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At 01:14 AM 6/13/2002 +0200, <font face="arial" size=2>Avner
Haramati</font> wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font face="Courier New, Courier" size=2>Starting
the 3rd day with closure that enable people to work through what happened
to them in the last 2 days was briliant. It freed the energies of the
people to use all the afternoon, evening and some of the day after to
take full responsibility and to plan very significant
projects.</font></blockquote><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>It is
always nice to be called brilliant -- justified or not. In the moment it
seemed like the only thing to do. And it represented perhaps my major
learning from the whole affair, at least in terms of working in Open
Space. It had been my intention to "do" the Open Space
according to the book, by which I mean 2 days discussion with convergence
and action planning on the morning of the 3rd day. However, as the second
day ended, and I sat with all those feelings through the night, the
"standard approach" seemed less and less adequate. The feelings
were so deep and raw, and the the issues discussed so broad and still
forming (with one or two exceptions) that any notion of convergence,
prioitization and action planning seemed premature at the least, and
possibly grossly insensitive to the real place the people found
themselves in. I have no question that, good troopers as they were, had I
started down the standard pathway, folks would have followed -- but I
knew it would be an empty process. Just going through the motions as it
were. Truthfully, I didn't really know where I was headed when the 3rd
day started, and when last I had talked to my colleagues Avner, Tova,
Carol and the sponsors the evening before I had indicated my intention to
go straight ahead "according to the plan." However, when I saw
the faces of the people that morning as they came into the circle, I knew
we had to go a different way, and at that point I had no time for
consultation with "The Team." Thus I began as I
previously reported.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>My
intention and hope was to totally open the space so that people could
honestly choose where they wanted to go -- even if that meant simply
hanging up the towel and going home in disgust. And frankly I did not
have a clue what was going to happen when I left the circle, or what the
situation would be upon my return. As it turned out whatever happens is
the only thing that could have -- and as usual it was just perfect --
perfectly what it was. Given the space, the folks always know
best.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>My
specific learnings were several. First -- a radical confirmation of what
we all know. Attachment to pre-determined, fixed outcomes, even something
as broad as prioitization, convergence, and action planning, is a one way
ticket to disaster. A second learning, and this was a surprise, was that
extreme levels of anxiety, conflict and pain (which we had in abundance)
can and will change the dynamical pattern of the Open Space, It still
work as always, but not the way I had grown to expect. <br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>To be more
specific, I have noticed (as many others have as well) that in a troubled
group, the first day is likely to be filled with angry bitching, and on
the second day folks will get down to the business of solving what they
were crying about the day before. <i>In Rome, the pattern was exactly
reversed</i>. On day one, we certainly had intense conversations with
some real, raw feelings, but compared to Day 2, it was pure "Love
and Light." I think what happens is that the whole group is so
constricted physically, mentally, and emotionally (probably spiritually
as well) that when they first hit Open Space they find it possible to
take a deep breath, perhaps the first one in a long time. The euphoric
sensation of actually being alive, breathing freely, and being conscious
of it is almost narcotic. I am not suggesting that the feelings are in
some way "unreal" -- for the genuine presence and authenticity
of that group on that first day was overwhelming. But it was not the
whole story. Strengthened by that "breath of fresh air" the
group could then do what it did -- take a real dive into all the shit of
their common lives. The net result was as I described. Day I -- Real
light. Day II Dark Hell. I felt at that point that it was critical to
provide unfettered space with no expectations in which the group,
individually and collectively, could make a judgement. Was Day I just a
phantasm? And Day II the somber reality? Or were both truly what they
seemed -- Real Light and Real Darkness. It was a moment of reflection and
choosing.<br><br>
My third learning was yet another confirmation of what we all know. Trust
your gut. Faced with the kind of stuff we were dealing with, the rational
mind just spins out of control with possibilities and stratagems spilling
all over the ground. Not useful. For me the only possibility was to take
a deep breath (several), clear the battered mind, or better yet -- shut
it down, and go to a quiet centered place well beyond thinking and
knowing. And then do what you have to do. <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://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm" eudora="autourl">http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm</a><br><br>
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