FW: FW: Transfer in Process

[Harrison Owen]

At 04:40 PM 6/20/2002 -0700, Peggy wrote:
>Harrison said:
>
> >I find that the long/slow walk/look around the circle is profound. And
> if flows very naturally into the opening. My one concern with "things
> up >front" is that it delays the time that folks actually get into the job.
>
>I have also pretty consistently heard you invite people to look around the
>circle and to think of each person as a treasure to be discovered.  I have
>always interpreted this request, along with the walk, as your way of
>"tuning" the group to themselves and each other.
>
>I continue to experiment with when, if ever, more is useful.  I do know
>that when people do some story telling, to themselves, the person next to
>them or the whole circle, something seems to shift in a good way.  I don't
>yet have any great insight into the pull I feel between anything beyond
>walking the circle being an unnecessary intervention and the experience
>that a brief storytelling seems to enhance the experience.

True. I do invite them to notice each other. And -- I try to leave as much
space for silence as I can. My recent foray with the Palestinians and
Israelis in Rome was  an experience I will never forget. I did not know it
at the time, but it turns out that very few of the participants had
actually been in the same room with each other, and so quite naturally
regarded each other person as a potential enemy. They all had name tags,
but the circle was big enough so you could not read, so most people had
little idea who was Israeli and who was Palestinian. The power in the
silences was overwhelming. You could almost hear the wheels turning -- who
is who? Why did they come? Do I hope? Do I fear? Is this just going to be
another one of those....? We were truly all at The Edge of Chaos -- and
knew it. Which brings me to the real reason I would never do anything "up
front" as a transfer in process -- even story telling.

Open Space (for me) begins in chaos. Yes, there has to be some degree of
safety (I was hopeful that nobody came armed -- the thought actually went
through my head, because I was going to be in the center of the circle!) --
But being on the edge of chaos for me is essential. It has a wonderful way
of dissolving all  agendas -- or at least giving people pause for thought.
Rather like the General who understands that the battle plan is out the
window the moment the first bullet is fired. Or if you don't like the
military analogy -- try sports. The Game plan is up for grabs at the kick
off, tip off, face off -- or whatever.  Frankly I hope the folks are on
that fine line between total panic and anxious expectation.  When that
happens, the space is incredibly pregnant with possibility, and the people
are like parched travelers searching for the water. So if the "transfer in"
process is designed to make people comfortable  -- I don't think the
opening is the time or the place. If the intent is to "take them deeper"
(and story telling will certainly do that), I know (as a matter of
experience) they they will definitely go deeper of their own accord as the
space keeps opening. So my choice is to let it roll. Starting at the edge
of chaos -- folks will get to where they need to. No preparation needed.

Harrison

>Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls DrivePotomac, MD 20854 USA
phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.mindspring.com\~owenhh

OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu
Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20020621/6c9a632d/attachment-0017.htm>