Opening Space with a "grandee"...

[Harrison Owen]

At 07:58 PM 10/16/2002 -0400, Winston wrote:
>One challenge for me was the presence of a group "guru" with a large
>controlling streak who claimed "seigniorial rights" on several occasions,
>kind of like "space invader lite". For example during the opening after the
>principles and law had been reviewed, she interrupted to declare to the
>circle: "during MY breakouts, nobody will be allowed in after we start, and
>if anyone wants to leave they will be asked to explain why, and also to say
>goodbye". The interesting thing is that she had obviously already earned
>the respect and honour of the participants, many of whom came to the
>conference to learn from her. So on the one hand she was sometimes
>disruptive of the process, since some (not all) folks were hesitant to go
>against her "amendment" to the Law and so fussed or complained about her
>controlling behaviour instead, while on the other she was important to the
>process as one of  the key dispensers of (putative) wisdom... an
>interesting polarity I had not personally observed (in Open Space) before.

I would guess this makes the point that it is not about the "purity of the
process" but rather about the desires of the group. The 4 Principles and
The Law are (so far as I am concerned) only statements of fact as opposed
to prescriptions of behavior. People then have to choose.


>A question that arose from the nature of the group is perhaps more
>interesting. In a number of the breakouts (not necessarily the guru's),
>there were real-time and intimate experiential exercises, as is in the
>nature of Focusing. In those situations, it sincerely felt to some
>participants as if there should be no "bumblebeeing" allowed since it could
>not only disrupt the process "en cours", but potentially cause damage to a
>vulnerable psyche in what I will choose to call a therapeutic situation.

I have had this situation on a number of occasions. Folks can say whatever
they want. And people will do whatever they do. What seems to work best is
invitation and request -- as opposed to dictates. So, I have seen folks say
"we are going to do a process. It will be confusing if people come and go,
so I ASK that if you choose to come, come for the beginning -- and if you
choose to leave, please do it quietly and don't come back." Seems to work.

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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