thinking back on the trainings i've attended, hosted, designed, and led, the single most important criteria is not what we as 'trainers' or 'teachers' bring. rather, just like in any other open space (cuz what we're really doing is just opening a space for learning and exploration of open space itself), so just like any other open space, the thing that matters is the complexity, diversity, urgency and passion that comes in with the participants. <br>
<br>to increase or at least encourage these things, i used to ask early and often for them to bring real situations to work on and wrestle with. then during the sessions, it seems important to keep looking for those situations... not only where "ost" might be used in a meeting, but where each participant may have encountered open space somewhere else in their lives. open space is. and we find ourselves casting about in it from time to time. how have we handled those times? how can we understand and learn from our responses to those moments? when have we been able to do nothing but "be with" one or more others in their work or even suffering? and as we turn these stones over, the thing we do is help folks understand that it's all part of normal life, rather than something to be fixed, avoided or otherwise controlled. so we don't so much as teach open space, but suggest that it's normal, and useful... then it's easier to deal with some of those complex, diverse, urgent, passionate meeting situations. <br>
<br>for a while i led training programs with others, and soon found myself callling them "practice workshops" and "practice retreats," inviting as actively as possible participants to step across the line, between observing open space and actually diving in, or noticing that it is indeed everywhere around them. for some years, the way i've extended this is to give up the 'program' altogether and work one-on-one with people who want to learn the practice. that's what i ended up doing inside the 'program' anyway. my one requirement in the one-on-one work is that people bring one or more real situations, so that i can point out the many options and they can make real choices between those options. i think they learn the options better when they examine them all in the face of choosing one. so next time, they will again have all the options to consider, and perhaps choose differently because the situation is different. but mostly what this does is maximize the concentration of "reality" and minimize the spectating and ungrounded theorizing that sometimes bubbles up in training conversations. <br clear="all">
<br>the most important condition for learning open space would seem to be a willingness to be in it, in work, in life. if would-be students can make that leap: learning happens.<br><br><br>--<br><br>Michael Herman<br>Michael Herman Associates<br>
312-280-7838 (mobile)<br><br><a href="http://MichaelHerman.com" target="_blank">http://MichaelHerman.com</a><br><a href="http://ManorNeighbors.com" target="_blank">http://ManorNeighbors.com</a><br><a href="http://OpenSpaceWorld.org" target="_blank">http://OpenSpaceWorld.org</a><br>
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<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Apr 29, 2011 at 6:02 AM, Bernd Weber <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bernd.weber@change-facilitation.org">bernd.weber@change-facilitation.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
<div style="word-wrap: break-word;">Hi All<div><br></div><div>Last month I posted about a new Learning Workshop Format-in-production:</div><div>"Participants can learn (1) to play with surface waves/breakers with their bodies (2) use the "waves-of-change" metaphor in reflecting their experiences as change agents and change facilitators in the light of 1 and (3)equilibrate these two levels of movement by mental non-movement and physical slow movement according to the Stress Management Technique "Cyclic Meditation" as recently developed at SVYASA Yoga University Bangalore/India where I have learned it in January"</div>
<div><br></div><div>During my design work I got the strong feeling, that I would like make the training/learning part as focussed and concentrated as possible and then to "open up" for mutual learning of the participants. It will be a heterogeneous crowd with a lot of experience (English and German speakers, experienced Change agents in Education and professional Consultants, Change Facilitators. So I thought, I can only "kick-them-off" in a concentrated training but then they better self-organize asap for action planning in the sense of "How could we Play with the Waves of Change Back Home". And there it was: the idea to do a 2,5 day Training and then a 1,5 day OST event. </div>
<div><br></div><div>I reacted very ambivalent to my own idea. One one hand the result of many discussions in the OSLIST and my own experience show, that OST is best, when "stand-alone" and "not blended": </div>
<div>I thought: A training up front would probably re-inforce the everyday "anti-self-organization" habits; the invitation procedure can not be done properly; it will not be a large group anyhow; Where is the burning issue and the urgency? etc. pp.</div>
<div>On the other hand I could not get rid of the idea. It seemed to be the right thing to do, since my WS methodology is also oriented towards self-organization and then I know: working in the OST format (even if not doing it in the purest way) simply is the most effective way of moving things ahead. </div>
<div><br></div><div>I got stuck finally. Could not continue working on my WS-Design without a clear decision. So I decided to ask the interested ones and the potential participants directly by putting that question into a survey monkey questionnaire(you might have a look at <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SBPQW6C" target="_blank">http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SBPQW6C</a>)</div>
<div>I thought: If people say "we want it" why not? On the other hand: making nonsense because "people say they want it" is also not the finest style.</div><div><br></div><div>So I would humbly ask you: what do you think?</div>
<div><br></div><div>Bernd (in Colombo/Sri Lanka right now)</div><div><br></div><div><br><div>
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<div><br>Bernd Weber</div><div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div><font color="#000000">Change Facilitation s.r.o., <span style="color: rgb(20, 79, 174);">A Global Partner Who Makes Change Happen in Complex Environments; <a href="http://www.change-facilitation.com" target="_blank">www.change-facilitation.com</a>, <a href="http://www.change-facilitation.org" target="_blank">www.change-facilitation.org</a>, <a href="http://www.change-management-toolbook.com" target="_blank">www.change-management-toolbook.com</a>, <a href="http://www.change-management-blog.com" target="_blank">www.change-management-blog.com</a>; <a href="mailto:bernd.weber@change-facilitation.org" target="_blank">bernd.weber@change-facilitation.org</a>; Austria Mobile: <a href="tel:%2B43%206641354828" value="+436641354828" target="_blank">+43 6641354828</a>, Landline <a href="tel:%2B%20431%205968657" value="+4315968657" target="_blank">+ 431 5968657</a>; Sri Lanka landline <a href="tel:%2B94%2011%202785859" value="+94112785859" target="_blank">+94 11 2785859</a>, </span></font><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">iPhone: <a href="tel:%2B94%20777740757" value="+94777740757" target="_blank">+94 777740757</a>, </span>mobile <a href="tel:%2B94%2071%206090839" value="+94716090839" target="_blank">+94 71 6090839</a></div>
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