Hi Harold, Thanks for sharing your perspectives.
Yes, the role of Participant-Facilitator is familiar to me and akin to what I meant by Stakeholder-Spaceholder. Most of my activity with OS/dialogue is also spent in that realm. I am sensitive to your question about the degree of interest of others in this dialogue. I suggested to Tony Budak that we may want to utilize his weekly Learning Cafe platform to provide those interested with a live, interactive dialogue on this topic. Please let me know if you are aware of any other options for taking this conversation off-line out of respect for the OSList members who are not interested to observe and/or participate. Thank you, JohnW On Sun, May 7, 2023 at 11:41 AM Harold Shinsato via OSList < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi John, > > Thanks for the reply. The stakeholder/spaceholder divide for me has always > been an interesting one. Especially since it never sat well with me. When > I'm being paid as a spaceholder, which I have been paid, and professional > facilitation is often the context then the divide makes sense. But it's not > where most of my passion about Open Space fits. > > Have you heard of the role of Participant-Facilitator? > > I learned this concept from a Peacemaking Circle training, which comes > from a first nations tribe of northern Canada. It's essential very much > related to what many if not most of the north American tribes have shown us > with the idea of a talking stick in a circle, giving space for everyone to > participate. This idea "healed" the divide for me, giving the space holder > a non-privileged role in the space where the facilitator does participate > as well as inviting (rather than controlling) the self-organizing > structures that the participants get to enjoy. > > I'm not sure how interested others are in this conversation. Mostly people > on this list focus on helping deconstruct the dysfunctional control fantasy > of traditional leadership/ownership *control*, while needing to engage with > traditional leadership. I'm not sure this is the biggest issue in many > emerging communities and organizations. > > > Harold > > On 5/6/23 4:18 PM, John Warinner via OSList wrote: > > Thank you Harold. I think you raise a key point regarding the respective > roles of "stakeholders" (my word) and "spaceholders" (my take on your > word). > > Sometimes, we participate in a space or system at the invitation of the > "stakeholders" wearing only our "spaceholder" hat. In those instances, I > perceive the lines between roles are relatively clear. > > Sometimes, we participate in a space or system in which we are > "stakeholders" AND "spaceholders." In those instances, I perceive the > lines between roles are less clear... and they must be navigated carefully > to maintain objectivity and the trust of the other participants. > > I understand the argument that we can and/or should avoid playing the > "spaceholder" role in spaces/systems where we are "stakeholders." > > But my personal worldview is that we are better served to acknowledge our > "stakeholdership" and practice/learn the art of serving both roles while > maintaining our objectivity and the trust of others. > > Depending on the circumstances, this MAY NOT involve introducing our own > ideas of where and how the system SHOULD proceed, but it MAY WELL involve > introducing our unique ideas/insights about where and how the system COULD > proceed. > > I believe this is consistent with the perspective you shared... but I > welcome feedback from you and/or others. > > Thank you, > JohnW > > > *John Warinner *(541) 815-4103 > [email protected] > > > > -- > Harold Shinsato > [email protected] > https://shinsato.com > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > -- *John Warinner*(541) 815-4103 [email protected] <[email protected]>
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