Papers

These papers were produced over the years by Harrison Owen and published in many places. Most are no longer available

Brief History A brief history of Open Space

The Business of Business is Learning An occasional paper done in 1989 suggesting that the real business of business is learning to do the business better. This paper became the basis for several Open Space conference in India and in the United States.

A Brief User's Guide The original Guide to Open Space. Not much here, but it was all we had until the arrival of Open Space Technology: A User's Guide (Barrett-Koehler, 1997)

Learning as Transformation First published in In Context suggests that genuine learning is transformational, and that Transformation is learning.

Spirit Shows Up Originally intended as a chapter in a book edited by Peter Vaill, but the book never happened. The subject is Spirit and its appearance in Open Space.

Emergent Order First published in the OD Practitioner it is suggested that the remarkable things that happen in Open Space have nothing to do with the magic of Open Space, but rather the prior reality of self-organizing systems.

Mythos This is the original first chapter of the book, Spirit: Transformation and Development in Organizations, published by ABBOTT PUBLISHING in 1987. It is out of print.

Future of Hampton Roads A case study from Spirit: Transformation and Development.

Eastern Virginia Medical Authority A case study from Spirit: Transformation and Development.

The Internal Revenue Service A case study from Spirit: Transformation and Development.

Mythic Transformation An interview with Harrison Owen which appeared in In Context.

Resolution An article by Harrison Owen published in The Journal for Quality and Participation

Opening Space for Peace A brief report regarding a gathering of 50 Palestinians and Israelis in Rome, searching for Peace.

Opening Space for The Question Some thoughts about Knowledge Management as seen through the eyes of Open Space.

What We Have Learned This year, 2005, Open Space Technology will be 20 years old. Over the course of this period, thousands of people all over the world have opened space for millions of their fellow humans. And in the process we have all learned a tremendous amount about Open Space, about the way it works, and why it does, about ourselves. Participants on OSLIST share their learning with anybody who cares.

Turtles I Conference A small group of brave souls took the leap. What if there were no such thing as a non-self-organizing system? In fact -- it was and is self-organizing all the way down, up and sideways. What would life be like in such organizations? Read the conference proceedings and find out. And if you are intrigued be prepared for Turtles II, currently scheduled for April 1, 2006.

Opening Space in Eastern Europe Joe Topher and his colleagues tell a wonderful story of OST training in Eastern Europe -- and what happened 8 years later. the article appeared in the newsletter of the International Association of Facilitators.