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which is immediately added to a book of proceedings. At the conclusion of the
meeting, or very shortly thereafter, participants receive a copy of the proceedings
including all of the discussion groups ’ reports and any action plans that were
developed.
OST meetings operate on four principles and one law. The principles are:
• Whoever comes is the right person.
• Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened.
• When it starts is the right time.
• When it ’ s over, it ’ s over.
And the law is known as the Law of Two Feet (sometimes referred to as the Law of
Mobility). It states that “ If you fi nd yourself in a situation where you are not learning
or contributing, go somewhere where you can. ”
Gladwell (2000) discusses how the setup and character of offi ces can infl uence
innovation and knowledge sharing. He notes the importance of frequent interaction
among colleagues and how far basic offi ce layout goes in shaping the human relation-
ships of a workplace. Gladwell states that innovation is at the heart of the knowledge
economy and it is a fundamentally social phenomenon. Companies will therefore
need to design for public and semi-public spaces to promote employee interaction.
Many companies provide comfortable seating and access to the knowledge repository
via a few workstations to promote both tacit and explicit knowledge sharing.
The cultural approach to open space technology serves to create an environment
for innovation, teamwork, and rapid change. Open space offers a chance to gather
the members of the organization in an open setting and have the work done effi ciently
and creatively. Open space involves much brainstorming, but it is not just brainstorm-
ing. It is the process by which people have the urge to raise the topic they are pas-
sionate about, and they are willing to share their own knowledge, especially tacit
knowledge.
Whether the open space can be successful depends on the extent to which the
participants are willing to share the knowledge, which is infl uenced by the organiza-
tional culture of those participants. For example, in an organizational culture with
high sociability, people know each other and respect their companions. Therefore,
they will be more likely to take an active part in the open space, and more likely to
offer their knowledge to other members. However, in a low sociability culture, where
people focus more on individualism and their own work, it can be expected that
members may feel uneasy about talking with people they are not familiar with, not
to mention sharing something that they are deeply concerned about.