[OSList] Follow-Up and Flow in Open Space

Sat Mar 23 10:14:06 PDT 2013

What a lovely definition of OPening Space, Skye

On Sat, Mar 23, 2013 at 11:31 AM, paul levy <paul at cats3000.net> wrote:

> 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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>> Harrison****
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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****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Dear colleagues****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Someone suggested I post this and I'd be delighted with some reflections
>> on it...****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> warm wishes****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Paul Levy****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> 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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