to intervene or not to intervene

[Michael M Pannwitz]

hi os folks,
i have been fascinated by your discussions on intervening.
to me it is clear that my job as facilitator is to hold the
space.
so, I am patiently looking around, keep my eyes open and
when I see a space invader I act.
at the same time I know and have experienced that one of
the most powerful interventions is
not to intervene.
the proof of the pudding is: does it work in the sense of :
does it keep the space open ?
thats my way of saying -"it depends".
most of the time, actually practically all of the time, the
group will deal with it wisely and beautifully.
recently, I experienced a participant who had prepared 5
topics in advance that he thought would cover all aspects
of the issue at hand and that the group should split into 5
work groups to work according to his suggestion.
he wanted it discussed in plenary.
I asked him to announce each topic and post each one of
them along the other topics in a manner most convenient to
him.
he proceeded  not quite happily.
later he made the discovery that no one showed up for his
topics. he felt that this was the most powerful learning
that ever happend to him.
of course, i intervened. i pointed out the principles we
were working under. at the same time it did not appear  to
be a confrontation.
so if someone invades the news wall and no one else is
around but me solitaire facilitator it would be pretty
clear what i would do. As I recall the fellow then
exercised the law of two feet.
so he lived by the principles and it worked.
thats good enough for me
keep the space open
michael




Pannwitz
Draisweg 1
12209 Berlin
Germany
Tel.: 49 30 772 8000
Fax: 49 30 773 92 464







Pannwitz
Draisweg 1
12209 Berlin
Germany
Tel.: 49 30 772 8000
Fax: 49 30 773 92 464