Why is a grid sometimes useful?

[Harrison Owen]

Actually the "grid" is a late arrival inflicted upon us by those with an
orderly mind. Personally I never use one (grid) which probably says an
enormous amount about my mental state. It is true that participants will
occasionally offer to straighten out the mess (put everything in time slots,
etc.) and I rarely object, knowing full well the lately imposed order will
shortly dissipate. But the real reason I do not use a grid is that I find
things work better with out it. Odd I know, but true. To be fair, I do
indicate separate days -- but beyond that it all goes on the wall. A
delightful mess!

Sometimes people will remark that with the mess it might be hard to find
what you are looking for. But if you watch people, that doesn't seem to be
the case. And the very act of searching, along with the conversations with
colleagues is a positive. In truth the space is open and the conversation is
begun as soon as the folks go to the wall. There is another positive, I
find. When everything is in a grid, participants search by time -- sort of
like filling out a dance card. On the other hand when the wall is a mess,
people search for meaning -- and then work out the time later. I think this
is really great, and also a marvelous lesson for life. Seems like a lot of
folks run their lives by the clock. I think they might find that things work
better when you organize around what is meaningful for you -- grabs your
passion.

True new comers may be a little mystified -- but that quickly settles when
they do the wonderful thing of "asking." Inevitably they will get an
"answer" and a conversation has begun. In the old days we used to call this
Inclusion, and even had special exercises to get it started. 

Truthfully, I just love a mess. When everything is all in order, the
possibility of innovation, creativity, mind busting new thinking is minimal.
When things start to bubble -- it does get messy and wonderful. I think.

Harrison  


  

Harrison Owen
189 Beaucaire Ave
Camden, ME 04843
207-763-3261 (Summer)
301-365-2093 (Winter)
Website www.openspaceworld.com 
Personal Website www.ho-image.com 
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Erik
Fabian
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 12:08 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Why is a grid sometimes useful?

Hello,

I have been thinking about the bulletin board and the debate that happened a
while back on this 
list about whether a totally free collage of session postings is somehow
better than OS style events 
that use a grid layout that notes time/locations.

I agree that the complete free flowing collage approach has an elegant
appeal but I have been 
asking myself a different question...why do some OS style events even use a
grid?

I wonder how did the use of the grid evolve at these events? What is their
value?

I can only speculate on how these event evolved into using a grid (or if
that is how they started out 
perhaps) but I have realize one advantage...they allow new participants to
easily to join in with an 
event that is already in progress.

When someone shows up late to a public event and encounters a messy session
board it is hard, 
without further explanation, for them to understand what is going on, where
it is happening, if it 
is happening, and if so when.

The original OS literature I have read usually emphasizes that participants
are present start to 
finish. There are many obvious benefits to this but the relevant one here is
that everyone is 
present during the original board making. They have some sense of how it
evolved into whatever 
mess that it becomes and how it changes as people go about the experience.

It makes sense if the original OS literature isn't accounting late arrivals
that it doesn't need 
something like a grid to help late arrivals get oriented quickly.

Thoughts?

Cheerio,
Erik

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