[OSList] Follow-Up and Flow in Open Space

Michael M Pannwitz mmpannwitz at gmail.com
Sun Mar 24 15:43:20 PDT 2013


When I have a contract to facilitate an os-event I remind myself that 
space is always open - sometimes it might appear almost closed - , 
regardless of what I do.
And then I remind myself that in my experience, using Open Space 
Technology has always worked in expanding time and space for the work of 
the forces of selforganisation... every time I was involved with it.

In my practice as os-facilitator, I dont open the os-event honoring the 
fact that its not my event but the event of the folks that hired me and 
that it is their task to open the event by saying hello, stating the 
theme and saying a couple of things from their heart in regard to what 
they want to happen at the event (done in 5 minutes or less)... and then 
passing the mike to me to introduce the process.

In the briefing of the person that opens the event, I do point out that 
anything more than 5 minutes cuts into the time of the folks that have 
come to exchange ideas, create new approaches... or simply want to 
change the course of history or the world. And I make the point that I 
will also be as brief as I can (thats always been a tough task for me) 
and get out of the way without intervening in how they structure their 
work, time schedule, fights, issues ...knowing that control regardless 
of who exerts it is a surefire way to shrink space and fence in 
selforganisation, that force that in fact guarantees all the good stuff 
that can be observed especially in os-events.

The question of "TIME" (all kinds of tempi, past, present, future) in 
all this seems well served by "Whenever it happens is the right time" in 
conjunction with NOW, as HO is pointing out. The NOW is a great place to 
start and live in ... a group or organisation or system focusing on the 
now is both productive and in permanent action planning. Although its 
not a bad idea to have a focused phase of action planning after being in 
a phase of divergence, action planning, play, discoveries, creation... 
happen all the time, simultaneously, uncontrallably, chaotically... 
perhaps the conditions under which life thrives best and most joyfully.

Greetings from Berlin where we have the coldest March 24 since 1899, a 
lot colder than it is in Siberia right now reminding me of warmer days I 
have seen and knowing of warmer days approaching...
mmp

On 24.03.2013 18:09, David wrote:
> When I do open space with my business hat on in the consulting role, I
> almost always start with four imperatives that most companies start
> with, even if they havent articulated it, but soon lose sight of. I call
> it VMPM. Vision, Mission, Purpose, Method. Many companies have a mission
> statement, few ever read it after it has been written. NO company is
> healthy for more than a year or two at a time, although many run very
> successfully from the economic metric for years or decades. I just put
> up the four words, the group gets to define them. Here are my
> definitions, that we usually start with to frame the discussion:
>
> Vision: what does it look like when it is done. A vision is a snapshot,
> or series of snapshots. Vision is not Mission.
>
> Mission: What is the target, how does the map compare to the territory.
> The territory is not always reflected on the map. (just by a street map
> of Nairobi sometime, and you will see what I mean).  Mission is not Purpose.
>
> Purpose: the personal "why" . Purpose is purpose, it is my personal core
> driver.
>
> Method: How we do it, the outflow of the inflow of the first three
> points. Method is how I achieve my self interests as part of a
> collaborative community, also called a company.
>
> All successful communities have these common elements: Community! which
> is collaborative and cooperative, consistent and committed.
>
> I have found that through the day of OS things hidden or unknown become
> apparent. All day I am moving idea and discussion points into those four
> points, and whatever other axiomatic points the circle cares to add on
> their own.
>
> David Glenwinkel
>
> www.villagecare.com <http://www.villagecare.com>
>
> *From:*oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
> [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf Of *Suzanne
> Daigle
> *Sent:* Sunday, March 24, 2013 6:44 AM
> *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Follow-Up and Flow in Open Space
>
> Ditto for me too!   Suzanne
>
> On Sat, Mar 23, 2013 at 9:49 PM, Lourdes Adriana Diaz-Berrio Doring
> <adriana at diazberrio.com <mailto:adriana at diazberrio.com>> wrote:
>
> Yes I agree with Nici I was going to say the same thing!
> Adriana Diaz-Berrio, Montreal, Quebec
>
> 2013/3/23 Nici Richter <nici.richter at gmail.com
> <mailto:nici.richter at gmail.com>>
>
> What a wonderful conversation!
>
> Oh - I am loving it!
>
> Thank you!
>
> Nici Richter
>
> Johannesburg, South Africa
>
> On 23 March 2013 14:56, paul levy <paul at cats3000.net
> <mailto:paul at cats3000.net>> wrote:
>
> 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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> --
> Nici Richter
> Strategist
> Sustainable Strategic Insight
> http://www.sustainablestrategicinsight.co.za/
>
> Mobile +27727406181 <tel:%2B27727406181>
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>
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> Suzanne Daigle
> NuFocus Strategic Group
> 7159 Victoria Circle
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> CT 203-722-2009
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> twitter @suzannedaigle
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Michael M Pannwitz
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++49 - 30-772 8000



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