Whatever happens... (was: Dear OSLIST)

[Larry Peterson]

I agree with Michael and Joelle.  "Whatever happens" is a key principle to
inform how we operate in Open Space.  At first I struggled a bit with that
one.  I later recognized that it was my desire to shape or control the
outcomes that was driving that struggle for me.  As a social justice
activist, I was convinced that I had to control and that certainly something
else "could have" happened if "right people" had been there, or if people
only had a better consciousness of the real situation.  I came to realize
that once the space was opened, it was best for me and the participants to
assume that whatever happened was the only thing that could have and then
learn from that.  The  principle opens the group up to tremendous learning
about where the group is at now -- not some ideal sense of where you think
it ought to or should be.  In my work with corporations or with activist
organizations, if there is a need to provide perspectives or information to
the whole group that will affect how people see what is possible, then that
is done before opening space.  However, accepting what manifests in Open
Space as a reflection of the situation now is critical learning for deciding
what to do next.  We cannot change history only our perceptions of it.
"Could" it have been different -- we like to think so.  However, it wasn't
and the complex of variables that led to what it was were the reality at the
time, including our own behaviour.

Larry

Larry Peterson
Associates in Transformation
41 Appleton Ave.,
Toronto, ON, Canada, M6E 3A4
416.653.4829
Fax 416.653.0609

lpasoc at inforamp.net
www.inforamp.net/~lpasoc
www.openspaceworld.com

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