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<DIV><EM>- And (the last point, I promise...), I think that Open Space will dye
if it continues to be "American (continent) only"; and I am quite
concerned that other foruns are being created in national languages that don't
report their <FONT size=3>discussions to this international forum and conduct
people to have less time to this one.</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2><FONT size=3>Hello again. I certainly seem
to be jumping into these discussions with both feet :).</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>I just wanted to share an experience on the idea of OS being "American
only". When I was in Sweden taking the OS trainings there was a one
day Open Space meeting with the theme being something about an exploration of
what Open Space really is. One of the topics that went up was about
whether or not the name Open Space was too "American". I was
astounded to learn that when referring to Open Space in Swedish, they were still
saying Open Space in English. It never occurred to me that if the
discussion was happening in another language that the words Open Space wouldn't
be translated into that language. I'm sure that the term might not
translate well into other languages, but who can honestly say that the first
time they heard the term Open Space that it made sense to them? Perhaps
some of the feeling that OS is too "American" comes from issues as
basic as this? The underlying principles of OS are universal aren't
they?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3>As I'm sure that you already know, a new
listserve came out of the trainings in Sweden, with the discussions happening in
Swedish. I think that this is a great way to foster community. It is
much easier to have discussions in your first language than it is to struggle
with words in a language that you don't know as well. And perhaps we can
all work together to find a way to share these discussions in a way that is easy
for everyone to understand.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3></FONT></FONT><FONT
size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>Rachel Bolton<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: Artur F. Silva
<<A
href="mailto:artsilva@mail.eunet.pt">artsilva@mail.eunet.pt</A>><BR>To: <A
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>
<<A
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>><BR>Date:
January 13, 2001 11:06 AM<BR>Subject: Re: shoemaker's
children<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>>At 12:43 09-01-2001 -0500, Birgitt Williams
wrote:<BR>><BR>>>Dear colleagues on the list,<BR>>>I sometimes
feel like we on the os-list are like shoemaker's children. In<BR>>>this
case, consultants/facilitators who work with other organizations
to<BR>>>develop best practices using OST but in my experience we don't
apply what we<BR>>>know to ourselves.<BR>><BR>>I would like two had
my two cents on that.<BR>><BR>>First, I would like to say that this list
is really Open Space. A very special<BR>>Open Space indeed as we are ALL
holding the space. I don't think that we need<BR>>to state that the
fundamentals of OS apply because they are really applied,<BR>>in part because
we are an Open Space community, in part because of the<BR>>"Open"
character of Internet and mailing lists.<BR>><BR>>I have always
appreciated to read ALL the mails I have red, and if sometimes<BR>>I don't
have the time or am not interested in a particular subject I have
not<BR>>even to hit the delete bottom; I don't open those mails, as I have
not<BR>>"signed" for that particular session. And, yes, I
appreciate to know the<BR>>training<BR>>and facilitation that others are
doing; and I very much appreciate (even<BR>>when I<BR>>was only in
"read mode") the help and suggestions that everybody gives
for<BR>>others "requests for help".<BR>><BR>>I belong to many
lists in different languages and subjects and this is the<BR>>only list (and
community) I always felt I was a member of (even when no<BR>>one knew that
except me). The reason for that is that in this list there
is<BR>>"coherence" between content and form, and passion is real
and not<BR>>simulated. (And the things I don't like, here or elsewhere, is
when a<BR>>"good" content is expressed with the wrong format - a
format that<BR>>uses dictatorship, or shows no respect for the feelings of
others, for<BR>>instance - and if there are any "principles" that
may facilitate that, I<BR>>would prefer to revise them, and allow for
"irresponsibility" to be fully<BR>>opened and
commented...)<BR>><BR>>Apart from that, I agree with Birgitt and others
that, from time to time,<BR>>we shall discuss (or re-discuss) what we want
this list to be. What other<BR>>things (in this case it is "more"
things, not less...) could we use the<BR>>list for?<BR>><BR>>I would
suggest that we could use this list to exchange more
information,<BR>>learning, and clarification and permanent improvements on OS
concepts and<BR>>techniques. Some points to clarify that:<BR>><BR>>- I
think that OS is greater that OST - I would like to hear experiences<BR>>of
Spaces being opened out there even if they don't use OST (having
said<BR>>that, I must clarify that I am not referring mainly to other
"Large Scale<BR>>Intervention Methods", that I think that in most
cases have a "closed<BR>>form", but to "life
experiences", within families, schools, communities,<BR>>etc that are
"Open" (by nature or construct).<BR>><BR>>- Secondly, I think
that if we only "exchange experiences" we risk to<BR>>never learn
new things. I think that all of us try to read subjects that<BR>>are being
published and can be useful or, on the contrary, are useless.<BR>>As no one
can read everything, I would like if summaries (and not only<BR>>references)
are sent to the list and eventually discussed, namely new books<BR>>on
consultation, or chaos theory, or complex systems theory or, on
the<BR>>contrary, against system theory. (for example - it is useless for me
to now<BR>>that some authors are now contradicting systems theory, as I don't
have<BR>>the time to read everything - I would prefer to read a post
explaining What<BR>>are they saying, Why are they against, and are they right
or not?). So<BR>>more exchange of information and debate on
"theory" would be welcome.<BR>>And I think that a community is much
more rich and ALL participants<BR>>will profit if more people does research
and creation that if only some<BR>>people do that.<BR>><BR>>- Thirdly,
I think it is the time to go beyond the type of help we all try<BR>>to give
to each other and, in this list or in more restricted forums, try<BR>>to
organise more "organic" ways of collaborating with each other. I
think<BR>>the training that "Harrison and colleagues" are giving is
one step<BR>>in this way. But I can imagine other steps. For instance, many
of us<BR>>have companies or are "doing business as" - why not
creating other<BR>>partnerships crossing states, or countries, or
continents?<BR>><BR>>- And (the last point, I promise...), I think that
Open Space will dye if<BR>>it continues to be "American (continent)
only"; and I am quite concerned<BR>>that other foruns are being created
in national languages that don't report<BR>>their discussions to this
international forum and conduct people to have<BR>>less time to this
one.<BR>><BR>>In these global days I don't believe in any movement that is
country<BR>>centred (or continent centred). I know (if I know...) how
difficult it<BR>>is for a non-English speaker to participate in discussions
in English,<BR>>but after Berlin I would expect this list to be by now much
less<BR>>American-only than it is. "World wide" is the only way I
can think<BR>>of true Open Space. I have no solution pre-prepared for that -
only<BR>>the concern...<BR>><BR>>Best wishes for
all<BR>><BR>>Artur<BR>><BR>>*<BR>>*<BR>>==========================================================<BR>><A
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A><BR>>To
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