Modified Open Space

[PKaipa]

I have been following the discussion with interest for many reasons. The first
one is my interest in open space and how I add or change something that I
intuitively feel that is needed. I do not necessarily mean to change the
spirit of open space but the letter of open space, I feel is to be
experimented with. Whenever I do change, I pay a lot of attention to the
impact of those changes and see what I could learn from those changes.
Second reason is that I believe there are some principles, some structures
that are foundational in nature. When you remove or modify those foundational
structures, what you get become very different. On the other hand, majority of
what we normally do are emergent and should be experimented and not copied.
The foundation is subtle and mostly not understood. It is also something that
goes beyond cause and effect relationship. On the other hand, emergent
principles are explicit and situational. We should not make rules out of those
situations as they are highly dependent on the person who is opening the
space.

In Open Space Technology, I find four principles to be foundational. Things
like post it notes and times marked on post it notes are emergent.

Finally, Foundation and Emergent principles are two sides of the same coin. If
there is no flexibility and freedom for you to create and go with the flow,
foundation becomes restrictive and not 'open.' On the other hand, if
everything is 'emergent' and no foundations are laid, then it is not
sustainable.

It is not about 'both/and' vs. 'either/or.'  It is truly about 'including and
transcending' both perspectives a la Ken Wilber.

In that respect, we should follow the tradition and be open to what emerges.
Is that open space? Well, I heard somewhere that 'whatever happens is the only
thing that could have......'

Prasad Kaipa