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Open Space Technology: A User's Guide (Paperback)

~ (Author) "On 21 April 1992, 225 people or thereabouts gathered in Denver, Colorado, for a two-day meeting to develop cooperative arrangement for the effective expenditure of..." (more)
Key Phrases: village marketplace, breakout rooms, holding space, Medicine Wheel, Native Americans, South Africa (more...)

4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Paperback Available from these sellers. Published January 31, 1993	Paperback, January 31, 1993	--	$24.86	$4.85
Paperback Available from these sellers. Published January 1, 1997	Paperback, January 1, 1997	--	$29.99	$7.81
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Unknown Binding Available from these sellers. Published December 31, 1991	Unknown Binding, December 31, 1991	--	--	$128.77

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Open Space Technology: A User's Guide is just what the name implies: a hands-on, detailed description of facilitating Open Space Technology (OST). Written by the originator of the method-an effective, economical, fast, and easily-repeatable strategy for organizing meetings of between 5 and 1,000 participants-this is the first book to document the rationale, procedures, and requirements of OST. OST enables self-organizing groups of all sizes to deal with hugely complex issues in a very short period of time. This practical, step-by-step user's guide details what needs to be done before, during, and after an Open Space event. 1

Owen begins by detailing all the practical considerations necessary to create Open Space. He begins with the most important question-should you do Open Space at all-and examines what types of situations are appropriate for Open Space Technology and what types are not. He goes on to look at nuts-and-bolts issues such as supplies, logistics, and who should come and how you should go about getting them there.

Product Details

Paperback: 173 pages
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 2nd edition (January 1, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1576750248
ISBN-13: 978-1576750247
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #100,831 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
On 21 April 1992, 225 people or thereabouts gathered in Denver, Colorado, for a two-day meeting to develop cooperative arrangement for the effective expenditure of $1.5 billion dollars designated for highway construction on tribal and public lands. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
village marketplace, breakout rooms, holding space

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Medicine Wheel, Native Americans, South Africa, Latin American, Lunch Available

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 6 books:

Expanding Our Now: The Story of Open Space Technology by Harrison Owen on 4 pages
The Millennium Organization by Harrison Owen in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Tales from Open Space by Harrison Owen in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Leadership Is by Harrison Owen in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Future Search by Marvin Ross Weisbord in Back Matter

See all 6 books this book cites

52 books cite this book:

Expanding Our Now: The Story of Open Space Technology by Harrison Owen on 8 pages
The Change Handbook: Group Methods for Shaping the Future by Tom Devane on 6 pages
The Way of Conflict: Elemental Wisdom for Resolving Disputes and Transcending Differences by Deidre Combs on 5 pages
The Power of Spirit: How Organizations Transform by Harrison Owen on 5 pages
Large Group Interventions: Engaging the Whole System for Rapid Change (Jossey-Bass Business & Management Series) by Barbara Benedict Bunker on page 23, page 183, and Back Matter

See all 52 books citing this book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	61% buy the item featured on this page: Open Space Technology: A User's Guide 4.7 out of 5 stars (10)
	27% buy Open Space Technology: A User's Guide 5.0 out of 5 stars (1) $23.96
	5% buy The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter 4.7 out of 5 stars (32) $15.61
	3% buy Community: The Structure of Belonging 4.6 out of 5 stars (27) $12.89

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for facilitators, December 6, 2000

By	Courtney L. Lewis "Sassy Librarian" (Kingston, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Harrison Owen, the creator of the facilitation concept of "open space", has written a fabulous user guide for anyone wishing to attempt this process. Not only does he outline in detail the nitty-gritty of effectively running a one to three day conference using this technique, but he also describes his own experience utilizing "open space". His stories are truly inspiring and do an excellent job of demonstrating the power of this method. I was especially impressed by the way he drew on several native american and west african philosophies to shape aspects of the facilitation.

Having participated in open space workshops, I had a good grasp of the idea and could easily picture what he described. For others who have not yet had that experience, reading another of his books, Tales from Open Space, might also be useful as it goes into more historical detail of the evolution of Owen's work and gives additional anecdotes.

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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Journey *Not* for the Faint of Heart, December 26, 2000

By	J. Brodnicki "TranceMeister" (Hendersonville, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I particpated in my first Open Space, a friend told me to trust the process. At first glance, Open Space seems not to make a lick of sense or too "airy fairy" to work. Its a powerful process I've used this book as a guide to help me facilitate many Open Space sessions.

I highly recommend this book if you want to facilite Open Space---it provides many good ideas for before, during and after the session, covers when and when not to use Open Space, and gives the would-be facilitor the mind- and heart-set to facilitate Open Space well. I would not recommend faciltiating Open Space without first experiencing it.

I've used Open Space with churches, as a partnership-building experience, in organizational change, and in forming national government programs---in the right hands and at the right time, Open Space is a powerful process---this book gives you tools to facilitate it. Use it wisely and well!

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read!, April 23, 2001

By	Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Harrison Owen presents a hands-on, step-by-step manual for putting on an open space technology workshop. In OST workshops, participants basically set and facilitate the agenda with some guidance from a facilitator. Here, the book's examples are particularly handy. Owen suggests conference duration, agenda and techniques including how to set up a meeting, invite participants, prepare the logistics and meeting site, facilitate activities and more. While these workshops generally involve hundreds of people, you can also put on an OST event with as few as five. If you want to read gripping business philosophy, look elsewhere - this is a practical how-to manual, a task it accomplishes quite well. We [...] recommend this informative guided tour of the OST process to those who want to know how, because they already know why

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful handbook of a counterintuitive approach
Open Space Technology is nearly identical to the "unconference" approach to workshop and event planning that's currently fashionable (see "Foo Camp" or "Bar Camp" or many other... Read more

Published on March 2, 2007 by Andrew Otwell

5.0 out of 5 stars Bible of Open Space
This is a very good hand-book for open space newcomers.Easy to understand and easy to read.I strongly suggest this book for anybody who want to start learning open space technology

Published on July 11, 2006 by Serdar Yurdakul

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most valuable books in the world
As Brookings revealed in 2000, most of the world's 10000 biggest organisations don't yet have the measures to govern the vast majority of value now produced in services and... Read more

Published on December 26, 2003 by Christopher Macrae

4.0 out of 5 stars a "How to" book
I recommend using open space tehcnology and/or other large scale intervention techniques to mine the collective emotional intelligence of a group of people (this may be your... Read more

Published on June 18, 2001 by Patrick Merlevede

5.0 out of 5 stars Breakthroughs in Human Consciouss Organization
This book really teaches you to unleash the power of group consciousness. I have already facilated several workshops using this method and the results are amazing.

Published on April 12, 2000 by Siri Amrit Ramos

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
This book is great. The first chapter alone is worth the price of the book.

Published on January 22, 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a concept that really works in actual practise!
After reading this book, I attended an Open Space conducted by a trained facilitator. The results were fantastic! Just as described in this User Guide. Read more

Published on June 8, 1999

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