<html><div>At 07:34 AM 3/9/00 +1000, you wrote:</div>
<div>>G'day.</div>
<div>></div>
<div>>I recently facilitated an open space event within a work group
in Malaysia</div>
<div>></div>
<div>>( My thanks to the people who gave me encouragement and ideas
prior to the</div>
<div>>event)</div>
<div>></div>
<div>>The theme was to do with self awareness - the impact that the
self has on</div>
<div>>the organization and vice versa.</div>
<div>></div>
<div>>At evening news on the first day there were some
rumblings</div>
<div>></div>
<div>>At morning news on the second day there was outright space
invasion.</div>
<div>></div>
<div>>The group (about 15 people) decided that they no longer wanted
to talk</div>
<div>>about the issues etc. related to self awareness - they wanted to
"do it".</div>
<div>>Specifically they wanted to work on giving and receiving
feedback.</div>
<div>************************************</div>
<div>Wonderful set of questions for which I am sure there are no absolute
answers -- but here's a shot</div>
<br>
<div>It doesn't sound to me like you really had space invaders. Sounded
like the whole group. For me the critical thing is to keep the space open
so that one person,or a small group,does not railroad the total group
into doing something that they really don't care to do. However, if
everybody wants to go, its a go. There have been plenty of instances in
my experience when somebody says "I think it would be fun to
...." My response is always, "Sounds like a great idea, why
don't you post an issue and create a group to do just that" If it
then turns out that everybody in the total participant body joins that
group -- that is their choice.</div>
<br>
<div>Open Space was never supposed to be a prision of methodology and
"ought tos" Just the opposite. It must be a time/space when
people can intelligently and intentionally follow their passion -- do
what they want/need to do. The only caveat is REMEMBER THE LAW OF TWO
FEET! When folks can't use their two feet because somebody is coercing
them, you are in trouble. If they can't use their two feet because they
don't want to, or are afraid to, they are in trouble. I admit, it is
sometimes a fine line between these two things -- but hey life's a
puzzle.</div>
<br>
<div>One question to you, however -- what would have happened had you not
designed the inter-action process, and suggested that they do? I
think it is quite likely that they would have figured it out, and
in any event would have done an awful lot of inter-action in the process
of figuring out what they wanted to do. Would their design have been as
elegant as yours? Maybe. Maybe not. But it would have been
theirs.</div>
<br>
<div>Good show!</div>
<br>
<br>
<div>Harrison</div>
<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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