Reflections on Goa

[Harrison Owen]

One more OSONOS has passed into history. Janet Pinto was indeed the hostess
with the very "mostest".  And while all OSONOS's are special, this one
seemed to me to have a special magic and significance. Part of the magic was
doubtless the ambiance of Goa. It is half a world away (for me), but worth
every mile. And of course, the wonderful people who came (as always!). 

What was truly significant to me came in two packages. The first I might
call maturation. Although it is true that we had one or two issues under the
heading of what I might call "nuts and bolts" or practicalities of Open
Space - they were very few and far between. And the perennial chestnut, How
do you Sell Open Space?, never even showed up. All of the issues ran on a
deeper level, I thought. The second package was what I might call
generational change. The number of younger (and new) faces was striking, and
even more striking was the commitment and knowledge they brought to the
table. Some really significant work going on, and it was indeed an honor to
sit at their feet. Some years back it seemed to me to be most important to
make it clear that OS was not (and never had been) a "Harrison" thing. And
so I found it useful to take a step back, at least in terms of hosting the
OSONOS - having complete confidence that all would work perfectly. And it
has. It now seems that another point of passage has arrived with the
appearance of younger souls all ready, willing, and obviously capable of
pushing to new levels. 

Next year (2005) Open space will be 20 years old, and as my dear friend Anne
Stadler pointed out, I will be 70. Retirement has never seemed much of a
option for me, if only because I have never been quite sure that I ever went
to work. Be that as it may, it is absolutely apparent that Open Space is far
from retirement; indeed it may be just now coming into its full power. In
the past 20 years, we have obviously run the Beta Tests - and all systems
seem to be more than operational. And beyond the practicalities, I think we
have plumbed a few of the depths in terms of how and why OS works, while
simultaneously coming to a clearer understanding of how to work most
effectively with it. None of this is to suggest that the end of innovation
and exploration has arrived - but I do think Open Space is ready for duty in
all sorts of wonderful ways, better meetings being only a small part of the
equation. And all of this has occurred not a moment too soon, for the world
as we are experiencing it (at least as I am experiencing it) requires all
sorts of new and enriching space. It has been quite a ride up until now, and
so far as I can see, the most exciting part has already begun.

Harrison

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20845
Phone 301-365-2093

Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>

Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
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