Open Space

It seemed like the most natural thing in the world that 150 (or more) executives and consultants should sit in a circle and organize a multi-session, three day meeting in less than an hour, with not a single argument.

http://www.openspaceworld.com/brief_history.htm

started by Harrison Owen.

• Open Space Technology: A User's Guide ISBN:1576750248

• "what have we learned" from 2005

In Open Space, The Law of Two Feet says that only you know when you are learning and contributing as much as you can. So you are in charge of that. Use your two feet, or whatever else you normally use to get around, to go wherever you need to go, move to any conversation or space where you can maximize your learning and contribution. When the rule is applied in practice, performance is maximized by two sorts of characters: Bumblebees buzz from group to group, carrying energy and information, cross-pollinating. Butterflies float around, and may not join any group, but their flitting and fluttering directly supports a state of openness and flow.

Chris Corrigan works and blogs in this area...

Michael Herman is also interested.

Martin Fowler has used it.

Related is Dave Winer's UnConference model.

"What are the implications and opportunities when Self Organizing is the only kind of organizing that exists?" conference proceedings

Case Study collection

• collection|in "New Stories from the Field"