<html>
Hi Raffi,<br>
<br>
Here's another belated congratulations... And an answer to your question.
One of many I am sure.<br>
<br>
To me, the essence of Open Space is all about reminding. Reminding people
of something they already know and can do. We all have this basic
knowledge and these basic skills. For some folks, the reminding just
takes a little more than for others. And people sometimes tend to forget
bits again along the way.<br>
<br>
This reminding thing can be handled in many different ways. A reminder
like: "Hey you dumbo! Didn't I tell you to...!" obviously is
not what we want in Open Space. And often people need very little to be
reminded. I have people coming up to me asking whether they can do
something (like changing the time of their session, or merging two
sessions, things like that) and all I do is wait a few seconds and do
nothing. In most cases, after a few seconds, they know the answer, tell
me what they ar going to do and leave happily.<br>
<br>
Quite often, it takes even less: just my being there, centered, conscious
of my love for this special group of people, trusting them with whatever
it is they need to do, is enough for a reminder. And at the same time, it
is much more than not being present at all.<br>
<br>
Sometimes it takes a little more. But even if I do repeat an instruction
or offer some advice, I always keep in mind that I am not instructing
people or telling them what to do, it is just this gentle reminding
process that comes from a place of love and trust.<br>
<br>
Just my 2 cents.<br>
<br>
Koos de Heer<br>
<br>
At 15:34 18-7-2004, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font size=2>Thanks to the folks
who congratulated me for my "first time." Yes, Harrison, it
indeed is going from bad to worse. And I only have myself to
blame!</font><br>
<br>
<font size=2>Oh well. Here I am with another question:</font><br>
<font size=2>When I attended the OS facilitator training with Birgitt, we
were asked to frame for ourselves what we understood the essence of OS to
be. The answer I came up with then immediately (which is no longer
adequate for me) is "profound non-intervention." I don't think
here I need to expand on why I thought that was OST's
essence.</font><br>
<br>
<font size=2>What I realize, though, is that it's not entirely clear to
me at what point that "non-intervention" (I'm not sure I would
call it that at this point; holding space and time might be closer to
what the facilitator does; even that isn't quite exact in my book)
begins. Is there consensus on that?</font><br>
<br>
<font size=2>Another way of framing the question is "at what point
can one consider that the facilitator has "opened" the space? I
put this word in quotes because I realize more and more that there are
times when indeed there is no need for a facilitator to even
"open" space. There is no need for a "facilitator".
That self-facilitated open space already exists (and has existed) for
millenia.</font><br>
<br>
<font size=2>-Does the "opening" end at the explanation of how
we will work? Thus, the facilitator can just leave the room then (before
the topics are announced and put up)?</font><br>
<br>
<font size=2>-Does the "opening" end when the facilitator sees
that all topics have been put up and then he/she can leave the
room?</font><br>
<br>
<font size=2>A secondary (but maybe not that secondary) question is does
the facilitator have any role in the Marketplace? If someone forgets to
put a post-it on a topic, can the facilitator remind the participant
about this? Do you follow the process of putting up topics?</font><br>
<br>
<font size=2>Or it just varies? </font><br>
<br>
<font size=2>I have come to understand that once I have given the
explanation, that's it. I have no place to interfere in any way. If
someone forgets a post-it, it's not my place to do anything. Or if all
the sessions have been taken with topics and there is a desire to
announce more sessions, it is not my place to create, for example, a
third concurrent session. Since this is OS, I imagine it is up to the
group to imagine and come up with the possibility of a third
session.</font><br>
<br>
<font size=2>Raffi</font><br>
* * ==========================================================
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU ------------------------------ To
subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu:
<a href="http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html" eudora="autourl">http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html</a>
To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist" eudora="autourl">http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist</a> </blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Koos de Heer<br>
Auryn management advies BV<br>
Utrecht, the Netherlands<br>
<a href="http://www.auryn.nl/" eudora="autourl">http://www.auryn.nl/</a></html>
*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist