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At 07:57 AM 1/2/2002 -0900,
<font face="arial" size=2 color="#333399">Julie</font> wrote:<br>
<font face="arial" size=2 color="#333399"> I can see how in these
kinds of situations, opening up the space and invoking the law of two
feet could lead to dramatic and positive change within an
organization. I can also see how upper management might resist
large-scale opening space and change, and might desire and ask for
mediation as a way to resolve the most obvious and pressing conflicts
within the organization without requiring THEM to significantly engage or
change. <br><br>
</font><font face="arial" color="#FF0000">Doubtless there are innumerable
situations such as you describe, particularly ones where upper management
refuses engagement or change. One side of all of us says -- well if we
can't do everything, let's do what we can. And above everything else
let's try and help the people caught in the middle. I know the syndrome,
but I question it's wisdom. Organizations with such short sighted
management hopefully will not survive too long, and in any event I am not
sure that I want to be party to their sustenance. My reasons are
two. First life is very short and sweet, and given the fact that
there are endless opportunities to help folks who really do want to get
on with the business of meaningful life, why should we waste it helping
those who refuse to help themselves? Secondly, and this becomes an
ethical consideration for me, let's suppose that we are wildly successful
-- the conflict has been mediated AND the folks at the top never got
their hands dirty, nor did they have take responsibility for a miserable
situation they created. Who wins? Harsh, I suppose, but we only have so
much life to give -- and how we choose to give it makes a difference, I
think.<br><br>
</font><blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font face="arial" size=2 color="#333399">I
think mediation also has a place in situations that OS doesn t approach
(or hasn t yet approached, to my knowledge). I m thinking of
situations where people perceive it is not in their best interest to
invoke the law of two feet. </font></blockquote><br>
<font color="#FF0000">Maybe I just hit the hot-spots, but I don't think
my experience is unique. Case in point was a nasty situation in Latin
America. Two weeks before I arrived to open some space the Plant Manager
and The Shop Steward (Labor) were at machete points -- literally. We
closed the whole plant and 500 people sat in a circle. They all spoke
Spanish. I don't. I did what I could -- Hold Space, and they talked --
about everything. 18 hours later, I found the Plant manager and The Shop
Steward embraced and in tears. Those who had trouble with their feet
learned to use them -- or at the very least they learned that they had a
choice, and were responsible either way. And when the whole thing was
done, everybody knew that THEY had done it. Even if I had been able to
speak Spanish, the likelihood that I could have been present at every
instance of need was small -- and more to the point, I wasn't needed. I
guess part of the problem here is that there seems to be a general
presumption that just because you as the facilitator are not saying
something, or doing something (overt) you have no impact or contribution.
There are in fact subtle realms to be explored and worked with, and maybe
another strand of our conversation might take a look at all of this?
<br><br>
</font><blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font face="arial" size=2 color="#333399"> Sometimes
the conflict really does need to be dealt with openly and directly
between the people who are in it. In those situations, mediation
can be a very simple, elegant, and powerful process. In many ways,
like OS. Also a little different. I think people who are in
intense conflict who come to mediation experience considerable stress and
anxiety about the conflict and the mediation. From what I know so
far, they need more support than the typical OS participant. As a
result, most mediators openly engage at a deeper level with participants
than does an OS facilitator (as I understand it). Mediators don t
engage in an effort to control or to solve the problem, but to provide
enough understanding and emotional safety that each person can tolerate
the stress of sustained interaction with the person they are in conflict
with.</font></blockquote><br>
<font color="#FF0000">There is no question that good mediators can and do
achieve marvelous results. But as I observe such folks at work, it seems
to me that the less they do, the more they achieve, and under optimal
circumstances, they apparently do nothing at all. In my experience, you
can tell the "newbies" by their attention to the detail of the
process, making sure that the right words are said, and the appropriate
steps taken. Watch an old pro and you never see their hands move or their
lips. So how about this as an idea -- All Open Space is Mediation, and
all Mediation is Open Space? <br><br>
<br>
</font><blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font face="arial" size=2 color="#333399">Sometimes
I think of mediation as creating circles of two: me and A, and then me
and B, and then back again, talking about what has happened, how it felt,
and how it feels. As those circles become comfortable and A and B
relax within their individual circles with me, learning to trust that
they will be listened to and understood, they gradually reach out to each
other. For a time, they hang onto their relationship with me as
support, and we create a circle of three. As they become more
comfortable, they leave me behind, and create their own circle of
two. (This is my favorite part. I think of myself as blending
into the wallpaper of the room&.. present but unnoticed.)
Often something difficult will be said, fear will rise, and one or both
will reach back to me for support, and we re back to a circle of
three. I will help summarize or clarify or validate, working toward
deeper understanding, the fear will diminish, and they go back to their
circle of two. Eventually, if they choose to, they will reach a new
understanding, and perhaps a formal or informal agreement.
</font></blockquote><br>
Julie -- I think there is an enormous amount that we can all learn from
each other. And for sure I am not advocating the elimination of Mediation
as a thing to do. There is definitely a time and a place for the intense,
face-to-face, supportive environment that a good mediator provides. I
guess what concerns me is that I see a lot of folks in organizational
life who assume that every time conflict shows its ugly head a call goes
out for the mediators. At worst this creates mountains of learned
helplessness and needless co-dependency. I would say essentially the same
thing about those involved in Community Building and Stress Reduction. We
have learned a great deal from both groups -- but from where I sit the
real issue is to find effective ways in which to enhance the self-healing
process in our communities (whether that be businesses or whatever) --
with the absolute minimum of intervention. I think what we have learned
from 15 years of Open Space is how much can be accomplished with less.
And I don't think we are at the end of that learning. My mantra over the
years has been -- Think of one more thing NOT to do. You keep striping
away and striping away. Perhaps there is an irreducible minimum, but I
haven't seen it yet. All of which I take to be extraordinarily good news,
if only for reasons of economics. Given the levels and complexity of the
stress and conflict in our world, we simply do not have enough stress
reducers, community builders and mediators to go around, and it is
doubtful that we could pay for them all, even if we did have the numbers.
I consider Open Space not so much a tool as an on-going natural
experiment in enabling the process of self-healing, which is but one of
the many gifts of self-organization -- otherwise known as Spirit at Work.
<br><br>
Harrison <br><br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<div align="center">Harrison Owen<br>
7808 River Falls Drive<br>
Potomac, MD 20854 USA<br>
phone 301-365-2093<br>
Open Space Training
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.com</a>
<br>
Open Space Institute <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.org</a><br>
Personal website <a href="http://www.mindspring.com/~owenhh" eudora="autourl">www.mindspring.com/~owenhh</a><br><br>
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