AW: FOFO and it's story

Catherine Pfaehler c.pfaehler at bluewin.ch
Mon Oct 1 02:13:06 PDT 2007


Louise, thank you for sharing your story. It has a lot of power. Resigning
because you feel your original vision is not what seems to be happening and
you find no ways to prevent this to me feels like grandeur - at least as
much as resignation. 

 

Have you felt into things after the event and found remnants of your
original vision in what has actually happened there? :-) 

Have you looked at your own story and can you recognize being hijacked in
other walks of your life? 

Have you had a chance to talk to the organizing team after the event to find
out what exactly has been happening for everybody, and why, and how the
actual event might have changed something? There must be a treasure of
learning hidden in this for all of you!

 

For me, that reflection is the most powerful medicine I have been given ever
since I have come in touch with OS in 1989. When we organized OT8 in
Switzerland in 1990 in a group of 8 people, we used to spend 80 % of our
monthly meeting day sorting out personal issues amongst each other and then
got all the work done in the remaining 20 % of the time. And we realized
that it was impossible for us to separate where we stand in our personal
life from what we work like and what impact this has when radiating out of
the room.

 

I am still working to truly imply the principles of Open Space into my
everyday life. The dance between managing, leadership and letting go all
efforts to really arrive in Open Space sometimes feels as if I wasn’t on a
dance floor, but on a tight rope. When preparing an OS event, I can be more
than picky on details, especially if the organisation I work for doesn’t yet
have an ongoing experience with OS. This allows me to create the safe
framework for the group and myself to fully dive into Open Space the day(s)
of the event. It has something to do with doing things right, control and
reliability, and at the same time trust into the process of life (because it
happens anyway – there is nothing to stop it.). In my family life, my
children and my partner still challenge me daily to define where the space
is open and where it is not – because certain givens or limitations of
others involved need to be respected.

 

Keep going, dancing, crying, laughing, embracing your friends and apparent
hijackers. You are right on track.

 

Love, Catherine (and thank you, Chris, for sharing your experience!)

 

Catherine Pfaehler Senn

lic.oec.HSG

Open Space Begleitung

Kellersriedweg 8

CH - 2503 Biel

+41-(0)32 - 365 68 41

c.pfaehler at bluewin.ch

 

  _____  

Von: louise brissette [mailto:louisebrissette at yahoo.ca] 
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 26. September 2007 20:00
Betreff: FOFO and it's story

 

For the story of the FOFO.

In 2006, under the recommendation of Harrison, I contacted Jean-Pierre
Beaulieu and we had lunch around How come OST doesn’t take off in Québec.
Jean-Pierre gave me some precious insights, such as there is no cultural
references and french speaking lexicon, no stories too. Following this
lunch,  I organized the first Stammtisch in Montreal for a starter. There, I
met with Marquis Bureau. Later I called him for a breakfast toying around
the idea of a forum with business people of all walks and consultants and
Osniks in Val-David in the Laurentians. Marquis and I had a theme with a
blank sheet. We invited Osniks to join the organization of such a forum. 8
people answered and 2 left early. 

 

Then I moved to Val-David. While I was exploring for a venue, and found a
little miracle called Auberge Premashanti (everything you would dream of for
Open Space), and negociating and singing the contract, opened a bank
account, working hard and sometimes fighting to keep the vision of the
original proposal  alive ( a fight I lost) and the proper format in the
invitation. Uploading the invitation on my web site, answering info
requests, communicating with the Canadian Open Space Institute for support
and grants, communicating with other international actors, while I was doing
all this, some members of the organizing group were hijacking the purpose
for their own agenga, being disrespefull and nasty, and mainly playing
politics and working in a hierarchical spirit, Out the window the business
people of all walks and consultants, the format was getting rigid and not
serving the vision anymore, I really worked hard to keep the proper format .


 

Plainly, no more fun and pretty painfull. So I left. Funny enough, I left my
own proposal, my own vision. It had been hijacked..

 

But anyway, I left for my own sake, but also for the sake of the FOFO. Since
we all know that Open Space is deeply about spirit, open spirit, I knew that
to make it happen and not jeopardize the climate, it had to be saved. Since
I seemed to be the threat to the hijackers and that they would not let go,
and were politically supported, I left. And so, my contribution is not
mentionned anywhere.

 

But my spirit was still with the project, silent presence. I am happy that
the OS seems to have gathered energy for its take off in French during the
FOFO..

 

I am not writing this to whine, (yes I was very pissed off and I don't like
being SO invisible) but to question a few things. While many of us are
training or facilitating Open Space Technology, do we really know how to
work and behave in Open Space ? Also, how about emphasizing on the Spirit of
OS, and the work style it demands ?  OST is NOT just another technique. I
have worked with American Indians (Mohawks Wendats and Ojibwe), have
eperienced sacred rituals and participated in Pow-Wows. I have reckognized
the same native Spirit  in Open Space Technology.This is what attracted me
to it. This is not what I have experienced  with the organization of the
FOFO. I have experienced the same old narrative, command and control, we
find in the hierarchical and politics we know so well in a Polis
understanding of the World, while OST is about Cosmos understanding of the
World.  

 

Yeah, I know, I’m not supposed to hit the fan like this but, is there
anything to be learned from this experience ?

 

And yes, just for you to know, I had something to do with the first FOFO.

 

Louise Brissette

+1.819.322.1489

louisebrissette at yahoo.ca

  

  _____  

Changez de tête et de tenue tous les jours si vous le voulez ! Volez la
vedette sur  <http://cf.avatars.yahoo.com/> Yahoo! Québec Avatars * *
==========================================================
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
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20071001/9e325a59/attachment-0007.htm>


More information about the OSList mailing list