I love the questions you raise, Peggy.<br><br>They engage me.<br><br>"What best serves the group?" seems to have much to do with the person/people who has/have contracted you. And, the organizational culture along with their understanding of your style should have significantly influenced their decision of choosing you to facilitate.<br><br>I feel the same way as you do that there are not right and wrong answers. <br><br>It's more a question of knowing our niche, as practitioners. And, if we have several niches, it's a question of knowing what the sponsor (client) wants. If there is not a clear client/sponsor, I guess it becomes a question for people who are providing leadership of the event or initiative. Thus, it gets more complicated.<br><br>I market myself as an open space facilitator. Thus, people who contract me have a certain expectation for how I work. <br><br>In a reference letter re: a World Bank open space I facilitated, the sponsor wrote: "...the group
dynamics are tricky when you are bringing a group of high-powered professionals from 85 or so different countries, working on sometimes vastly different issues, some of whom are highly resistant to being "facilitated."...He didn't over facilitate, but he made sure that the newcomers had the guidance they needed." (reference letter is downloadable at <a href="http://johnengle.net">www.johnengle.net</a>)<br><br>I resonate with your words: "my bias would have been to send people out to handle their "stuff" via breakout sessions and butterfly conversations."<br><br>Unless the sponsor was pushing differently--which is unlikely given how i market myself as a minimalist in facilitation--I would have done the same as you.<br><br>thanks again for sharing your questions.<br><br>John<br><a href="http://johnengle.net">johnengle.net</a><br><br><br><br><b><i>Peggy Holman <peggy@opencirclecompany.com></i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16,
16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16544" name="GENERATOR"> <style></style> <div>Sometimes we know a highly emotional time is coming, particularly in multiple day OS's. What best serves the group when we know this is coming?</div> <div> </div> <div>After years of experiencing the rhythm of groups at work, I almost always know when people are bringing "downloads" with them into the morning circle. (It is particularly easy to predict when something powerful happens the evening before.)</div> <div> </div> <div>For those who read the description of the Story Field Conference (SFC), Wednesday morning was a turning point. The morning circle was intense and very controversial, and for most, highly productive. As I have reflected with other colleagues on the choice we made to use the morning circle as a
reflection space, I have wondered if our choice is what best served the group. In my conversations, three alternatives emerged, each with its strengths and short comings. I've shared them below. </div> <div> </div> <div>I'd love to hear how others have handled such challenging moments.</div> <div> </div> <div>appreciatively,</div> <div>Peggy</div> <div> </div> <div>*************************************8</div> <div> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">When you know there will be lots to process in the morning, here are three options:</div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">* Do it in the circle</div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">* Send the energy back out into the breakout spaces</div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> * </o:p>And a
non-traditional thought:</div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Take 30 minutes in groups of 4, then 30 minutes in the large circle</div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong>Doing it in the large circle</strong></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The pros:</div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">* If it is a well hosted space, it can the safest space in the room for those who bring a different voice.<span style=""> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="">* </span>When there is as much to be surfaced, the benefit of it being a collective experience can be a turning point, creating a deep sense of shared experience and community.</div> <div class="MsoNormal"
style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">What can be lost:</div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">* People who find the space too intense check out.<span style=""> </span>If the gathering is held in a location that is easy to leave, they would likely be gone for good.<span style=""> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="">* It sets up a dynamic that everything of significance needs to happen in the big group</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style=""></span><span style="">* T</span>his significant opportuity for people to have the experience of the fractal nature of conversation is lost </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">* It breaks the lived experience that this is a system in which the parts that care about someting are handling it
on behalf of the whole.<span style=""> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style=""> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong>Keep the morning circle short and send the intensity into the space</strong></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The pros:<span style=""> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="">* P</span>eople experience the fractal nature of conversation</div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">* People learn and experience that ideas<span style=""> </span>can and do filter back into the whole.<span style=""> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="">* </span>It allows people to meet their own needs; those who are focused on "let's get it done" can do
so and not be subjected to stuff they don't want to be subjected to.<span style=""> </span>There is no tyranny of the whole operating.<span style=""> </span>Much easier to follow the law of two feet.</div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">What can be lost:</div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">* a different group of people check out - the ones who have trouble speaking out because they don't have a safe space</div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">* some people take their angst into butterfly conversations, which can help it come out in the larger whole.<span style=""> </span>By going sideways first in the small, helps clarity and confidence surface in the large circle.<span style=""> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"
style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style=""></span>* A risk is that the conversations never happen.<span style=""> </span><o:p><font size="4"> </font></o:p></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p></o:p> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><o:p></o:p> </div> <div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font size="4"><strong>Reflect in small groups that feed back into the whole</strong></font></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font size="4">In the context of OST, it is the least known, since it isn't part of the traditional form.<span style=""> </span>(Variation: Having a home group, or buddy; can be a volunteer function)</font> <div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font size="4"></font></span> </div></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New
Roman';"><font size="4">The pros:</font></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font size="4">* It ensures some level of personal processing.<span style=""> </span></font></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font size="4"><span style=""></span></font></span> </div> <div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font size="4"><span style=""></span></font></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font size="4">What can be lost:</font></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font size="4">* a risk is the most important angst is dissipated</font></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font size="4"><span style="">* </span>May be most comfortable because has a foot in both worlds, allows processing time </font></span><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font size="4">though it may not generate the benefits of disturbance.<span style=""> </span></font></span></div> <div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><font size="4"><span style="">* </span>May be best way to suppress what might be creative dissonance.<span style=""> </span></font></span></div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div>One last note from the Story Field Conference: my bias would have been to send people out to handle their "stuff" via breakout sessions and butterfly conversations. My colleagues - Mark Jones, Candi Foon and Anne Stadler - felt that this would have caused the most marginalized voices to remain silent. As you reflect on your own experiences, I'm particularly interested in this aspect of dominant culture voices and those who are least heard or seen.</div> <div> </div> <div>BTW, I don't think there are right or wrong
answers on this. Each alternative results in something useful and something lost. I'm just interested in understanding the consequences of our different choices so that we can grow in wisdom and consciousness.</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div>________________________________<br>Peggy Holman<br>The Open Circle Company<br>15347 SE 49th Place<br>Bellevue, WA 98006<br>(425) 746-6274 </div> <div> </div> <div><a href="http://www.opencirclecompany.com">www.opencirclecompany.com</a></div> <div> </div> <div><br>For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to: <br><a href="http://www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook">www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook</a> </div> <div> </div> <div>"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become <br>the fire".<br> -- Drew Dellinger</div>* * ==========================================================
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