Help for David

Birgitt Bolton birgitt at worldchat.com
Sat Sep 5 18:10:22 PDT 1998


Hi--I really feel like I am an odd one out here. While time limits and mandatory attendance won't undermine Open Space--Open Space has a way of working, I do speak against mandatory attendance. Mandatory attendance might just undermine something in the individual, stir up that which the individual is not choosing to have stirred up and so on. Open Space is a respectful practice and it is respectful to "invite". It is a powerful practice, and people should have the right not to attend---for whatever reason. Basically, the Law of Two Feet in a bigger Open Space called the universe.

Birgitt
-----Original Message-----
From:   Chris Kloth [SMTP:kloth at TMN.COM]
Sent:   September 5, 1998 5:08 AM
To:     OSLIST at LISTSERV.IDBSU.EDU
Subject:        Help for David

David,

My interest in your situation is in the significance of mandatory
attendance and short time.  Others will rell you that neither time
limits nor mandatory attendence will undermine open space if people are
willing to identify their passions and accept responsibility in the
context of whatever space they have.

What I will look forward to hearing about after your event is how a
group of academics manage to distinguish between their focus on the
issues affecting their work together and their tendency to analyze and
critique the process while they are in it.  When I work with
traditionally trained American academics I often remind them that both
Krishnamurti (in his own words) and Yogi Berra said, "You can't think
and hit!"

One of the things I value about about Open Space is that it is built on
a different epistimology than most of our Eurocentric, reductionist
world view relies on.  What I have experienced is that the least
formally educated Americans I have worked with in Open Space have some
intuitive sense of its potential and will go with it.  What I have also
experienced is that the people who seem to struggle the most either have
a Ph.D!  (notice the judgement? each of us has our own diversity issues,
don't we?

So my request is that you and others who work with Academics share some
of your wisdom and experiences dealing with this group.

Chris



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