Thoughts on a Town Crier

[Jeff Aitken]

Thanks for the post, Peg.

I have held several 3-4 hour evenings of open space over the years. A three hour event is usually 45 minutes each for an opening, two sessions, and a closing circle. Lots of movement in a short time, and the short sessions mean that time feels especially precious to those who convene the second round of sessions.

Many times one participant will come to me as we near the end of the first 45 minute session and ask if I'll let people know when it's time to change. I got into the habit of responding by saying "let's see if people manage this themselves, and if there's any problem I can do something." In every case people have managed themselves, and it's always fun and magical to watch, like watching a flower open.

Peg, I like your inventive response to the situation. However I don't feel willing to add another task to my role in open space. I suppose that now I might think to ask a sponsor who uses OS a lot, like yours, whether they have used bells in the past, so I can have the conversation beforehand.

Another thing I check beforehand is the presence of a wall clock in the room. I don't wear a watch, and before I got my cell phone I was dependent on wall clocks when not at my computer. As long as people have the ability to know what time it is, I don't want to intervene by breaking their attention away from what they are doing.

blessings
Jeff Aitken

sun in San Francisco, see you all in July

________________________________
> Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 09:22:57 -0800
> From: peggy at opencirclecompany.com
> Subject: Thoughts on a Town Crier
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> 
> Has anyone noticed more milling about before people move into sessions over the last few years?  I'd been noticing enough of a trend this way that I always intend to explicitly tell people that there won't be anyone telling them when to move, that it is up to them to follow their own rhythms and interests.  I haven't quite internalized this yet, so I usually forget.  Anyway, I think I may have figured out what is going on.
> 
> I just did an OS for a friend for a group of about 50.  He uses OS a lot but wanted to be able to really participate in this one.   He told me that he was a little surprised when the first round of breakout sessions was starting that I didn't tell people it was time to get started.  He came to me when the first round after lunch were scheduled to start and asked me wasn't I going to ring a bell and let people know?  I basically told him that I never did that.  The participants were adults and could figure it out for themselves.  He was floored and a little upset.  He said he always lets people know.  And then it dawned on me:  there are more and more people who have experienced OS.  Perhaps there are many practitioners doing what Jon does - telling people when it is time to start the next session.  I realized that since most of these folks came at Jon's invitation, they were probably enculturated to responding to a bell.
> 
> So I took what seemed a middle ground to me and rang a bell, saying, "It's 1:30 and all's well."  I figured a town crier was a minimalist thing to do -- providing information without attachment to how people used it.
> 
> I then spoke more with Jon because I wanted to understand his perspective.  He said that to him, what is posted, like the session start times, are part of the commons and when he is holding the space, that is part of his contract with the group, to give them the information.  He doesn't care what they do once they hear it.  So, it strikes me that Town Crier is a good description of what he does.
> 
> Given the trend I mentioned, I suspect Jon isn't the only one doing something like this.  I'd love to hear other thoughts on providing information that marks the passage of time.
> 
> from sunny (for a change) Seattle,
> Peggy
> 
> ________________________________
> Peggy Holman
> The Open Circle Company
> 15347 SE 49th Place
> Bellevue, WA  98006
> (425) 746-6274
> 
> www.opencirclecompany.com
> 
> 
> For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to:
> www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook
> 
> "An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become
> the fire".
>   -- Drew Dellinger
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