OPEN SPACE IN THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF EICHER CONSULTANCY 

Anil Sachdev, Taruna 

A consulting firm based in New Delhi seeks to live- as well as help others apply- the four principles and one law of Open Space. 

 Our first encounter with Open Space was at Goa in 1989, 0 through a conference entitled "The Business of Business Is Learning." The conference was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the 30-odd participants from different parts of the world, an event that brought a remarkable -shift in their personal and work lives, moving them to address issues lying dormant in their hearts, redefine their lives, unleash their creativity. The seeds of Eicher Consultancy Services (ECS) were planted at this time and place. 
 ECS, the consulting arm of Eicher Group, a large engineering business group in India, was formed in April 1991 to assist Indian companies in becoming globally competitive. Little capital investment was needed to begin this new business because a critical mass was already present within Eicher Group-people who were willing to leave the comforts of their well-settled, line jobs and step into the uncharted territory of consulting. Though a part of the Eicher group, ECS is guided by its own spirit, manifested in the shared vision that ECS be "a customer focused, innovative consultancy firm, fostering trust, learning and caring, working in harmony with all stakeholders." 

 The Ground on Which ECS Stands 

 Open Space is the ground on which ECS stands. The Law of Two Feet has always been a guiding force, enabling people to take responsibility for what they truly care about. We strive to coexist as human beings, rather than as boxed creatures in garbs of "executives" and "staff." Each and every employee is an equally important member of the team, with the same policies applicable to all. "Trust" and "respect" are not mere words for us but form the building blocks of ECS, demonstrated not just in thought but also in action. No leave records (except the annual leave where employees are entitled to four weeks of paid leave per year) are maintained; all medical expenses are paid; and our culture is supportive rather than competitive. Performance reviews, for example, were replaced long ago by "Career Development Groups." The organizational structure facilitates teamwork and excellence, and projects are led on the basis of functional expertise, not hierarchy. Our aim is to get the best people to deliver the best we can provide. 

 "Let's dialogue" is a commonly heard phrase in ECS- indeed, so common that it almost sounds threatening at times. Decisions are taken through dialogue and group consensus in forums that involve all employees. Recruitment and selection is through a 360' feedback process. A person has to be accepted by a cross-section of ECS members before he or she can be recruited. The career development process is also customer focused-internal as well as external-and uses dialoguing to discuss goals and objectives, as well as plans for the future. 

 The ECS Annual Learning Conference represents another step in the company's journey toward becoming a learning community. Once a year, all ECS team members take off for a three-day retreat of collective reflection, listening, and sharing. This is a time to learn from each other, experience the joy of being together as a family, envision plans for the future, and reflect on what can we do to take us further toward our mission.  Accommodating open space in our everyday life has not been easy. It has its own heartaches and moments of despair- for instance, when the Law of Two Feet literally takes people away or when we have to face our own reluctance to let go of that which no longer has heart and meaning for US. 

 Open Space Events 

Besides including open space in everyday life, we have been using the technology to facilitate events. Some examples: 
 Eicher Group. One of the first times Open Space was used by the Eicher Group was to redefine the role and purpose of its Management Committee (MC), composed of senior management from all the Eicher Group companies. This had been the policy-making body of the Eicher Group, but after the company was restructured as multiple strategic business units having their own structure and policies, the role of the MC in policy-related issues was felt to be redundant. As a result, the MC decided to "dissolve" itself. This was a move resented by younger members who had been looking forward to being a part of this group for many years. 

 So what could be a new and meaningftil role for the MC? Open Space was used as the process to dialogue amongst the MC members about this new role. After half a day of dialoguing, where people freely expressed and shared their expectations and hopes, a decision was made to convert the forum to a "Management Conference" that would serve as a training, recognition, and team-buflding forum. 

 In December 1996, ECS also used Open Space to facilitate the Eicher Group's HR Learning conference. Human resource professionals from all Eicher divisions met for two days, not only to talk about HR processes, but also to become more sensitive to each others' needs as members of the larger Eicher community. Open Space provided an opportunity to move beyond the boundaries of business units and look within -as human beings caring for people and as HR professionals responsible for culture change. Participants left the conference with the feeling that this was the beginning of a deeper dialogue that could continue in their everyday lives at their workplaces. 

 Eicher Consultancy Services. Within ECS, Open Space Technology was used for the first time at our first Annual Learning Conference, held in November 1993. We had been operating for more than two years in the consulting business, a field very different from our earlier jobs in line functions in different industries. We met to reflect on our lives as consultants and our successes and failures, and used an Open Space format the last afternoon to explore our lives as consultants, understand and appreciate each others' viewpoints, and examine this new business for the possibilities it has and the challenges it provides. 

 Open Space facilitated an in-depth exploration of our professional issues and also helped us to understand the impact our work had on our personal lives and how we could make our lives more meaningful. This brief introduction to Open Space also motivated many of us to learn more about the methodology and incorporate it in our lives and work. 

 Friends of Moral Re-Armament (India). Friends of Moral Re-Armament (India) is an Indian trust fostering the philosophy of moral re-armament, or MRA. This is an international movement that envisions a wave of change, set in motion by people from all walks of life, leading to peace, reconciliation, and unity in the world. ECS was approached by MRA to help design and facilitate an event that would commemorate India's 50 years of independence. This event was attended by 350 people from all over the world. 

 While the conference design included panel discussions on such issues as "Leamings from the 50 years of Indian independence," "Creating a new business and industrial culture," and "The family -50 years ago, today, and in the future," Open Space was used to encourage people to talk about the issues closest to their hearts. The discussions proved to be of immense significance, not just for India but for the large group of international participants who brought their own experiences to share. People talked about diverse topics, including the following: what a people's movement such as jharkhand means for the northeast part of India, redesigning the education system in India, how the media can play a more powerful role in bringing the world closer, how to drive out corruption, spirituality at the workplace, and Hindu-Muslim issues and India-Pakistan reconciliation. 

Open Space provided an opportunity to move beyond the boundaries of business units and look within-as human beings caringfor people and as HR professionals responsible for culture change. 

 Dialoguing and listening to the pain of people led to major shifts in thinking and commitment. Several important decisions were made; for instance, to revive a popular people's magazine called Himmat ("Courage") and to form a group, consisting of young people from Mumbai, to strengthen India-Pakistan ties. 

 The event also generated tremendous interest for the Open Space process, and ECS was approached by several people to facilitate Open Space events within India and abroad. 

 Part of Our Lives 

 Open Space continues to be a part of our lives at ECS, the way we live and dream and act. It constantly leads the way toward our true path, manifesting all that is hidden, what we do not know. As Kahlil Gibran aptly says: 

 Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and nights. 
 But your ears thirst for the sound of your hearts' knowledge. 
 You would know in words that which you have always known in thought. 
 You would touch with your fingers 
 the naked body of your dreams. 

Anil Sachdev is Managing Director of Eicher Consultancy Services Ltd. Taruna Thareja has been with ECS since 1993, handling its corporate communications. They can be reached at Eicher Consultancy Services Ltd, Eicher House, 12 Commercial Complex Greater Kailash-II (Masjid Moth), New Delhi 110048, India. Tel. 91-11-6425852; fax. 91-11-6425799, e-mail for A. Sachdev. anil.ecsco@eicher.sprintrpg.ems.vsnl.net.in;for T. Thareja: taruna.ecsco@eichersprintrpgems.vsnl.net.in