent interviewing with Harold at Whidbey Island, etc). Suzanne will share those links.
iii. Harold also suggested that it would be very valuable to have lively fireside chats or lean coffee type of conversations to also capture this elder wisdom which could be recorded and put out there for the community as Youtube videos.
iv. Dan mentions how important it is to capture this wisdom; Karen says all these ideas are great and that the emphasis should be on story telling and that the real value will be having several people interacting, having an intimacy in the conversations. Linda also agrees though urges to keep it simple, to keep the Open Space principles in mind, to be inclusive and intentional in our invitation. Linda and Karen between them have over 50 years of experience in Open Space. Lots of wisdom that we don’t want to lose
v. Harold mentions DVD videos from India with Anne in earlier days with people having mgt conversations, experiencing the same struggles that we experience today. Of real historical interest even thought the quality of the footage may not be the best.
b. Initiative around Open Space and Indigenous Communities; Harold, Linda and Karen very interested in this topic. Lots of experience in the group. In fact Karen is involved in the publication of a 2nd Edition book on this topic, which is not out yet. She will provide information on this although respecting the timing as the 2nd edition is not out yet; it may be the information she shares will be from the 1st edition.
4. Discussion on the note that Suzanne sent giving her notice to resign as President in 2016
a. Suzanne shares her perspective about OSI US and how it invites us to live open space by initiating projects that we are individually passionate about and want to take action on, inviting others to join. For her, it is more the individuals that are part of OSI US and what they bring that the Board itself.
b. She also expresses her hopes that roles like Harold’s (financial, OS list maintenance, etc.) should tie anyone in this work precluding them for example from taking others roles (i.e. Harold as president). Harold acknowledges that there is a lot of leg work involved in the treasury work. Dan Mezick asks Harold if there was someone who could do those functions well, would he consider taking on a role such as president. Harold answers yes.
c. Harold then comments on what Suzanne has said, mentioning that OSI is more than the sum of its parts, that it’s more than just individuals, that there is an important role for OSI US but it’s never been clear what it is authorized to do or not do. He feels there is a need and an opportunity pick up the emergent structure in a light way, to have the authority to help the OS body move forward while embracing others institutes and others willing to work. There is a concern by some in the Open Space community that if we institutionalize Open Space, it will ossify. It is agreed that that these are important questions; need to clarify what we mean, have a common understanding, an emergent understanding.
5. Tricia takes the lead to initiate a working meeting separate from our board meetings (would include email communications) to work on this topic, to explore the reason OSI US exits, to explore how we can be stewards in a different it being an institution. She will also look at a visioning exercise to walk us through this important topic.
6. Harold closes the meeting with the idea of OSI US becoming a 501c3 Umbrella Organization providing the opportunity for Open Space chapters to be established so people have a place to go to explore and learn about Open Space. This is a topic that will be discussed perhaps as part of what Tricia is initiating. Karen indicated she thought it sounds contradictory to the intent of Open Space, Harold responds that if we make the policy clear and clean enough, that would not happen and indeed it would be a service to many including the Agile community which is increasingly adopting Open Space.
Next Meeting: September 21, 2015
