[OSList] Open Space and Introverts

Sat Aug 26 09:39:34 PDT 2017

LOL! This question comes up from time to time. I’m looking back in the archives and see the conversation happened extensively in 1997 with reprises in 2001, 2006, and occasional smatterings at other times.

Some quotes:

October 16, 1997

I have also heard this concern, and heard that it favours men over women,
the dominant group over the  sub-groups--no matter what the situation.

My experience, however, is usually just the opposite. If (and this is the
big if for those facilitating) the theme is clear and the parameters for
action are clearly stated by the sponsors--anyone who wants to pursue an
idea has the ability to  do so. I led one 550 person two day open space
where many of those who came for the first time spoke during the closing.
They had expected to come to this large meeting and have little to do or
say. They expected that the "old boys" who knew how to work the system would
do most of the talking and they the listening. In Open Space, it was just
the opposite. Their views were taken seriously, they could create the agenda
as they wished. Over the the full two day event, this help them build the
confidence to become active participants. In fact, after the event, the "old
boys" were quite angry they they had not dominated the conference and its
business like they were used to.

I think this kind of  comment comes more  from people used to "facilitating"
everyone's participation. Much of facilitation emphasises the facilitator
shaping the process to force inclusion. That's why the critique of
manipulation so often gets tied to process facilitation. Yes, people have to
take initiave in Open Space in order for things to happen, but that is how
it works. The initiave of the facilitator, in the long run, is not what
leads to action in a particular situation or organization.

I am an introvert on the MBTI and I love being in Open Space--I know many
others that do as well.

Larry Peterson

October 16, 1997
hello metta,

i would put myself in the introvert camp and i dig open space...score my wife
the same...open space gives quieter folks access to smaller groups with
deeper interests...and lots of room to float and do nothing....gotta run,
maybe more on this later,

michael herman

October 29, 1997
Since passion is the key, I or E does not seem to matter. However, an
E could be a bumble bee more often than an I.

Thomas P Benjamin
benjamin at fac.irm.ernet.in <mailto:benjamin at fac.irm.ernet.in>

February 22, 2001
...One thing that has come up for me, that I try to
keep in mind when planning the sessions, is that some folks are natural
introverts who process stuff internally.  They need time to let things
rattle around in their brain before they feel ready to comment out loud.
When we did our OST facilitator training last September, several of the
participants were Meyers-Briggs facilitators - one an extreme introvert -
who cautioned us to make sure we made the sessions long enough to give the
internal processors time to think.  Otherwise we end up with an incomplete
picture, with only input from the external processors (who often think out
loud, but who likewise generally admit that their thoughts are in the
formative phase), so we miss out on what may be deeper, more carefully
thought-out information from the internal processors. 

Laurel Doersam

December 20, 2001
Dear Sharon and all,

   Thank you very much for sharing your experience, I very much agree that
there is magic for introverts in OS type of work, as long as it is a real
issue that people have passion for.
   Let me through in my two cents for your question Alan, I believe that
people who are shy, timid and very intelligent tend not to speak if they
believe there is a likelihood they will be scorned or shamed. OS creates and
atmosphere of playfulness and deep appreciation of every voice. It is an
approach that tells there is no mistake possible ("whatever happens..") and
that is safe grounds to play and communicate and be creative and let
yourself flow.

Tova Averbuch

August 23, 2006

Until I began to live in OS, Justin, I almost never got to say what I was thinking in group settings.  I am an introvert (a Chatty-Cathy kind of introvert but, nonetheless, I draw my energy from within) and I would be inwardly absorbed and it often seemed like just when I was finally ready to say something, the group moved on or someone else was talking.  Also, I used to believe that having a facilitator directing a group's conversation would help insure that the introverts in a group would get a chance to talk.

Now that I live in OS, now that I know that I am always one of the right people, now that I know that when I speak is the right time, I am open and I tend to participate a whole lot more.  My own internal sense of my own power opens up when I am consciously in open space.  It is not just my internal process, either.  When a whole group is in OS, the whole group is listening to themselves and each other in a different field of energy.  Having a directive facilitator means, to me, having someone else TRY to hold the energy for the field . . . this can't actually be done but the world is going to be full of such facilitators for a long, long time.  So. . . . an introvert like me is more likely to contribute my true thinking when my colleagues in a group are all in the field created in OS.  

For me, I learned that it was not a question of what a facilitator was doing. . . but how I saw my own voice/value.  I can't tell you how the principle "whoever comes are the right people" has changed my self-concept, how it has empowered me to believe that even when I am not acting right, even when I know I am the wild card that a conventional facilitator might dread seeing, I am one of the right people.  And, gosh golly, the right people had better speak up. . . so I speak up.

Also, I believe that the point you have raised, Justin, indicating that as a quieter person, you sometimes experience that you don't get to say what you want. . . I believe the world needs to hear what you have to say in order for the whole to be whole.  I believe such wholeness becomes more possible when a whole group is individually and collectively aspiring to live in OS.  The whole co-creates a field that is very different, much richer, more 'whole' than any facilitator can direct. . . no matter how great said facilitator is.  Every voice is needed to co-create the 'right' field.  I think a directive facilitator actually blocks the richer, collective field, co-created in OS.

Tree Fitzpatrick

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Twitter: @peggyholman

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> On Aug 26, 2017, at 9:19 AM, Ron Quartel via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
> 
> I had an interesting chat a few days ago with someone that identifies as an introvert. They made this statement which has me somewhat confused and perplexed - "Introverts do not like Open Space".
> 
> Now - I know that for the broadest definition of an introvert that is not true. Because I myself am an introvert and I love Open Space. Like all mental categories, introversion I assume is on a scale. So perhaps a better statement from this individual may have been - for more extreme introverts, Open Space can be uncomfortable and is not viewed as a safe environment for me to express myself. (I need to run this statement by said individual to see if they can confirm if this statement better represents their intention.)
> 
> Is this indeed true however? It is at least for one person I know. So my questions are:
> - has anyone else encountered this opinion?
> - If so, what percentage of the average population do you think would feel this way?
> - Is there anything we can do to make these extreme introverts to feel comfortable and safe to share?
> 
> Any thoughts and advice appreciated.
> 
> Ron Quartel
> 
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