When is OS not OS?

[Maureen Pomroy]

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Maureen will be out of the office from Tuesday, May 9th, 11:00 a.m. to
Tuesday, May 16th, 8:45 a.m.



Maureen Pomroy
Business Lines Consultant
Tel:  (709) 772-2735
Fax:  (709) 772-2104

"When a group does the impossible in the first hour of its meeting, it is
very hard to stop them after that.  This is called empowerment."
        - H. Owen, on Open Space
---------- Original Text ----------

From: "Harrison Owen" <owenhh at mindspring.com>, on 5/12/00 11:38 AM:


At 03:20 AM 5/12/00 -0700, you wrote:

>Reading your story reminded me of an upcoming event that I am aware
>of.  I was sent information about it second hand by someone who knows
>that I am interested in open space.  I do not have direct contact with
>the people running the event.  The event invitation states that the
>event will be run "in open space" and goes on to quote the law and the
>principles but.... it then describes the concurrent sessions that will
>be run and the people who are running them.  There is no market place,
>there is no opening or closing circle.   As far as I can tell the only
>part of "OS" that exists in this session is the law of two feet.
>
>This is my puzzle - what do I do about this?
****************************************
That indeed is a puzzle. Historically, it seems that people are brighter than
we sometimes give them credit for. They figure out that what they have been
sold, and what they take home are two different things. The possible results
are three. The participants disregard the planners' scheme, and in spite of
best efforts to control, the folks open the space. Second possible result is
that they don't and therefore feel frustrated and angry -- which does not bode
well for a successful conference. Thirdly, they can blame the whole thing on
Open Space instead of recognizing the true identity of their discomfort. The
control needs of the organizers.

It would be nice if we could "fix" things so that Open Space is appreciated for
what it truly is. And some times such a fix is possible, particularly if we
have direct involvement. But that does not seem to be the case in this
situation. So what to do?

As painful as it maybe -- the answer is often "Nothing." People just have to
make their choices and live with the consequences. Perhaps it is just
rationalization, but  I believe that Open Space (not Open Space Technology) is
the birthright of every person on the planet. It is a gift they (we) have
already received. But to be useful, that gift must be accepted. And that is the
choice, one way or another. Doors can be opened for us, but walking through is
something that each of us must do for our selves.

So Sharon, maybe there is nothing to do in this situation. But there is an
opportunity to learn, and thereby better our own practice. Personally, when I
am invited to work with a group of people, I do my best to insure that the
space is open, but when it starts to shut down, I simply pack my bags and move
on. I get real suspicious when I hear people talking about a "little bit of
Open Space" or "modified Open Space." I recognize that there are differences of
opinion here, and different levels of tolerance for restriction. But a little
bit of Open Space always sounds to me like being a little bit pregnant. And
modified Open Space is about as useful as modified oxygen -- it might look
great in a scientific paper, but not conducive to respiration.

Fortunately all of us are different. And what seems very restrictive to me may
seem as open as all outdoors to somebody else. But I can only be true to
myself. Doing anything else makes me very miserable and cantankerous -- and not
useful for much.

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