Is trust a part of open space?

Therese Fitzpatrick therese.fitzpatrick at gmail.com
Mon Jan 31 19:00:23 PST 2005


Thanks, folks.

I have been teasing out some of my own internal processes and I needed
to hear OS'ers talking about trust in OS.  I am feeling real gratitude
to 'hear' what you think.

It looks, to me, that in deciding whether or not to openly voice an
element like trust, it all depends on the situation.

Judging when to say "trust" out loud is part of the art.


On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 02:32:46 +0200, averbuch <averbuch at post.tau.ac.il> wrote:
> I believe trust can be both the result of an open space gathering (in at
> least 90% of what I have witnessed or facilitated). and the precondition to
> one.
>
> An example that comes to mind is the 3 day OS in Rome 4 years ago,
> facilitated by Harrison, of Israelis and Palestinians opening space for the
> question of:" what are the issues and challenges in building trust"... The
> people that came didn't trust one another to begin with but they did care
> enough to come. The wading through for three days together created some
> fragile but real trust. Some people stayed in contact, most didn't, but all
> stayed with the experience that it was and is possible to move forward
> (there is a paper telling the story of what the participants thought of the
> experience a year and a half later that was put together buy Carol Daniel,
> Avner Haramati and myself for the POP gathering in Seattle (Whidbey).
>
> As I understand it the basic element of trust needed may be only one:
> - thinking that it is worthwhile trusting the wisdom of self organization in
> the sense that you "know" (deeply trust) that human kind, like any other
> kind - has a collective wisdom that will be manifested if called for. Like
> trusting the process of giving birth (yes you need to keep it clean and take
> some measures of rest before and after, and a nap throughout won't hurt
> too:)).
>         When I come to think of it my main road of learning the sense of
> self organization over time are all of you, who         became, as trust
> grew and developed, my community of practice. Watching oslist showed me in a
> very plain and  simple way the dance of the visible, the lurking, the
> emergent-.
>
> If the open space takes place in a community this basic element is enough
> and I trust that those who care enough to come will show up and do the work
> of the collective.
>
> If the open space takes place in a context of an organization I usually need
> a second sense of trust and that is:
> - that those in power and formal leadership really know that opening space
> means sharing power/leadership, opening up to surprise -  at least have this
> intention. I am not very particular if they espier for sharing leadership
> because of their values or because of their despair but I do mind if they
> are genuine.
>
> For this second sense of trust I do preparatory work. When I smell the
> reason for an OS is "a new fad" I try to stay out. I am very interested if
> anyone cares to share: what do you do? When do you decide not to step in
> even if you are asked to?
> All the best
> Tova
>
> Tova Averbuch             טובה אורבוך
> 34 Rabinovitz St.   רחוב ×¨×‘×™× ×•×‘×™×¥ 34
> Holon            58672               חולון
> Israel
>                972-3-5523476
>          averbuch at post.tau.ac.il
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Shay Ben
> Yosef
> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 11:16 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: {Spam?} Re: Is trust a part of open space?
>
> Dear friends
>
> yes the trust is a basic element of the OS but unfortunately we can't force
> it to be there...
>
> So we just have to enable it, to make the proper conditions.
>
> Maybe if I trust myself, trusting the sponsor, the preparation team and the
> participants it will show up
>
> Thank you all for the learning opportunities I'm getting from this community
>
> Shay
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Harrison Owen" <hhowen at comcast.net>
> To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
>
> Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 6:05 PM
> Subject: FW: Is trust a part of open space?
>
> > From: Harrison Owen [mailto:hhowen at comcast.net]
> > Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 7:39 AM
> > To: 'Therese Fitzpatrick'
> > Subject: RE: Is trust a part of open space?
> >
> > I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask folk to trust, but I doubt it would
> > do
> any
> > good. A very high percentage of the time when somebody says, "Trust
> > me" we think just the opposite. If you have to say it, it may not be
> > there, and
> if
> > you have to ask for it, it may never come. The most wonderful thing
> > for me is that without a word, Trust shows up (along with respect and
> > hope).
> After
> > the fact it probably wouldn't hurt to ask folks if they noticed???
> > When I
> do
> > this -- there is usually a gorgeous collective Ahaaah! Moment.
> >
> > 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
> > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives
> > Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
> > Therese Fitzpatrick
> > Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 3:08 AM
> > To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> > Subject: Re: Is trust a part of open space?
> >
> > Thanks, Allen.
> >
> > I see trust as part of the energy that allows open space to emerge.  I
> > see it as integral to all the principles and the law of two feet.
> >
> > Is it acceptable Open Space practice to invite participants to trust?
> > Or is it best to leave trust unspoken?
> >
> > Thanks.  I'm chewing on something and I'd like to hear about
> > experiences around 'trust'.
> >
> > Therese
> > (Paul:  I just remembered that I am not using my name.  My apologies.)
> >
> >
> > On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 23:53:31 -0500, Alan Klein <alan at klein.net> wrote:
> > > Sure and it goes beyond "Trust the process", though that is
> > > important. I believe that it starts (and maybe ends) with the
> > > facilitator trusting themselves.
> > >
> > > ~Alan Klein
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Therese Fitzpatrick
> > > I am just going to ask my question without posting what I think.
> > > I'd like to hear some what some of you think about trust and open
> > > space.
> > >
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