outcomes

Chris Corrigan chris at chriscorrigan.com
Mon Dec 1 00:12:13 PST 2003


Re: the flash in the pan thing.

I'm concentrating a lot right now on what happens afterwards with
clients.  I'm growing increasingly reluctant to stage one off OST
meetings unless we have really dealt with post-event follow-up to
support what gets opened in the organization or community.  I'm focusing
my efforts on working with clients to find ways to support the
responsibility part of OST, which is the challenge.  Without it, passion
is all you have and that's fine, but not usually enough to make things
happen.  OST invites responsibility and passion and so we need to create
outlets to take that flow in the organization or community or we cut
short many of the benefits of the process, and especially those benefits
that the cynics might find most attractive.

Think of it as releasing the storage of water in a reservoir.  If you
have not properly dug irrigation channels and prepared for how the water
will be used, much of it will simply run away to the sea.  I'd rather
carefully prepare irrigation channels for the amount and quality of the
energy released in OST than to simply open space and hope the
organization or community catches on to what's happening.

This is certainly not to say that I am in the business of determining
outcomes.  It's more like shining a light on the really powerful
potential outcomes, like organizational and personal transformation and
ensuring that the leadership is prepared to support these should they
arise.  Resourcing action plans is easy.  What happens if everyone in
your team suddenly gets passionate and decides to take the whole
enterprise in a new direction?  Saying "no" or "maybe we'll look at
that" is sometimes not the best answer.

Chris

---
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Bowen Island, BC, Canada
http://www.chriscorrigan.com
chris at chriscorrigan.com
(604) 947-9236

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Mike
Copeland
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2003 2:29 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: outcomes

G'day Chris
I get this cynical stuff a bit myself:  "OST is just another theory or
gimmicky facilitation method."
I believe OST is not just a process or a new theory but possibly the way
humans work best when they tap into their inner most being and work from
there.  When one gets use to working from one's core (passion,
response-ability) after a while there seems no other way to be! Strange
thing is, because this way of being is soooooo... foreign to most people
they will say and do anything to avoid working from their inner self.
Its part of the human journey:  "to slay the dragon upon whose every
scale are the words 'thou shalt!'" (Joseph Campbell)
I've come to realise resistance, criticism and cynicism are reflections
more of the people's relationship to themselves than any inherent flaws
in OST. My response is usually to accept their complaints and realise
this is where they are at and "the space is always open."(Helen
Patterson)
I must admit to feeling that whenever people say there are faults in
open space they are still fixed in a "Thou Shalt" mode, still waiting
for someone to come up with the one, right, true way.  There is no such
thing! "The way" is within each of us.  There is nothing in open space
that will tell you what to do. The limitations are only as limited as
your imagination.
I also here you about the one off nature of an OST meeting. I felt this
after our initial team meeting back in August.  No sooner had we
finished what was a memorable two days of talking and meeting, like I
have never experienced in our team before, than we all ferreted back
into our little cubby holes to get back to the 'real' work.
This "flash in the pan" experience is why we are trying OST as an
organisation wide practise. Some people want it, others are open, others
see it as some wacko gimmick. I'd say we are all at different levels of
slaying that dragon, and that's fine.  Whoever comes are the right
people, Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.

If open space is singing you as much as it has me, a one off meeting
will not suffice. Get out out of the frying pan and into the fire!
All the best
Mike Copeland
  _____

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