Talking Sticks and Medicine Wheels

Harrison Owen owenhh at mindspring.com
Wed Mar 8 07:10:41 PST 2000


        As the one probably most responsible for the use of both Talking Sticks
and the Medicine Wheel in Open Space, I suppose some comment might be in order.
To begin with, both of these elements found their way into the Open Spaces I
have been part of -- NOT because I was looking for some tricky tool, but simply
because they are powerful -- in short they work to enhance the quality of the
circle, the power of the space. When I use them, I am very careful to honor
where they came from, and to use both with deep respect.
        Over the years, it has been my privilege to open space in many diverse
cultural settings around the world, including with First Nation people in North
America. To date, I have never received negative criticism, but that of course
may be only a function of what I was listening to and what I chose to hear. A
more usual response was either nothing or very positive. Sometimes it was down
right surprising, as when a First Nation person came to me at the end of an
Open Space and said, "I feel like I came home -- you must be a Chief." I
assured him that I wasn't, or at least that I didn't know that I was, but I
thanked him.
        At the end of the day, I believe dignity and respect to be critical. It
is not what we do, but the way that we are, that matters.  Further, that
opening space is pretty close to, if not the same as, a sacred trust -- in
which we (those who facilitate) accept responsibility for the lives, and the
enrichment of the lives, of those who choose to join us in that space and that
time. This has nothing to do with pre-determined outcomes. It has everything to
do with creating and holding a space in which those involved may find their way
to whatever outcomes may be right for them. And surely it is different strokes
for different folks.
        I guess this is a point where the funny word, "technology" -- as in
Open
Space Technology -- can trip us up. As most of you will know, the word
"technology" came to be associated with Open Space mostly as a fluke and almost
as a joke -- but it stuck. In truth, Open Space is a technology in the narrow
sense of the word. It is a set of procedures (sit in a circle, create a
bulletin board, open a market place, and get out of the way) that predictably
produce certain outcomes. As Chris and others have observed, "It always seems
to work."
        BUT. To see Open Space ONLY as a technology for better meetings is to
miss 99.9999% of what we all have experienced. There is something more going
on. And that "more" has everything to do with the dignity, respect,
empowerment, full-fillment of the lives of those involved. Having a better
meeting is minimal. Having a fuller life is what it is all about.
        As I think about it, Open Space does not contain a few aboriginal
elements. It is all aboriginal -- in the root meaning of that word -- "from the
beginning." It is primal (not primitive) in the best sense of the word.
Beginning with the opening circle, (The primal geometry of Homo sapiens, I
suppose) until that circle is formed for the last time, only to dissolve into
the larger circle of the world at large -- there is nothing new. It always
was.  So in answer to the oft asked question, "Why does OS work?"  -- at least
one answer is -- it works because this is what we (humankind) has always done,
although sometimes we have forgotten. There is no need to explain the rules for
a game that has been played in every culture and every time -- from the
beginning. Who knows if that statement is "true" -- but it works for me.
        There is a critical consequent to all of this, I think. Nobody owns
Open
Space. We all do. Thus, I find it imperative every time I open space to make
quite clear that there is nothing that I do that cannot be done equally well by
every person in the room. Indeed, it would be my hope that the gift of the day
should go infinitely beyond the concrete outcomes of the gathering. The
ultimate gift of the day would be the collective realization that space may be
opened anywhere, anytime, by anybody. This is the opportunity. This is the
responsibility that comes with our humanity.
        One final note. If anybody ever thinks that I sat down to design Open
Space based upon a careful review of all available anthropological,
psychological,  sociological data, combined with a detailed study of
organizational behavior and meeting management approaches -- they are nuts.
Open Space (at least in terms of my connection to it) was quite simply a two
martini idea. The first martini got me in the mood, and during the second, it
all came together. It just seemed like a natural thing to do -- and we did it.
Five years after the first Open Space, it still seemed like a natural thing to
do, indeed it was fun and productive. But it never occurred to me that it might
be important and useful. Only when some of my friends brought it to my
attention that something rather powerful seemed to be taking place did I find
myself afflicted with such questions as why does it work, and how do we work
with it. I think we may have some answers to the questions -- but that does not
change the reality that in the beginning it was nothing more than a blinding
flash of the obvious, courtesy of two martinis.
        There is no intent here to trivialize what has taken place. It is only
to make clear what my roll has been. I did nothing but acknowledge what had
been there from the beginning -- ab-original, so to speak. It isn't mine, it
isn't ours (that dedicated band of Open Space junkies)  -- Open Space belongs
to everybody as a birthright, waiting only to be claimed -- or not. That is
choice for each person to make. But we (us junkies) have a special opportunity
and responsibility to give away what we never owned, and to do that with
dignity and respect.


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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