| from Berrett-Koehler's "At Work"
Publication
This is a story of how Open Space Technology has helped the evolution of two divisions of a software company: Mastek, the parent company headquartered in Bombay, India, and Majesco, its U.S. subsidiary, in Santa Clara, California. Mastek, Inc., is a 700-person software company governed by its
four founders. It has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Singapore, and
the United States. Majesco Software, Inc. is a software services company
employing about 75 software engineers. Some two years ago, each organization
defined its goals: Mastek's goal was to be a premier software company that
optimizes its products and services through maximum participation of its
people. Majesco's aim was to establish a foundation for growing an organization
based on the aspirations and efforts of all employees. Each organization
decided to adopt Open Space Technology as a
Mastek's initial task was to clarify the company mission and create organizational structures that would amplify and channel the focused energy each member of the senior executive team brought to the table. With four different business units, Mastek needed to agree on the ground rules and structures that would allow a common language, vision, and mission to emerge in daily work. Majesco needed to engage and retain its highly trained workforce in a very competitive marketplace. Its senior management team needed to improve communications and find a way to include and transcend the aspirations of all its employees as it built a foundation for further work. In May 1995, after team-learning workshops in both Bombay and Santa Clara, and a strategic visioning process, Majesco opened up its space for the emergence of a collective vision. Majesco's Journey The Open Space event for Majesco was called "Building the Future." Its organization was itself a wonderful experience, performed by various employees on a purely voluntary basis. In retrospect, nearly 75% of Majesco employees were involved in some aspect of organizing the event. The event proceeded as is normal for any Open Space event. But a couple of things stood out: after the Marketplace opened, as people were busy signing up for sessions, "bumble-bees"** were already helping to combine and rationalize sessions and timings. A second notable feature was that people took the fourth principle of Open Space ("When it's over, it's over") very seriously. One of the sessions, with over 30 people in it and originally slated for 45 minutes, went on and on and on, well past lunch time. Parallel to this, other sessions with small groups were convened and completed -and some sessions were rescheduled. The "bumblebees" contributed to the flow, encouraging people to come in and out of the large session. One session had a single participant who decided to conduct the session by documenting his thoughts and recommendations on the subject. In the evening circle, everyone voiced sentiments that the event provided a unique format and experience, regardless of the choices they had made during the day. There was a sense of togetherness. Each evening, there was entertainment in the form of skits, dinner, and comedy-all put on by participants and their families. On the morning of the closing day, we released a draft of the entire proceedings. The topics covered in the proceedings and the recommendations made were so numerous that it was difficult to believe how much had been accomplished in just two days. The key achievement at the event was the coming together of 40 people in a manner that transcended traditional meetings, conferences, and organizational events. We had wanted to build a sense of shared ownership and belonging that would continue after the Open Space event. The results exceeded our expectations. For example: Active participation in sales by engineers started at the Open Space with an item put up by one of the company's salespeople' Throughout the following year, engineers helped to bring in new business. Concerned employees generated quality standards for technical training. A training policy evolved and was written up. Everyone participated in reducing costs. In one instance, employees organized an off-site meeting at Lake Tahoe, about a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Majesco. An early afternoon departure meant that people would arrive in time for dinner and a good night's sleep before an all-day Saturday working session. Alternatively, they could work a full day, thus avoiding the loss of $30,000 in billable time. The organizers recommended working a full day before leaving for Lake Tahoe; they were overruled by their CEO. Subtle culture change began to take place. Meeting in a circle
became the norm for monthly company meetings. Before the Open Space event,
these information-sharing meetings were characterized as "one person talking
and everyone else listening." Afterward, people were taking responsibility
for what they cared about, so they would report progress, initiate conversations,
and raise questions. Engineers working at different locations began to
meet informally on Friday nights to share information and ideas. The CEO
began to see his role more as an inspirer and coach to others in the organization,
and was willing and able to let go of control slowly and steadily. Organizational
direction, roles, responsibilities, and compensation were discussed more
openly and less
This first phase of the aftermath of the Open Space event lasted about a year. Then it became clear that employees needed focus. In May 1996 the whole company created a shared vision. Since then, the CEO has paid attention to establishing and maintaining basic systems and articulating the vision as it applies to daily decisions. Today the number of employees has almost doubled, and Majesco is ready for a cycle of regeneration: enlarging the circle, renewing the vision, remembering and taking responsibility for what people truly care about. Mastek's Journey In India, similar changes were occurring. The regular monthly information-sharing meetings in Bombay, involving about 200 people, began using an Open Space format. Mastek's commitment to shared leadership and learning also resulted in changing the location of the regular quarterly meetings of the Board. Instead of being held in India, they now take place in each of Mastek's four locations: London, India, Singapore, and the United States. Mastek uses Open Space Technology in its regular business development activities. For example, recently the company brought together more than 150 software developers from all over India for a multi-day Open Space event. This led to valuable insights on maintaining project quality, employee satisfaction, customer delight, and profitability. Buried conflicts, fears, and dissatisfactions emerged as well. That people could raise issues they cared about openly -and be heard -had a remarkable impact on participants' relationships with each other and with Mastek. Mastek's senior management continues to apply Open Space rituals and principles in a variety of formats. They also use strategic planning and related methods as they are needed and appropriate. Many conversations have taken place at all levels of the organization, and self-development workshops and organizational strategy sessions have been held. Today, Mastek is continuing its journey to become an open, caring, profitable, and dynamic organization. Is the journey over? No, not by a long shot. Mastek is right in the middle of aligning and strean-Aining operations worldwide. As the company invents the future, its members are living it. It has been a turbulent journey, simultaneously chaotic and exciting. Lessons Learned This two-year experience has provided us with the following lessons: 1. If there are organizational boundaries or givens that govern the space to be opened, be sure these are stated up-front and consistently as the results of opening the space percolate through the organization's daily life. 2. Open Space leads to unpredictable outcomes. If management invites people to take responsibility and follow through with action, it had better be prepared to follow through on its end of the bargain and trust people and help them be accountable. Backpedaling leads to less trust instead of more. 3. Openness has many levels. Each time you think that you have created an open organization, you could be in for big surprises. Flexibility and resilience are important qualities for creating open organizations; a continuous commitment to learn and explore and act is needed. 4. Being open does not mean just "hanging out and allowing anything to happen." You need to follow Open Space principles yourself and take responsibility for what has heart and meaning for you as you learn how to maintain the space for others to do the same. 5. Open Space at work can bring forth conflicts. Trust, mutual respect, and the four Open Space principles help you navigate through and out of conflicts. A coach or facilitator helps, too, because sometimes you are the person who is an advocate for one side of the conflict. 6. If you are not prepared to look at both shadow and bright sides of your organization, do not implement Open Space principles at work. 7. Authenticity is definitely increased by following these principles. If you are afraid of others questioning your actions and challenging you, then do not put these principles to work. 8. Appreciation and acknowledgment breed more appreciation and
acknowledgment in the organization. This is a powerfull path to culture
change.
R. Sundar is one of the four founders of Mastek, Inc. and the CEO of
Footnotes: *We appreciate the enthusiastic participation of Majesco and Mastek employees in our commitment to make our companies the best they can be. We also thank the codirectors of Mastek, Sudhakar Ram, Ketan Mehta, and Ashank Desai, for their enthusiastic support. **Bumblebees are people who take the Law of Two Feet seriously
and move from group to group, cross-pollinating ideas as they go.
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