Palestinians and Israelis in Rome - long

[WB-TrainConsult]

Harrison,
thank you for this sharing of your (self-) analysis.
Great teaching for me about principles, pre-concepts and gut-feeling
in very difficult situations

Bernd
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wb-trainconsult at gmx.net 14.06.2002 at 17:34:01 (GMT/UT + 02:00)

On Fri, 14 Jun 2002 08:33:26 -0400, Harrison Owen wrote:


It had been my intention to "do" the Open
Space according to the book, by which I mean 2 days discussion with
convergence and action planning on the morning of the 3rd day.
However, as the second day ended, and I sat with all those feelings
through the night, the "standard approach" seemed less and less
adequate. The feelings were so deep and raw, and the the issues
discussed so broad and still forming (with one or two exceptions)
that any notion of convergence, prioitization and action planning
seemed premature at the least, and possibly grossly insensitive to
the real place the people found themselves in. I have no question
that, good troopers as they were, had I started down the standard
pathway, folks would have followed -- but I knew it would be an empty
process. Just going through the motions as it were. Truthfully, I
didn't really know where I was headed when the 3rd day started, and
when last I had talked to my colleagues Avner, Tova, Carol and the
sponsors the evening before I had indicated my intention to go
straight ahead "according to the plan." However, when I saw the faces
of the people that morning as they came into the circle, I knew we
had to go a different way, and at that point I had no time for
consultation with "The Team."  Thus I began as I previously reported.

        My intention and hope was to totally open the space so that
people could honestly choose where they wanted to go -- even if that
meant simply hanging up the towel and going home in disgust. And
frankly I did not have a clue what was going to happen when I left
the circle, or what the situation would be upon my return. As it
turned out whatever happens is the only thing that could have -- and
as usual it was just perfect -- perfectly what it was. Given the
space, the folks always know best.

        My specific learnings were several. First -- a radical
confirmation of what we all know. Attachment to pre-determined, fixed
outcomes, even something as broad as prioitization, convergence, and
action planning, is a one way ticket to disaster. A second learning,
and this was a surprise, was that extreme levels of anxiety, conflict
and pain (which we had in abundance) can and will change the
dynamical pattern of the Open Space, It still work as always, but not
the way I had grown to expect.
        To be more specific, I have noticed (as many others have as
well) that in a troubled group, the first day is likely to be filled
with angry bitching, and on the second day folks will get down to the
business of solving what they were crying about the day before. In
Rome, the pattern was exactly reversed. On day one, we certainly had
intense conversations with some real, raw feelings, but compared to
Day 2, it was pure "Love and Light." I think what happens is that the
whole group is so constricted physically, mentally, and emotionally
(probably spiritually as well) that when they first hit Open Space
they find it possible to take a deep breath, perhaps the first one in
a long time. The euphoric sensation of actually being alive,
breathing freely, and being conscious of it is almost narcotic. I am
not suggesting that the feelings are in some way "unreal" -- for the
genuine presence and authenticity of that group on that first day was
overwhelming. But it was not the whole story. Strengthened by that
"breath of fresh air" the group could then do what it did -- take a
real dive into all the shit of their common lives. The net result was
as I described. Day I -- Real light. Day II Dark Hell. I felt at that
point that it was critical to provide unfettered space with no
expectations in which the group, individually and collectively, could
make a judgement. Was Day I just a phantasm? And Day II the somber
reality? Or were both truly what they seemed -- Real Light and Real
Darkness. It was a moment of reflection and choosing.

My third learning was yet another confirmation of what we all know.
Trust your gut. Faced with the kind of stuff we were dealing with,
the rational mind just spins out of control with possibilities and
stratagems spilling all over the ground. Not useful. For me the only
possibility was to take a deep breath (several), clear the battered
mind, or better yet -- shut it down, and go to a quiet centered place
well beyond thinking and knowing. And then do what you have to do.

Harrison



Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854 USA
phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm

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