FW: Connecting

[Holman]

Mattias,

Thanks for your wonderful description of the merger Open Space and the
feeling of connecting to spirit that is for me, also, Open Space at its
best.

When you said:
<<So far I am not sure wether I will be able to build up that high level
of energy which I experienced in the after-merger-open space mentioned
above in any group. I am not sure to what degree I can influence this at
all.>>

it made me think about my own views of what causes this type of energy
to emerge.  While I do believe the faciliator influences this, to me, it
is the passion for the theme that makes the biggest difference.  The
more the theme touches people deeply, the richer the experience and the
more likely that "collective consciousness" shows up.

For me this has major implications in preparing for the event.  The time
I spend with the convenor(s) beforehand is on deeply seeking what has
heart and meaning for them in what they are about to do.  I believe that
the more this heartfeltness is embodied in the invitation, how the event
is framed and how real it is for the people in the room, the more
magical the experience.

Peg Holman
 ----------
From: Matthias zur Bonsen
To: Multiple recipients of list OSLIST
Subject: Connecting
Date: November 14, 1997 6:09AM

Hello all,

about a month ago Larry Peterson wrote:

>Part of the issue, is the ability of the Open Space facilitator to
connect
>to the spirit of the group in the opening and holding of the space. For
me,
>that connetion is experienced viscerally when opening the space. At a
>certain point I know I'm connnecting and building the energy toward
>initiative from all levels. I am able to do that much more frequently
now
>that a year or two ago.

In my last Open Sapce I had that feeling of "connecting" too (or I had
it
more than ever before). Yet so far I am not sure whether it was "me"
being especially good that day or wether it was due to the exceptional
participants.

In this case a 5000-people-firm from western Germany merged with a
similar 500-people-firm from eastern Germany. The bigger company wanted
it to be a real merger and not a takeover. Within to weeks after the
merger happened officially a group of 85 senior managers and members of
the employee council ("Betriebsrat" = the german version of industrial
democracy) met for two days in Open Space. After I had opened the space
there were for most of the time at least ten people lining up for the
microphone.

I felt the energy building up when I gave my "introductory speech".
Participants were looking more intensely at me than at other open space
events. There was more eye contact. I attributed the energy to the fact,
most of the participants were senior managers. But may be it was also
me.

This year I had the chance to facilitate 7 open space events. Two times
I
was observed by friends, one of them a consultant-colleague, the other
one an actor. Both served as a mirror for me. Of course the most
important thing in order to get "in connection" with the group is to be
"in connection" with yourself. But improving "external factors" like the
way how you walk (or pace your walking) or your posture have an effect
on
your internal state.

So far I am not sure wether I will be able to build up that high level
of
energy which I experienced in the after-merger-open space mentioned
above
in any group. I am not sure to what degree I can influence this at all.
For me this will be an interesting thing to observe.

Matthias zur Bonsen
Frankfurt, Germany
mzurbonsen at compuserve.com