Open Space - a minimum?

Sun Aug 14 08:05:37 PDT 2005

Dear Funda,
when I am a facilitator, thats my focus.
Getting out of the way, being unattached, with the stance "dont do
anything, just stand there" ( instead of "do something, dont just
stand there")
works better all the time as I am struggling to be in that mode.
When I am a participant, then its me, my problem, my struggle, my
solution and others better dont mess with me,
especially not some wisecrack facilitators trying to help me.
Hope to see you in Berlin soon
hugs
mmp

On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 12:42:55 +0300, Funda Oral wrote:

>Michael writes :
>"There, I saw grand opportunities for open space and talked about it
>to people."
>
>That's what i do here, although it is not heard so quickly. But i can not 
>get detached
>so quickly from people's struggle.
>
>I agree that self organizing, local resources, their lives and livelyhood
>(as Harrison mentions)...their ability to create solutions are 
>important...very important.
>
>I still think that we ( the ones having more to eat, a shelter, health, 
>space; who were lucky to get some education, travel, learn
>appreciate, enyoy life,  so on)  can not say "them, their problems, their 
>struggle, their solutions".
>
>I feel our responsibility is more then that.
>
>Funda
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Pannwitz, Michael M" <mmpanne at boscop.de>
>To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
>Sent: Sunday, August 14, 2005 11:00 AM
>Subject: Open Space - a minimum?
>
>
>> Dear Funda,
>> I live in a rich city: Berlin.
>> My colleagues and I have facilitated about 300 os-events since 1996
>> in this city alone.
>> The dark sides of this city have in that same period grown:
>> unemployment, poverty, homelessness, dismanteling of social services,
>> cuts in primary education and health care, disentchantment with the
>> political process....along with the widening gap between poor -
>> middle income and rich people.
>> So, whats all this effort led to?
>> Heaven knows
>> and
>> almost every day I get little signs
>> someone approaching me in a bus, on the street, an email, a telephone
>> call,
>> characterized by a smile.
>> As far as I am concerned, thats pretty much all I need to keep going.
>> A few days ago I returned from Karachi, Pakistan,
>> somewhere between 14 and 19 million people,
>> where Yaari and I lead a training for 26 colleagues from Afghanistan,
>> Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
>> There, I saw grand opportunities for open space and talked about it
>> to people.
>> That environment with its many challenges invigorated me,
>> especially those thousands of people I saw while going to the
>> railroad station, the harbor, the markets, along teeming streets...
>> all of them, including the tenacious begging children, rising to the
>> really difficult situation making a go of things,
>> seemingly at a very high level of "muddling through".
>> What splendid resources!
>> And: I dont need to understand their struggle to facilitate an open
>> space technology event.
>> And: I am certainly not going to help them to get what they need not
>> really knowing or being able to understand their need.
>> Neither in Berlin or in Karachi.
>> What I can supply, is assistance in getting an os-event set up and to
>> facilitate it (or, in the case of Karachi, train people to do that)
>> which will definitely provide the best known framework for
>> selforganization including the optimal use of whatever resources are
>> available.
>>
>> While I was in Karachi, I read the "Dawn" every morning (in fact,
>> there is hardly a dawn or dusk in Karachi, it seems to go from light
>> to dark to light within minutes)
>> and a story about "Karachi 2020" caught my eye.
>> It described in great detail all the stuff a huge staff of
>> consultants (foreign) was hired for to "understand" the problem,
>> about 20 fields of investigation, half a newspaper page full (census,
>> roads, income distribution, migration patterns.....)
>> with side remarks about the government scolding the local planners
>> for not being competent to develope proper plans.
>> I read it all and at the very end I found a note that after the plans
>> would all be drawn up,
>> citizens would be invited to explain the plans to them,
>> with the possibility to then fine tune them.
>>
>> Well, what a neglect of local resources!
>> What an upside down procedure, producing another set of eventually
>> useless data under the ill fatet belief that this kind of planning
>> will actually improve Karachi.
>> Lots of room for open space, though.
>> Maybe some of my colleagues will get busy on those and other areas
>> there.
>>
>> Greetings from Berlin
>> mmp
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 13:40:56 +0300, Funda Oral wrote:
>>
>>>Dear John and everybody,
>>>
>>>I live in a city where one can see extreme cases ( richness and poorness,
>>>joy and powerty so on...)
>>>in a short distance from each other.
>>>
>>>One sees so big problems, and so strong struggle for life
>>>that sometime the word "open space" looks funny, silly and luxury.
>>>
>>>I still believe that "opening space", inviting people to
>>>exist, to talk, to express their needs and struggle is
>>>"something", a very small step maybe, but still helpful.
>>>
>>>But it's not enough, the ultimate aim is to understand their straggle
>>>and help them to get what they need...we don't need to be poor with the
>>>poor;
>>>sick with the sick ( as Judi beautifully mentions)...the least we can do
>>>is to open space to respect them.... but this is only the minimum.
>>>
>>>And i am very worried and sad to see that in many cases all i could
>>>do would be to open space. I am not strong or rich enough to end
>>>struggle.
>>>
>>>I guess we need more trembling hearts, more resources and better
>>>cooperation for that.
>>>
>>>Funda
>>>
>>>
>>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>>From: "john engle" <englejohn at hotmail.com>
>>>To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
>>>Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 10:17 PM
>>>Subject: powerful poem! help me understand it.
>>>
>>>
>>>> hi brendan, kairi and others.
>>>>
>>>> i've never opened space in a prison but i have participated in a
>>>> touchstones discussion (http://touchstones.org) with about 25 men 
>>>> serving
>>>> life sentences. the discussion centered around "power" and not
>>>> surprisingly, i learned a great deal.
>>>>
>>>> great that you are doing this! i look forward to following developments 
>>>> as
>>>> you work toward opening space in prisons.
>>>>
>>>> on another subject, kairi, thank you for sharing that poem in your
>>>> message. i love it! and, i loved being at OSonOS! Judi, you and your 
>>>> team
>>>> did a great job at receiving us and making us feel at home.
>>>>
>>>> while i love the spirit of the poem, i just don't know what to do with
>>>> "banish the word struggle from your vocabulary." how do others see this?
>>>>
>>>> removing the word struggle from MY vocabulary seems like it could have
>>>> some positive outcomes. at the same time, it's hard for me to think of a
>>>> better word that describes daily life for so many people. and, not
>>>> acknowledging this seems like i might be missing something as i work 
>>>> with
>>>> folks in circumstances so much different from my own.
>>>>
>>>> i'm in haiti as i write and catching up with friends and colleagues. 
>>>> there
>>>> are at least hundreds of thousands of people here--some estimate in the
>>>> millions--that don't consume a meal each day. and when they do, they 
>>>> don't
>>>> know when they'll eat next. i can't begin to imagine what living with so
>>>> much uncertainty and discomfort must be like. and i've also learned that
>>>> far too often we who live in financially prosperous countries romance
>>>> poverty, saying that poor people are happier.
>>>>
>>>> it serves us (people who live in financially prosperous countries) well 
>>>> to
>>>> see things this way and it pains me when i have US American visitors 
>>>> with
>>>> me in Haiti and conclude after a week here that the people are "so 
>>>> happy."
>>>> in many cultures, those in the southern countries included, it is
>>>> appropriate to put one's best face forward especially when meeting
>>>> visitors. those same Haitians who looked so happy to the visitor might 
>>>> be
>>>> totally stressed out because they're worrying about how they're going to
>>>> pay school fees for their kids and get a meal together, etc. when they
>>>> speak in their own language to me, "struggle" projects from their facial
>>>> expressions, body movement and words.
>>>>
>>>> i would not feel comfortable asking folks who live such realities to
>>>> remove "struggle" from their vocabulary.
>>>>
>>>> thanks for your patience as i vent and live emotions connected to being
>>>> with friends in extremely difficult situations.
>>>>
>>>> john
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://JohnEngle.net
>>>> email: john at johnengle.net
>>>> P.O. Box 337
>>>> Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033
>>>> tel. 202-236-6532
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>From: Brendan McKeague <mckeague at iprimus.com.au>
>>>>>Reply-To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
>>>>>To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>>>>>Subject: Re: There is a river flowing now very fast
>>>>>Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 08:26:54 +0800
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>"Banish the word 'struggle' from your attitude and your vocabulary.
>>>>>All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
>>>>>aahhh....thank you so much Kairi
>>>>>
>>>>>What a moment to receive this gift - the start of a brand new
>>>>>day...beautiful and inspiring...today I will let go a wee bit more...
>>>>>I am about to depart for  a day's 'space-making' in a maximum security
>>>>>prison with long-term offenders..
>>>>>I will be present and holding space with individual men - my dream is 
>>>>>that
>>>>>one day there may be more collective open space within such 
>>>>>confinement...
>>>>>.
>>>>>Anyone ever opened space in a prison?
>>>>>
>>>>>peace to all
>>>>>Brendan
>>>>>
>>>>>*
>>>>>*
>>>>>==========================================================
>>>>>OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
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>>>>>
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>>>>>http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
>>>>
>>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>>> MSN Messenger : discutez en direct avec vos amis !
>>>> http://www.msn.fr/msger/default.asp
>>>>
>>>> *
>>>> *
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>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
>> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
>> ++49-30-772 8000
>> www.boscop.de   www.michaelmpannwitz.de
>>
>> Check out the new Open Space World Map now with 309 resident Open Space 
>> Workers in 57 countries (working in a total of 115 countries worldwide)
>> www.openspaceworldmap.org
>>
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>> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
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>
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Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
++49-30-772 8000
www.boscop.de   www.michaelmpannwitz.de

Check out the new Open Space World Map now with 309 resident Open Space Workers in 57 countries (working in a total of 115 countries worldwide)
www.openspaceworldmap.org

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>From  Sun Aug 14 11:22:55 2005
Message-Id: <SUN.14.AUG.2005.112255.0400.>
Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 11:22:55 -0400
Reply-To: chris at got2change.com
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Chris Kloth <chris at got2change.com>
Organization: ChangeWorks of the Heartland
Subject: Re: Open Space - a minimum?
In-Reply-To: <001e01c5a0b4$8d1b6f30$5a1962d4 at funda7ts74pfmr>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Funda Oral wrote:

> That's what i do here, although it is not heard so quickly. But i can 
> not get detached
> so quickly from people's struggle.
>
> I agree that self organizing, local resources, their lives and livelyhood
> (as Harrison mentions)...their ability to create solutions are 
> important...very important.
>
> I still think that we ( the ones having more to eat, a shelter, 
> health, space; who were lucky to get some education, travel, learn
> appreciate, enyoy life,  so on)  can not say "them, their problems, 
> their struggle, their solutions".
>
> I feel our responsibility is more then that.
>

As I have been following this and related threads lately I have found 
that my thoughts keep being distracted by my feelings.  I hope the 
following adds something beyond providing me with space to reflect and 
emote.

As a person of privilage raised by godless, working class parents of 
principle I have always had a sense that when others are suffering it is 
our problem, not theirs.  As a Jew the principle of tikkun olam (healing 
the world) is important to me.  So I have always felt a responsibility 
to leverage my gifts to address concerns of people "less fortunate" (as 
my parents would put it) than myself. 

One of the curses that came with this blessing was that I could never do 
enough...there were too many problems needing my attention.  The more I 
worked on problems, tried to understand them, tried to solve them, the 
more exhausted I got and the more isolated from myself I became. 

It took me a long time to learn that there was a significant amount of 
paternalism in my view of people "less fortunate" than me and their 
challenges.  Before I confronted this side of myself I worked on 
community issues by leveraging my position, knowledge, skills, etc. to 
lead people toward solutions my analysis concluded would be most 
effective.  Even after I realized that people frequently resist being 
lead in that way I learned to use group dynamics and facilitation skills 
to work with people so they might feel more "ownership" of the 
solutions...but they were still my solutions.  Eventually I began to 
feel that I had become a skilled manipulator and questioned my work and 
motives.

At some point I guess I began to hear what people were saying as more 
than just grist for my mill.  I began to notice that the solutions that 
were most sustainable were built on the unique gifts of these "less 
fortunate" people.   Fortunately, at about the same time I also began to 
learn about David Bohm's approach to dialogue, future search and open 
space technology.  

When I began appreciating the gifts of other people I found that a 
number of things changed in my life and my work.  I felt less 
exhausted.  I let go of the idea that it was all on me.  I felt less 
isoltated from myself and others.  I made new friends.  I saw more 
poeple doing more things more effectively and finding their own ways to 
do things.  More opportunities came to me instead of me always going out 
to look for them.

Ironically I realized that there was a part of my earlier, less healthy 
life as a musician that should have revealed these truths sooner - the 
jam session!  I had been participating in self-organizing systems in my 
youth without realizing it!  So I also got more playful in my work and 
in life...without having to let go of the spirit of tikkun olam. 

I believe that learning about the principles of dialogue made me a more 
authentic listener and, more importantly, made me realize how powerful 
groups of listeners could be.  After I got past the idea of OST as a 
"tool" I realized that opening space for dialogue to occur in is an 
underlying way of approaching the world and the work.  Now, even when I 
find myself in a situation where people are not ready to convene an open 
space event I have "tools" (future search and others) that help begin to 
open space in other ways.

I guess all this is to say that, for me, one of the things OST offers is 
a way of engaging the paradoxes and polarities of privilage and 
marginalization, taking action and creating space for others to take 
action, moving slower to achieve results sooner, feeling passionate 
concern for others and having a clear sense of self, feeling the despair 
of others and in one's self while keeping a lightness of heart...

BTW, a few years ago I unpacked my drums and started playing in bands 
again...jazz, blues, rock-n-roll.  My current band, the Riverside Rats, 
plays for free for organizations supporting causes we support and 
donates to the proceeds of our other gigs to nonprofit organizations.

Chris Kloth, a.k.a. the Rat-a-tat Rat

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