the dark side of circle practices -- and related themes
Therese Fitzpatrick
theresefitz at hotmail.com
Wed Aug 4 11:51:33 PDT 2004
thank you, Winston, for your clarification.
In my peerspirit/four directions circle, we decided at our first meeting
that everyone was a "guardian" and anyone could ring the bell to call for a
moment of silence. To tell the truth, I didn't remember the word guardian
ever being used, although I suppose it must have been. I believe in the
'peerspirit' design, this 'guardian' role would rotate, which would diminish
any potential for facilitator control. I am certain that the 'guardian'
role described in the book was absolutely not intended to be a facilitator,
actually. It reminds me of the role of process observer in a concensus
model. The role of process observer reminds me of the role of an open space
practitioner holding space. It is really an inner role,undertaken, IMHO, on
behalf of the whole.
It is a subtle task, to hold space. I see a need for human collectives to
trust individual human beings to hold space on behalf of the whole. Indeed,
I think much of the success of OS comes from the power of having individuals
(OS practitioners) inwardly holding the space of OS meetings. I'd actually
like to see the inner work of holding space (and, in other contexts, holding
the organization and its goals) become more explicit.
Maybe my peerspirit circle did things all wrong. . . you mention, Winston,
that when the bell rings, the group waits for further instruction. In our
group, we all assumed, without ever having discussed it, that those further
instructions would come silently. . . and they always did.
I may be projecting a lot onto your post, Winston, and if I misinterpret
you, I apologize . . . what kind of facilitation would feel right to you if
one member of a group felt that the energy of the group had gotten a bit
off. . . if ringing a bell for a few moments of silence does not feel right,
what, if anything, would feel right to you?
I belong to an OS collective called Spirited Work. And I am a steward for
SW, which we like to think of as SW Advanced Course. We have developed a
practice at our stewards meetings similar to this guardian role. If any
person at a meeting feels like things are off balance, they can remind the
group to breath. We don't use a bell. No further instructions are given.
It is a way to re-member that it is our aspiration to be aligned with one
another. And to tell you the truth, we are not exactly rigid about calling
for a breath. At the last stewards' meeting, people were excited and
jumping onto each other's sentences and I started to feel like I had to look
for openings to interrupt someone if I was going to get to say anything. . .
I am a big talker and there I was feeling like I couldn't get a word in. It
would have been a perfect time to ask the group to take and remember to
breath. . . or a perfect time to ring a bell for a moment of silence. . .
but what I actually did was that I said "I feel like I have to interrupt
someone if I want to say anything." My colleagues paused instantly in
silence, just for a moment. . . we collectively caught our breath, I guess.
And then the meeting went on, at a slower pace.
I apologize for taking up so much airtime in a post on this listserv. And I
am mindful that I may be talking about something unrelated to your
intentions, Winston. I feel free, in just about any setting, to undertake
the role of 'guardian' or the holder of space. I feel free, in just about
any setting, to ask for a pause if things feel off balance to me. I do not
think this means I am controlling any group I am in. .. I think it means I
am tuned in to the collective's energy. . . if I feel the need to ring a
bell for a moment of silent or I feel the need to ask a group to stop and
breath for a moment. . . is that facilitator 'control'? I think it is
holding space on behalf of the whole.
>From: Winston Kinch <kinch at rogers.com>
>Reply-To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
>To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>Subject: Re: the dark side of circle practices -- and related themes
>Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 11:09:22 -0400
>
>Thanks for your response Therese.
>
>The words "dark side" occur only in the (inherited) subject of
the string,
>I made no reference to them in my post. Nor did I have any intention
>of imputing any "darkness" to the PeerSpirit Circle process.
To the
>contrary I see it as inspirited. I was responding primarily to
Harrison's
>question in his post of July 8: "... what is/are circle practices
in the
>West
>or anywhere else????" and musing on the subject/question of
facilitator
>control and if it was germane to the string.
>
>My post was based on my reading of the book "Calling the
Circle".
>I cite writings on pages 74 and 75 as an example.
>
>On page 74, number five of six "generic circle agreements"
states as
>follows: "Anyone in the circle may call for silence, time out, or
ritual to
>reestablish focus, to recenter, or to remember the need for spiritual
>guidance."
>
>And from page 75, in the Section named "Guardian of the
Circle" I excerpt
>the sentence (already in italics in the text): "The Guardian has
the
>group's permission to interrupt and intercede in group process for the
>purpose of calling the circle back to center, to task, or to respectful
>practice, or suggesting a needed break." And on the same page:
"The
>guardian often serves as the one who carries out agreement five"
and: "At
>these moments, the guardian calls for silence by using the agreed-upon
>signal. Everyone (in italics) falls silent, and waits for further
>instruction."
>
>I hope you will allow my interpretation of that as a potential source of
>facilitator control...
>
>Respectfully and with caring,
>
>Winston
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Therese Fitzpatrick" <theresefitz at hotmail.com>
>To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
>Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 9:37 PM
>Subject: Re: the dark side of circle practices -- and related themes
>
>Regarding: Christina Baldwin's circle methodology, Meg Wheatley's
embrace
>of Christina's approach and 'facilitator control'.
>
>I participated in a From the Four Directions circle for two years. Our
>'facilitator' had been trained by Christina and Meg. We all read both
>Christina's and Meg's books. Most of us were facilitators and OD types.
>
>There was no facilitator control of any kind and I never got the
impression
>that the methodology had any intention in its design to have facilitator
>control in its design. The facilitator held space for our first meeting
>and
>then we quickly self managed for the next two years. The facilitator
>continued to feel responsible, I know, and she was in dialogue with
>Christina. But the facilitator exerted no control. The group actually
>brought Christina to Michigan to do a circle practicum but that took
place
>after I had moved to Seattle.
>
>There was no 'dark side' in any circle practice in our Four Directions
>group
>and I feel quite confident that we were closelyl aligned with both
>Christina
>and Meg. Two of our members, Carol and Dave Schwinn are long time
partners
>with Meg. Carol still works for and with Meg. I am a savvy gal and if
>there
>was a dark side to Christina or Meg's approach to circle, I would have
>discerned it.
>
>
>
>
>>From: WINSTON KINCH <kinch at rogers.com>
>>Reply-To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
>>To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>>Subject: the dark side of circle practices -- and related themes
>>Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 08:21:36 -0400
>>
>>Hi all.
>>I know this is a somewhat extended string at this point (I just
>returned
>>from some time away and tuned in) but the "circle
practices"
>referred to
>>early on in the discussion sound a lot like Christina Baldwin's
>"Calling
>>the Circle" which Meg Wheatley has supported in her
recent work...
>I recall
>>having some concerns about the "facilitator
control" aspects
>of the process
>>when I first read about it and wonder if that is not what is
underlying
>>what I have been reading in the string?
>>Winston
>
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