[OSList] Possible Relationship between Clean Language and Open Space

[Jake Yeager]

Hi all,

I've sensed that there is a relationship between Clean Language
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Language> and Open Space, but I wasn't
sure what it was. They are definitely similar in construction: minimalist
and precise. But I felt the relationship was deeper than these
characteristics. Then, I came across a passage in an Open Space case study
called We Passed the Flowerpot from Lap to Lap: Using Open Space to Create
a Learning Communit
<https://www.openspaceworld.org/files/tmnfiles/learning.htm>y by Sara
Halprin and Herb Long. In the study, two students who participated in a
three-weekend course that was conducted in Open Space capture their
experience as thus (emphasis mine):

"The course was to be about learning and development, so what did we learn
and how do we learn? We learn by exploring. We learn by listening. We learn
through our families, our culture and our experiences. We learn by taking
risks and stretching our minds. It is a lifelong process and a spiritual
process. *What we discover as we go along is that much of what we think we
need to know, we actually have inside ourselves already. The trick is to
accept ourselves and to look inside ourselves to find the teacher within*."

That the client discovers answers within is a key aspect of Clean Language;
however, I never considered it as so for Open Space. But, I now see how
Open Space also encourages introspection. In Open Space, participants have
no recourse to authority; instead, they must rely on themselves. Similarly,
in Clean Language, the client cannot garner expertise or advice from the
practitioner. Therefore, in both modalities, the participant must learn
self-reliance, and to rely on one's self means to look within for answers.
And I think this might be the deeper relationship that I sensed!

Just a thought. Would love to hear what other's think.

Much love,
Jake
________________

When the mind is quiet, the sun of your heart will shine once again, and
you will be free of problems.
 - Robert Adams <http://www.robert-adams.info/>
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