[OSList] No-Go-area's as OS facilitators

Chris Corrigan chris.corrigan at gmail.com
Tue Feb 5 12:19:00 PST 2013


I always explain to people that whether or not their staffs are compelled to be there, we still need to invite them.  You can have 100 bodies in the room without a single one of them being present.  I have.  I have been in meetings where people were so bitter that they showed up and rebelled by not participating at all.  

If people want to do an Open Space, the most important work is in inviting the participants to be there.  You might be forced to attend, but a boss making a personal request to someone not come and share their particular expertise or question goes a long way to helping open the space.  

Chris


On 2013-02-05, at 8:49 AM, Gijs Mega wrote:

> Dear Kari, Chris, Micheal, Jeff and others on the list
> 
> Being of service to the group during an event, is relative easy to do because the role is so clearly defined. However serving the group during the meetings with the client is harder. In some cases I feel myself selling OST, just because of sharing passionate stories or nice events. No-go area for me could be when bosses decide when a team needs to do OST, where the participants are forced to show up and there is no openness to outcome. Recently I was in such a situation. At first I regretted my commitment than reflected and proposed an alternative program, which actually served the team much better and was a good practice for me in "not too much adding value"
> 
> The Taiwan-group list is also very supportive. Thanks
> Gijs
> 
> Send from iPad
> 
> 
> On Feb 5, 2013, at 3:10 AM, Chris Corrigan <chris.corrigan at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I think it's sort of dangerous to imagine that there is a list of definitive do's and don'ts for Open Space.  For sure if you are learning the process, I would DO the following three step process: 
>> 
>> 
>> 1. Read the User's Guide
>> 2. If you still have questions about your design, ask the OSLIST for help.
>> 3. Run your even and report back to us.
>> 
>> Everything else comes with practice, and the longer you go, the better you get at knowing when to do or don't do certain things.  Join a group, go for a nap, skip over the principles, have tables, do it in 75 minutes…all of these are design choices in which the context matters a lot.  Above all I think the biggest DO is this:
>> 
>> Be of service to the group.
>> 
>> And the biggest don't would be:
>> 
>> Don't let your own needs trump the needs of the group.
>> 
>> Chris
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 2013-02-04, at 8:05 AM, Michael M Pannwitz wrote:
>> 
>>> Dear Kari,
>>> instead, try taking a nap.
>>> 
>>> My experience as a late-comer to os (I was 56 and had been into OD processes for decades) is that I had to do a lot of un-learning... and no end in sight.
>>> For some reason I had developed the stance of "unattached to outcome" in other contexts but could still "direct" a lot with my coniving facilitation skills. Letting go of all of that when working as an os-facilitator was tough but I found ways to redirect most of my control mania and live my control-mania by being a real stickler in every detail BEFORE the event.
>>> 
>>> I have no personal experience in joining a break-out session in events where I was in the role of facilitator.
>>> However, I do remember a couple of situations that might be relevant to your question:
>>> 
>>> --- I have been asked several times by members of break-out sessions (some being very clear that I had to come immediately to fix whatever it was that troubled them) to join their session and always found a way to fend off the invitation... and did get feedback from those that had asked me to join such as "we did manage very well..." or "good thing you did turn down our invitation, we handled it ourselves and found that exhilarating..."
>>> 
>>> ---On one occasion we needed everybody in the team to join hands in I forget what it was exactly... and discovered that a couple of the team members had joined breakout sessions with the result that we could not deal effectively with the task that the team was responsible for...
>>> 
>>> ---One time, I got into a very interesting and fascinating discussion with one participant... reminded me of a meeting of two butterflies... Not very long into that my assistant danced up to us and got me to leave that wonderful encounter. As I followed him he reminded me of my role: How on earth could I keep totally present and also be completely invisible doing what I did. After taking a deep breath, I thanked him and saw to it that he was in the facilitation team every time!
>>> 
>>> Get yourself a tough assistant.
>>> 
>>> Lets have more question, Kari.
>>> Greetings from Berlin
>>> mmp
>>> 
>>> Cheers
>>> mmp
>>> 
>>> On 04.02.2013 16:28, Kári Gunnarsson wrote:
>>>> Dear Gijs and others on the list
>>>> 
>>>> I like to explore this topic theme a bit more closely.  I have been
>>>> learning so much for the past few years that I have been practicing
>>>> the open space. I like to know your examples, your thoughts and
>>>> experiences?
>>>> 
>>>> An introductory questions on No-Go-area's:
>>>> 
>>>> At one time I was hosting an open space and I happened to join a group
>>>> discussion on the topic witch was close to my hart and I shared some
>>>> of my hopes and experiences for I was there with the passion to to
>>>> that and the small group had a interesting topic. Now I feel like this
>>>> is something I should not have done, that I took some space instead of
>>>> holding it or others that where there to do something about the issues
>>>> at hand. What are your thoughts and experiences?
>>>> 
>>>> With love from Iceland
>>>> Kári
>>>> 
>>>> On 2 February 2013 04:09, Gijs Mega <gijs at megainternational.com.hk> wrote:
>>>>> Hi Chris,
>>>>> 
>>>>> The first time I saw you was in the circle in San Francisco 2008. Your kids
>>>>> took part as well and "lived" the law of 2 feet, and shifted from
>>>>> butterflying to bumble being. Observing this was great : open space life.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Your comments on the list are often a real contribution. So was your last
>>>>> one:
>>>>>  "
>>>>> This is key for those of us who are Open Space facilitators.  Please never
>>>>> try to Open Space for other people bigger than the space you are willing to
>>>>> open for yourself.
>>>>> "
>>>>> In the context of our society your point is clear.
>>>>> When you generalize it for facilitators, I read it as an advice for being
>>>>> authentic and sincere to the principals, the topic, the invitation and the
>>>>> sponsors intention.
>>>>> However, I hope to challenge people to elaborate more in detail about
>>>>> no-go-area's for ourselves as a facilitator or as a parent.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Gijs van Wezel
>>>>> Shanghai
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Send from iPad
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Feb 1, 2013, at 1:32 AM, Chris Corrigan <chris at chriscorrigan.com> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> This is key for those of us who are Open Space facilitators.  Please never
>>>>> try to Open Space for other people bigger than the space you are willing to
>>>>> open for yourself.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> OSList mailing list
>>>>> To post send emails to OSList at lists.openspacetech.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe send an email to OSList-leave at lists.openspacetech.org
>>>>> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
>>>>> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> Michael M Pannwitz
>>> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
>>> ++49 - 30-772 8000
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 401 resident Open Space Workers in 72 countries working in a total of 143 countries worldwide: www.openspaceworldmap.org
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> OSList mailing list
>>> To post send emails to OSList at lists.openspacetech.org
>>> To unsubscribe send an email to OSList-leave at lists.openspacetech.org
>>> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
>>> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> OSList mailing list
>> To post send emails to OSList at lists.openspacetech.org
>> To unsubscribe send an email to OSList-leave at lists.openspacetech.org
>> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
>> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
> _______________________________________________
> OSList mailing list
> To post send emails to OSList at lists.openspacetech.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to OSList-leave at lists.openspacetech.org
> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20130205/b1d7a745/attachment-0008.htm>


More information about the OSList mailing list