[OSList] From the Immersion 2012: some new Open Space principles?

[Harrison Owen]

Fauke – Sounds like you guys had quite a good time! But I am not sure about
the new principles: 

 

*	Try not to be critical
*	Try not to be cynical

 

I couldn’t argue with Linda’s rationale – the 5 Principles are all
descriptive (of what will happen anyhow) – and these two are pre-scriptive
(talking about what should/should not happen.) This might be “purist” but my
reasons are a little different. Truth of the matter is that I really value
the confirmed cynic and the serious critic.

 

Serious criticism, I find,  is the way (or certainly a way) of clarifying
muddled thinking, sharpening good ideas to make them better, clarifying good
discussion to make sure we are talking about real issues and not some
phantasm of our imagination. Without question my best friends over the years
have been my most serious critics. I can’t say I always enjoyed what they
had to say, but I always benefitted. 

 

As for cynics, I do admit that they can be rather a pain. That said, I
almost always found that what I took to be cynical they considered realism.
Sometimes, you just had to leave it at that – different strokes for
different folks, sort of thing. And failing everything else, there was
always The Law of Two Feet. But more often than not I found that seriously
engaging the cynic led to a deeper understanding for both of us. It could
have been that they saw the world differently because they lived in a
different world (life experience) which I simply had no knowledge of. Our
conversations inevitably took us (both of us) to places neither had been –
and we were the richer for it. I also have to admit that a good shot of
cynicism can be a very useful astringent to sharpen up otherwise bland and
cliché ridden conversation. Always good for the soul, I think.

 

As with anything else – Too much of a good thing can be overpowering, and
that is certainly true for cynicism and criticism. But the same might be
said for chocolate desserts. J Something about everything in moderation
 but
who is going to make that determination?

 

I suppose if I were to wander into the “prescriptive waters” to talk about
what we should do, about the best I can come up with would be something
like, “If you care to come, just make sure to bring your whole self – all
your passion, responsibility
 including all the warts and sticky parts.” We
all have them and they can be a pain to us and to others. But the
alternative of leaving the undesirable parts at home will guarantee a pretty
boring Open Space (and life in general). The proof, if there could be such a
thing, occurs when a cantankerous bunch of cynical critics, known for their
ill manners, bad taste, and snide comments – all of a sudden turn into a
blur of creativity and good fellowship. Now that is an Open Space to
remember, and I’ve seen quite a few. Always blows me away 
 and it simply
couldn’t happen without all those mean, nasty people.

 

Harrison  

 

 

 

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

 

189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)

Camden, Maine 20854

 

Phone 301-365-2093

(summer)  207-763-3261

 

www.openspaceworld.com

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST
Go to:
<http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org>
http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org

 

From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Frauke Godat
Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2012 12:45 PM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: [OSList] From the Immersion 2012: some new Open Space principles?

 

Today, we had the first Open Space within the Immersion 2012
<http://www.the-lwi.org/immersion2012>  gathering. From Israel, we have
received a possible 6th and 7th principle: 

 

http://aohberlin2011.posterous.com/immersion-2012-some-new-open-space-princi
ples

 

With sunny greetings from rural Greece,

Frauke

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20120513/1217447b/attachment-0008.htm>