Dan Mezick on Open Space Agile Adoption Part 1

Dan Mezick is a management consultant, author & keynote speaker. His work includes The Culture Game, a book based on five years of experience coaching 119 Agile teams across 25 different organizations. He is also the cultivator of Open Space Agile Adoption.

Notes From Show

Coaching — help organizations learn

They need to be willing to receive.

Litmus test for willing customers — used a variety over the years, these days openness to use open space to kick off agile adoption

Open Space — authorize people to be great

What does that look like?

1. Theme around agile — what are we solving — needs to be in service to something

“In Service” — businesses are slow to respond to change — service is about solving a problem or improving performance — specific — not just “we want to be better” 

2. Invitational event — willing people show up

Harrison Owen (founder of open space) — bring all the people who are passionate about topic to get movement — developed in the 80s because the best part of conferences is usually the coffee break

Most important part of litmus test is that leadership needs to be on board. Leadership promises to act on feedback created in open space immediately.

“sponsor” — highest authorized person at the meeting — needs to announce intention and openness to act at kick off of open space

How do we keep the best/most passionate/responsible people and prosper in a world of change?

Open Space meeting is “signal event” — things are “shifting” — people open up/change minds

What comes up that can be actioned right away — impediments come up — leadership works on those problems with the people who were involved with the open space. This leads to policy changes, move people around, meetings eliminated, etc