Keepin' Busy

Funda Oral fundaoral at ttnet.net.tr
Thu Jan 12 14:56:59 PST 2006


"And what are our obligations to the client and the participants? And to our 
selves?"

- to tell the truth

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Harrison Owen" <hhowen at verizon.net>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 6:11 PM
Subject: Re: Keepin' Busy


> Hey Folks -- I wasn't just giving a report of current activities (I am 
> alive
> and breathing). I was also hoping to spark a little conversation about 
> such
> things as -- when do you give up on the sales pitch and push the client to
> the wall in terms of intentions and degrees of freedom? And what are our
> obligations to the client and the participants? And to our selves?
>
> Harrison
>
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland 20854
> Phone 301-365-2093
> Skype hhowen
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website www.ho-image.com
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
> archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Harrison
> Owen
> Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 10:22 AM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Keepin' Busy
>
> I guess I fibbed a wee bit. Yes I am working on a book (or the book is
> working on me) - and there are a few other things coming down as well. I
> have also been working with a really neat organization which is seeking to
> open some space in a very critical area. And they are more than a little
> worried about really opening space. We have been going on and on until I
> felt constrained to send the following message. I share it here because I
> thought it might be of interest. As I was writing this about 5 this 
> morning
> I thought fondly of Lisa and her speech about "only the highly evolved..."
> But I didn't think that would work in this case. Needless to say I have
> scrubbed all the identifying details.
>
> Dear XXXX -- I am glad that you still think Open Space is the way to go --
> but I must confess that I am having some reservations. These reservations
> have nothing to do with the capacity of Open Space enable this group, or
> indeed any group, to engage in meaningful conversation and come to useful
> conclusions. The issue for me is two fold -- First, Do the sponsors feel
> sufficiently trusting and supportive to let the process run? There will be
> moments of high tension, and experience has shown that the people 
> themselves
> can and will handle it all by themselves. The bottom line is that I just 
> let
> it go. Once underway, we are gone, and there is no place for intervention,
> mid-course correction, the conference management committee doing a
> re-design. It is all up to the people.
>
> My second area of concern is whether or not what I might call "competing
> interests" create conditions that are, to some real extent, antithetical 
> to
> real Open Space. I am thinking particularly of the Press. I clearly
> understand the need for press coverage -- just to get the word out. The
> problem is that deep conversations can rarely be reduced to sound-bites.
> Even worse, deep conversations which are only partially concluded are even
> less susceptible to being sound-bites. I think it is quite possible that 
> we
> will reach the end of the first day in Open Space and there is nothing to
> report -- or at least nothing that anybody wants to report. It is equally
> possible that we will reach the end of the conference in the same 
> condition.
> Several thousand years (well almost) of understandings, misunderstandings,
> ignorance, misperceptions, to say nothing of mis-trust and anger will not 
> be
> resolved in three days. We can make a good effort, and things may well 
> move
> along much further than we have any right to expect -- but expectations of
> any sort can be very problematical. The hard lesson of Open Space (and I
> think life as well) is that firm attachment to specific outcomes is 
> usually
> disastrous. When you don't get what you expected the temptation is to 
> think
> that you achieved nothing at all. And if the expectation is that by the 
> end
> we will have a neatly tied up body of conclusions combined with action
> plans, all of which may be "briefed" to the Press, I think that is quite
> unlikely. Possible for sure -- but unlikely. And should any of this occur
> (or actually NOT Occur) the press will leave frustrated and might well
> report total failure. The fact that subtle, but important movement took
> place in the building of relationships, the definitions of issues and
> opportunities for future conversations (but not immediate resolution) will
> escape them because they were not part of the conversations. That would 
> not
> be, I would judge, a desirable outcome.
>
> An even worse scenario would be if we were to drive the whole conference
> towards a final, definitive document with neat conclusions, 
> recommendations
> and actions. That would effectively shut the space down, and the only way 
> to
> assure such an outcome would be to have all of the conclusions,
> recommendations and actions defined in advance. Obviously there are 
> multiple
> international conferences that do just that. Such conferences have the
> advantage of meeting expectations and maintaining the semblance of 
> control.
> But that is not open space (or Open Space).
>
> The crux of the matter, I think, is that everybody (certainly the 
> organizing
> body) must be willing to exist in that wonderful Great Cloud of Unknowing.
> Something for sure will happen, but there is absolutely no way to predict 
> or
> assure what that "something" might be. Personally, I have always found 
> that
> the "something" we didn't expect was so much better than what was 
> predicted
> as to make everything worth while. But you can never tell in advance.
>
> I have written at such length because I think it is absolutely critical 
> that
> all the responsible parties are totally clear about what we are getting 
> into
> -- which paradoxically is that we really don't have a clue, and certainly 
> no
> guarantees. Hope, desires for sure -- but we will not know what is 
> achieved
> until it has happened, and even then we may not be too sure.
>
> Personally, I also want to make sure that nobody mistakes me for a 
> salesman
> or even an advocate for Open Space. I am delighted to share my experience
> and pleased to offer my services, but the choice on how to proceed is not
> mine to make. Truth to tell, I guess I am an advocate, not for Open Space
> Technology -- but rather for the people and their capacity to make sense 
> out
> of the confusing and progress out of difficulty. But you can never tell 
> how
> it will all work out.
>
> Harrison
>
>
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20854
> Phone 301-365-2093
> Skype hhowen
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com 
> <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>
>
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website www.ho-image.com
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives
> Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
> <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html>
>
>
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ------------------------------
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
> view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
> To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
> http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ------------------------------
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
> view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
> To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
> http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist 

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*
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>From  Thu Jan 12 18:03:07 2006
Message-Id: <THU.12.JAN.2006.180307.0500.>
Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 18:03:07 -0500
Reply-To: hhowen at verizon.net
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net>
Organization: HH Owen and Co.
Subject: Re: Keepin' Busy
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

-----Original Message-----
From: Phelim McDermott [mailto:phelim at mac.com] 
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 12:03 PM
To: hhowen at verizon.net
Subject: Re: Keepin' Busy

Hi,

some very quick thoughts..

Your email sounds like a fantastic communication. It reminds me of  
our actors warning. Our auditions being a process of scaring people  
away with the truth of how it will be.. and seeing who's left.

So say what you said. Tell the people with cameras and press people  
it's like trying to catch a ghost on film. Then...

Wait.
Give up hope.
Keep the faith.

Interestingly we had two theatre critics at The Open Space event at  
the weekend. So like the press only more so. We insisted they  
couldn't come unless they participated the whole two days. Afterwards  
both said they had never had such communication before with people in  
the theatre community and that they felt part of the community for  
the first time.
As seen in the list one of the topics convened was "What would happen  
if we killed all theatre Critics!".

Perhaps the press people could be allowed in if they stay the whole  
time.. and feel passionately about the theme of the question. I just  
had a communication with Philip Glass in New York as someone  
suggested I direct one of his operas.


I hadnt ever met him before
Why do you want to direct "Einstein on the beach?" He said
Well I said I'm not sure i do.
By the end of the meeting he said...
"You're genuine reluctance to do this job.. makes me think you really  
are the right person to direct this opera. Or perhaps this would be a  
great gig for you to be able to say you turned down!"

unconnected but somehow connected in my head to your conversation.

phelim





On 12 Jan 2006, at 16:11, Harrison Owen wrote:

> Hey Folks -- I wasn't just giving a report of current activities (I  
> am alive
> and breathing). I was also hoping to spark a little conversation  
> about such
> things as -- when do you give up on the sales pitch and push the  
> client to
> the wall in terms of intentions and degrees of freedom? And what  
> are our
> obligations to the client and the participants? And to our selves?
>
> Harrison
>
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20854
> Phone 301-365-2093
> Skype hhowen
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website www.ho-image.com
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
> archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of  
> Harrison
> Owen
> Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 10:22 AM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Keepin' Busy
>
> I guess I fibbed a wee bit. Yes I am working on a book (or the book is
> working on me) - and there are a few other things coming down as  
> well. I
> have also been working with a really neat organization which is  
> seeking to
> open some space in a very critical area. And they are more than a  
> little
> worried about really opening space. We have been going on and on  
> until I
> felt constrained to send the following message. I share it here  
> because I
> thought it might be of interest. As I was writing this about 5 this  
> morning
> I thought fondly of Lisa and her speech about "only the highly  
> evolved..."
> But I didn't think that would work in this case. Needless to say I  
> have
> scrubbed all the identifying details.
>
>  Dear XXXX -- I am glad that you still think Open Space is the way  
> to go --
> but I must confess that I am having some reservations. These  
> reservations
> have nothing to do with the capacity of Open Space enable this  
> group, or
> indeed any group, to engage in meaningful conversation and come to  
> useful
> conclusions. The issue for me is two fold -- First, Do the sponsors  
> feel
> sufficiently trusting and supportive to let the process run? There  
> will be
> moments of high tension, and experience has shown that the people  
> themselves
> can and will handle it all by themselves. The bottom line is that I  
> just let
> it go. Once underway, we are gone, and there is no place for  
> intervention,
> mid-course correction, the conference management committee doing a
> re-design. It is all up to the people.
>
> My second area of concern is whether or not what I might call  
> "competing
> interests" create conditions that are, to some real extent,  
> antithetical to
> real Open Space. I am thinking particularly of the Press. I clearly
> understand the need for press coverage -- just to get the word out.  
> The
> problem is that deep conversations can rarely be reduced to sound- 
> bites.
> Even worse, deep conversations which are only partially concluded  
> are even
> less susceptible to being sound-bites. I think it is quite possible  
> that we
> will reach the end of the first day in Open Space and there is  
> nothing to
> report -- or at least nothing that anybody wants to report. It is  
> equally
> possible that we will reach the end of the conference in the same  
> condition.
> Several thousand years (well almost) of understandings,  
> misunderstandings,
> ignorance, misperceptions, to say nothing of mis-trust and anger  
> will not be
> resolved in three days. We can make a good effort, and things may  
> well move
> along much further than we have any right to expect -- but  
> expectations of
> any sort can be very problematical. The hard lesson of Open Space  
> (and I
> think life as well) is that firm attachment to specific outcomes is  
> usually
> disastrous. When you don't get what you expected the temptation is  
> to think
> that you achieved nothing at all. And if the expectation is that by  
> the end
> we will have a neatly tied up body of conclusions combined with action
> plans, all of which may be "briefed" to the Press, I think that is  
> quite
> unlikely. Possible for sure -- but unlikely. And should any of this  
> occur
> (or actually NOT Occur) the press will leave frustrated and might well
> report total failure. The fact that subtle, but important movement  
> took
> place in the building of relationships, the definitions of issues and
> opportunities for future conversations (but not immediate  
> resolution) will
> escape them because they were not part of the conversations. That  
> would not
> be, I would judge, a desirable outcome.
>
> An even worse scenario would be if we were to drive the whole  
> conference
> towards a final, definitive document with neat conclusions,  
> recommendations
> and actions. That would effectively shut the space down, and the  
> only way to
> assure such an outcome would be to have all of the conclusions,
> recommendations and actions defined in advance. Obviously there are  
> multiple
> international conferences that do just that. Such conferences have the
> advantage of meeting expectations and maintaining the semblance of  
> control.
> But that is not open space (or Open Space).
>
> The crux of the matter, I think, is that everybody (certainly the  
> organizing
> body) must be willing to exist in that wonderful Great Cloud of  
> Unknowing.
> Something for sure will happen, but there is absolutely no way to  
> predict or
> assure what that "something" might be. Personally, I have always  
> found that
> the "something" we didn't expect was so much better than what was  
> predicted
> as to make everything worth while. But you can never tell in advance.
>
> I have written at such length because I think it is absolutely  
> critical that
> all the responsible parties are totally clear about what we are  
> getting into
> -- which paradoxically is that we really don't have a clue, and  
> certainly no
> guarantees. Hope, desires for sure -- but we will not know what is  
> achieved
> until it has happened, and even then we may not be too sure.
>
> Personally, I also want to make sure that nobody mistakes me for a  
> salesman
> or even an advocate for Open Space. I am delighted to share my  
> experience
> and pleased to offer my services, but the choice on how to proceed  
> is not
> mine to make. Truth to tell, I guess I am an advocate, not for Open  
> Space
> Technology -- but rather for the people and their capacity to make  
> sense out
> of the confusing and progress out of difficulty. But you can never  
> tell how
> it will all work out.
>
> Harrison
>
>
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20854
> Phone 301-365-2093
> Skype hhowen
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http:// 
> www.openspaceworld.com/>
>
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website www.ho-image.com
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the  
> archives
> Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
> <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html>
>
>
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ------------------------------
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
> view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
> To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
> http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ------------------------------
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
> view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
> To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
> http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist

>From  Thu Jan 12 18:53:31 2006
Message-Id: <THU.12.JAN.2006.185331.0500.>
Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 18:53:31 -0500
Reply-To: hhowen at verizon.net
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net>
Organization: HH Owen and Co.
Subject: Re: Keepin' Busy
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Phelim -- Now that I have your note here on OSLIST (it originally came just
to me), I just want to say how wonderful your tales have been. Super! And I
particularly appreciated your story about Glass:

"I just had a communication with Philip Glass in New York as someone  
suggested I direct one of his operas. I hadn't ever met him before
Why do you want to direct "Einstein on the beach?" He said
Well I said I'm not sure i do.
By the end of the meeting he said...
"You're genuine reluctance to do this job.. makes me think you really  
are the right person to direct this opera. Or perhaps this would be a  
great gig for you to be able to say you turned down!"

unconnected but somehow connected in my head to your conversation."

Definitely connected. If ever there was an approach/avoidance syndrome
building with reference to this particular client. . .  Part of me just
can't wait to get on with this show. And there is another significant part
of me that desperately wishes that they would decide that Open Space is a
nice idea -- but not for them. As you say," a great gig for you to be able
to say you turned down!"


Harrison

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20854
Phone 301-365-2093
Skype hhowen
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com 
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.ho-image.com 
OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html


-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Harrison
Owen
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 6:03 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Keepin' Busy

-----Original Message-----
From: Phelim McDermott [mailto:phelim at mac.com] 
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 12:03 PM
To: hhowen at verizon.net
Subject: Re: Keepin' Busy

Hi,

some very quick thoughts..

Your email sounds like a fantastic communication. It reminds me of  
our actors warning. Our auditions being a process of scaring people  
away with the truth of how it will be.. and seeing who's left.

So say what you said. Tell the people with cameras and press people  
it's like trying to catch a ghost on film. Then...

Wait.
Give up hope.
Keep the faith.

Interestingly we had two theatre critics at The Open Space event at  
the weekend. So like the press only more so. We insisted they  
couldn't come unless they participated the whole two days. Afterwards  
both said they had never had such communication before with people in  
the theatre community and that they felt part of the community for  
the first time.
As seen in the list one of the topics convened was "What would happen  
if we killed all theatre Critics!".

Perhaps the press people could be allowed in if they stay the whole  
time.. and feel passionately about the theme of the question. I just  
had a communication with Philip Glass in New York as someone  
suggested I direct one of his operas.


I hadnt ever met him before
Why do you want to direct "Einstein on the beach?" He said
Well I said I'm not sure i do.
By the end of the meeting he said...
"You're genuine reluctance to do this job.. makes me think you really  
are the right person to direct this opera. Or perhaps this would be a  
great gig for you to be able to say you turned down!"

unconnected but somehow connected in my head to your conversation.

phelim





On 12 Jan 2006, at 16:11, Harrison Owen wrote:

> Hey Folks -- I wasn't just giving a report of current activities (I  
> am alive
> and breathing). I was also hoping to spark a little conversation  
> about such
> things as -- when do you give up on the sales pitch and push the  
> client to
> the wall in terms of intentions and degrees of freedom? And what  
> are our
> obligations to the client and the participants? And to our selves?
>
> Harrison
>
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20854
> Phone 301-365-2093
> Skype hhowen
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website www.ho-image.com
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
> archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of  
> Harrison
> Owen
> Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 10:22 AM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Keepin' Busy
>
> I guess I fibbed a wee bit. Yes I am working on a book (or the book is
> working on me) - and there are a few other things coming down as  
> well. I
> have also been working with a really neat organization which is  
> seeking to
> open some space in a very critical area. And they are more than a  
> little
> worried about really opening space. We have been going on and on  
> until I
> felt constrained to send the following message. I share it here  
> because I
> thought it might be of interest. As I was writing this about 5 this  
> morning
> I thought fondly of Lisa and her speech about "only the highly  
> evolved..."
> But I didn't think that would work in this case. Needless to say I  
> have
> scrubbed all the identifying details.
>
>  Dear XXXX -- I am glad that you still think Open Space is the way  
> to go --
> but I must confess that I am having some reservations. These  
> reservations
> have nothing to do with the capacity of Open Space enable this  
> group, or
> indeed any group, to engage in meaningful conversation and come to  
> useful
> conclusions. The issue for me is two fold -- First, Do the sponsors  
> feel
> sufficiently trusting and supportive to let the process run? There  
> will be
> moments of high tension, and experience has shown that the people  
> themselves
> can and will handle it all by themselves. The bottom line is that I  
> just let
> it go. Once underway, we are gone, and there is no place for  
> intervention,
> mid-course correction, the conference management committee doing a
> re-design. It is all up to the people.
>
> My second area of concern is whether or not what I might call  
> "competing
> interests" create conditions that are, to some real extent,  
> antithetical to
> real Open Space. I am thinking particularly of the Press. I clearly
> understand the need for press coverage -- just to get the word out.  
> The
> problem is that deep conversations can rarely be reduced to sound- 
> bites.
> Even worse, deep conversations which are only partially concluded  
> are even
> less susceptible to being sound-bites. I think it is quite possible  
> that we
> will reach the end of the first day in Open Space and there is  
> nothing to
> report -- or at least nothing that anybody wants to report. It is  
> equally
> possible that we will reach the end of the conference in the same  
> condition.
> Several thousand years (well almost) of understandings,  
> misunderstandings,
> ignorance, misperceptions, to say nothing of mis-trust and anger  
> will not be
> resolved in three days. We can make a good effort, and things may  
> well move
> along much further than we have any right to expect -- but  
> expectations of
> any sort can be very problematical. The hard lesson of Open Space  
> (and I
> think life as well) is that firm attachment to specific outcomes is  
> usually
> disastrous. When you don't get what you expected the temptation is  
> to think
> that you achieved nothing at all. And if the expectation is that by  
> the end
> we will have a neatly tied up body of conclusions combined with action
> plans, all of which may be "briefed" to the Press, I think that is  
> quite
> unlikely. Possible for sure -- but unlikely. And should any of this  
> occur
> (or actually NOT Occur) the press will leave frustrated and might well
> report total failure. The fact that subtle, but important movement  
> took
> place in the building of relationships, the definitions of issues and
> opportunities for future conversations (but not immediate  
> resolution) will
> escape them because they were not part of the conversations. That  
> would not
> be, I would judge, a desirable outcome.
>
> An even worse scenario would be if we were to drive the whole  
> conference
> towards a final, definitive document with neat conclusions,  
> recommendations
> and actions. That would effectively shut the space down, and the  
> only way to
> assure such an outcome would be to have all of the conclusions,
> recommendations and actions defined in advance. Obviously there are  
> multiple
> international conferences that do just that. Such conferences have the
> advantage of meeting expectations and maintaining the semblance of  
> control.
> But that is not open space (or Open Space).
>
> The crux of the matter, I think, is that everybody (certainly the  
> organizing
> body) must be willing to exist in that wonderful Great Cloud of  
> Unknowing.
> Something for sure will happen, but there is absolutely no way to  
> predict or
> assure what that "something" might be. Personally, I have always  
> found that
> the "something" we didn't expect was so much better than what was  
> predicted
> as to make everything worth while. But you can never tell in advance.
>
> I have written at such length because I think it is absolutely  
> critical that
> all the responsible parties are totally clear about what we are  
> getting into
> -- which paradoxically is that we really don't have a clue, and  
> certainly no
> guarantees. Hope, desires for sure -- but we will not know what is  
> achieved
> until it has happened, and even then we may not be too sure.
>
> Personally, I also want to make sure that nobody mistakes me for a  
> salesman
> or even an advocate for Open Space. I am delighted to share my  
> experience
> and pleased to offer my services, but the choice on how to proceed  
> is not
> mine to make. Truth to tell, I guess I am an advocate, not for Open  
> Space
> Technology -- but rather for the people and their capacity to make  
> sense out
> of the confusing and progress out of difficulty. But you can never  
> tell how
> it will all work out.
>
> Harrison
>
>
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20854
> Phone 301-365-2093
> Skype hhowen
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http:// 
> www.openspaceworld.com/>
>
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website www.ho-image.com
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>
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