OST learning workshop December 17-19, 2006. Reflections (long) [x-posted from Genuine Contact list]...with additions

[Michael M Pannwitz]

Dear Raffi,
have a great time in San Diego...hope you run into some osnicks there!
Would like to invite Gabdulla Hamitov to include his os-events in our 
newly set "open space worldscape", a fancy data base that now has 
details on 300+ events (most in Germany and Europe but steadily spreading)
Have a look
> http://www.openspaceworldscape.org/

and enter your stuff as well
and all you others out there always having been on the lookout for a 
worldwide data base
Greetings from Berlin
mmp

Raffi Aftandelian wrote:
> Dear colleagues and friends,
> 
> On the eve of departing for the US (for San Diego, Calif.) for a
> sabbatical, GC trainer Ludmila Ivanova and I just finished conducting a
> three day Working with Open Space Technology Workshop. I'd like to share
> some initial reflections on the experience.
> 
> The workshop was one of my most enjoyable and satisfying experiences
> ever in working with a group and was an excellent opportunity to taste
> the nectar of the essence of GCP, as it were. I found myself thinking
> differently about different aspects of GCP, especially WPPF. I found a
> renewed curiosity about WPPF and its potential and hope to organize an
> online meeting (skype? phone conference?) to further explore WPPF's
> form and essence. One aha I had was moving beyond a previous opinion I
> had about tools, that a "correct" worldview and attitude is superior
> to a tool, when that might be tantamount to preferring shrimp to
> apples. Specifically, previously I'd thought that OST was the only
> true facilitation around because as a tool only it has the capability
> to bust illusions. The workshop moved me to recognize that maybe what
> is more important is to bring the essence of os to anything I do.
> Pretty obvious, I recognize...
> 
> I was amazed that we covered so much ground, so thoroughly, and
> without rushing or hurrying the group...over three days. I wasn't sure
> that we could do it. But we seemed to look at form and essence of OST
> every which way possible, and also covered the prep work with the
> sponsor very carefully.
> 
> Participants
> The small group of 6 was highly diverse. A personal highlight for me
> was seeing "retiree" and trainer/coach Gabdulla Hamitov. Some of you
> might remember Gabdulla as the one who co-held the space during OS on
> OS XIV in Moscow on day two. It was a gift to see the presence,
> sharp-mindedness, openness, deep listening, passion, thoughtfulness that he
> brought to our workshop. Since first
> coming to OST in April last year he has conducted 8 OST meetings,
> starting first from phone coaching from me and other Russian and
> Ukrainian spaceholders. He has brought OST to midsized companies and NGO's
> in his hometown of Ufa and nearby cities.
> 
> Learning about how he has consulted with so many other OST'ers gives
> me hope about the development of the fledgling OST community of
> practice in Russia and Ukraine. Might we also be able to talk of a
> Russian GCP community soon?
> 
> I really hope he will continue to explore OST with other spaceholders
> and to continue exploring within the framework of the GCP.
> 
> Other particpants included a processworker, Reiki master, director of
> an NGO for children with development disabilities, and orphans' rights
> activist. What rich conversations we had! It was a real challenge to
> really let conversations wander at times in large group when it would
> seem like they had no connection with the topic at hand, but it worked
> to pretend to let go!
> 
> This was Ludmila and I's first time conducting an OST learning
> workshop together and I am especially grateful to her trust that she
> brings to the now, her simplicity, power of presence, and humility. It
> really deepened my own understanding of spaceholding.
> 
> Workshop location
> For the second time now I have organized a workshop in my small Moscow
> apartment. The first time was right after the Moscow OS on OS when
> professional spaceholder and OSlistnik Dr. Wendy Farmer-O'Neil conducted an
> international introductory Community Weaving Workshop. It seemed to work
> then with a small group, and with 6
> participants this time it worked as well.
> 
> Perhaps having spaceholders from around the world at my apartment for
> a party post OS on OS XIV prepared the space for such a smooth workshop?
> 
> Other highlights
> 
> - seeing one of the participants who had no previous contact with OST,
> make the distinction between the os of life  and OST when working with
> developing a definition of OST. "open space is what is."
> 
> - inviting the group to experience silence in morning and evening
> news. Thanks Peggy!
> 
> - participants getting psyched for OS on OS 2007 in Kyiv.
> 
> - experimenting with minimalist facilitation during morning/evening news.
> Thanks Michael
> (herman)!
> 
> - using natural objects from Nepal, Australia, Ukraine, different
> parts of Russia from my jumbo collection for transfer-ins in our
> workshop
> 
> - burning pine cones and different kinds of bark in my apartment to
> prepare the space for os. There is a silver lining in not having a fire
> alarm in my
> apartment...
> 
> - enjoying homemade Mos-Tex-Mex vegetarian nachos with guac and salsa
> 
> - enjoying a homemade mushroom-onion-fetacheese spread...
> 
> - teaching the battery-powered croaking frog soap bubble blower/gun Thic Nat
> Hanh
> mindfulness walking meditation (1 mb video training clip available upon
> request) for preparing a space prior to an OST/WPPF meeting
> 
> - noticing how we had two days of overcast weather with no snow, and
> then on the third (and last) day of the workshop we had an incredible
> sun warming us (the first sun in weeks!) together with snowfall (this
> has been probably the warmest December on record and there hasn't been
> snow for weeks).
> 
> - GCP Chi Gung offered by one of the participants
> 
> - Ludmila snoozing in large group at various points during the
> workshop. Lucky her! Was that her sleeping during a piece of WPPF facilitation?
> 
> I remain curious about how we can "measure" how effective an OST learning
> workshop is. Thomas Herman posted on the GC list recently that he has tool
> to measure this. And I have heard it remarked that the "effect" of an OST
> learning workshop can be diffuse depending on who leads it. Recognizing that
> some who have been with OST since the early days have moved away from formal
> OST facilitation/training to os-consonant practices, I wonder how important
> or relevant it might be measure a "result" of a training as much as it is
> satisfying and intriguing to see the "measured" fruits of one's work. Does
> it matter at all if after training in OST that a participant never ever
> opens space?
> 
> Hope to have the fotos on flickr soon...
> And hope to see 6 more spaceholders at an OSlist near you.
> 
> warmly from Moscow,
> raffi
> 
> p.s. THank you Joelle and Diane for your recent words of support!
> 
> Mini-glossary
> GC trainer- Genuine Contact Program (GCP) trainer
> 
> WPPF- Whole Person Process Facilitation, a facilitation method/approach used
> within GCP
> 
> transfer-in- a short exercise to invite the whole person of the now of a
> meeting or other learning situation.
> 
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