Open Space / Open List / The Public Domain

[Erich Kolenaty]

I agree with your thoughtful and heartful contribution. Thank you Chris

Erich
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: chris weaver
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
  Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 2:36 PM
  Subject: Re: Open Space / Open List / The Public Domain


  Dear OSLIST Community,

  I am enthralled.  This thread is connecting deeply with my intellectual
and
  emotional passion.  Both the specific list-related issues at hand and the
  window into deeper learning are important to me.  I notice as well how
much
  I care about the people who are posting, and how much I care about so many
  of the people who are "listening."  I am grateful to be conscious anew of
  your presence in my life (via the magic of this list).

  Let me weave a basket - a context-container for looking at the discussion
  sparked by the open-archives issue (including my witnessing this morning
of
  my friend Michael Herman finding himself in the HOT SEAT!)  Needless to
say,
  this is not the only possible basket.  It's mine - many people's branches,
  my morning weaving :-)

  Christine wrote,
  > I've always considered this listserv as one giant open space, with the
same
  principles and law as any OST event.

  This outlines the shape of my basket.  Maybe the list is like an OST
event,
  maybe it's not.  Let's pretend it is.

  Chris Mcrae wrote,
  > as someone who knows what goes on at least 100 listserves, yours is the
most
  interesting, practical, communal, caring and open.

  As a metaphor for an aspect of this, Ashley Cooper wrote,
  > can you imagine walking down the street (googling) and then just finding
  yourself in this community. that would be amazing! i think that i would
  immediately plop down on the street and start crying. someone like julie
  smith would walk over and put her arms around me and... i'd know that the
  dream was real.

  So:  the OSLIST is an uncommon virtual space, just as an OST event, opened
  and held with skill and care, provides an uncommon space - uncommonly
  responsive, inviting, creative.  To my way of thinking:  like being inside
  -- a holographically-connected member of -- a healthy living organism.

  The reason I raised the question of how a healthy living system cares for
  itself is that in my experience, a healthy living system has a container,
or
  a skin.  As noted in the wonderful responses, the skin is highly
permeable -
  health depends on the thriving connection between the encoded information
  "within" the system and "outside" the system.  I would assert that, while
  close scientific or mystical examination reveals "within" and "outside" to
  be an illusion, the PRACTICE of skin, of containers, of definition of and
  translation across boundaries, is a requirement for taking part in the Big
  Dance.

  All my EXPERIENCE with OST and Open Space Organizations has been less
about
  the removal of boundaries and more about a highly rigorous engagement
with,
  experimentation with, and honoring of boundaries.  In practice, this means
  working with the givens.

  So.  In an OST event, who determines the givens?  In my experience of best
  practice, the givens are discovered and creatively articulated in
  conversation between the facilitator and the sponsor.  The sponsor,
through
  his/her connection with the community being served/invited, articulates
the
  givens, which join the OST principles/law/method to form the skin for the
  event - the container.

  The quality of what HAPPENS in the space is deeply influenced by the
  clarity, elegance, intention of the container that defines it.

  So, there's the basket.

  As for Michael Herman in the hot seat:  It appears to me that you are
  feeling the heat that sponsors, and sometimes facilitators, feel when
  participants in an OST request (and demand) clarity about the givens, and
  when they ask questions about who determines the givens, why, and through
  what authority.

  In your words Michael, one thing I hear is that you are reluctant to own
the
  role of sponsor or facilitator of the OSLIST.  I can imagine why.  You
never
  signed up (Hey, I'm just the volunteer tech guy!)

  But the reality that you have made some decisions about the skin of the
  OSLIST and its permeability is clear.  You, and the list administrators at
  Boise State, are tinkering with some givens.  A number of people on the
list
  are saying, "No problem, it doesn't matter to me, I like the container,
  maximum permeability is desirable - go forth and do good!"

  Yet there are other voices too, which to me all arise from the legitimate
  desire of participants to have a clear understanding of, and perhaps a say
  in, the givens - the very practical elements of our container.  Therese
has
  suggested that list participants be technically empowered to delete
specific
  postings from the archives.  Marei has requested that archives be closed
for
  now and that a participatory decision-making process be employed for
  conisdering the accessibility of the archives and also the FAQs.  Birgitt
  has requested clarity on who is making decisions and taking actions that
  alter the givens, and she has claimed authority for her own personal
  postings and withdrawn her consent that her words be openly available to
  search engines.

  To me, these <suggestions, requests, demands> remind me very much of
  legitimate concerns often directed at the SPONSOR in an OST event, or at
the
  organizational leader of an open space oranization (and believe me
Michael,
  I've been there).  Even if such concerns appear to be a "minority
opinion,"
  if the sponsor simply brushes them off or ignores them, there is a
  resounding effect on the quality of the space, which can include a partial
  closing of the space.

  Thus, the awkwardness of the current circumstance.

  Based on my experience with Open Space, the quality of the space of the
  OSLIST from this moment on will indeed be influenced by our shared clarity
  on the question of WHO'S THE SPONSOR?  WHO'S THE FACILITATOR?  In other
  words, who determines the givens?

  It's easy to say that we're all the sponsor and the facilitator.  If
that's
  the case, then the requests for a participative decision-making process
make
  a lot of sense.  Some voices have suggested that we don't need such a
thing,
  it would be cumbersome, it might not even be possible.  There's no doubt
  that someone or a group would need to shoulder the responsibility of
  designing and managing such a process.

  I am going to close this post like a big unanswered question mark, because
I
  don't have an answer.  But I do have a personal "conclusion" to this very
  heart-felt message.

  My posting was largely inspired by Marei's, which expresses what I feel
very
  well.  The container matters.  The container influences * the way we
  interact with eachother *  I do believe in trust, and in open sharing.
The
  availability of the archives is not an issue of great importance to me
(with
  the possible exception of my posting in 2001 about using snot to hang
  posters on the wall....on the other hand, you should go back and read it!)

  What DOES matter to me very much (as you can tell) is the quality of the
  space.  I hope that the list remains a space that moves toward wholeness,
  which is impossible if the space is not wide open to vulnerability and
  passion.  A space where a person can plop down on the sidewalk, shed some
  tears, and receive comfort.  If the list is like an OST event (or even
  moreso, an Open Space Organization), then we need to know who's the
sponsor,
  who's the facilitator, and how the very real responsibilities of these
roles
  are carried and made manifest among us.

  With Love,
  Chris

  PS - I just read your reply Michael to Therese re: Delete Function - Thank
  you for your continuing facilitation of collaborative sponsorship!

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