Opening Space for Special Interest Groups

[Harrison Owen]

Let me incite you to riot -- or at the very least -- a concerted effort to
reach out to Special Interest Groups with the news that opening space can be a
health enhancing undertaking for organizations and members. The recent items
the Chrises Two (Corrigan and Weaver) set me off, but hopefully others might be
encouraged to join. This is not about "selling" Open Space which I find to be
generally impossible. It is about helping folks to understand that they do not
have to be as miserable and non-productive as many appear to be. There is
another way.

Special Interest Groups (SIGS) have taken a lot of hard knocks recently.
Everybody knows they are the perversion of the political process, and probably
worse. Truthfully, however, they are no more than the normal, natural, and
probably essential way us humanoids get together to do things. Calling them
"Affinity Groups" takes out some of the sting, but does not change the reality.
One of the characteristics of a SIG is a certain parochialism manifest as an
unshakable belief in NIH (not invented here). Any approach not originated in
the SIG certainly will not work "here." Say what you want to about the
Community of Humankind, SIGS will doubtlessly persist under a variety of
guises: First Nations, Educators, Corporations, Local Governments, Churches,
non-for-profits, plumbers, welders, dog catchers......

So here's the point and the plea. Starting with the Chrises Two, but extending
to anybody who cares ( which should be just about everybody on this list).
Please ALSO tell your stories in ways and places appropriate to the SIGS
involved. Find the journals, websites, public platforms -- and tell the tale.
Do it with a co-author if that works for you, so it doesn't seem like a case of
special pleading, but Do It!

This listserve is, and has been, a marvelous electronic representation of the
warm global community of Open Spacers. We share and help each other -- and may
all of that continue. But there is, I believe, a larger responsibility to share
what we have experienced with those who might benefit. Submit an article,
create a training program, make a presentation, join a chat room -- tell the
tale. Then let us all know back here in the "home room" how it goes. Maybe we
could help.

Harrison




Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854
USA
phone 301-469-9269
fax 301-983-9314
website
www.mindspring.com/~owenhh
Open Space Institute websites
www.openspaceworld.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20000417/de888353/attachment-0016.htm>