magic can be messy

[BrendanMcKeague]

Well done Raffi and thanks for the story - and thanks Michael and Joelle
for articulating much of my thinking in response.

For me as facilitator, I am growing into a deepening recognition of the
power of this process and my own powerful presence as facilitator - or as
some of us at OSOZ discussed - the OS practitioner. As perused previously
in this very List, learning to be comfortable with just 'being with' and
resisting the temptation to 'do for' is a grand journey towards spiritual
wisdom - albeit painful and discomforting at times for those of us steeped
in education, schooling and training that conditions and rewards
interventions, fixing, controlling outcomes etc.  I'm glad you feel like a
fraud - I did too and still do occasionally (especially whenever I'm
fortunate enough to pocket a reasonable fee) - and then I repeat my
precious mantra 'don't just do something, stand there' - easy enough for
many of my fellow laid-back Irishmen, but not this one.

As for providing others with pre-event skills in other areas of their
personal and/or collective competencies - that's another story and may be
important and necessary for the group to undertake for sure. This
discernment and subsequent action is I believe another's role - more like a
consultant to the organisation. Its great if the community itself
recognises this need for skill-building in the Open Space - or in
reflection after the event - and can then action the plans necessary to
meet its own identified needs - and look for / hire a trainer/facilitator
to design and provide a training package - that could be you or someone
else. No matter - in my experience - as long as the two roles are separated
somehow - and VERY CLEAR in my own mind -  me as the practitioner of Open
Space and me as the skills builder in other areas of personal/collective
competency-building.

Keep believing Raffi - the magic is indeed messy - that's what makes it magic!

Brendan

  At 12:07 AM 15-04-2004 +0400, you wrote:
>Dear friends and colleagues,
>
>I just finished doing another Open Space here in Moscow with a local NGO
>that works with teenagers with substance abuse issues as well as at-risk
>youth. This was a 1.5 day strategic planning session preceded by an
>evening of storytelling.
>
>It was the first time I'd ever gotten to conduct an evening of
>storytelling prior to the OS. It was great to see, feel the power of story
>prior to an OS.
>
>The OS itself left almost all participants rather sad and disillusioned
>and some I heard felt that this seemed a little strange that the
>facilitator walks in, opens space, hangs around, and then closes it. As if
>the facilitator does nothing. I had written before that I had struggled
>with this feeling that in conducting OS, I have the sense of the Emperor
>who wears no clothes, that I felt like a fraud. While I may never hope to
>really understand what OS is, I feel it more. And feel confident enough in
>what happened in the last OS to say that right now at least the unpleasant
>truths that came up in OS with the organization I worked with were what
>was necessary at that moment. That this will take them further. They came
>face to face like never before with the difficulties people have in taking
>responsibility. They began thinking more about what it would take to "grow
>up" as an organization, to set more rules, be a little tougher on each
>other.
>
>So, as I slowly make my way into consulting work, it's so good to know
>that this is something I get satisfaction from, something I believe in
>(and my doubt alongside the faith in OS is the force that gets me more
>excited about OS!). Enchantment, mesmorized.
>
>And as always questions:
>
>1. Training of participants pre-OS in facilitation skills and other
>important skills.
>
>I wonder how much, if at all, do other OS facilitators train the client
>(or potential participants of an OS) in basic facilitation skills and
>other skills that might come handy in an OS (report writing, writing
>action plans, project development) prior to the OS as a means of helping
>the OS itself bear more fruit.
>
>I noticed that the groups did not really develop action plans at all.
>After convergence I explained that they were to work out action plans and
>answer the detailed questions in the report form (I did not read out the
>questions). Neither group did that, instead they further discussed the
>question, which probably is fine, too. Maybe that's what was needed at the
>moment.
>
>2. How much time do you spend establishing what the client will do to
>ensure the participation of all the people they intend to invite? Do you
>encourage, work with the client to ensure that participants commit to the
>whole Open Space? We had participants come and go (one person was there
>for storytelling and then showed up at the closing circle...for example!),
>which of course is fine. But I wonder if I should've worked with the
>client to think through what exactly they could do to get as strong a
>commitment on participation from invitees as possible.
>
>I'm sure I'll have more questions, but that's all for now!
>Thanks,
>Raffi
>
>*
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