Artur, I, for one, absolutely LOVE it that you ask questions.
I consider myself to be a "Purist" or "fundamentalist" when it comes to Open Space, and my experience is that the less I do as a "facilitator" the better the outcome. and so I continue to work myself into and then out of jobs :-) Best, b On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 12:45 AM, Artur Silva <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Open Spacers: > > > > Following the OSonOS in Berlin 2000, I sent to this list some mails about > my personal reflections on that event (that may be seen in the Archives, > after 22/Oct/2000), that have created some different threads of > conversation, and invited some changes in the OST community, the first one > being the transformation of the "opensapeceword.org site", that was until > then only in English, in a much more international site, in many languages, > the first ones being the Iberian (Portuguese and Spanish: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/cgi/iberia.cgi? ), the Swedish, the French > (with a translation of Michael Herman's Introduction to OST to French, made > by Véronique and myself - http://www.openspaceworld.org/french/index.html), > the German, later followed by many others. > > > > This year again (but with less free time and at a more spaced rhythm), I > will try to do the same kind of reflections. I will begin with what I said > in the closing circle at Berlin 2010. Please note that I have not taken any > notes, before or afterwards, so this will not be the exact words, bur only a > later tentative for reconstruction, that I made in the plains back home, > probably as I had not received the Book of Proceedings that I would prefer > to read in these flights and not the next time I will have some free time > for it - probably not before one month from now. So, taking some time of my > normal sleep time, here it follows: > > > > First, I would like to say that the most important things that I will take > from WOSonOS 2010, in Berlin, apart from some sessions I have participated > in, is the fact that I met again people that I had not seen for 10 years; > that I finally had the possibility of seeing for the first time many people > that I already knew from the OSLIST but could not put a face to the name > (some of which, btw, I considered already as friends); and some others who's > faces I knew already from the OST NING site but I had never met in person > which I did now - only to conclude that, in many cases, I could not relate > the person to the picture because many photos - including mine - are 5 or 10 > years old... And, of course, I made here new friends... I am sorry that I > could not spend more time with all of you in the evenings and nights but, > after 5 o'clock, I was too tired of trying to speak and understand English, > had some 20-40 professional mails that needed immediate attention and, for > health reasons of my wife, was obliged to choose restaurants that allowed > for a strict diet to compensate from the food during the day... > > > > Second, some of you heard me say in the closing circle of Berlin 2000, and > later repeat and clarify in many posts to the OSLIST, that the 8th OSonOS > has been kind of magical to me. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about > Berlin 2010. Many, many reasons contribute to that, that I will not refer > here, as we are already out of time and it is not the correct moment and > place, but I will refer only one that relates only with myself: no one can, > in relation to anything, have twice a "first experience"... > > > > Third and last, I have hesitated in referring this, but I feel compelled to > talk about it here and now. I will put this as questions and not answers but > they are questions that I think we must address in the near future, maybe in > Chile or even before that. I wonder if we are not missing the point of > OSonOS and confounding things that are not mixable. First this meeting is > called "Open Space on Open Space" and not "Open Space on Large Intervention > Methods". And, using the words that Peggy Holman wrote in her contribution > to the "Festscgrift" (or something like that...), that in the original "call > for texts" was called "A present for Harrison" and later renamed "25 years > of Open Space", OST has "simplicity of design" and shall not be confounded, > as I saw here too often, with other methodologies where, in my opinion, the > "facilitator" facilitates too much, disempowering the participants. On the > other hand, and using again Peggy's words, OST comes from "generosity of > spirit", as it was declared by Harrison as "everyone's birthright", that > cannot be copyrighted or trademarked. But I saw here some confusion and even > advertisement of other methods that, as they are trademarked, are not > anymore IMHO part of OST. > > > > Please don't get me wrong: I have nothing against those other methods, that > are legitimate and may have their own fields of application and respective > Communities of Practice. I only wonder and question if they must be > contemplated in OSonOS as if they were "OST". I have the questions - not the > answers. Maybe we can take a position about that in the near future. > > > > Best regards > > > > Artur > > > > * * ========================================================== > [email protected] ------------------------------ To > subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist -- Barry Owen Real Estate Broker Professional Coach Keller Williams Realty Connect with me @ Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Plaxo Call me: 615-568-2123 Read my Blog: http://activerain.com/blogs/barryo Visit The Owen Group http://www.theowengroup.net http://www.owengroupnashvillehomes.com Barry Owen’s Internet Portal to all blogsites, websites, and social networks http://tnrealestatetribalhub.wordpress.com/2009/06/02/barry-owens-web-portal/ Simply & BOLDLY Living the FourFold Way in Open Space! 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