[OSList] Follow-Up and Flow in Open Space

Sat Mar 23 08:31:14 PDT 2013

That, indeed, was an action, Harrison.

And when a community decides they don't have a future (for their community
or organisation) they are, in that moment, deciding also that they have a
past. And if we put that past (what went before), before (in front of) us,
we might just find, in opening space for it, that a new future emerges.

If, in your example, the decision that we don't have a future was pretty
well collectively known and simply hadn't been yet spoken by some or all of
the community, it might have been eloquent to let it be spoken before the
opening circle. Utter, collective actions to end and die, tend to close
space. Speaking the difficult that is known beneath the surface of
collusion and intended kindness, at the beginning can open space for the
beyond. I humbly suggest that "beyond" lies not only in the future, but
also in the past and the present as well.

Paul

On 23 March 2013 13:33, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:

> Paul – Interesting thoughts! But I am wondering how you might have handled
> a client situation I once had. The gathering was convened to explore “their
> future” – with lots of action expected. All under the heading of what they
> were going to do for the rest of their life. However, by early afternoon on
> the first day everybody pretty well agreed they did not have a future. They
> dissolved the business. I guess you could call that an action? J****
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> *From:* oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:
> oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf Of *paul levy
> *Sent:* Saturday, March 23, 2013 8:56 AM
> *To:* oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
> *Subject:* [OSList] Follow-Up and Flow in Open Space****
>
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> Dear colleagues****
>
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> Someone suggested I post this and I'd be delighted with some reflections
> on it...****
>
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> warm wishes****
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> Paul Levy****
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> Follow-Up and Flow in Open Space...****
>
> ** **
>
> *"Time runs backwards in the spiritual world."*****
>
> No, don't stop reading. Not yet.****
>
> There's a lot of debate in the field of emergence focused on "when things
> open up, how do you close them down?".****
>
> In the realm of Open Space, often the textbook reply is not to close down
> at all but simply to open some more space for closing down...****
>
> In other words, if we are worried about outcomes from an open space - what
> will happen back at base, the actions, the commitments in practice, then
> all we need to do is to follow up with an invitation to another Open Space
> that focuses on the question of action. So you need at least two open
> spaces to get stuff done.****
>
> Another view is that one should trust the open space itself - whatever
> happens of course is the only thing that could have. And many open spaces
> do self-organise sessions about action so... just trust the process. It
> always works.****
>
> A third view is that these are paying clients we are usually talking
> about. As facilitators we can't just leave the organisation "up in the
> air", walk away and let them do what they will with the space we've opened
> up! Many facilitators then reach for the post-it notes, often in the last
> hour, and start to draw out (or bleed?) actions from the meeting. All kinds
> of clever prioritising and voting ensues. Elsewhere I've suggested this
> might be a counter-productive way of going about things.****
>
> Now, here's an alternative view and its based on the idea that time runs
> backwards in the spiritual world. No! Stay with me. Just for a bit longer.
> Imagine you put what went "before" you (past), before you (in front of you.
> ****
>
> For those of you still here, read on...****
>
> I am going to suggest that follow up is often best at the start, not after
> the event. I've tried it. It works. If the client is very concerned, even
> at the planning stage, that action must result, then, of course, include
> the invite to decide and commit to actions in the invitation to the open
> space. Make that call to action explicit and that will help to set the path
> for the right people to come. Some open space invitations are very "theme"
> focused and it is easy when we immerse in self-organising conversation, to
> forget the element of our will that sometimes sleeps a bit when we go into
> the head space of sitting in circles, self-organising the content of what
> is often talk, talk, talk.****
>
> So, build the reminder of action in the invitation before the event. Put
> action before the event, not after it.****
>
> Yet even then it is easy to forget when the space opens. Not always, but
> often.****
>
> Now, stop reading if you don't like apparent craziness.****
>
> Try this. Before the event, invite those coming to share what they think
> the actions should be arising from the Open Space. Ask them to come up with
> actions before the event has started. This can be done online or at a
> pre-meeting. Get the actions out. When an open space is commissioned, it is
> often because a critical issue or challenge in the organisation or
> community has given rise to it. It is born out of restlessness. And
> restlessness is often takes the form of blocked flow. People often know (or
> think they know) what the actions and priorities are. Not everyone, but
> some. They may not be correct, but they sit there, bubbling behind the damn
> of "not yet" or "no".****
>
> If certain actions have already been fixed and decided by leaders, be open
> and transparent and build them into the invitation. If the actions are to
> be arrived through community and organisational input then use a method to
> surface them - but not after the open space - BEFORE it. The reason is
> because a lot of the future already sits as potential in the word, hidden,
> waiting to emerge. Human beings often tap into this and know what needs to
> be done, before they explore how, and verify why, sometimes deciding
> against anyway. The bubbling potential underneath is the potential for
> "realisation" and it is mostly about action. The release of potential is
> often exhilarating. Often at open space events, that potential for action
> gets lost in the self-organising gorgeous chaos of of emergent head-talk.
> Especially in the West.****
>
> Get them out on the table BEFORE the event. Put them up on the wall. THEN
> open the market place. The suggested "follow-up" actions will then be
> "incomes" not "outcomes" of the event. They will be there, not bubbling
> underneath, but instead shared consciously, and they will irritate and
> inspire. And often sessions well self-organise around them. By the end of
> the day, what we put "before" us, before the event started, now stand
> "Before" us as commitments after the event.****
>
> Trust the self-organising nature of open space and also trust the inherent
> knowingness of the human collective and individual will. There's often no
> need to worry about actions not arising from an event, if we accept that
> those actions were largely already there in the collective story and flow
> AND genius of the community.****
>
> Some of those actions going in will be thrown out, others re-affirmed,
> others changed and played with, and new actions will also come into being.
> ****
>
> I'm not suggesting this for all Open Spaces. Actually it works best where
> action forms the main part of the invitation, is vital to the sponsor and
> the community and also where there's an intuition that many of the actions
> are already known and the open space overall theme is really more about the
> who, when, where, why and how.****
>
> Put the ending at the beginning, the imagined actions as the inspiration
> and input. Then space will open around what we already think and feel needs
> to happen. It might not. But then, again, it just might.****
>
> But please, ditch the post-its and the after-event prioritising. It has
> nothing to do with opening space.****
>
> I believe that when we start an emergent conversation we may well have a
> blank page. But usually organisations and communities travel along
> timelines of past into present into future that are more like tapestries
> than lines. Linear is but one way we experience life. Yet past is always
> playing into the present, the future in the form of the unrealised and the
> potential inspires us in the know. Often something in the future will be a
> direct transformation or culmination of something that began in the past.
> We are also past, present, AND future, which is more of a picture rather
> than something linear. In open space, the action often precedes the word.
> Allowing those actions to speak in the past of the open space often creates
> a marvelous alchemy of flow where past and future meet in open space in the
> present.****
>
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