[OSList] Who Opens the Space?

Barry Owen Barry at paretorealty.com
Thu May 9 06:04:13 PDT 2019


Dear Michael!
I think what you have written is FABULOUS!
A mini-course in the usefulness of trusting the process AND the people.

Recently, I attended a Real Estate Training program that is all the rage
here in the US http://ninjaselling.com . . .
Early in the presentation, we encountered "TSW" with no explanation . . .
On day 2 of the 4 day training, we learned that "TSW" = "The System Works"
This was an invitation not to mess with the process because we know THIS
"works"
Of course, OST always works . . . even when the process is wildly altered .
. . but my observation is that, done consistently "by the book" works
"better"
Each piece and nuance matters in the unfolding of self-organization because
many of the participants are experiencing a freedom they've never
experienced.
Anyone can disagree . . . and anyone can fiddle with the process . . . and
it'll still "work" but why tamper with a sure thing?

TSW

*Barry Owen*
*Real Estate Strategist*
*Pareto Realty, LLC *\pə-ˈrā-(ˌ)tō\
<http://www.merriam-webster.com/audio.php?file=bixpar02&word=Pareto&text=%5Cp%C9%99-%3CSPAN%20class%3Dunicode%3E%CB%88%3C%2FSPAN%3Er%C4%81-(%3CSPAN%20class%3Dunicode%3E%CB%8C%3C%2FSPAN%3E)t%C5%8D%5C>
*The Vital Few*
4004 Hillsboro Pike Ste 234-B
Nashville, TN 37215
Connect: *615-568-2123*
*BarryOwen.US <http://BarryOwen.US>*

"I Help people (Organizations) self organize to find resolution to
important and complex issues."



On Thu, May 9, 2019 at 3:25 AM Michael M Pannwitz via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

> Dear Alan,
>
> some time ago when I was still employed and had the joy of working with
> a grand colleague employed in the same outfit we did a lot of odd stuff.
> What we did usually worked, in fact, it was stunning how well it worked.
>
> Other folks working in the same organisation but in different parts of
> Berlin, hearing of what we were doing would say: "Oh well, of course,
> you guys in Steglitz (one of the districts of the city)!" (Similar, it
> appears to me, to someone saying: "From Fremantle, no wonder!")
>
> We felt they accepted what we were doing and pointed out that we were in
> a different space (geographically and perhaps in other ways). What they
> did not know and we ourselves were also unaware of, this was long before
> we ran into OST, was our way of dealing with control. This is what I say
> in hindsight.
> We had some principles such as: Never offer people ways of doing stuff
> or giving them advice, even though we were "consultants" or maybe
> because we were consultants. We turned up here and there to watch and
> listen. And then folks came and asked us, we had plenty of time, and
> some kind of relationship began out of which or through which stuff
> unfolded that had been there but was folded.
>
>  From my present point of view, I also assume that space is. Sometimes
> it is widely opened and other times it is less opened and sometimes it
> is shrunk to almost zero. I also assume that if it is completely closed
> it has the character of stuff in which all thermal motion ceases, that
> is at O Kelvin, or at -273.15 C / -459.67 F, and stuff just turns into
> dust when you touch it. This is what also happens to groups,
> organizations and systems of our own making when space has shrunk to
> zero. They simply disappear.
>
> Then OST came to me and I tried it. It worked and I kept with it. It
> working was what I liked. As I got practice I appreciated the 5 or 6
> prerequisites for selforganisation and some details about the various
> roles and their functions in the process.
>
> Presently, I feel it works very well if the prerequisites are in place,
> no shortcuts are taken, the sponsor opens the event in such a way that
> it widens the space just a bit and the facilitator introduces the
> approach (kiss, of course). In this process the persons and functions
> change: the sponsor becomes participant, the facilitator disappears and
> the participants lead, structure, connive, manage and act.
> Instead of setting up a container, space is expanded (control reduced)
> and the needed structure, call it what you like, is created, maintained,
> adjusted, changed, etc. by those that can best decide what they need,
> the participants in selfcontrol. They are the ones that take or leave
> the invitation to attend, offer or do not offer issues... if those
> things dont happen, the event is over (for some reason I have never
> experienced this but someone among us probably has... what I did
> experience in one case, however, is that after an OST-event, a well
> established and seemingly thriving organisation folded a week after the
> event, hmmm!).
>
> In real events stuff happens such as the sponsor (in this example the
> CEO) turning up in polished shoes, fine thread and perfect tie... and
> after his opening taking off his polished shoes, fine thread and tie and
> slipping into sneakers, jeans and a T-shirt to sit in the circle of
> participants. The facilitator disappearing into the background when all
> the issues have unfolded and have found their place on the bulletin
> board. The participants taking over everything that needs to happen.
>
> What I also discovered is that Action Planning after all issues have
> been dealt with is very successful when done as a "second" open space
> (some call it Action Space). It is superior to statistical methods such
> as voting or weighing with dots because it has at its base not that
> which is important but which folks will act on with passion. This arose
> from the observation that often those proposals with the most dots did
> not find a single actor.
>
> As far as my own role as facilitator is concerned I have no better way
> of describing than the mantra "is totally present and completely
> invisible". This sounds impossible and probaby is. Of course, many feel
> that OST is impossible when the first hear of it. When they engage in
> one they are usually surprised but no longer feel its anything special
> but it puzzles and tickles and you want more. I think it is a natural
> process that continues to be remembered and it is for free. Anybody with
> a clear head and a good heart can do it and most of us have a clear head
> and a good heart. Perhaps practically everybody. At times,
> my wife does wonder about my clear head and then I ask for her advice.
>
> Who do you have near you that you ask for advice?
>
> Greetings from Berlin
> mmp
>
>
>
> Am 08.05.2019 um 17:21 schrieb Alan Halford via OSList:
> > It is becoming abundantly clear to me that every time  I have the
> privilege to facilitate an Open Space that the space is already open and my
> responsibility is to set up the container and hold the space for those
> participating. In saying that I am from Fremantle in Western Australia and
> we are possibly considered a bit odd!
> > Alan
> > Alan Halford & Associates
> > Open Space Technology Aficionados
> > Mediation and Conflict Transformation
> > Facilitators
> >
> > www.alanhalford.com.au
> > www.conflictcompany.com.au
> > 0421 475 252
> > skype: alanhalford
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 8 May 2019, at 11:11 pm, Birgitt Williams via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
> >
> > Dear friends and colleagues,
> >   "Who Opens the Space"
> >
> > I believe that I open the space for myself. I show up. I make a
> conscious choice about how much space I choose to open for myself, for
> myself as a whole person to participate. Sometimes the space feels safer to
> me than other times. Regardless, it is my choice for me of how much space I
> open for myself in every situation, how much I choose to participate within
> that self created open space, and for how long I choose to keep the space
> for myself open.
> >
> > I appreciate the effort and love of the facilitator of the Open Space
> Technology meeting. The role is important, assuming it is carried out with
> care and love and clarity, to make visible that a bigger space is open and
> ready for participation. This is a valuable role. Yet, it is still me, that
> opens the space for myself...no one can do this for me.
> >
> > I appreciate the role of the sponsor is opening the space within the
> organization for a conscious opening of space for a particular theme to be
> explored. Sometimes the sponsor chooses to open a big space, sometimes it
> is a smaller space...Both are fine so long as there is honesty about the
> amount of space being opened. Yet, it is still me that opens the space for
> myself to consciously choose my participation.
> >
> > Now, I am wondering about the importance of providing the people who
> attend the OST meeting with the concept that the amount of space that they
> are opening for themselves is their responsibility. Your thoughts?
> >
> > in genuine contact,
> > Birgitt
> >
> >
> > Birgitt Williams
> > Supporting Next Level Leadership "Leading So People Will Lead"
> > Author, Senior Consultant, President Dalar International Consultancy, Inc
> > Founder Genuine Contact Program
> > Co-owner Genuine Contact Group, LLC
> > Founder Extraordinary Leadership Network
> >
> > Learn with us for your growth and development for the new leadership
> paradigm
> >
> > Genuine Contact Summer Academy theme is Genuine Contact: a holistic
> approach to change June 22-28, 2019 Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario,
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> >
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>
> --
> Michael M Pannwitz
> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
> ++49 - 30-772 8000
> mmpannwitz at gmail.com
>
>
> Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 480 resident Open
> Space Workers in 76 countries working in a total of 141 countries worldwide
> www.openspaceworldmap.org
>
> At my publisher you find books and task cards on open space, most in
> German, some in English, some as ebooks, some multilingual
> https://www.westkreuz-verlag.de/de/Kommunikation
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