[OSList] openspacing in Jordan

Harrison Owen hhowen at verizon.net
Thu May 31 05:49:41 PDT 2012


Kerry - Your pointing out the power of the circle brought to mind a story
from another OS Michael Pannwitz and I did several years ago. I know the
tale has been told, but it surely fits well here.

 

Just imagine 250 Senior Rabbis and Imams gathered together in the service of
Peace. Place was Seville and the participants were the upper echelon, so to
speak. The sponsors, assuming that a little transition into Open Space would
be helpful for this bunch of folks, had designed the 1st day in the Standard
Way. Straight rows of chairs, dais, and endless speeches. The proceedings
began at 9 am, but by noon the room was total chaos. Delegates were standing
on desks and screaming at each other.  I wasn't in the room, finding such a
meeting more than I can handle, but as I was walking towards the  dining
room for lunch I was intercepted by the sponsor's associate. Frantically he
called my name and popped the big question, "How quickly could I Open
Space?"

 

The Open Space part of the 3 day program wasn't due to start until the next
day, but plans do change when driven by necessity. I replied that we were
good to go just as quickly as the hotel could re-arrange the room - which
turned out to be 2 hours. That gave us time for lunch and a little cooling
off period for a very overheated group of people.

 

Somewhere around 3 pm - there we were. The same group of folks who in the
morning were close to killing each other (at least verbally) - now all
sitting peacefully in a circle. And so it went - just like usual.

 

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)

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Kerry Napuk
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2012 6:02 PM
To: oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Subject: [OSList] openspacing in Jordan

 

Hi Phelim

Great story about opening space in a traditional society like Jordan.

You hit it on the head showing the power of the circle as the basic marker
in opening and creating new space.  Most people everywhere are conditioned
to be talked at within traditional architecture, i.e. podium, theatre
seating and speaker.  This old tired setup ruthlessly permeates much of our
lives.  And how incredible boring it is!

So, it was not surprising in the beginning that one after another person
tried to keep space closed by controlling it.  If you hold the floor, no
thing will happen.  But, lo, the energy emerged and flowed once a circle
appeared followed by a marketplace.  What energy, what freedom - it must
have been heady.

Well done for persevering and, once again, trusting the process makes things
happen.  Thanks for sharing your experience in the Middle East.

Yours is just one of many stories which will be discussed at WOSONOS 2012 in
London between 11-14 October.  How exciting it will be to hear about other
great experiences around the world.

Be there or be square.

Cheers

Kerry
Edinburgh

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