goal or tool

Mon Jan 16 09:06:36 PST 2006

hi filiz,

for me open space is neither a goal nor a tool.  it's a practice, or
practices.  it's something(s) i do, and pay attention to doing, all
the time.  i've written in my weblog several times recently about
this, (www.michaelherman.com) and chris corrigan and i have been
working out the language for something we've called "the four
practices of open space".  my latest version of these looks like
this...

1. opening heart... this means everything from the meditative time
setting up the space, letting my heart open, touch and fill the space,
the chairs, etc., to the more objective 'opening the heart of the
matter', of the issue, getting to what really matters, because that is
what we want to invite attention to...

2. inviting attention... i think of this as what we do with the
invitation, inviting attandance, bring your attetion to the meeting,
and then simple things like posting previous information, if necessary
on the walls, inviting review, ringing the bells to invite attention,
beginning the opening and inviting attention to the posters, the other
participants, the purpose, the passion inside of each participant...
it might be a talking thing or a listening thing here... in coaching
it might be inviting attention to a question and then letting the
person talk... it almost always seems a focusing thing... adjusting
focus... expanding and stretching, or focusing and concentrating... on
the thing(s) that emerged(ing) from the heart.

3. supporting connection... when all the people, ideas, information
and attention shows up in response to the invitation... the next
practice is to support it staying connected... this is the part of the
opening where we explain how people will connect with each other,
posting topics, moving around... notice that the law of two feet
supports connection between participants, as well as letting people
stay connected to themselves, their passions, learning and
contribution in the moment... sometimes i say "if you find your mind
wandering, take you body with it - stay whole" ...supporting
connection inside.  this is also where we think about ongoing,
afterward support structures, online forums, and participant address
lists and other things that would support connection beyond the event.

4.  grounding the energy... is the process of making it real... taking
action, or just noticing action... or in smaller ways, we ring the
bells and invite everyone back for evening news, grounding the energy
of the day in the largest circle, the largest whole, remembering that
we are part of this whole.  returning attention, remembering,  the
purpose and the place where we started.  saying thank you, in an open
space or not... is taking the rise of energy we feel and grounding it
in somebody else.  taking all the conversations and notes and typing
it all up grounds the energy of the day in a document.  it makes the
thing real in some way, and gives us a 'solid' place to rest heart a
little more open in the next cycle.

notice, too, that these practices can be nested, in a fractal sort of
way, practices inside of practices... holding an event might have an
"connecting" sort of  purpose, with an opening briefing (one piece of
the event) whose purpose is still to invite attention to that purpose,
and within that opening there is the moment where all of the attention
and internal connecting with passion is grounded in topics that get
written and taped to the wall.  so these things are all definitely
happening at once, inside and embracing each other.

having thought all these things, i tried it out at my last opening...
as i am setting up some chairs, i wonder what to do, the usual inner
stirrings and butterflies.  checking the practices, i think to myself
that all i really need to do is open my heart.  touch the space.  so
then that's all i do... as i set up the chairs.  then when i reach my
limit and the room is full, i ring the bells, invite all the gathered
attention into one spot, and the whole circle.  once all the
participants have noticed the other participantsand the theme, i
support connection with the usual marketplace, two feet, bulletin
board, and reflection about personal passion.  then they start
grounding the energy in written topics.

through the day, i might cycle through these, in little ways, many
times... always returning to opening heart, which i think is the main
way in which we lead in these circles.  in and out of open space work,
i'm starting to pay more attention to these four practices.

more and more, i 'm thinking that what we're really practicing in (and
out) of these meetings is opening heart, and then inviting and
supporting others in doing the same.

thanks for the question.  i wonder what anyone else will say.  anyone?

michael

On 1/16/06, Jan Cirkola <janorak at hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 09:18:21 -0000, Filiz Telek <filiz at bugday.org> wrote:
>
> >greetings from Istanbul!
> >
> >I have been wondering for a while...acknowledging OS is a way of life, in
> your professional life, is it a goal or a tool for you?
> >and do you think OS is the only solution there is there to offer?
> >
> >cheeky smiles,
> >filiz
> >
>
> very welcome mr. filiz
>
> cirkola
>
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--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
300 West North Ave #1105
Chicago IL 60610 USA
Phone: 312-280-7838
mherman at globalchicago.net
skype: globalchicago

http://www.michaelherman.com
http://www.globalchicago.net/wiki
http://www.openspaceworld.org

Executive Facilitation ...getting
the most important things done in
the easiest possible ways.

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