Facilitator must be part of the conversations

Wed Aug 1 23:53:35 PDT 2007

Mark...my friend.

This is a lovely addition to this thread, deeply thought through and taking
me to another level, by which I mean that you have opened up the
conversation to what is "under the hood" as we sometimes say in North
America.  These pieces of the practice of "fields work" are what I have been
trying to live with for a number of years.  I think there really is
something to the idea that in living in open space, the practice of
"facilitating" open space changes.   Our friend Anne Stadler seems on to
this.  At some point the practice of "facilitating" open space disappears
and there is something about being present in the event that crops up.
Working in Open Space as an extension of living in Open Space, with a deep
integrity.

It allows me to serve the group in many ways, including many of the
modalities which I have seen written about in this thread: as aloof space
holder, as champion of the sponsor's trust, as involved participant,
alighting butterfly, busy-making beaver...all of it holds integrity if I am
approaching the role as an extension of my life.

This is the gift that Open Space has given me over the past 10 years or so
-  a deep life practice that is informed by trust, love, courage, and
teaching and learning that comes from self-organizing and being present in
living systems.  Once we realize that all spaces are, to some extent, open
spaces, we become dwellers of open space, as Jeff Aitken says, wayfinders
across open space, being of service where we can and in whatever way seems
important.

I'm appreciating Doug's question and the clarity as expressed by Lisa and
Elwin and Kerry and Harrison and others in the myriad interpretations of the
question.  Thank you all...

Chris

On 8/1/07, Mark R. Jones <mark.r.jones at sunyata.ws> wrote:
>
>
> Hmmmm . . .
>
> With regards to the generally accepted role of the OST "Facilitator"
> -- I essentially agree that Lisa provides an accurate interpretation.
>
> And that is why I rarely "facilitate" OST anymore.
>
> My issue is with the concept of "facilitator".  Originally, to facilitate
> meant to make something easier -- from the Latin facilis or fac(ere)
> "to do or make" + -ilis  "easier".  So in its simplest expression,
> I could as a facilitator make things easier by: sharing knowledge; or
> increasing the ease of performance of any action or state of being; or
> assisting individuals or groups in accomplishing their objectives through
> conversations on particular topics; or actively participating in engaging
> and involving others in accomplishing objectives.
>
> In the OD world, a facilitator is "someone who skillfully helps a group
> of people understand their common objectives and plan to achieve them
> without personally taking any side of the argument. The facilitator
> assists
> the group in achieving a consensus on any disagreements that preexist or
> emerge in the meeting so that it has a strong basis for future action".
>
> In my past experiences with OST, "without personally taking any side of
> the argument" came to mean -- being a "space-holder" and not being a
> "participant".
>
> When I do this from a "Living in Open Space" perspective, this becomes
> an instance of a Separation Fallacy.  The Separation Fallacy supposes that
>
> it is possible and/or desirable for me to view myself as distinct from the
>
> systems of relationships and dynamics that I engage (observer, "witness",
> act in or upon, hold space for, . . . ).  This calls for me as a
> facilitator to be
> "independent" of the other participants -- a proposition which for me is a
>
> physical and meta-physical impossibility.
>
> My friend Charlie Johnston would call this experience "differentiation
> without integration".
>
> From a "Living in Open Space" perspective, I am always "holding space"
> and always full-on participating in every interaction with others and the
> environment -- be it in one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many
> relationship dynamics.  As an archetypical "Butterfly", I am very aware
> that my "Presence" creates a response in the field -- whether I am
> speaking, sleeping, napping, quacking, etc.
>
> So for me, the questions are not about whether I exert undue (and
> negative)
> influence in a context -- but how I exercise my "Presence" and leadership
> in
> any situation (any context).
>
> Is the impact of my views, intentions, communications, and behaviors an
> "opening of space" with and for myself and others -- or is the result a
> "closing
> of space"?  Do I need to modify my being and doing?
>
> As a result of my "Presence" and leadership -- does the leadership and
> creative
> capacity of the individuals and collective manifest and/or increase, or
> does it
> remain only a potentiality and/or decrease?  Do I need to modify my being
> and
> doing?
>
> Does the individual and collective capacity and practice of Hearing,
> Seeing, and
> Loving (HSL) increase or decrease as a result of my "Presence" and
> leadership?
> Do I need to modify my being and doing?
>
> From a "Living in Open Space" perspective, I am required to "show-up" and
> "hold
> space" in every interaction -- be it a one-to-one, one-to-many, or
> many-to-many,
> OST conferences, intimate contacts, whatever;  I am required to take
> responsibility
> for what I love; I am required to Hear, See, and Love myself and every
> sentience
> that I encounter; I am required to be as aware, mindful, discerning,
> nurturing, and
> compassionate as I can be in each moment.
>
> Because "Facilitator" is such a loaded word with "authority and control"
> prickles
> studding its exterior and interior usage, of late I have preferred to
> think about
> what I do as "Hosting" -- from the Latin hospes "receives visitors" with a
> kind,
> welcoming, and generous reception of or disposition toward or treatment of
> guests
> (visitors, strangers, emergence, coherence, and disturbance).
>
> I am joyfully content to "host" conversations in which I fully participate
> in: holding
> space; taking responsibility for what has meaning and passion for me;
> Hearing, Seeing,
> and Loving myself and others; constantly paying attention to being as
> aware, mindful,
> discerning, nurturing, and compassionate as I can be in each moment; and
> working to
> manifest my "Presence" and leadership in ways that increase the leadership
> and creative
> capacity of the individuals and collectives that I come into relationship
> with.
>
> In this way, I strive to increase the overall experience of
> interconnectedness, creativity,
> joy and peace.  And hopefully, I can do this without falling into a "Unity
> Fallacy" where I
> confuse "Wholeness" (multiplicity) with "Oneness" (singularity) -- thus
> forgetting
> that the converse of "Unity" (oneness or singularity) is "Wholeness"
> (multiplicity or
> diversity) --> not separateness or uniformity (sameness).
>
> My friend Charlie Johnston would call this experience "integration without
> differentiation".
>
> So while "hosting", I continually challenge myself to hold a view of
> system "wholeness"
> that includes every aspect of what I can sense and imagine regarding --
>  (1) Consciousness (Self-Awareness)
>  (2) Whole-Person (physical | emotional | intellectual | consciousness)
>  (3) Whole-System  (all Stakeholders)
>  (4) Community | Relationships (Interconnectedness)
>  (5) Whole-Life Cycle (Continuity)
>
>
> In the Field . . . where we meet . . .
>
> *Mark R. Jones
> **Chief Executive Officer
> The Sunyata Group
> The Integral Wellness Group
> *----------------------------------------------------------------------
> PO Box 58788
> Renton, Washington
> USA 98058-1788
> Phone:      425-413-6000
> e-Mail:      mark.r.jones at sunyata.ws
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From: *Lisa Heft <lisaheft at openingspace.net>
> *Reply-To: *OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
> *Date: *Wed, 1 Aug 2007 10:06:27 -0400
> *To: *<OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
> *Subject: *Re: Facilitator must be part of the conversations
>
> Dear all -
>
> Jack's and Marc's comments make me think that our holding space for the
> group - for both the client and the participants - is the embodiment of
> trust.  We breathe, we believe, we trust the people and the process, we
> are always there (in physical presence and or in Harrison's case at times
> in our dream state during our naps ;o)  ).  We are completely present.
>
> I do not feel it is separate from or outside the group.  I feel we are all
> very much interrelated.  We are (in the Open Space event) all part of a
> vast living system (of systems, of systems, of systems...)...with one (or
> a duo or team) of us holding space, to be midwife to emergent life, to
> witness, if you will, the marvelous transformation we (the space-holders)
> know is happening at every moment - on levels from the cellular to the
> stellar to the realms we little tiny humans cannot even know.
>
> We breathe, we trust, we hold trust.  We help others breathe....and
> trust...and trust themselves...
>
>
> Lisa
>
>
> Lisa Heft
> lisaheft at openingspace.net
> http://www.openingspace.net
>
> *
> *
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-- 
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Facilitation - Training
Open Space Technology

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

Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.
http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com

*
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