[OSList] Long moments of silence

Chris Corrigan chris.corrigan at gmail.com
Mon Nov 19 12:59:45 PST 2012


I don't know the answer to the question, but I have observed over time that the more work that has gone into the invitation process, the quicker people rise to their feet and move forward.  

Of course that is always tempered by things like how much conflict there is in the room, how safe people feel and so on, but there is a strong correlation between shared purpose and circle energy during the opening.  I like to have OST meetings where participants know why they are there and are so ready to go that by the time I'm through my opening, they are sick of hearing from me.  12 minutes can seem like an eternity when you have a conversation to call.  

Chris

On 2012-11-17, at 8:55 AM, Bernhard Weber wrote:

> Peggy,
> 
> might be, that (the perception of) COMPLEXITY produces a (first) feeling of beeing overwhelmed
> And digesting needs time.
> 
> (Maybe there is a similarity to some long and deep silences I also experienced when the complex GESTALT of the mindmaps in FSConferences became evident to everybody in the room.)
> 
> Bernard
> 
> 
> On Nov 17, 2012, at 4:29 PM, Peggy Holman wrote:
> 
>> Ironically, I read this thread having just opened a space with a really long silence before the first session was announced.
>> 
>> Harrison (who is here at this OS with students of my Implementing System Change class in the American University Masters of Science in Organization Development program (MSOD)), said:
>>> what you experienced is simply that rich moment of silence before the storm of creativity. 
>> 
>> 
>> So true! I marveled at the wealth of topics -- both content and number -- on the wall following the long silence.
>> 
>> My experience has been that generally, the more hierarchical the organization, the longer the silence.  This is the second time I've opened space with the MSOD program. And both gatherings began with a long silence. In this setting, hierarchy isn't the issue. After some conversation with the first cohort about what was going on for them, I have a theory of why. They came for an Open Space.  As much as I've worked to emphasize the purpose of the OS (sponsored by the program chair, the topic is What contributes to a world-class education in system change?), it gets talked about as the Open Space meeting.  So it takes a while for participants to formulate questions related to the theme. 
>> 
>> Peggy
>> Sent from my iPad
>> 
>> 425-746-6274
>> www.peggyholman.com
>> 
>> On Nov 15, 2012, at 7:30 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> what you experienced is simply that rich moment of silence before the storm of creativity. If so… just
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