Thoughts on a Town Crier

[Michael M Pannwitz]

some stuff is coming through, mine not or not yet, sending it again
mmp

Michael M Pannwitz wrote:
> Dear Peggy,
> I have never seen anybody in these parts do what Jon does.
> That might have different reasons such as the many training events and 
> local OSonOS people have participated in...
> What is done here a lot and I always do it, is to have a detailed 
> schedule posted on a large flipchart complete with a time arrow (a 
> little red cardboard arrow with the word "now" written on it). When 
> introducing the schedule to the group I also point out the function of 
> the arrow...me or another team member and often participants themselves 
> move the arrow as the event progresses. My line is: In case you lose 
> track of time or wonder what is next just walk up to the schedule and 
> have a look at the arrow.
> Of course, sometimes people come up to me and ask about beginning times, 
> my response is to just point to the schedule...I would hate to add a 
> town crier to my repertoire seems it would be one more thing to do and 
> one chance for selforganisation and selfmanagement taken away.
> Here is a few links to show examples of schedules with the time arrow
>> http://www.boscop.org/page/show/102
>> http://www.boscop.org/page/show/99
>> http://www.boscop.org/page/show/100
>> http://www.boscop.org/page/show/101
> 
> 
> Have a great day in Seattle!
> Greetings from Berlin
> mmp
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Peggy Holman wrote:
>> 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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> 
> 
> 
> Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
> ++49-30-772 8000
> www.boscop.org   www.michaelmpannwitz.de
> 
> 
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