Open Space being badly defined
Jeff Aitken
magic.teams at hotmail.com
Tue Jun 16 00:26:18 PDT 2009
I am thinking along the same lines, Kaliya. I agree with Harrison and others that it will be lovely when the open space process dissolves into the way things are done.
Seems to me that this can happen when enough of us have experience of the personal and collective dynamics that take place when open space process is done well. And frankly, when we have enough experience of these dynamics that they become a worldview, a way of life. For some people this takes an hour; for others, maybe years. From that place, any sort of creative tweaking of the process has a more firm foundation.
Not that the open space process is required in order to have such experiences and shift in worldview. Many people likely learn such a worldview in different ways; the culture we are raised into, or myriad transformative practices. But I'm astonished that our simple process enables such a shift both personally and collectively, and that's why OST is so special to me.
On a related note, I am curious how people talk about our personal experience of participating in a self-organizing system. Self-organizing describes collective dynamics very well, but to me the personal dynamics inside of open space process can be described in a more satisfying way. I learned the term "wayfinding" from indigenous teachers, and find that it captures my sense of holistic personal choicemaking in open space, which leads to learning, contribution, and surprises. (Thanks to Chris for insights around this.) How do others think about this?
Jeffmount tamalpais
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:53:18 -0700
From: identitywoman at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Open Space being badly defined
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
I think as communities learn how to live into Open Space they need "the facilitator" to do less and less.... until capacity becomes distributed in a community and they understand collectively how get the most out of the form for themselves and also not to enclose it - well they still need a facilitator to create space and invite them into it and to hold it.
The identity community is finally really getting to understand the creative possibility that open space brings them to work together to solve almost impossible and very complex problems - we are going on to our 9th semi-annual conference using the format AND in the past 4 years there were an additional 8 events within the community that I facilitated that used open space. Only now they are starting to fully "get" the form.
Some in our community try to replicate the form (Vendor Relationship Management Workshop) but don't fully "get it" - then end up feeling like they the conveners should have editorial control over the agenda wall....
I think that when we develop our collective capacity to be in space together and not just follow then yes - do less but until we see that happening with our own eyes in groups there is a role for space creation and "doing" to help that come into being.
On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 7:29 PM, douglas germann <76066.515 at compuserve.com> wrote:
Harrison--
So self organizing is really doing less and less?
:- Doug.
On Mon, 2009-06-15 at 15:44 -0400, Harrison Owen wrote:
> Holger -- After Open Space? ("Regularly, I have been asking the provocative
> question: "OST - so, what's next?" Not that I want OST to disappear. But we
> can't possibly assume that it will be around for the next 1300 years.") One
> way of thinking about how to answer that question might be to consider how
> we (or at least I) got to Open Space in the first place and see if there are
> any clues. What were the design principles? First answer might be, Drink Two
> Martinis -- but I am not sure how far that would take us. But when it comes
> to serious design principles, there has been exactly one in all the 25 years
> that I have been fussing with OST. That principle is: "Think of one more
> thing NOT to do." At the first Open Space, we did some small amount of
> "community building" and "warm up activities," all of which were quite
> pleasant, but as near as I could see, they didn't add much. So the next
> time, we didn't do them -- and everything seemed to work better. I could go
> through a pretty lengthy list of things we peeled off here and there -- but
> the bottom line is that Open Space as I would "do" it today happened by way
> of elimination. Less and less turned out to be more and more. Following this
> line of thought and general trend it could be that the "What next?" After
> Open Space is nothing at all. Actually I rather like that. If we really get
> it right we won't need extraneous processes to become fully what we are --
> self-organizing critters. Or something.
>
> 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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> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Holger
> Nauheimer (Change Facilitation)
> Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 12:44 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: Open Space being badly defined
>
> Chris,
>
> you said:
>
> "In the world of self-organizing systems and evolutionary processes what
> matters is variety and diversity. Things only get better when millions of
> experiments are underway. From those experiments come the mutations and
> modifications that help create the next level. It's how Open Space emerged,
> and it's how it will disappear in good time too."
>
> I draw my hat in admiration - this was the most intelligent thing I heared
> somebody saying about whether or not Open Space Technology must be used in
> its original format (which we all love, and usually fight for) or not.
> Regularly, I have been asking the provocative question: "OST - so, what's
> next?" Not that I want OST to disappear. But we can't possibly assume that
> it will be around for the next 1300 years. Maybe it will: Robert Jungk's
> Zukunftswerkstatt still seems to be around, and that tells something about
> stickyness of methodologies :) .
>
> It reminds me of the question, "After John Cage, can there be any other new
> music?" John Cage produced the famous piece 4'33" in the early nineties -
> four and a half minute of pure silence:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJagb7hL0E. But of course, there is new
> music, even if it will be difficult to beat the radicalism of John Cage.
>
> OST might probably remain the purest "technology of participation", as John
> Cage's 4'33". I wouldn't know how to simplify self-organized meetings. But
> as much as we love OST, people need to experiment in order to find out which
> borders to cross or to stretch. We (the OST aficionados) are in a way the
> keepers of The Holy Grail of OST and we need to be. But then, we mustn't be
> to change resistant. Sometimes, OST does not solve the issues of a client,
> even if more participation and collaboration is at stake.
>
> I repeat myself: if more and more groups who have different rituals and
> cultures find a way to host meetings with a self-organization component, I
> think we (and all the other Sandras, Marvins, Juanitas, Davids, etc.) can
> proudly say, "we were part of a global paradigm shift in collaboration."
>
> Some people will like OST better, and some not. I don't care. I love it as I
> love John Cage.
>
> Holger
>
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