Givens (was: Already-thereness, Empowerment and Such)

[Pannwitz, Michael M]

Dear Birgitt,
decades before I ever heard of open space (now knowing it was always
there) it was part of my basic OD-craftsmanship to deal with the
givens in the sense that I encouraged the client to pay attention to
them which often meant putting them on the table for the first time
for everyone to see. So this emphasis on the givens did not startle
me, thinking it was the most natural thing to do. In the meantime,
possibly because os-t events, meetings, gatherings, etc. tend to
create a real "high" (at least something different from what people
have experienced before) I find dealing with the givens grounds that
which follows os-t events.
What I have become cautious about, however, is my old tendency of
getting attached to outcome being enforced by this attention to the
givens.
What helps me is to keep reminding myself that the givens will show
up when the time is right for them. And perhaps I should be more
relaxed on this question and be more trusting of the system (which
theoretically I have no problem with).
In that context I doubt that clarifying the givens with the sponsor
defines the freedom within the organisation.
Here I trust the os-window-experience which does not expand the
freedom but opens venues to deal with it in a changed way.
In other words, mightily held "givens" sometimes vaporize (not
because of os-t but because of the forces of selforganisation with
the tendency for a development in the direction of wholeness, health
and harmony) over night (I think the Berlin Wall is a grand example
for this, even weeks before it came down 95% of the people on both
sides of it still held the belief that it will be there another 100
years).
In my practice I charge a flat fee for facilitating an os-event. It
includes the planning sessions, setting up the room etc., being the
facilitator and conducting a followup meeting. If the client does not
want the follow up, still the same fee. Some turn me down, most take
me up on it.
Greetings from Berlin in the midst of getting ready for a 3 day os
with 180 catholic youth workers (social workers, teachers, priests,
monks) on the theme of  "Calling...embers beneath the ash" with the
date of the follo-up meeting set for October 20th in a monastry in
southern Germany
michael m


On Tue, 18 Feb 2003 21:02:33 -0500, Birgitt Williams wrote:

>Arthur,
>I accept responsibility for introducing the concept of "givens" into the
>preparation of facilitating an OST meeting. I like what Chris Corrigan wrote
>about the real work of the "givens" is to get at the holes in the
>assumptions about and perceived "givens", which are not "givens" at all. I
>too spent many years studying the work of Piaget and agree that "givens are
>never given to us: they are created by the theories that allow us to see
>them".
>
>I wish to correct a mistaken assumption. The "givens" do not "govern" an OST
>meeting. There can be no "givens" for what is and is not conversed about
>because OST runs on passion. The "givens" are clarified because in an
>existing organization there are always "givens" usually unspoken, that
>affect the results of the meeting in the days following the meeting. And
>when I clarify the "givens" with the sponsor, what we actually define is
>where the freedom within the organization following the meeting really is.
>
>On this list, we often write about all of the wonders of an OST meeting. I
>have spent considerable time for over a decade following what happens
>following an OST meeting. And it is not always a happy story. I have been
>told on this list that the follow up is really none of our business. I
>disagree with that. We who use OST understand that it is powerful. The
>client usually does not.
>
>Blessings to you,
>Birgitt





Michael M Pannwitz
boscop
Draisweg 1
12209 Berlin, Germany
FON +49 - 30-772 8000     FAX +49 - 30-773 92 464
www.michaelmpannwitz.de

An der E-Gruppe "openspacedeutsch" für deutschsprechende open space-PraktikerInnen interessiert? Enfach eine mail an mich.

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