Moving Open Space without closing it . . .

[Ingrid Olausson]

citerar "Artur F. Silva" <artsilva at mail.eunet.pt>:

> 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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