Is trust a part of open space?

Therese Fitzpatrick therese.fitzpatrick at gmail.com
Wed Feb 2 14:12:22 PST 2005


I agree with you, Harrison.

Thanks to all for helping me work this through for myself.  I wanted
to read what OS practitioners thought about it.


On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 16:36:18 -0500, Harrison Owen <hhowen at comcast.net> wrote:
> From: Harrison Owen [mailto:hhowen at comcast.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2005 7:24 AM
> To: 'Therese Fitzpatrick'
> Subject: RE: Is trust a part of open space?
>
> Therese -- I don't think it is so much a question of talking about Trust or
> not -- but WHEN that conversation might take place. I would suggest that
> talking about it in the introduction won't help all that much. And more to
> the point, the more you say up front, the longer it takes for the people to
> move into action. From where I sit the issue is not about hearing good words
> about Trust, but rather BEING the trust they long for. And that state of
> trusting, being trusted and trustworthy is, I think the majority experience
> in Open Space -- no words needed. But there is a problem here as well. The
> feeling of trust (as indeed all the other interesting things that happen in
> open Space) usually comes along unannounced. It is often the case that
> people just do not realize how far they have come in Open Space. What may
> have felt strange in the beginning quickly becomes natural -- and hence
> un-noticed. So. I think there is a real gain in bringing all those "changes"
> to mind at the end, by way of reflection. This doesn't have to be a several
> hour activity (which nobody would stand still for) -- indeed it can all be
> accomplished quite quickly. After all when you have had the experience, you
> don't have to go on about it, just have to note and acknowledge it. For
> myself, I often use the Medicine Wheel as a template for reflection. I ask
> the community to think about how it was that Leadership, Vision, Community,
> and Management showed up in their time together -- and to notice what was
> different or strange. They always seem to "get it." (If you are interested
> in more about the Medicine Wheel and my approach -- take at look at the
> section in The User's Guide.)
>
> Harrison
>
> 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 Therese
> Fitzpatrick
> Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 6:17 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: Is trust a part of open space?
>
> I agree with you, Larry, that it may be counterproductive to talk
> about trust as one opens space.
>
> And, yet, I have a growing inner guidance that people in general need
> to be talking about trust more and more openly.
>
> I also believe that OS is not one single thing with one single
> approach.  If I believe that talking about trust is something I should
> do, I embody the principles by doing so.  If the law of two feet is
> guiding me to talk about trust in my role as facilitator. . . .
>
> Thanks for this rich conversation.
>
> On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 15:32:55 -0500, Larry Peterson <larry at spiritedorg.com>
> wrote:
> > I agree with Michael that you do not need to talk explicitly about
> > "trust" when opening the space -- in fact it may be counterproductive.
> > I never do.
> >
> > I agree with Bea that Trust is Trust, in OS or not:
> >
> > -The sponsor or client has to trust the facilitator to open a space that
> > relates to the focus/theme/directions she has established.  This is part
> > of the reason for good preparation and planning.
> >
> > -When the sponsor/client makes their opening remarks, they need to
> > engender the trust of the participants that they will follow thru with
> > their commitments to what will happen during and after the OST event.
> > That's why I get them to state some of them explicitly -- like you have
> > freedom to act and the resources will be provided, or you have freedom
> > to make proposals and the decision will be made by such and such a time,
> > or you have freedom to do what ever you want but we have no resources to
> > support you.  Being straight with the folks gathered increases their
> > trust
> >
> > -The facilitator builds trust in the process by the way they open space
> > -- through their confidence, words and spirit.  I believe this affects
> > how quickly people put up topics and how much energy emerges at the
> > beginning. (However, if there is lack of trust in the sponsor it will
> > show anyway.)
> >
> > --The facilitator shows trust by not intervening once the space is open,
> > by taking that nap or fiddling with the reporting system.  Every time
> > someone asks for an intervention and the facilitator says -- in OST I
> > trust you to figure out how to do it.
> >
> > Some Thoughts to add
> >
> > Larry
> >
> > Larry Peterson
> > Associates in Transformation
> > Toronto, ON, Canada
> > 416.653.4829
> >
> > larry at spiritedorg.com
> > www.spiritedorg.com
> >
> > *
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>
> --
> Warmly,
> Therese Fitzpatric
>
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--
Warmly,
Therese Fitzpatric

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>From  Wed Feb  2 14:24:03 2005
Message-Id: <WED.2.FEB.2005.142403.0800.>
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 14:24:03 -0800
Reply-To: chris at chriscorrigan.com
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Chris Corrigan <chris.corrigan at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Photos from an Open Space in a traditional west coast Big
 House
In-Reply-To: <6.2.0.14.0.20050202145849.01db13d0 at pop.iprimus.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 14:58:58 +0800, Brendan McKeague
<mckeague at iprimus.com.au> wrote:
> Thanks for this experience Chris - a beautiful insight into a community
> connecting...
> As I looked at the pictures I felt as though I was present and could feel
> something of the atmosphere created - very moving and inspirational.
> I would love to know more about how this project came about..?
> Cheers
> Brendan
>

Hi Brendan:

I've been working with these youth for years.  In Canada there is a
government sponsored program called the Urban Multipurpose Aboriginal
Youth Centres initiative (UMAYC).  Back in 2000 I started working with
these youth councils across western Canada using Open Space to set
priorities for the UMAYC councils to spend their money.  Eventually,
some of the youth asked me to train them in Open Space and I agreed. I
can hardly ever turn them down.  For several years I volunteered
training and facilitation services whenever they needed organizing.

In 2003 my partner Chris Robertson and I facilitated a meeting that
had long been a dream of ours.  We were invited by our BC Regional
Vice Chief, Satsan, to convene a meeting of 100 emerging Aboriginal
leaders.  The story and proceedings from that
event are here: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/clients/2003_11_01_archive.html

Satsan stepped down at the end of his term in December 2003, and the
new Vice Chief Shawn Atleo stepped in.  Shawn is an old friend and an
HR consultant and facilitator and is a hereditary chief of the Ahousat
Nation, part of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth people from Vancouver Island.  He
was so taken with the emerging leadership work we were doing that he
agreed to put whatever resources he could muster into supporting an
extension of this work.  So, last spring, he found some money with the
help of the federal government (whose rep took some of these photos of
me) and we planned out the five forums to bring the spirit of the
emerging leadership gathering out to the communities.

And so here we are.  The project is called BOLT: Building our Legacy
Together.  And that's what we're doing.  One down and four to go.

Cheers,

Chris

-------------------------
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com

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