Open Space Technology

This book, like all books, comes to an end, but that is by no means the end of the story of Open Space. In fact it is safe to say that we have barely begun. The total simplicity of Open Space (sit in a circle, create a bulletin board, open a marketplace, and go to work) contrasts radically with the quality of results and speed of achievement. The conventional theory and practice of meeting and organization would suggest that what happens in Open Space should not occur. But it does, not once but thousands of times in all parts of the world. So the continuing story of Open Space is all about this wonderful anomaly. Why does it work? How does it work? And perhaps most intriguing - if "it" works in Open Space (whatever "it" is) why couldn't it work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year? My best guess is that the "it" is the primal power of self-organization, and if so the real significance of Open Space has little to do with better meetings, and everything to do with a deepening understanding of who we really are and how we might most effectively get on in this world. But all of that is an unfolding story and, as I would see it, a wonderful, ongoing natural experiment. And you are invited to participate. ---- Harrison Owen, Camden, Maine