Moving Open Space without closing it . . .

[Artur F. Silva]

At 18:29 02-10-2001, Jeff Aitken wrote:

>The crisis brings up questions about this list that we have not asked
>before. We have never in my memory had sustained dialogue about anything
>other than OST, except maybe God and poetry.   ;-)

You are right in what concerns "sustained dialogue", Jeff. But I recall
many posts and even some dialogues about "other ways of Opening the
Space" (that point is, by the way, included in Chris' FAQ's, even if that
is not very important as the FAQ's have changed and will continue to
change, as the list evolves). For me "opening the space" for the world
(or not closing it too much), was exactly the point. But the events were
so tragic, that they have been discussed in every list I know, even if
it was off-topic. And then the ways to respond to it have also been
discussed in many lists, as it is a problem that concerns all human
beings and many "disciplines".

But due to the multi-cultural origins of OST, it concerns this list more
than some others, I think. By the way, the question of to be (or not)
a pacifist has already been discussed, less than one year ago, in a
thread on "cross cultural sensitivity". But then it had not the "urgency"
and potential for conflict of the present situation.

But I think that you, or any other participant, have not to be concerned
with the fact that the thread on "terrorism and war" has been less intense
after some time. First, it happened in other lists too; second, people
probably
felt that they had already clarified their positions (or the positions they
had
at the time); third, in the meanwhile spaces to discuss specifically that
question have appeared; forth, the fact that people talk when they fell they
had enough about something is an important indicator to others about
when to continue or not; last: I think that many old participants are
no longer contributing regularly and that this list has ups and downs.
It had an up with the events and now a down - that down can have been
caused eventually by reasons having no relation with war.

Personally, I think your comment was very useful. If we were the "decision
makers" (that hopefully we are not), probably we would have to continue
discussing, and probably then voting...and then the sense of community
would eventually suffer. As we are not, and as hopefully some of the more
strong war answers have been changed (compare the first discourses of Blair,
with the one he made yesterday; compare the "bomb all Afghanistan" of two
weeks ago, with the mix of help and war of today) maybe we can go back
to our main subjects.

On the other hand, if it is true, as it has been said, that the tragic
events were a sign that the world has changed, then maybe it is natural that
some other things have to change. I am not saying that OST has to be
changed, on the contrary, maybe it is the right time to concentrate on OST
and not so much on "derivatives". But I think that eventually we can change
the perception and understanding that we have of OST, and maybe also of
this list.

In what concerns me, even if my "knowing" of OST has not changed, I tend
to think that some of my ideas about it have been slightly "readjusted"
this days. If we consider, as I do, that Harrison's Guide, and some of his
other books, are the genuine OST, maybe one should question if when we try
to summarize OST, or on the contrary to develop it, we are always taking the
more fundamental concepts. I will come back to this some other day,
as those are subjects that we can analyze with time (maybe after the next
(prolonged) week end - as tomorrow will be holiday here -- in memory of
the Republican revolution of 1910).

In what concerns this list, maybe it is worthwhile to give a second look
to its meaning and our roles in it. For instance:

>I think we are all invited to play two roles here: facilitators AND
>sponsors. As a facilitator I want to hold space, not intervene, maybe ask
>if it's over. As a sponsor I want to offer appropriate leadership.

I find that a strange but interesting way of putting it. I would never think
of my role in the dialogue in this list as being neither facilitator, nor
sponsor.
I think of myself here as a "participant" - I am a facilitator in other
settings,
not here.

And I don't think that there are any "givens" here, but that we are always
creating/recreating the meaning of this list - this list is (part of) an
emergence of "collective consciousness". (Indeed there is only one
"given" in OST - it is that the initiator GAVE it to the all humanity, as an
"open source" kind of thing, not trade marketed, with no need for any
formal training, nor "certification" - only the need for "a good head, and
a good heart", and the community support we can find in this list).

But of course we have a "theme" as the name OSLIST suggests. The point
is: are we a list on OST or on OS? On the other hand, the last Chapter
of Harrison's Guide is called "What Next?" (chapter XIII, pages 153-161
of the second edition) and has some suggestion for future research and
dialogue. I think that those topics have not yet been completely
answered, and can give some help in thinking where this list may go.
Of special concern for me are Harrison's observations on how OST
can be used, in the long term, to create the learning organization,
that he recognizes that must be open and interactive, more
concerned with a way of life that with some "disciplines", hence an
Open Space Organization where "control is not only impossible but
undesirable". I could never understood why those observations (and
others) were not one of the main bases for the OPEN dialogue IN
THIS LIST.

Another point is that as more people joint the OS community and this list
we have to consider that more mails will be sent/received every day, and
there is no way of reading them all. As in other lists, we can have different
threads (breakout sessions?) in parallel and some people will follow the
ones they are interested and not others. But they can always see also
the others, if they wish!!!

Finally in my opinion it is important to maintain only one list for the
OS dialogue, and not different ones for different flavors, so that all
experience is shared among all the OS community, and it will not
be replaced by many communities, eventually with a more closed
or commercial oriented focus. I think that if all discussions are keep
together, more diversity will be included, and a better and quicker
learning will be possible for each one and all of us.

Artur

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