OST training and "certification" - the role of OSIs? (was: Re: [OSLIST] Open Space Facilitation: Making it Work! 28-30 Sep 2010, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Sat May 29 11:18:36 PDT 2010

Harrison and all,

If an issue is aired several times, the only
conclusion that I see that one can come to is that (1) it addresses a
real concern of some people and that (2) it has not yet been
solved. Maybe (3) it has not yet been framed correctly, or (4)
it has not been presented, framed and solved in the correct space and
time. Or maybe it is addressed by people out of a public list with public
Archives, in ways that are, or not, correct. (if they are not public, only the
insiders can know about that - if they can, as often people only see what their
assumptions allow them to see).

That said, I have nothing against facilitators being
paid to Open Space - and paid not only (mainly) for the hours of the event, but
for the hours they really spent, from preparation to debriefing. 

And I also don't have anything neither against
training, nor about how much it costs. After all it is probably what the
"market" is prepared to pay... I would prefer that no one could not
attend a training if one cannot pay the fee, but the majority of us do that. I
would also prefer that to be a genuine gift and not a "loan" that
have to be repaid (with or without an interest), in money or in
"work" (but this is only a matter of ethics and that change over time
- after all to pay "loans" in work or in kind is what happened to all
the servants in the middle ages...). 

The point is that: OST has became mainstream and apparently
anyone can say "I am doing (or training) Open Space Technology", even
if one does not know anything about it, or combines it with incompatible methods,
etc. That worries me, as the future of OST worries me. And not because I want
to compete on that market, but only for the sake of the truth and of the sake
of aesthetics - only for the "elegance" of the minimalist foundations
of OST...

(By the way, I have also not anything against other
"facilitation methods", but I would prefer things not to be mixed.
Water, wine and oil are all liquids, but I don't think that mixing them to
create a good drink  is useful, and would not like to see someone mixing
wine with water ant sell that as "pure wine". On the contrary, mixing
gin with martini maybe ok, for those that like that mixing... (I don't, as I
prefer red wine). But I would like that mixing to be made clear. From where I
stand, OSlist and WOSonOS are to discuss OST, and not to discuss "facilitation
methods in general". 

To make some clarity on what I said in the previous
post, there are at least two different meanings of "certification":
one is what Universities and some companies do: "after the completion of
this education or training the student/trainee is prepared to do so and
so". The second one is something that, at least in my country, is not done
by Universities or training companies, but by professional bodies - organized
communities of practice of the practitioners of a certain profession or method.
They don't certify if someone is very skilled or not at all. They only certify
that he follows accepted practices. It was this second meaning that I was
looking for, but maybe this is not again the correct time and place.

Indeed, I begin to wonder if this list is the appropriate
place to talk about that, or about many other things, as it seems to me that,
more and more, only what is "politically correct" is accepted and
there is no longer space for what seems "strange" or controversial.
When a community behaves like that, it begins dying, because it will never
learn and innovate anymore. Have you ever thought of many old timers that are
no longer contributing here, and the rate of replacement in this list? Many of
them are still active - where are they? Give it a thought.

Regards

Artur 

________________________________
From: Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net>
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Sent: Tue, May 25, 2010 9:12:45 PM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] OST training and "certification" - the role of OSIs? (was: Re: [OSLIST] Open Space Facilitation: Making it Work! 28-30 Sep 2010, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Here we go again!  Open Space
is and always has been free. Of course if you want to pay somebody to train you
in something that is yours by birthright, be my guest. That said, it can be
very useful to do something like Lisa provides, as also Michael P and others (myself
on occasion) – when a bunch of good folks collectively explore the wonderful
world of Open Space. I am not sure I would call that training – maybe co-learning
would be closer. However when it comes to “certification” I don’t have a clue
how you would do that. Certainly you can “certify that X participated in a
program”, but whether they have a clue what is going on – who can say? Frankly
when I hear the word “certify” my immediate association is with mental aberrations.
In American English, to say that “somebody is certifiable” means quite simply
that they are nuts. But that might just fit, you know. JAnd
certainly there was a time that if you said you were in Open Space people assumed
you were smoking a controlled substance or had just plain lost it. Ah, The good
old days!

Harrison  

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Dr.
Potomac, MD 20854
USA
Phone 301-365-2093
www.openspaceworld.com
www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
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From:OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Artur Silva
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 9:41 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: OST training and "certification" - the role of OSIs?
(was: Re: [OSLIST] Open Space Facilitation: Making it Work! 28-30 Sep 2010,
Utrecht, The Netherlands

Jack:

This
is a critical problem, in these days.

Was
OST a gift for all people that read the book (or not) and have
a "good heart and a good mind" and where training is an additional
aid for those that need that, or is it a business (or part of a
business) for "self empowered "trainers"? And what is a
"good heart"? And a "good mind"?

Do
the organizers from Merlin (that btw are mostly scholars, but you may became a member and have discounts for
a Standard Individual Membership per year of 59.95 eur) and the
facilitator of the course you mentioned have "a good heart" or an
"old days Kansas" one?

In
Berlin, I was surprised to see the advertisement of a Program (presented
as if it was a gift to the Access Queen") with a Certification Program
costing 3.800 US $, with a four days part on "Working with OST"
costing 650 US $. These prices are lower or greater the ones you mentioned? And
including OST combined with other methods is still the "free" and
"open" spirit of OST? Is it still OST?

But
"certification" is often a requisite for grants in the EU and I think
elsewhere too. 

Who
(and how) can 'certify' that someone that presents oneself as an "OST
facilitator" is indeed using OST, and not mixing it with other methods
that "facilitate too much" (having, for instance, people presenting
themselves in groups of two, previously to the opening, or having
"reflections in pairs" before the closing, or guiding them through
the stages of Future Search in a so called OST meeting, to give only some
examples)?

I
think that the Open Space Institutes around the world (and only OSIs, and not
other "facilitation organizations", that use OST as one among
many different tools, with many different epistemologies and values, frequently
mixing and confusing them in a single so called OST event) can have a saying in
relation to that.

Something
that, IMHO, does that care about the future of OST must consider carefully...

Regards

Artur

________________________________

From:Jack Martin Leith
<jack at leithcocreation.com>
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Sent: Tue, May 25, 2010 9:11:56 AM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Open Space Facilitation: Making it Work! 28-30 Sep
2010, Utrecht, The Netherlands
My curiosity aroused by the announcement below, I visited www.merlien.org/upcoming-events/osft2010.html

Very interesting. An OS facilitator training led by ...
well, who, exactly?

An OS facilitator training for, among others, professional
conference companies.

An OS facilitator training that costs €795.00.

An OS facilitator training that provides
participations with "a certificate awarded by the School of Advanced
Facilitation".

Ladies and gentlemen, 25 years down the track, we are not in
Kansas anymore!

Jack 

Jack Martin Leith
Leith Co-creation
email: jack at leithcocreation.com
Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)
Skype: jackmartinleith
Professional website: www.leithcocreation.com
Personal website: www.jackmartinleith.com

On 24 May 2010 23:59, OST Training <events at merlien.org>
wrote:
Open Space Facilitation: Making it work!
How to design, plan and execute unconference meetings successfully
28-30 September 2010, Utrecht
Event website: http://www.merlien.org/upcoming-events/osft2010.html

About the workshop:
The International Open Space Facilitator workshop, co-organised by the
School of Advanced Facilitation (SAF) and Merlien Institute will be held on
the 28-30 September 2010 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Open Space offers your
participants more than just talks, questions and poster sessions. It builds
on the knowledge people bring to the event, harness their passion and give
them the responsibility for discussing what really matters to them in a
self-organising conference format. This workshop, conducted in English wiill
equip you with the essential skills to design and execute an open space
workshop or incorporate open space within your existing conference formats.

Who should attend:
This workshop is for meeting organisers and facilitators who will offer
their participants the opportunity to tackle complex issues in a highly
interactive, productive and self-structured "unconference"
environment. The
workshop is designed with meeting organisers and facilitators in mind who
work for government agencies, educational institutions, European programmes
and projects, professional conference companies and industry associations.

Take advantage of this unique opportunity to equip yourself with skills to
design and execute successful open space events. This two and half days
course includes refreshments and lunches. Early-Bird registration is now
open! To register, please visit:
http://www.merlien.org/upcoming-events/osft2010.html

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