Brian Bainbridge and the fifth principle

Wed May 5 07:51:27 PDT 2010

Interesting.

In my practice, when people arrive, in the entrance,
out of the main room, the first things they see are two posters: one with the
"theme" and another with "Be surprised...". Then, if there
is a corridor, they will see some more posters only with "Be surprised".

Only when they came to the main room they will see the
Law, in the wall near the last door before the main room.

In the wall of the main room, there are normally
posters with "The theme", "Be surprised", the Law, and the Principles.
In my opening, I always refer in this order: the theme, "be surprised"
and the Law and then, sometimes, I refer the principles, one by one. Some other
times I refer only some of the principles (but the others are in the posters). 

In two cases, as I have told many moons ago, the principles are not there in
posters and they have not been referred at all.

I all the cases (included this experiment I have done
twice) it always works.  

Best

Artur

PS: And, no, MMP, I am not studying German... Sorry...

________________________________
From: Michael Herman <michael at michaelherman.com>
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Sent: Wed, May 5, 2010 2:55:28 PM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Brian Bainbridge and the fifth principle

when i did my first event in open space, i studied the book, pieced together a script, and made posters.  'be prepared to be surprised' was one of the posters, and has been ever since.  so i think that line must have come from the user's guide, which brian told me he reviewed, at least a little bit, before every opening.  must have been the church thing seeping into the ost side of his work -- do the reading and then do the feast.  <grin>  i used to post 'be prepared...' and talk about it as the last of the four posters, a sort of summary, but i saw brian do something different with it:  he put it up on the door, as a sort of first shot when people arrived.  in that way, it not only said surprise, but it was, itself, surprising.  if i were to add anything to the four principles, it might be brian's simple summary:  it's all good.

m

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Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates

http://www.michaelherman.com
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312-280-7838 (mobile)

On Wed, May 5, 2010 at 8:32 AM, Michael M Pannwitz <mmpanne at boscop.org> wrote:

>Dear Artur,
>>"Be prepared to be surprised!", in German, which I understand you have been learning in preparation for your trip to the WOSonOS in Berlin, I phrase it "Augen Auf! Mit Ueberraschungen ist zu rechnen!"
>>
>Aside the four facts of life (them aint principles, come on) it is what Harrison called the admonition (all tongue in cheek, never to be taken with total seriousness...all on page 91 of the third edition to the Guide).
>>
>So its been part of my intro to OST all on an extra large flipchart paper.  I had the notion that everybody has been using this seeing it sometimes on photos of os events.
>>Maybe I am missing something here.
>
>>Fact is, I have never been to an os event where there were no surprises! Great and small, happy and nasty...
>
>>See you next week at the WOSonOS where I will expect you with the denatured ethyl alcohol in hand for the "international suitcase buffet" to fuel your grill for the chouriços...I remember them well at 8th WOSonOS in Berlin 10 years ago...
>>
>Cheers
>>mmp
>
>>Artur Silva schrieb:
>
>
>>>Chris (and all, in Melbourne and elsewhere)
>>
>>>> 
>>>>I understand and respect your desire to honor Brian,
>>>>which I used to call a friend, even if we have met only once. But one single face to
>>>>face meeting is enough to develop a solid friendship, especially when one is
>>>>prepared to be surprised...
>>
>>>> 
>>>>As you all know my relationship with the principles is
>>>>not easy, and I only can understand them as "what always happens" if one opens
>>>>space - or in what Harrison used to call an "InterActive
>>>>Organization".
>>
>>>> 
>>>>Anyhow, for me, "Be Prepared..." is not something
>>>>that always happens. Is a king of recommendation to open oneself to the space
>>>>being opened.
>>
>>>> 
>>>>My counter suggestion comes like this: OST has 1 Law
>>>>(and a very powerful one), 4 principles (if we have to accept that...) and one recommendation
>>>>(you may chose another name), that from now on can be called "Brian's Recommendation".
>>
>>>> 
>>>>What do you all (in Melbourne and elsewhere) think
>>>>about that?
>>
>>>> 
>>>>Regards from a sunny Lisbon - happy because I will soon
>>>>met a lot of friends in Berlin and unhappy as I will not have the possibility
>>>>to met some others that will not come this time
>>
>>>> 
>>>>Artur
>>
>>
>>>>--- On Mon, 5/3/10, Chris Corrigan <chris at chriscorrigan.com> wrote:
>>
>>>>From: Chris Corrigan <chris at chriscorrigan.com>
>>>>Subject: [OSLIST] Brian Bainbridge and the fifth principle
>>>>To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>>>>Date: Monday, May 3, 2010, 9:49 PM
>>
>>>>Hello from Melbourne.  I've just opened space at a conference here with Viv McWaters, Geoff Brown, Anne Pattillo and Johnnie Moore.  We've got a two day, full on participatory conference on evaluation with 179 people.  40 topics have gone up for our day and a half OS.
>>
>>>>It's sweet for me being here in Melbourne, which for me is the spiritual home of Open Space in Australia (would you agree Brendan?  :-)).  Of course for me that impression largely comes from the fact that this was Father Brian Banibridge's  home, and I regret that I never made it here while he was alive, only able to meet him over the years at various OSonOS gatherings or when he stopped by our place on retreat or en route to elsewhere.
>>
>>>>Brian of course was such a stalwart member of our community...he and Viv have hosted trainings in Australia for years and of course they took the mantle of hosting OSonOS X in 2002 after Laurel Doersam and I co-hosted it in Vancouver. It's such a pleasure to be here working with Viv and our team in this place, with Brian's presence very much in our mind.
>>
>>>>And so as way of honouring Brian in our own little way today we took the unprecedented step of officially adding a fifth principle to the Open Space canon.  Of course the four principles are very important and probably all we need, but Brian always posted a fifth one up when he worked: Be Prepared to be Surprised.   For years I have also made a poster with that one on it and put it up in the room, but today in my opening I elevated that most excellent phrase by making it the third principle of five.  It comes right after Whoever comes... and Whatever happens...  Be Prepared to be Surprised.  And then When it starts... and when it's over...lovely.
>>
>>>>It seems a perfectly natural place to put it, and, being here in Melbourne,  it seemed a perfectly natural act to just say out loud "Open Space has 5 principles and one law..."  Viv and I both got a little shiver up our spine, our own little testimonial to a great friend of our community of practice whose presence we miss dearly.
>>
>>>>So from now on it'll be five principles for me, and in reciting them I always see in my own mind Harrison's call to simplicity, Anne Stadler's call to take simplicity seriously (which helped Harrison get the principles right - that IS the story, right?) and Brian's mischievous imperative to be open to surprise.
>>
>>>>So as we prepare to gather here in Melbourne on May 11 for a little OSonOS with 40 or so local OS-workers, and our community of friends and colleagues gathers internationally in Berlin, Viv and I invite you to officially adopt Brian's fifth principle not for sentimental reasons, but just because it makes sense, and it lightens the invitation in just the right way.
>>
>>>>It's all good.
>>
>>>>Chris
>>>>----
>>>>Chris Corrigan
>>chris at chriscorrigan.com
>>http://www.chriscorrigan.com
>>
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>
>-- 
>>Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
>>Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
>>++49-30-772 8000
>mmpanne at boscop.org
>www.boscop.org
>
>
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