Whilst this card set has been developed primarily as a training aid for helping people and groups learn about Open Space Technology there’s no reason it can’t be used for more “business-as-usual” applications as well.

1. The Play of Open Space
Created by: Andrew Rixon
Illustrations by: Simon Kneebone

2. “Open Space is simplicity itself. All you have to do is sit in a
circle, create a bulletin board, open a marketplace and go to
work. That’s all there is.
The truth of the matter is that anyone with a good head and a
good heart can do it, but there’s a lot more to learn as well.good heart can do it, but there’s a lot more to learn as well.
In fact, you can do it right now, but it will take you a lifetime,
probably, to do it well.”
Harrison Owen
Founder and Originator of Open Space Technology

3. Keys to the Play of Open Space Cards
Roles to playRoles to play
Reflections to see

4. Whilst this card set has been developed primarily as a
training aid for helping people and groups learn about
Open Space Technology there’s no reason it can’t be
used for more “business-as-usual” applications as well.
Begin by handing out all the roles.Begin by handing out all the roles.
Then play out from the OS Facilitator role card.
All other roles explode out from this role and are bolded.

6. Once the Sponsor has welcomed the group and handed
to me, walking the circle I...
Invite the group to consider who’s present and the
Theme that’s brought us together
Show how to raise a TopicShow how to raise a Topic
Invite and invoke The 4 Principles, The Law of 2
Feet including Bumblebees and Butterflies
Invite the group to raise their topics
Open the Market place and get out of the way!

8. I may be a person, or a group of people.
I may have formal authority.
In my role as Sponsor I provide a sense of legitimacy for
the group to know their work isn’t in vein.

10. Throughout this meeting you will see me emerge in
varying different ways. I will leave it as my challenge
for you to see how:
Whoever comes are the right peopleWhoever comes are the right people
Whatever happens is all that could have
When ever it starts is the right time
When it’s over it’s over

12. I am the only law within Open Space.
And I’m compulsory, or at least I like to think so.
If you’re neither learning nor contributing, I encourage
and invite you to move to a place where you can!and invite you to move to a place where you can!
Because of me, there can be Bumblebees and
Butterflies...

14. Did you know scientifically I’m not supposed to fly?
Within the group discussions you might see me buzz in,Within the group discussions you might see me buzz in,
get to work, and then fly out, off to another group to
cross-pollinate.

16. Did you know I’m an indicator of healthy ecosystems?
Within the group discussions you may never see me, and
that’s because I’m not there. I’m somewhere else.that’s because I’m not there. I’m somewhere else.
Mostly likely on the periphery. Keeping conversations
and the broader living system connected.

18. Sometimes thought as the container, I am part of every
Open Space event. I am what the invitation is based on
and I’m the reason why people are there.
I am often a question. Or sometimes a statement.
Commonly I am followed with “The Issues andCommonly I am followed with “The Issues and
Opportunities”.
Most importantly I am something that has emerged
through preparatory discussions with the sponsor(s)
and I get to the heart of what the works really about.

20. As the first Topic has shown, you can imagine how I will
grow.
Sometimes I am colour coded for Topics to live withinSometimes I am colour coded for Topics to live within
certain time slots throughout the day(s).

22. Once all the topics have been raised there are two
important functions I serve for people.
I provide people the opportunity to sign-up for all and
any of the topics that they are interested or passionate
aboutabout
Thanks to the Convenor’s choosing a Time-Space
Post-it, I help people know when and where
conversations will take place

24. Popping either fast or slow, I am often likened to the
process of cooking popcorns. I am raised by anyone who
cares to (and no-one has to) by coming to the centre of
the circle, grabbing a pen and a sheet of paper and
writing down what I am, announcing me, and then
sticking me up on what’s now becoming the Bulletinsticking me up on what’s now becoming the Bulletin
Board.
The person who raises me is called a Convenor.

26. Passion and Responsibility are the two keys for a
successful meeting. Without passion, enthusiasm for an
idea will soon wane, and without responsibility, there is
the risk that the ideas will never move forward.
Being a Convenor, I have both of these.
My passion is that I’ve raised this topic.
My responsibility is that I will host a conversation around
this topic and provide (if relevant) a Discussion
Summary Sheet back for the book we are all co-
creating.

28. With every conversation needing a time and place, I help
Convenor’s by providing options as to when and where
their conversation can be held.
Whilst the time slots depend on when the event started I
often allow 1.5 hours for a conversation.often allow 1.5 hours for a conversation.
And places. They can be anywhere!

30. If you are a Convenor then you will probably want to take
one of me.
I’m usually provided by the OS Facilitator and give you
the chance to record the title of your session, who
attended, and what some of the key learning’s andattended, and what some of the key learning’s and
discussion outcomes were.
I also can help to form a “news wall”.

32. “Your job is simply to be fully present and totally invisible.
People will ignore you. They will forget that you are there.
They will take responsibility for what they love and not
expect anything else of you.
And when you have disappeared to them they will only feelAnd when you have disappeared to them they will only feel
themselves acting within the space you helped them
create.”
Chris Corrigan
OS Facilitator and author of “The Tao of Holding Space”

34. If Open Space Technology originated through
applying the principle of “doing one less thing” –
what else lives within the practice of thinking of
one more thing not to do?
Do you have the courage to show up and be present?
To pay attention to what has heart and meaning?
To be open to outcomes not attached? To speak
your truth without blame or judgement?

36. “Accept the fact that we have to treat almost
anybody as a volunteer.”
Peter Drucker (1909 – 2005)
American Management Consultant, Author
(Widely considered to be the father of modern management )

38. As Harrison Owen tells in “Wave Rider: Leadership
for High Performance in a Self-Organizing
World”, the real force behind Open Space
Technology is that of self-organisation.
It’s something which we are part of. SomethingIt’s something which we are part of. Something
which we don’t need to create. Rather, something
we simply need to ride the wave of. To participate.
Something where our work is simply to get out of
the way of ourselves.

40. As Brian Bainbridge has said, the most common,
mundane and extraordinary response for almost
any question asked of the Open Space facilitator isany question asked of the Open Space facilitator is
“what would you like to do?”.

42. “But as things are, we have so far beset ourselves with rules, and concepts,
and ideas of what must be done to make a building or a town alive, that
we have become afraid of what will happen naturally, and convinced that
we must work within a “system” and with “methods” since without them
our surroundings will come tumbling down in chaos.
We are afraid, perhaps, that without images and methods, chaos will
break loose; worse still, that unless we use images of some kind,
ourselves, our own creation will itself be chaos. And why are we afraid
of that? Is it because people will laugh at us, if we make chaos? Or is it,
ourselves, our own creation will itself be chaos. And why are we afraid
of that? Is it because people will laugh at us, if we make chaos? Or is it,
perhaps, that we are most afraid of all that if we do make chaos, when
we hope to create art, we will ourselves be chaos, hollow, nothing?
This is why it is so easy for others to play on our fears. They can persuade
us that we must have more method, and more system, because we are
afraid of our own chaos.”
Christopher Alexander
World famous architect and author of Timeless way of Building

44. “Good community architecture invites many different
levels of participation. Consider the variety of activities
we might find in a city neighbourhood on any given day:
solitary shoppers, people walking briskly to work,
friends out for a casual stroll, couples chatting at an
outdoor cafe, a crowd watching a street performer.
Others are on the periphery, watching the action fromOthers are on the periphery, watching the action from
the windows above the street.”
Ettienne Wegner
Best known for foundational work in the field Communities of Practice
(Extracted from his paper “7 Principles for cultivating communities of
practice”)

46. There is a strong congruence and connection between
Open Space Technology and that of developing and
nurturing Communities of Practice.nurturing Communities of Practice.
What connections can you see?

48. Use this card to open up conversations about what it
might mean to work with Open Space Technology.
Some have provocatively said:
“Open Space Technology is only for the most“Open Space Technology is only for the most
advanced of organisations”.