<div dir="ltr">talking last week with a small group, that included josh kerievsky as a participant and modern agile (especially safety) as the subject, several points stood out and might be relevant here. <div><br></div><div>one is the importance of suspending assumptions. in dialogue practice it relates to holding assumptions separate from oneself, so that they might be examined by ourselves and others without risk to ourselves. in open space, the work with leaders and givens seems akin to this, clarifying what can be held out for consideration during the meeting. the suggestion to be prepared to be surprised leans in this direction too, i think.</div><div><br></div><div>second is the quality of listening. in dialogue circles, the invitation is to listen to oneself, listen to others, listen to the group (patterns, whole), and listen up for what is coming in from above or just beyond the group. some of what i hear in brian's archived message relates to the space into which people can speak and move and be heard and seen and part of what is emerging.</div><div><br></div><div>third, josh brought a story about the importance of assuming positive intent. we invite this in open space via the law of two feet, where we invite and assume everyone into learning and contributing as much as they can, and also when we look around the circle at the opening and notice that everyone in the big circle is there because they care, and then everyone who shows up in a breakout is again there because of caring. in open space we assume and invite caring.</div><div><br></div><div>finally, there is invitation itself. safe and welcome are subjective, but inviting can be more objective. it's something we can do as well as be. true invitation gives people a choice. when space invaders pop up, the facilitator's aim is to maintain room for people to make choices for themselves, even if only by modeling that one can always get up and take a break, take a walk, opt out. when people show up by their own choice, and then move and speak and lead and follow, all by their own choice, this seems the bedrock of safety, what we used to call "challenge by choice" in teambuilding programs.</div><div><br></div><div>in these ways, and probably others, we don't hardly have to do or add anything to the essence of what we already know as open space. and then it's up to each participant to decide if their space, in any moment, is safe or scary space. and then decide what to do about that. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div> <br>--<br><br>Michael Herman<br>Michael Herman Associates</div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px">312-280-7838 (mobile)</span><br style="font-size:12.8px"></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px"><br></span></div><div><a href="http://MichaelHerman.com" target="_blank">http://MichaelHerman.com</a><br><a href="http://OpenSpaceWorld.org" target="_blank">http://OpenSpaceWorld.org</a></div><div><br><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Sep 21, 2016 at 5:09 PM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Dear Chris,<br>
<br>
to me it was the concept of<br>
"A nutrient-rich, relatively protected environment"<br>
as one of the conditions under which the force of self-organisation could thrive.<br>
(If you look into the "Power of Spirit - How Organizations Transform" you can see the other 4 on page 42.)<br>
<br>
"A relatively protected environment" is something quite different from a safe space if there even could be such a space.<br>
<br>
"A nutrient-rich, relatively protected environment" looks like one of the components that would contribute to a welcoming space.<br>
<br>
As I read your post I kept looking for the concrete situation you had in mind. Is there one?<br>
<br>
In the more practical aspect of a "relatively protected environment", there are some things in planning an open space that do matter. In Germany there are safety regulations regarding the number of chairs allowed in a room and the allowed patterns in which they are arranged and their proximity to emergency exits(fire department) and the use of materials that could catch fire (paper, pinwalls made of cardboard, gas filled balloons, cushions on the floor, etc) and the requirements on smoke detectors... and if your meeting space is in certain high risk buildings security guards and/or police are required to be present...<br>
<br>
Systemic oppression, forced silence and the more frightening givens you are mentioning probably do not jive with a "relatively protected environment"...<br>
<br>
Greetings from Berlin<br>
mmp<div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
On <a href="tel:21.09.2016%2020" value="+12109201620" target="_blank">21.09.2016 20</a>:16, Harold Shinsato via OSList wrote:<br>
</div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div class="h5">
Dear People(s) of Open Space,<br>
<br>
What is the importance of safety? What, if any, work is needed in the<br>
"pre-work" to help ensure safety?<br>
<br>
It seems that safety is doomed if the "givens" are that the people in<br>
the organization must either be silent or agree with the "powers that<br>
be" on everything.<br>
<br>
I'm seeing two aspects to this. At one level, systemic oppression (such<br>
as explicitly killing, imprisoning, or otherwise effectively punishing<br>
dissent) clearly would shut down any opening in an open space.<br>
<br>
And at another level, safety is something we can be responsible in<br>
ourselves. With enough passion and courage, we can take responsibility<br>
for own safety. And also, it can be easy just to stay silent, or not to<br>
look beyond the smallness of our comfort zone because of the lenses we<br>
look through. And then we won't even try something out of fear, when<br>
something powerful could have been a result of us taking a small step<br>
(or a small series of steps to the center of the circle).<br>
<br>
What do you all think about safety, and helping to encourage people to<br>
source their own safety, as well as working with the "powers that be" to<br>
help ensure some level of safety?<br>
<br>
Thanks!<br>
Harold<br>
<br>
P.S. I did find one interesting post about this in the archives from the<br>
late Father Brian Bainbridge.<br>
<a href="http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org/msg01333.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.mail-archive.com/os<wbr>list@lists.openspacetech.org/<wbr>msg01333.html</a><br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
Harold Shinsato<br>
</div></div><a href="mailto:harold@shinsato.com" target="_blank">harold@shinsato.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:harold@shinsato.com" target="_blank">harold@shinsato.com</a>><br>
<a href="http://shinsato.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://shinsato.com</a><br>
twitter: @hajush <<a href="http://twitter.com/hajush" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/hajush</a>><span class=""><br>
<br>
<br>
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<br>
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