ADVERTISING ONESELF!!

[Harrison Owen]

At 12:40 AM 4/29/00 -0700, you wrote:
>
> Having had this limited but exhilirating Open Space experience, I'm rather
> keen to make it known to this network of younger friends in the hope that its
> utility may spread. Naturally, to some limit, I want to keep my hand in too,
> and might be willing to go to some places for travel and local needs costs
> only. It would be a wonderful way ( along with others) to keep in touch with
> these friends and to travel. However, I certainly don't want to be seen to be
> "stealing" work from others. What is the present ethical position on such
> issues with this List Group? Certainly, if  I receive a lot of response (
> i.e. more than I would ever want to handle), I will be delighted to share the
> potential assignments with others who might be interested.


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Speaking personally, it seems to me that the "ethics" of this listserve have
always been the ethics of Open Space. We treat each other with respect, we
share what we have passion for, and take personal responsibility for the
quality of our actions and the safety of the space. Beyond that it is pretty
much as St Augustine said in a rather different context -- "Love God and do as
you please."

When it comes to selling Open Space, there are probably a few things to be kept
in mind. First off, it doesn't seem to work very well -- at least it never has
for me. I can (and do) offer OS, suggest OS, maybe even "do" OS -- but selling
OS in any sense of the word "sell" that I know of  usually turns out to be
counter-productive. There are some reasons -- primary of which is that nobody
owns Open Space. We all do, and so selling something that doesn't belong to you
is a little odd.  For me, Open Space is free -- it is the natural birthright of
every citizen of planet Earth.

Of course, we all have to eat, and usually money -- or something of value -- is
involved in our food chain. So I charge for my services, but not for the Open
Space. I try to make all this clear to a potential client by informing them of
their rights. They have the right to take what they know about Open Space and
do it themselves, and many have. They could improve the odds by benefiting from
experience to date and purchase The Book.  They might raise the ante again and
attend a training program -- or they could spend an awful lot more money and
have me do it all for them. But even then, I let them know that it would not be
my pleasure to be their  long term Open Space Person. Next time around I would
be happy to coach, but they should really think about doing what they can
perfectly well do for themselves. -- open space.

As altruistic, counter-intuitive, or simply nuts -- as all of the above may
seem, I can honestly say that I have never missed a meal as the circumference
of my middle will attest.



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
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