OST as an "halfway technology"

Tue May 18 20:30:46 PDT 2004

this is helpful clarification, harrison.  it occurs to me that
'non-convergence' popped up for this reason... because my experience was
that in *some* situations, the voting-style convergence did just get in
the way.   sometimes, as i've said earlier, even posters seem to get in
the way.   seem like more of a show than is necessary  (in small groups).

so my own wondering is echoing yours... what is the minimum structure
(physical/process including posters, circle, tape, even paper and
markers  -- cf john engle in haiti with non-readers) necessary to
support a group's mutual and simultaneous awareness of their own being
(as enacted via the Law) and the being of the group/larger world (as
embodied by the circle, marketplace and principles) ...mutual awareness
of control and out of control???  seems that the speaking (noticing)
that the law exists (that it is true) is most useful at a minimum for
the former (view of individual) and the building of some bulletin board
announcement space (written or verbal) are most imporant for the latter
(view of group).  the rest happens naturally or not at all.  since there
could be no group if there was no purpose, then purpose, question,
invitation, theme, whatever would be present naturally.  circle might
happen naturally, but that probably need only be invited, rather than
pre-set.  in groups of 200+ it might just be a matter of saving time to
set chairs in a circle.  and it does give us something to do, some way
to 'take care' of our own preparation.  ultimately the question of how
much or little is required to support mutualiy is necessarily new in
every group, every meeting, every moment.  truly a life practice, one
moment at a time.

this reminds me that, in my experience, this mutuality -- the
willingness to let others be as real to me as i am to myself, even and
including when the 'other' is a 'bigger body' that we'd normally call a
'group,' -- is the natural ground from which compassion (wish that
others be free of suffering), love (wish that others be happy), joy
(delight in others happiness) and confidence (equanimity) automatically
and immediately arise.  i'm guessing it's fair to lump these things into
the group form called 'spirit.'   during the evening event i did last
week, i practiced pulsing my awareness between my own spine and the
circle/group throughout the eventing, until even though they were always
distinct in awareness, they were also part of one soup.  took me four
days to burn off the sense of joy.  wow!  not sure what would happen if
the event had been longer or the group more prone to conflict.  maybe
just the same, maybe not.

seems this mutuality has always been part of the story you've told about
open space, harrison... "the good news is, the bad news is"  ...passion
and responsibility... female opening, male directing... individual and
group... lots of dualities to hold and let touch together... in the
pulsation between big group and small groups... until we notice that the
big group is still fully present even when we can't see all the bodies
spread out in nooks and niches, and also noticing that the little
personal connecting sparkles fly across the big circle, as special
relationships made during breakouts don't totally dissolve when the big
circle re-forms.  everybody seems to have a sense of everything.   in
shorthand, again.... spirit.

reminds me of many years ago when i used to suggest that opening space
was like blowing bubbles... and trying to blow the biggest bubble
possible.  necessarily that challenge presents a need to balance how i
direct my breath and what kind of movment and structure i see forming
right in front of me... and also balancing the pressure it will take to
finish the bubble and set it afloating and the amount of air i have left
in my lungs... inner sense and outer needs, inner goal and outer
structure.   bubble, breath, quivering surface, pulsation in the flow,
and attention... until all one and all done, a bubble, whole and free to
go where it will.

so i wonder what would happen if one of us were to go into the empty
conference room, write "what is the future of this company?  ...and what
should it be?" on the whiteboard.  and then sit down and start blowing
bubbles.  i hear that some people actually manage to create jobs and
lives not so very different from that.  this is what i'm imagining as
possible now. <grin>

hmmm...

Harrison Owen wrote:

>I knew I was going to get in trouble when I wrote this one. But there was
>some sort of purpose. For fairly obvious reason, I would be the last person
>to deny the power and utility of OS -- and I really cannot quibble with its
>completeness. Surely it has a beginning, middle and end. What pushed me,
>however, was some concern about our objectives. Why do an OS? Obviously
>there are multiple answers, all valid in their own domain. Such things as a)
>Having a better meeting. b) Energizing an organization. c) Building a
>strategic plan. d) Designing a new product. e)etc, etc. All useful and good,
>I am sure. But why do we REALLY do it? My answer to this one would be -- to
>enable folks to see themselves as they really are, and fully appreciate
>their wholeness. When, if, or as that happens   -- there is no need for Open
>Space, and it becomes quite clear that OST was just a step along the way. In
>a word -- a halfway technology.
>
>It was in this context that I found my self wondering whether there were
>some things that we did (or did not do) that stood in the way of what (for
>me) was the ultimate objective.
>
>ho
>
>Harrison Owen
>7808 River Falls Drive
>Potomac, Maryland   20845
>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
>OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
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>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Judi
>Richardson
>Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 12:12 PM
>To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>Subject: Re: OST as an "halfway technology"
>
>Hello Harrison and all,
>
>I have not read all the replies to Harrison's posting as I received the
>initial posting and printed it off to take with me as I travelled to Open
>Space for an international conference on Globalization.
>
>I am responding to your posting now that 140 participants have generated 40
>topics and moved to their groups.  A teacher arrived last minute with 30
>high school students -- and, as always, they add amazing things to the
>group.  I shall catch up on the replies to your posting upon my return.
>
>I was curious at the Halfway Technology statement and
>
>I see OST as a complete process.  We, as human beings, are here to evolve.
>For a point in time, people agree to gather, to suspend disbelief around
>some principles and one law.  In your posting, Harrison, you eluded that we
>do this just to be what we already are.  I consider the objective mirror of
>OST -- time out of time -- as a chance to see ourselves as we are -- and
>once we do that we have to change.  I would love it if people see some of
>the habitual patterns they develop -- and drop those to become more of what
>we are -- fearlessly.
>
>Who am I to have the audacity to expect the group to go further?  It is
>their process.  It is up to their passion and responsbility to go further.
>
>You state, Harrison, that it would seem that OST is not to be considered.
>Why beat the drum of what we don't want?  I find more and more who want to
>explore the OST process -- in training and in practice.  I facilitated OST
>for 38 B. Ed. students once and they started doing their presentations with
>OST -- no training -- worked myself right out of a job there!
>
>My wanting more for an organization would be "closing space" -- what right
>do I have to project my disappointment on their process?  I see my work to
>build a relationship to the process, to the space, the form, in building the
>container as the content belongs to the group.
>
>OST - for however long is a snapshot in time in the evolution process --
>time out of time, out of habitual patterns, embracing creative tension.  I
>sat up last night with participants from Uganda, Zimbabwe, Australia,
>LeSotho, Canada and the US who wanted to ask questions and play with
>participatory processes.
>
>When I finish here I'm off to Toronto to facilitate a change process for an
>institution including a one and one-half day OST.  The next week I am
>opening space for Aboriginal Fisheries Works in the Department of Fisheries
>and Oceans.  And in the moment we close the space -- it is a full
>technology -- complete, perfect in its imperfection!
>
>And for now I see a few coffee cups to pick up! <grin>
>
>with deep appreciation for the reflection and looking forward to reading
>others responses!
>
>Judi
>__________________________________________________________
>Judith Richardson, MA
>Coaching & Consulting
>Optimizing Performance, Potential and Profitability
>www.ponoconsultants.com
>www.emergentfeminine.com
>
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--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
300 West North Avenue #1105
Chicago IL 60610 USA
(312) 280-7838

http://www.michaelherman.com - consulting & publications
http://www.globalchicago.net - laboratory & playground
http://www.openspaceworld.org - worldwide open space

...inviting organization into movement

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