Not ideal but worth the effort (Latin reflection)

Harrison Owen hhowen at verizon.net
Mon Sep 7 16:49:46 PDT 2009


Robyn – Open Space (formal OST) first happened in 1989. And in one form or
another it has been going (well) ever since. Turns out they, like all the
rest of the cosmos have been engaging in self organizing on going – despite
protestations to the contrary. But every Guru knows that you only become
real as a profound presence in The Moment. One might say Open Space.

 

Have fun – it (India) is a grand, albeit overpowering Space.

 

ho

 

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 

OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options
<http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html>
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

 

 

 

  _____  

From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Robyn
Stratton-Berkessel
Sent: Monday, September 07, 2009 2:48 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Not ideal but worth the effort (Latin reflection)

 

As a virtual bumble bee on our OSLIST, it delights me how we drop in on
conversations and choose to linger longer or not. In fact the whole web
invites us to live the 4 principles and the 1 law, following our passions,
engaging or not.  Here, I am energized by Suzanne's story - her personal
experience and honoring of her own courage and how powerful it was at many
levels.  What excites me equally is the group for whom Suzanne opened space
- National Alliance for Media, Arts and Culture. Marvelous they get to
experience the transparency and openness and passion of OS and what they may
be moved to do with it in their own lives.   

 

Next, Artur and Juan's observations about the role of cultural traditions
and the structures that may or may not be ready to embrace the openness of
open space - "embracing the chaos" as he mentions - is a really interesting
and important topic from my perspective.   I'm heading to India later in the
year.  My life's dream coming true.  

 

If any of you has experience in any part of India  working with
participatory, self-organizing methodologies, I would love to hear.  India
is so hugely diverse, and I am wondering how open to self-organizing
processes without set agendas, talking-heads and control mechanisms the
various cultures might be. Awareness of the different memes in Spiral
Dynamic terms helps a lot, as well as recognizing the cultural imprint and
influence of our heritage, as Artur reminds us.  As an Australian, I feel
strongly aligned to my cultural imprint as anti-authoritarian, delighting in
bucking the system - serving me sometimes and other times not.  And I am
respectful of others whose history is different.   

 

Warm regards from Atlantic Highlands NJ.

 

Robyn

Robyn Stratton-Berkessel

+1 732 291 0462

Skype: robynsb

Twitter:  robbiecat

www.positivematrix.com



JL Walker wrote: 

Dear Artur:

 

It’s an excellent hypothesis my dear friend. Thank you I think it’s true.

 

Juan Luis

 

De: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] En nombre de Artur Silva
Enviado el: domingo, 06 de septiembre de 2009 6:48
Para: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Asunto: Re: [OSLIST] Not ideal but worth the effort

 


Suzanne:

 

Being myself from Portugal, but knowing well Spain and France, I have come
to understand that in Latin countries, mostly influenced by the Catholic
tradition, than by Protestantism, people have even more difficulty to
embrace the chaos than in some other cultures. Hierarchies and control have
more influence in our heads and institutions.

 

So OST is more difficult to “sell” and even more powerful when we can get to
it.

 

De Lisbonne, avec amitié

 

Artur

 

   

--- On Sat, 9/5/09, Suzanne Daigle  <mailto:sdaigle4 at gmail.com>
<sdaigle4 at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Suzanne Daigle  <mailto:sdaigle4 at gmail.com> <sdaigle4 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Not ideal but worth the effort
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Date: Saturday, September 5, 2009, 7:49 AM

Harrison -
Inviting people to live the Open Space principles and the Law of 2 Feet
throughout the conference and beyond was my invitation. Doug said it was a
little sneaky; Harrison said the whole thing becomes rather subversive:
"Stealth OST". No criticism intended and none taken on my part. But it got
me thinking and then grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Well the irony of it all is that OST is all about that. The beauty is its
simplicity and covertness.  It worked for me by awakening my activist soul
and putting the conformist me in a box somewhere. Being French, I'd say that
OST can be the Bastille of Independence, Freedom, and Choice...the thing
that awakens the dormant "passion" and "personal responsibility" in
individuals. Society and companies do not easily embrace the chaos,
confusion and conflict that you describe in Wave Ride often preferring the
Closed System Hoax with its illusion of control and predictability rather
than the messy alternative. Not working so well these days though! 

Now back to those 4 simple principles with the Law of 2 Feet, the Butterfly
and the Bumble Bee and what they stir "inside" people when you let yourself
experience them cause you can't really know it by reading it. They awaken
feelings, emotions, connections, thinking on a more conscious and
unconscious level, listening, participating, sharing, authenticity, fun and
the list goes on -- all of the stuff that we are taught to control and
contain. And then surprise, once that's released, creativity emerges,
purpose, action and results which come under that beautiful law of nature
called self-organizing --nothing new, always been there. OST I think invites
this hope and magic back into our being and our lives.  Sneaky, subversive,
stealth....yes indeed!  Fitting reflections for this Labor Day Weekend 2009!
Thanks guys!

Suzanne




On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 7:46 AM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net
<http://us.mc546.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=hhowen@verizon.net> > wrote:

Suzanne --

 

So you had fun! Great!!  And as I read along I had this strange sense of
déjà view all over again, to quote the great Yogi. This is where we started
with improvements!! OST was born out of the recognition that the really
juicy part of a large conference happened in the coffee breaks, to which I
would add the bar, long walks,  and just hanging out. Sure there were formal
presentations and elaborate processes to include people, expand people,
transform people. But for the most part the formal sessions provided stuff
we had heard before or could have read in a book, and all the elaborate
processes seemed great at the start, but simply couldn’t hold a candle
compared to a good conversation at the bar or wherever. 

 

My learning from your experience for which I thank you – is that the good
old informal, self organizing system is alive and well, and it will function
regardless of all efforts to structure and control. And if you offer a
little support (your “anywhere, anytime sessions”) it only gets better. Doug
is right – the whole thing becomes rather subversive. You might call it
Stealth OST.

 

My real learning is that we haven’t invented a thing. “It” (self organizing
systems) always was. We may acknowledge its presence, support its process,
but at the end of the day – it will do just fine all by itself. Of course it
would feel better if folks stopped trying to organize a self organizing
system.

 

Harrison

 

Harrison Owen

189 Beaucaire Ave

Camden, ME 04843

207-763-3261 (Summer)

301-365-2093 (Winter)

Website www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>  

Personal Website www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com/>  

OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options
<http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html>
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

 

 

 


  _____  


From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
<http://us.mc546.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ] On Behalf Of Suzanne Daigle
Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 6:00 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
<http://us.mc546.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> 
Subject: Not ideal but worth the effort

 

Back from Boston after facilitating “A Taste of Open Space” at the NAMAC
(National Alliance for Media, Arts and Culture) Conference.  This was my
first large event (300+ participants); did not have that much lead time to
prepare; and the circumstances were less than ideal: blended with workshops,
no opportunity to sit in a circle and for a while, I worried about wall
space and ability to use masking tape on the walls of this ornate room in a
historical hotel. We used blue painters’ tape. 

Looking back, I would not have traded a minute of this experience. Yes, it
could have been so much better but ultimately it was worth it based on the
number of conversations (20 – 25
more?) over the 3 days of the conference.
I had 90 minutes on the first morning with the plenary group to OPEN SPACE:
announce the OS question tied to their theme (Lisa Heft was so helpful in
offering some ideas with lots of other invaluable tips too), to explain the
principles and the Law, to build an agenda, and  to open a marketplace.
Within an hour, no less than 15 groups were talking.  I called it the Speed
Dating of OPEN SPACE clearly indicating that this was just a “TASTE of Open
Space”. I said it would be an opportunity for them to find each other
quickly by connecting with others who shared their passion on common topics.


I thought I would be a basket case but somehow having meditated twice daily
for the 10 days preceding this event, rehearsing on my outside patio over
and over, scouring Diane Gibeault’s training materials, reading everything I
could get my hands on and seeking help from some OS trusted friends who were
so very generous, I felt calm, clear and grounded.  It wasn’t about me; it
was about the participants! The night before, working with a few volunteers,
I took the time to quietly walk the room and did so again the next morning.
And I thought of this audience and my passion for their cause – free press,
documentary film producers, youth, arts, media, culture, democracy, etc.
The hardest part was not having the circle and people writing and posting
the topics at the back of the room. Clearly all the OS practitioners are
right that you NEED a circle to keep the energy focused in the middle in
spite of the fact that I had them visualize a giant circle as part of my
intro. Not the same
at all!  As people were writing and announcing their
topics, many started conversations around their tables and I had to bring
them back to attention a few times.  I feel we could have had 60 to 75
topics in those first 15 minutes instead of the 30 we got.  Others topics
were added later and some folks posted Summary Reports from their
discussions.

Over the 3 days, there were six 90 minute OS timeslots on the program not
including the Closing (no circle there either).  What I invited people to do
was to live the 4 Principles of OS and the Law of 2 Feet  (Butterfly and
Bumble Bee) throughout the conference and even beyond.  We had blank post-it
notes so they could schedule their sessions anytime, anywhere and they did:
in the coffee shop, in the bar (15 people form 10 pm until past midnight),
early morning and lunchtime as well as in the assigned locations in our
plenary room which became the OPEN SPACE hub. What they said they
appreciated most was the gift of choice and freedom.

As I watched the conversations happening from afar, I felt such gratitude to
have had the courage to do this. People came by to share quietly as I
cleaned up coffee cups, trash, etc.  The feedback was extremely positive and
while I know it could have been better, my commitment to be “opening space”
for people wherever and however I can from the heart is what drives me now.
Yes I will always push for optimal conditions as I feel I must. But if I
can’t get there, I will just try to do my best and not shut the door.   If
anyone wants to know more, I’ll gladly share all that I lived and felt
during those three days.  I owe so much to this community. Thank you
everyone. 

Link to some of the NAMAC OS photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/namac/page5/

Suzanne
-- 
Suzanne Daigle
NuFocus Strategic Group
7159 Victoria Circle
University Park, FL 34201
FL 941-359-8877;  CT 203-722-2009
www.nufocusgroup.com <http://www.nufocusgroup.com/> 
s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
<http://us.mc546.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=s.daigle@nufocusgroup.com> 

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-- 
Suzanne Daigle
NuFocus Strategic Group
7159 Victoria Circle
University Park, FL 34201
FL 941-359-8877;  CT 203-722-2009
www.nufocusgroup.com <http://www.nufocusgroup.com/> 
s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
<http://us.mc546.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=s.daigle@nufocusgroup.com> 
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