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<x-tab> </x-tab>As the one
probably most responsible for the use of both Talking Sticks and the
Medicine Wheel in Open Space, I suppose some comment might be in order.
To begin with, both of these elements found their way into the Open
Spaces I have been part of -- NOT because I was looking for some tricky
tool, but simply because they are powerful -- in short they work to
enhance the quality of the circle, the power of the space. When I use
them, I am very careful to honor where they came from, and to use both
with deep respect. <br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Over the
years, it has been my privilege to open space in many diverse cultural
settings around the world, including with First Nation people in North
America. To date, I have never received negative criticism, but that of
course may be only a function of what I was listening to and what I chose
to hear. A more usual response was either nothing or very positive.
Sometimes it was down right surprising, as when a First Nation person
came to me at the end of an Open Space and said, "I feel like I came
home -- you must be a Chief." I assured him that I wasn't, or at
least that I didn't know that I was, but I thanked him.<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>At the end
of the day, I believe dignity and respect to be critical. It is not what
we do, but the way that we are, that matters. Further, that opening
space is pretty close to, if not the same as, a sacred trust -- in which
we (those who facilitate) accept responsibility for the lives, and the
enrichment of the lives, of those who choose to join us in that space and
that time. This has nothing to do with pre-determined outcomes. It has
everything to do with creating and holding a space in which those
involved may find their way to whatever outcomes may be right for them.
And surely it is different strokes for different folks.<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>I guess
this is a point where the funny word, "technology" -- as in
Open Space Technology -- can trip us up. As most of you will know, the
word "technology" came to be associated with Open Space mostly
as a fluke and almost as a joke -- but it stuck. In truth, Open Space is
a <i>technology</i> in the narrow sense of the word. It is a set of
procedures (sit in a circle, create a bulletin board, open a market
place, and get out of the way) that predictably produce certain outcomes.
As Chris and others have observed, "It always seems to
work."<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>BUT. To
see Open Space ONLY as a technology for better meetings is to miss
99.9999% of what we all have experienced. There is something more going
on. And that "more" has everything to do with the dignity,
respect, empowerment, full-fillment of the lives of those involved.
Having a better meeting is minimal. Having a fuller life is what it is
all about.<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>As I think
about it, Open Space does not contain a few aboriginal elements. <b>It is
all aboriginal</b> -- in the root meaning of that word -- "from the
beginning." It is primal (not primitive) in the best sense of the
word. Beginning with the opening circle, (The primal geometry of <i>Homo
sapiens,</i> I suppose) until that circle is formed for the last time,
only to dissolve into the larger circle of the world at large -- there is
nothing new. It always was. So in answer to the oft asked question,
"Why does OS work?" -- at least one answer is -- it works
because this is what we (humankind) has always done, although sometimes
we have forgotten. There is no need to explain the rules for a game that
has been played in every culture and every time -- from the beginning.
Who knows if that statement is "true" -- but it works for
me.<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>There is a
critical consequent to all of this, I think. Nobody owns Open Space. We
all do. Thus, I find it imperative every time I open space to make quite
clear that there is nothing that I do that cannot be done equally well by
every person in the room. Indeed, it would be my hope that the gift of
the day should go infinitely beyond the concrete outcomes of the
gathering. The ultimate gift of the day would be the collective
realization that space may be opened anywhere, anytime, by anybody. This
is the opportunity. This is the responsibility that comes with our
humanity. <br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>One final
note. If anybody ever thinks that I sat down to design Open Space based
upon a careful review of all available anthropological,
psychological, sociological data, combined with a detailed study of
organizational behavior and meeting management approaches -- they are
nuts. Open Space (at least in terms of my connection to it) was quite
simply a two martini idea. The first martini got me in the mood, and
during the second, it all came together. It just seemed like a natural
thing to do -- and we did it. Five years after the first Open Space, it
still seemed like a natural thing to do, indeed it was fun and
productive. But it never occurred to me that it might be important and
useful. Only when some of my friends brought it to my attention that
something rather powerful seemed to be taking place did I find myself
afflicted with such questions as why does it work, and how do we work
with it. I think we may have some answers to the questions -- but that
does not change the reality that in the beginning it was nothing more
than a blinding flash of the obvious, courtesy of two martinis. <br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>There is
no intent here to trivialize what has taken place. It is only to make
clear what my roll has been. I did nothing but acknowledge what had been
there from the beginning -- ab-original, so to speak. It isn't mine, it
isn't ours (that dedicated band of Open Space junkies) -- Open
Space belongs to everybody as a birthright, waiting only to be claimed --
or not. That is choice for each person to make. But we (us junkies) have
a special opportunity and responsibility to give away what we never
owned, and to do that with dignity and respect.<br>
<br>
<br>
Harrison<br>
<br>
<br>
<div align="center">
Harrison Owen<br>
7808 River Falls Drive<br>
Potomac, MD 20854<br>
USA<br>
phone 301-469-9269<br>
fax 301-983-9314<br>
website <br>
<a href="http://www.mindspring.com/~owenhh" eudora="autourl">www.mindspring.com/~owenhh</a><br>
Open Space Institute websites<br>
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.org</a><br>
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