[OSList] Certification?

Artur Silva arturfsilva at yahoo.com
Fri Aug 9 04:27:54 PDT 2013


Eva:

I understand what you are saying. But every point you have mentioned is
very well explained in the User's Guide.

I know that there are people that say that they apply Open Space, and
have never attended one event (not to mention a course) and have never read the
book. But that is something one has to learn to live with. 

In that respect, if I were a Christian, I would join the reformist church.
I would not believe in a Catholic hierarchy to explain me the Book (Bible); I
would prefer to read it myself!
 
Bye
 
Artur


________________________________
 From: Eva P Svensson <eva at epshumaninvest.se>
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> 
Sent: Friday, August 9, 2013 11:34 AM
Subject: Re: [OSList] Certification?
 


Here it comes again :-)
Of course you can never certify someone and by that promise that the person will behave in a conform way. But I must say that I sometimes have missed some sort of certificate to at least know that the OS-facilitator have gone through some sort of training - not that that is a proof of success or anything but hopefully that person has been introduced to the essence of Open Space such as the marketplace, the principles, the law etc. That said is because I have sometimes got the reaction when I have talked about OST - "Oh that, we have tried open space and that was nothing for us" - and as I am a curious person of course I ask why, and when they start to explain how their open space experience was - I can say - "that was NOT open space". There have been cases where they had not had the freedom to choose topics, not have the freedom to use their feet and so on. And in my fantasy there will be less drifts from the original form with some kind of training
 followed by a certificate. And of course there is no proof that the certificate made the facilitator do it "the right way" we always do it our ways, but still - there is some essences that needs to be to call it Open Space - at least for me.
My 2 cents
:o)
Eva

Bästa hälsningar
 
Eva P Svensson
 
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9 aug 2013 kl. 06.45 skrev Chris Weaver:

Greetings All,
>
>
>Ah, I can't resist jumping in to stir the pot.  It is an honor to join a thread peopled by so many folks whom I respect (and appreciate and love) so much.  I invite you to settle in for rather a long story, which may, at some point, have something to do with "certification."
>
>
>After learning of Open Space in Anne Stadler's kitchen, I walked around as a newbie at the OSonOS in Monterrey (the one fifteen years ago, from which Harrison was unexpectedly absent, due to a nasty flu, I believe), with my jaw hanging open to meet so many bold and brilliant facilitators (I remember especially Michael P, Alan Stewart, Brian Bainbridge, Roxy, and Birgitt Bolton) sharing stories that I sweetly strove to wrap my head at least half-way around.
>
>
>For a few years I engaged actively on the OSLIST as I began to facilitate some OST meetings (without even "finishing the book," as I recall) in the Seattle school where I worked as a teacher.  In 1999 I landed here in North Carolina, where I attended my first OST workshop as part of the Genuine Contact Program with Birgitt (Bolton) Williams who had recently landed a few hours away.
>
>
>Now I will say that I have an assumption only that at around that time there was something of a "falling out" between Birgitt and her work and the work of some other OS facilitators.  I do not know, nor need to know, the details.  But I do know that there are some points of practice that have generated some heated passion in the community and that I think are worthy of putting on the storytelling table.  (I know that there is not supposed to be a table, but I suddenly imagine myself with Jeff, Chris, Peggy, Harrison, Michael in a pub somewhere with a rough wooden table, on which I am happily uncorking a bottle of pinot noir.)
>
>
>When I completed the Genuine Contact "Working with OST" workshop, I received a certificate, but not a certification.  (The distinction is important because there was no intention on the workshop leader's part to evaluate my "competence" in any way.)  Based on my participation in the four-day experience, I could, if I chose, refer to myself as an authorized "Genuine Contact professional."  The workshop included an exploration of the form & essence of OST, as gifted so effectively in Harrison's User's Guide.  The workshop also shared some suggested approaches and tools for working in depth with the sponsor of an OST meeting (usually a leadership team within an organization), both prior to and after the OST event.  My own understanding is that, by referring to myself as a GC professional if I chose, I would be sharing the simple message that I had had exposure to the approach of using OST that included these pre- and post-OST meeting practices and
 tools.  The choice of whether and how to apply these practices and tools was up to me.
>
>
>So that is the part that relates to this thread topic of certification.  As a practitioner, I honor the open-source nature of OST as Harrison's "discovery" and gift to the world.  I refer people to the User's Guide (and also the Non-User's Guide and other community resources) frequently.
>
>
>As an aside, I continued in the years that followed to participate in workshops on other methodologies that are shared through the Genuine Contact Program (most notably Whole Person Process Facilitation, which I use very often).  I collaborated with my Genuine Contact colleagues around the world in developing the minimal appropriate structure for our international community.  I participated in many mentoring circles, completed the Train the Trainer workshop, and became one of the 43 "co-owners" of the program.  I also shifted my virtual community participation to the GC List, and dropped off of the OSLIST for a number of years.  (I am enjoying being back.)
>
>
>So here, the plot thickens :-).  One of the practices included in the GC "Working with OST" workshop is the use of...the "givens."  So, lubricated with wine, I am going to place the notion of givens on the wooden storytelling table for our enjoyment.  (This is worthy of its own thread, of course, but I'll just keep going here.)
>
>
>I have only infrequently worked as an external consultant/facilitator.  Most of my work with OST has been within schools and community organizations.  Over the years, I have come to value highly the practices I learned in the GCP of working with the sponsor prior to and after an OST (and I know that among other OST facilitators, pre- and post- meetings such as these are skillfully used and valued).  
>
>
>In my experience, the purpose of careful preparation with the sponsoring team is to assist them in considering the state of their organization.  What is the story-line that has brought them to considering an OST meeting?  What's happening in terms of the grief cycle within their organization?  What (deeply now) is the purpose of the meeting?  What (deeply now) is the context?  Basically, I ask the questions, and the team has the conversations.  All this I explicitly place in the reality that when you sponsor an OST, there is not, nor should there be, any turning back.
>
>
>I use the givens as an essential tool in this process.  I draw a circle on a flip chart and say, If this circle represents the open space, what are the non-negotiables that form the parameters of the open space?
>
>
>In the past, there have been passionate objections to this practice on this list, based, I think, on the belief that to establish givens is to close the space before it is even opened.  My long-haul experience within organizations has taught me something different.
>
>
>What happens when I ask what the non-negotiables are is that a bunch of stuff goes up on the flip chart.  Then, I probe each one, and ask, "Is this REALLY a given at this time for this meeting?"  The fifteen givens get whittled down to twelve, and then eight, and then maybe five (ish).  As you can imagine, the level of trust that organizational leaders have in the people plays in heavily.  I let it be.  I cannot make them trust more; I can only model trust, and hold space for trust.
>
>
>But I also find that the few givens that remain are, every time, very important and meaningful.  Some examples:  Perhaps the organizational purpose is a given, and perhaps there is value in re-sharing the organizational purpose at the start of the OST.  Perhaps there has been a year of good work by a sub-group within the organization that has culminated in a policy that not everyone attending the OST is aware of, and that policy is a given.  Perhaps a "law of the land" that administrators, but not all participants, know about is a given.  Perhaps it is a given that the organization will stay within a certain budget, and any ideas generated beyond the budget will have to include the funding source to support them.
>
>
>Yes, the givens are shared with the group at the start of the OST.  In my experience, this does not close the space, but rather it opens the space clearly and honestly.  More importantly, it is a tool for building trust.  When participants hear their formal organizational leaders share, clearly and transparently, what the givens are, they are more trusting that their own ideas will be honored after the meeting and not squelched.
>
>
>And this is what happens.  Using givens is a way to profoundly mitigate the phenomenon, with which any seasoned OST facilitator is familiar, of leadership freaking out and clamping down on the results of an OST.  The practice does not (thankfully) prevent the productive chaos and re-framing that happens after the meeting, but it greatly reduces the phenomenon of reactionary fear on the part of formal leadership.  The result is that leadership is more inclined to sponsor another OST soon, and indeed to invite other groups withing the organization to utilize OST themselves.
>
>
>Perhaps because I have worked inside organizations for many years, I have a deep respect for the challenges that formal leaders face.  Perhaps an organization is possible without any formal leaders, but I have not yet encountered this.  In the school where I work, there is a fragile and indeed even tender respect for our formal leaders whose responsibility it is to hold the space for the organization in the community.  When leadership is in its integrity, followership is a natural and beautiful thing.
>
>
>Okay, I will pour the last of the bottle into all the glasses.  Sadly, I won't hear your fine words until tomorrow, but so it is, according to the odd and illusory parameters of space & time.
>
>
>Take Care, with Love,
>Chris
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 8:21 PM, Donna Read <donna.read at managing4wellness.org> wrote:
>
>Amen to that, Harrison!  Blessings, Donna
>>
>>Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>On Aug 8, 2013, at 17:36, "Harrison Owen" <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>Jeff – as a sometime perpetrator and totally confused (certifiable) I can attest that if at any point I were to intimate that I actually knew what I was doing, that would be a significant error. However I feel quite comfortable in my not-knowing if only because the “process” (OST) is not something I “do.” Under the best of circumstances my contribution is to invite folks to do what they already know how to do – to be what they already are. It always works, and it works even better when I get out of the way. 
>>> 
>>>Harrison
>>> 
>>>Harrison Owen
>>>7808 River Falls Dr.
>>>Potomac, MD 20854
>>>USA
>>> 
>>>189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)
>>>Camden, Maine 04843
>>> 
>>>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
>>> 
>>>From:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Aitken
>>>Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2013 7:17 PM
>>>To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
>>>Subject: Re: [OSList] Certification?
>>> 
>>>having been trained by the motley lot who dreamed up this stuff, i can attest that even that great privilege does not mean that i know much or should be let near the folks in your organization.
>>> 
>>>jeff.
>>>On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 3:53 PM, Peggy Holman <peggy at peggyholman.com> wrote:
>>>To be certified confused…where do I sign up? 
>>> 
>>>Chris -- thanks for your decidedly clear and unconfused comments on certification.  
>>> 
>>>I seem to recall in some past conversation that rather than certification, lineage is alternative to the client conundrum of who am I hiring?  To be trained by the creator, or by someone who trained with creator, on down the line seems to have worked for a variety of practice traditions through the ages.
>>> 
>>>Still no guarantee, as Chris noted below.
>>> 
>>>appreciatively,
>>>Peggy 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>On Aug 8, 2013, at 10:35 AM, Chris Corrigan <chris at chriscorrigan.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Ohh I love this topic too, because as we go on and on it becomes clearer and clearer to me that Harrison's original idea (which predated Open Source) was sheer genius.  There is an expression in english: "Closing the barn doors after the horse has left."  It's too late to certify people in Open Space Technology, and thank God! 
>>> 
>>>You simply cannot certify people as a way to protect the brand and the reason is simple.
>>> 
>>>Certification is based on an industrial quality assurance model  In other words, every product leaving the factory is guaranteed to work the way we say it is going to work.  If it doesn't you can have your money back and we'll give you a new one that works.  Every product can be tested before it leaves the factory to be sure it works reliably,
>>> 
>>>You simply cannot do that with facilitators.  No amount of certification will guarantee that a client will get what they want every single time.  And a facilitator taking a single training in Open Space or some other method will by definition NOT be perfect leaving the factory.  You need to develop a practice, and even still there are contexts and situations that will challenge and surprise you.  "Be Prepared to Be Surprised" is the only certification I can reliably give to anyone that has trained with me.  We are not engineers, architects or doctors.  We are people whose skill is in responding well to myriad and changing contexts.
>>> 
>>>The International Association of Facilitators went down this route.  I have seen some horrible facilitation done by people who are certified by the IAF.  So much so that I have no faith in that certification as standing for anything.  It is a worthy idea but it simply cannot be implemented.
>>> 
>>>Open Space is a brand like brainstorming is a brand, like using markers and flipcharts is a brand, like parliamentary procedure is a brand.  In a few more decades, with any luck, the world will have forgotten where it all came from and it will just become a basic operating system of groups.  In the last 10 years that prospect has really come on as people have stolen, mashed up, mixed together, modified and redesigned Open Space Technology.  Participatory process is becoming an acceptable way of doing things, and will only become more so.  Most conference goers for example are now able to report on conference evaluations that they would have rather had a world cafe or an Open Space than a keynote address.  I see it all the time.  There is a fluency in the world with this method and others.
>>> 
>>>I fundamentally distrust anyone who makes a concerted effort to certify Open Space.  If Harrison Owen, the guy that put it all down on paper, refuses to do it for excellent reasons, then I wonder what gives anyone else the right to do it.  
>>> 
>>>And for me that is a terrific example of how to steward something that really has an impact in the world.  Offer it up and let it go and only defend it from those that would try to own it.  Thankfully Open Space Technology I think is at a place in the world where it defies ownership.  Anyone who tries it will simply be laughed off the stage.  
>>> 
>>>Chris
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 9:29 AM, Kári Gunnarsson <kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is> wrote:
>>>I love the Certification dialogue and I think that the recurrence of
>>>the dialogue is necessary. As I have looked around of things that
>>>trace there roots to open space or give the impression to be similar
>>>is some way. Some of these processes have the Certification hierarchy
>>>protecting the Quality of the Brand and the revenues steaming from the
>>>property that the brand name is.
>>>
>>>The hierarchy of the Certification process associated with Brand names
>>>is a way to close space and create tension witch in turn will fuel the
>>>flow of cash from the people that can pay, excluding the people that
>>>can not. It is an exercise in creating a closed system to fuel a
>>>business plan. And naturally, any start up consultancy offering some
>>>tools will need some flow of cash to pay the phone bill.
>>>
>>>When I was at Wosonon in Berlin back in 2010, I head one participant
>>>saying. "You always have the clients that you deserve".
>>>
>>>By knowing that the space for clients is well open and the law of
>>>mobility is active from them is perhaps a little scary. This scare can
>>>be remedied by letting go of the outcome and commit time to prepare to
>>>be of more benefit for my future clients.
>>>
>>>Here I have opened up many lines of thoughts that stay with me when I
>>>think about this topic. What I would like to have written down is some
>>>sort of vision on how to go about using the open space as a central
>>>idea and core philosophy in a practise.
>>>
>>>On Certification, my vote would go for "no central Certification", but
>>>I don't mind that various offspring's of Open Space go ahead and
>>>create there own brand name with the associated cash flow headaches
>>>and salaried sales staff of Certification trainings in there bid to
>>>get a bought with a handsome cash out from lager companies.
>>>
>>>That said, I would like to see more people get interested in the
>>>"boring" methought of meeting, working and begin together called open
>>>space.
>>>
>>>By the way, I am bored to tears by people hearing about open space and
>>>begin pissed off by the way open office layout (also called open space
>>>in my country) has been ruining there work experiences.
>>>
>>>This is starting to be a long rant, Ill stop now.
>>>
>>>With the breeze from Iceland
>>>Kári
>>>
>>>
>>>On 8 August 2013 14:50, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
>>>> Certification (whatever that might mean) seems to be a perennial topic. I
>>>> suppose that is understandable, but for myself it is a horrible idea. My
>>>> reasons are several. First of all it is too much work. The thought of
>>>> developing the criteria, programs, and even worse, “protecting the brand” is
>>>> totally exhausting. We’d have to have certifiers to certify the certifiers
>>>> and so on ad infinitum. Second reason – Open Space seems to be taking care
>>>> of itself. When folks come on with “A little Open Space,” “Sort of Open
>>>> Space,” “Modified Open Space,” ... the participants (increasingly)
>>>> understand that they aren’t getting the genuine article—and say so. I recall
>>>> one instance where a large gentleman stood up in the middle of the “program”
>>>> and loudly proclaimed, “This sure ain’t Open Space! I’m out of here.” And he
>>>> walked. I guess you could call that “Market Certification.” Best of all  ---
>>>> it works all by itself. One more thing not to do!!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Harrison
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Harrison Owen
>>>>
>>>> 7808 River Falls Dr.
>>>>
>>>> Potomac, MD 20854
>>>>
>>>> USA
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)
>>>>
>>>> Camden, Maine 04843
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 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
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>--
>>>Kári Gunnarsson
>>>kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is
>>>gsm: +354 8645189
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>OSList mailing list
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 
>>>-- 
>>>---
>>>CHRIS CORRIGAN
>>>Facilitation - Training - Process Design
>>>Open Space Technology - Art of Hosting
>>>
>>>http://www.chriscorrigan.com
>>>Upcoming workshops
>>> 
>>>Wise Leadership in Practice
>>>August 22-25, Sänna Cultural Manor, Estonia
>>> 
>>>Art of Hosting - Art of (Inter)action
>>>October 8-10, 2013, Montreal, PQ.
>>> 
>>>Art of Hosting - Participatory Leadership and Social Collaboration
>>>November 11-14, 2013, Bowen Island, BC, Canada.
>>> 
>>> 
>>>_______________________________________________
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>>>
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>>_______________________________________________
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>
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