[OSList] Open Space and Boundaries

Harold Shinsato harold at shinsato.com
Mon Apr 7 16:45:36 PDT 2014


Hi David,

Thanks for sharing contrasting thinking around boundaries and 
containers. I very much enjoy the boundaries breaking thinking of 
Harrison, and I'm also curious what you've learned from Glenda Eoyang's 
theory and work? Would you share a little more deeply what you find 
helpful from her work in understanding Open Space?

Living in the country, I've had personal experience that good fences 
mean good neighbors. But "good" for a fence doesn't mean impermeable. A 
fortress wall is not the sign of a good neighborhood. But no boundaries 
also doesn't indicate a good neighborhood either. I knew someone from a 
church I was part of who lived in East Palo Alto, and he said if you 
locked you're doors - the locks would be broken. You had to give access 
to your property, and only then would they leave you alone.

My understanding speaking with Lisa Heft about facilitating Open Space - 
she needs to "own" the room. Not in order to control people, but having 
the authority to manage the space. Mostly so someone from authority 
won't come in and shut it down if he or she gets uncomfortable with what 
people do (or don't do).

     Thanks,
     Harold



On 4/7/14 10:26 AM, David Osborne wrote:
> Harrison,
>
> I think this is one of the few times I have a different point of view 
> that you. I believe OS's have natural containers built in. I also 
> believe you need a container for open space to be effective. I think 
> the difference stems from having a different definition or viewpoint 
> on what a container is and can be. My view has been heavily influenced 
> by Glenda Eoyang's theory and work in this area. For something new to 
> emerge from self organization something has to hold our bind the 
> diverse agents together for them to have exchanges across their 
> differences.
>
> - The room or space the OS is being held in is a container.
> - A concept or idea that people care about brings the people 
> together.....it binds or contains them creating the space to have the 
> conversations to emerge.
> - The bulletin board is a container.....scheduling a specific 
> conversation at a specific place and time.
>
> In my experience there are always multiple containers that are 
> massively intertwined.
>
> My thoughts along the way.
>
> David
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Apr 6, 2014 at 9:33 PM, Michael Wood <michael.wood at uwa.edu.au 
> <mailto:michael.wood at uwa.edu.au>> wrote:
>
>     Thanks, Harrison, for your response to my question on
>     'boundaries', particularly your paraphrasing of my question -
>     which was spot on.  One thing I've taken from this brief
>     conversation is that although considering the boundaries can be
>     useful, we also need to accept that boundaries are never entirely
>     clear, always moving on a spectrum from clear to uncertain/murky
>     and if we, as a sponsor or facilitator, get overly bound up with
>     boundaries then we might have moved, once again, into being too
>     controlling.
>
>     Michael Wood
>     Perth, Western Australia
>
>
>     ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>     Message: 1
>     Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 12:01:40 -0400
>     From: "Harrison Owen" < hhowen at verizon.net
>     <mailto:hhowen at verizon.net>>
>     To: "'World wide Open Space Technology email list'"
>             < oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
>     <mailto:oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>>
>     Subject: Re: [OSList] Open Space and boundaries
>     Message-ID: <000301cf4f56$00776480$01662d80$@net>
>     Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
>     It has been common for us to speak of Containers and Boundaries as
>     somehow essential to Open Space. I can't quite find the place, but
>     I do remember saying something like that myself, as in, "The role
>     of the facilitator is to create the container..." It certainly
>     made sense at the time, but I always felt a little uncomfortable
>     with the image. Too mechanical, coercive... too something. And
>     Michael has brought the subject up again. "So...here we have a
>     situation where the 'boundaries' are actually in a state of
>     complex flux and uncertainty. The financial 'givens' are
>     ambiguous; there is no 'locum'
>     pastor in place because of legal uncertainties with the existing
>     pastor...etc." You might call it "messy boundaries" -- and he
>     raises the question whether one should press ahead with Open
>     Space, or wait until the "mess" is settled down. On the one hand,
>     Michael "hunches" that one should press on -- Open Space. But his
>     hesitation comes, I suspect, from the prior notion that fixed
>     boundaries/containers are necessary for an effective Open Space.
>     What to do?
>
>     Some thoughts (new ones for me): Containers are great for cooking
>     soup, but are unneeded and maybe even problematical in Open Space.
>     It is all about holding things together. In Open Space groups of
>     people come together to deal with their issues. At the very least
>     that would mean gathering in some common time/space, be that
>     physical or electronic. It would seem that this co-location could
>     be facilitated were some suitable "container" provided, presumably
>     by the sponsor/facilitator. This certainly makes sense, and as a
>     rough way of speaking, it seems to describe what is going on. But
>     as I think about it, I think we may be missing a most important
>     point. Coming together in Open Space happens because people care
>     to come. And they continue their connection as long as they care
>     to do so. (Law of two feet)
>
>     >From the "outside" it might look as if they were held in place by a
>     container, but that is illusory. The actual dynamics are
>     centripetal, the force is mutual attraction... people are "there"
>     because they care to be there and not because they are contained
>     by some external structure. In a word, we as facilitators really
>     don't do a thing, and creating a container is the least of what we
>     DON'T do. The people, from the beginning, do it all.
>
>
>     Of course, there are situations where groups come together under
>     orders, mandates, whatever. And they are definitely "contained."
>     It is also true that the tighter that container, the less likely
>     self organization will take place. If true, providing a container
>     is not only unnecessary but also destructive. In the name of
>     Opening space, we effectively close it. Or so I suspect it might
>     be. Just thinking...
>
>     Anyhow Michael, should my mental peregrinations lead anywhere
>     useful, it would seem that your "hunch" was spot on. Forget the
>     boundaries/container.
>     Just invite the space to open.
>
>     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 <http://www.openspaceworld.com>
>     www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com> (Personal Website)
>     To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives
>     of OSLIST Go to:
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>
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
>     <mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>
>     [mailto: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
>     <mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>] On Behalf Of
>     Michael Wood
>     Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 9:59 PM
>     To: ' oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
>     <mailto:oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>'
>     Subject: [OSList] Open Space and boundaries
>
>     A Case Study....
>     One of the principles that I have generally worked with in Open
>     Space is helping the client get clear on the 'boundaries' of the
>     space that's being opened. For example, helping people who come
>     into the space to know 'what up for grabs here and what isn't?
>     What decisions have already been made?'
>
>     So picture this (purely hypothetical of course)....a church
>     community in which the pastor has (in many peoples' opinion) run
>     off the rails and the main church body is in the process of trying
>     to dismiss him; the church is in compete disarray and completely
>     conflict ridden, many people have left; the pastor who holds all
>     the keys, banking passwords; church telephone connections etc etc,
>     has taken legal advice and had hunkered down in the church owned
>     house where he continues to hold the reigns of power (via some of
>     his 'allies' in the church) despite not formally being the Pastor
>     of the church anymore....
>
>     So...here we have a situation where the 'boundaries' are actually
>     in a state of complex flux and uncertainty. The financial 'givens'
>     are ambiguous; there is no 'locum' pastor in place because of
>     legal uncertainties with the existing pastor...etc etc.
>
>     So in terms of 'Opening Space', do we wait a bit longer until some
>     of the legal boundaries are clarified, OR open space right away in
>     the midst of the mess....my hunch is the latter, but any thoughts
>     from anyone?
>
>     Cheers
>     Michael
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>     End of OSList Digest, Vol 38, Issue 3
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> --
>
> David Osborne
>
> www.change-fusion.com | dosborne at change-fusion.com | 703.939.1777
>
>
>
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-- 
Harold Shinsato
harold at shinsato.com <mailto:harold at shinsato.com>
http://shinsato.com
twitter: @hajush <http://twitter.com/hajush>
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