Caterfly Blogs

Tag: intellectual commons

  • Prime/OS, Open Space and Caterfly

    “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Isaac Newton

    The buzz about invitation – what inspired us

    Caterfly’s Open Smart Transformation model is a derivative of Prime/OS™. A good part of Caterfly’s approach and Open Smart Transformation model was initially inspired by Open Agile Adoption (OAA) developed by Daniel Mezick. Open Agile Adoption itself applies the work of Harrison Owen in Open Space Technology, commonly Open Space. Daniel Mezick identified some unique properties of Open Space Technology related to game theory, especially its characteristic (‘pull’) opt-in invitation approach (Law of 2 Feet) rather than by imposition (‘push’). What is unique about OAA in Daniel’s use of Open Space Technology, however, is his re-framing and application of Open Space for a specific purpose, specifically in applying two Open Space events to frame a transformation process. From this he developed OAA (Open Agile Adoption) for ‘pull’-style agile implementations.

    This work is based on Prime/OS™, published as an Open Source, Free Cultural Work via the CC-BY-SA license from Creative Commons.
    Download the Prime/OS™ Definition Here:
    http://www.prime-os.com/download-prime/

    Creative Commons, Free Culture licensing details here

    We have always maintained that the people affected by any form of system implementation or transformation must first and foremost be consulted and invited into the process and the decision-making, so we immediately recognised the relevance of Daniel’s work beyond its Agile application. In fact we are not Agile coaches and to that degree OAA is not directly relevant to us. However we recognised that the principle Daniel was propagating is relevant way beyond pure Agile adoption, indeed it is applicable to the adoption of any system, like lean, systems thinking, responsive org, sociocracy or sustainability management, or indeed to any form of organisational transformation.

    From this we developed the concept of the Caterfly, denoting the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly, starting with the building of a protective cocoon and ending with the breaking out of it, with a long period of gestation in between; or in Caterfly a beginning and an end Open Space event each with various coaching iterations in between. The ‘cocoon’ is marked time-wise by the two Open Space events. The metamorphosis can represent any adoption, cultural change or transformation process an organisation seeks to undergo – and it does so not by mandating or imposing, but by inviting all affected to co-write the change or adoption story.

    Daniel Mezick had independently come to a similar conclusion and had renamed his extended application as Prime/OS™. Consequently we have agreed to regard our Open Smart Transformation as a derivative of Prime/OS™, under a Creative Commons license, which enables us to follow those before us in gifting our work to the Intellectual Commons. The approaches are similar at this point, although this may change with experience. The only modificaton we have made so far is in the follow up phase III where we introduce Kaizen. We believe a process of learning should continue beyond adoption, and Kaizen creates an excellent platform for this continous renewal, responsiveness and innovation.

    We are pleased to be connected with Daniel Mezick on this very important contribution to organisational transformation. We enjoy Daniel’s double-open space cocoon framework because it offers an excellent platform to invite the people affected by the change into the decision and planning process, and to co-create the change.

    As Open Space facilitators we would also like to acknowledge and appreciate the work of Harrision Owen and the hundreds of Open Space facilitators around the world who have run many thousands of Open Space events over more than 20 years and have proven that Open Space is one of the most effective transformation preparatory tools around.

    Caterfly’s predominant role is to support and enhance coaches and trainers running a transformation programme with Open Space events. We facilitate the framing Open Space events and leave the coaches and consultants to run their programme as usual.

     

    Further reading
    * Daniel Mezick’s site is a great repository for further information and writing around the subject.
    * Find out more about Open Space at our ‘What is Open Space?’ page, where there are also links to further resources including Harrison Owen’s work.
    * Full description of the Open Smart Transformation model

  • Open Smart Transformation (OST) model

    Open Smart Transformation (OST) model

    OPEN SMART TRANSFORMATION (OST) MODEL
    Version 1.0

    Creative Commons BY-SACopyright (C) Martin Grimshaw, Francois Knuchel & Daniel Mezick (author of Prime/OS™) 2014-15

    Shared under a ‘Free Culture’ ‘Attribution-Share Alike’ Creative Commons Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 :

    You may use this work as you like, including creating derivatives and commercial use, but you MUST provide proper attribution and share your work on the same basis, using the same licensing. This is our gift to the ‘intellectual commons’, and this license ensures that it remains open for all to benefit from, always.
    Full details at http://caterfly.co.uk/what-we-do/intellectual-commons/ 

    Note:
    Open Smart Transformation     (OST), a Caterfly brand, is a derivative of Prime/OS™ as described in http://www.prime-os.com, which also makes significant use of Open Space Technology (http://www.openspaceworld.org). OST has been developed by Francois Knuchel and Martin Grimshaw based on Daniel Mezick’s original work and Prime/OS™.

    This work is based on Prime/OS™, published as an Open Source, Free Cultural Work via the CC-BY-SA license from Creative Commons.  Prime/OS is also referred to as OSA when used in Agile Adoptions.
    Download the Prime/OS™ Definition Here:
    http://www.prime-os.com/download-prime/

    OST is a process implementation methodology that introduces transformation gently into a client organisation. OST implements a ‘passage‐rite’ structure that is framed by two organisation‐wide Open Space events. OST comprises and leverages the following core elements:

    • The Open Space meeting format [Open Space Technology, developed by Harrison Owen]
    • Game Mechanics (goals, rules, progress mapping, opt-in presence)
    • Invitation (including framing right questions)
    • Leadership Storytelling (and behaviour)
    • Principles of engagement, participative facilitation and respect
    • Cultural Anthropology (Passage Rites, “Master of Ceremonies”)

    OST applies these various elements across a timeline spanning several months. OST implements a passage-rite-like transformation, which has a clear beginning, middle and end. It is important to note and understand that OST is an organisation‐level transformation process rather than an individual-level one. The organisation is best viewed as a single entity (a single social system, rather than a collection of individuals) when implementing OST.

    By ‘SMART’ we mean Smarter ways of working.  These can be state-of-the-art systems, methods or organisational mind-sets which aim to enable a business or organisation to be more efficient, more responsive, leaner, more agile, more conscientious or more sustainable. We use the term Smarter Working as shorthand for a variety of more human, healthier, more responsible, whole system, self-organisation or self-management approaches to working together, including but not limited to: Agile, Lean, Responsive, Conscious Business, Sociocracy, Kaizen, Environmental or Sustainability Management Systems (EMS or SMS), Holacracy, Management 3.0 and more.

    The big picture of OST consists of 3 distinct “Phases”:

    Phase 1: Introduction and Implementation. The start and successful completion of the (first chapter of the) adoption process bound by time and two distinct beginning/ending Open Space iterations

    Phase 2: Development and Consolidation. Consolidating adoption through follow-up Open Space iterations, and/or Chapters 2, 3 … of adoption process following same Open Space events as in Phase 1 (where implementation is staged into more than one chapter)

    Phase 3: Competence and Continuous Learning. Successful completion of Phase 2, as evidenced by several “Chapters” spanning at least two chapters. Shift to learning organisation mode

    OST in more DETAIL:  Core Elements

    1. OST Phase 1: Introduction and Implementation. Experiencing engagement via opt‐in participation and Open Space.  This is the first level, the level of “introduction” to the basic SMART concepts being implemented, and facilities of the OST method: openness, invitation and opt‐in participation.

    • Opening Consulting with Leadership by Coach/Consultant, including planning for Open Space iterations
    • Invitation as the primary opt‐in mechanism
    • Open Space 1 (initial Open Space iteration, which marks the start of the transformation process, incorporating game mechanics: goals, rules, progress scoring and opt-in)
      • 2-3-day Open Space (minimum 1 day) – opening Open Space iteration
      • Minimum of 90 days of experiments and playing with practices (Beta-Lab cocoon mode), between the scheduled Open Space iterations
      • Output is learning and some deliveries
      • Leadership Signalling with Storytelling (and other highly symbolic behaviours, respect)
    • Open Space 2 (second Open Space meeting, which terminates “Chapter 1” of the process adoption and opens “Chapter 2” of the organisational “story” of adoption) – closing Open Space iteration
    • FOLLOW UP. Closing consulting with leadership
      • Processing of Proceedings
      • Respectful Leadership Signalling with Storytelling (and other highly symbolic behaviours)
      • Coaching consultant delivers specific coaching on what to (possibly) consider next
      • Depending on circumstances, coaching consultant vacates the organisation and does not communicate with it for at least 1 month, to trigger self‐sustaining independence self-organising behaviours on the part of the organisation
    • Open Space 3 if needed (all the steps above repeated)

    2. OST Phase 2:  Development and Consolidation. Minimum 1 year: recurring Open Space iterations about 6 months apart.  This is the stage of “consolidation towards competence”.

    • Evidence must be present first that the organisation has processed and completed Phase 1.
      • Several “Chapters” of learning, bound by two Open Space iterationss, may be needed for some organizations to reach this stage. Where the adoption program has been staged into more than one chapter, the subsequent chapter(s) would be introduced and implemented in the same manner as Phase 1, with two beginning/ending Open Space events
    • Repeat OST’s Open Space iterationss approximately every six months until a true learning organisation culture has been reached, with “all openness, all the time.”
    • Gradual introduction of Kaizen practices

    3. OST Phase 3: Competence and Continuous Improvement – Kaizen & Innovation.  No more scheduled Open Space iterations, due to a maturing of the organisation’s ability to sense, learn and respond, so Open Space on an as needed basis. Integration of Kaizen and Innovation practices for ongoing self-organised learning

    • Evidence must be present first, that the organisation has reached Phase 2, such as:
      • The scheduled Open Space iterations become less interesting, because the organisation now has an open culture that “is” open space in spirit and content
      • The organisation can consistently demonstrate a “safe-space” open culture.
        • Substantial changes to HR policies with intent to support an OST Phase 3 culture of responsiveness and participatory improvements
        • Establishment of norms for dealing with the ongoing conflict that is a natural consequence of independent thinkers working together in a volatile, high-change business environment
    • Pan-organisational program of Kaizen (continuous improvement) and Innovation practices to ensure the organisation is performing at peak, without stagnating, will full participation of all its people
    • Further follow-up Open Space and other events in the following years as required to guarantee continued self-organised learning. Major issues arising from new working practices, including the Kaizen and Innovation programs, can then be reviewed

     

  • Intellectual commons

    Intellectual commons

    The Intellectual Commons

    We believe creative solutions to the problems we all face, should be made freely available for the mutual benefit of everyone. We want to keep innovation for the common good, in the hands of the Commons. Like science.

    Too often great ideas, inventions and products get held back by the chains of ownership and a need to control. We want to set culture free. You may hence use the materials here under the following conditions:

    Creative Commons BY-SAUnless otherwise stated, all material here is licensed under a Free Culture, Copyleft, Creative Commons license:  Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0). The last word on the general  licensing conditions are here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

    Caterfly’s Open Smart Transformation model is based on Prime/OS™, published as an Open Source, Free Cultural Work via the CC-BY-SA license from Creative Commons. Download the Prime/OS™ Definition Here: http://www.prime-os.com/download-prime/

    To summarise, you can use all the material here, and we hope you find it useful. A large part of our work is derived from other sources, which we acknowledge in our detailed description of Caterfly’s OST-model. In particular our work is informed by Open Space Technology, is a development of Daniel Mezick’s Open Agile Adoption, and is a derivative of Prime/OS™. To a large extent the essence of our work is derived from and is a combination of the work of others, together with the skills that we bring as facilitators and consultants.

    You may distribute this material, use it for your own commercial purposes, and remix it to make a derivative. However:

    You must properly attribute all co-creators of the material you are using including those we have derived our work from, in the way specified in the Creative Commons licence. You should also make clear that your work is a derivative, and provide a web link (URL) to our website, and to those of our predecessors, with address fully visible so that it remains readable even when printed on paper.

    You must share your work on the same basis, thus keeping these great ideas in the intellectual commons, for everyone’s benefit. The details of how to use this material are in the OST-model document.

    Please note that not all Creative Commons licenses are Free Culture or Copyleft; indeed some are quite restrictive and intended for purposes different from ours. The licence we have chosen is very close in spirit to the Free Software / Open Source culture’s General Public Licence (GPL) developed by GNU – the co-creators of the GNU-Linux operating system.

    If you have any doubts, please get in contact.

     “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Isaac Newton