another (successful) OS and sooo many questions (not short; probably qualifies as "long")

[Harrison Owen]

At 10:08 AM 3/17/2003 +0300, Raffi Aftandelian wrote:
>My questions:
>
>1. What do I do about my conflictedness about OS?
>Inside I am still quite mixed about OS. I saw again that "it
>worked". Yet I am not quite convinced. This was the first time I was
>paid appropriately for doing an OS (before I did it for free or
>almost-free). So I felt greater responsibility. It's this combination
>of enchantment with and skepticism towards OS that lives with me.
>
>Enchantment because on a head level it seems too simple and yet works
>so well. Skepticism because it's hard to believe that something that
>requires so little facilitator intervention (and skill) is so powerful.
>Also, I am
>not still convinced that it brings results. I am such a perfectionist,
>I really wonder if I'll ever be convinced that it brings "results". Or
>that I'll ever know what "results" looks like.
>
>Also, I carry tremendous guilt. I got paid for sitting around. Was I
>tired at the end of the day? Yes. I was "on". My role reminds me of
>the emperor who wears no clothes (I recall your story, Harrison, about
>the OS where the company's CEO or a consultant said that with OS you'd
>developed the greatest OD scam ever: the workers formulate the
>questions, answer them themselves, the consultant does nothing and
>gets paid for it). A part of me feels like a fraud. Has anybody else
>ever felt like this during OS?

So -- I guess I am just not getting my mind around this one! What don't you
understand about "It works."??? We could go through the self-organization
thing -- but that is only a theoretical description which makes sense to me
-- but that doesn't make it right, nor does it change the commonly
experienced reality that inviting people to join a circle of concern,
creating a bulletin board, opening a market place, and getting out of the
way -- WORKS!  As for feeling guilty -- I guess I miss that one too. The
only guilt I can imagine would be if I were to charge a whole mess of money
for something truly complicated, requiring major effort (on my part) --
which did nothing more than the people can do all by themselves.  Bottom
line? People anywhere and everywhere can do it all by themselves. It takes
only a good head and a good heart. Sure -- training is nice and, I think,
useful. But i don't think it improves the quality of Open Space so much as
it increases our capacity to function in Open Space, and to help others to
do the same.

So maybe you should just accept and enjoy the accolades and thanks --
declare victory -- and go home. You deserve it! Obviously you did a
fantastic job -- doing nothing.

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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