128 THE CREATIVE INVESTMENT TEAM
tured speakers from many top organizations talking on the subject
of innovation. The meeting sessions were normal enough, but my
entire paradigm for conferences was blown sky-high during the
cocktail hour. Attendees were—even now I shudder when I think
of it—openly sharing the secrets of their businesses with one an-
other. I wanted to jump on one of the hors d’oeuvres tables and
shout, “Come to your senses, people, you’re giving all the goodies
away!” My silent thought was, “Are these people just stupid?” I
could not understand it. From my background, where one slip in
the trading room meant that someone would front-run your major
buy program, I just didn’t understand. It was one of those memo-
rable moments where an old mental model audibly collapses.
For these reasons, I think the investment industry has yet to
take advantage of the right-brained technology of Open Space.
Nevertheless, the day is already here when they could benefit from
it. All of the changes in the industry necessitate immediate deci-
sions made with the highest quality of available thinking. It would
not be unreasonable to envision a day when a major investment
firm holds an Open Space-type meeting quarterly, in the same way
that board meetings are held each quarter.
How does one conduct an Open Space meeting? Go to the
Website, <www.openspaceworld.org>, and inquire about a facili-
tator. Or simply pick up the book, Open Space Technology: A User’s
Guide, by Harrison Owen and read it. The process is so simple
that any competent facilitator could oversee it.
Having opened the discussion of how investment firms can
become more creative, we now examine the optimal environment
for innovation.14-25 ware 128 1/19/01, 1:14 PM