Dear Raffi,
I put my money on the force of selforganisation.
In fact, in the many contacts I had with sponsors (often "leaders",
"managers") they often asked me
--should I wait a bit so others have a chance to voice their topics
--should I perhaps not go to the sessions so people can talk freely
--should I have some issues up my sleeves in case nobody offers issues
--etc.
which was often followed by a small talk about the "assumptions" or
"images" we tend to act on and not on the stuff we are passionate about.
I think open space is real life and real conflict and lots of tough
stuff and shit happens... and it always gets sorted out and my
assumption is that the sorting out happens more readily if I as
facilitator step back and give up on control.
Have a great day in San Diego, lucky cat
mmp
Raffi Aftandelian wrote:
Queridos amigos,
Christine, your question about the challenging OST event you are working on
encouraged me to post this question today. I've been meaning to put this out
for weeks.
I'm wondering how much it is a practice for all you to talk to or
communicate with leaders and managers who will be attending an OST event and
encourage them to *hold back* a little in order to equalize the power
dynamics a little in the OST event.
Specifically by *hold back* I mean:
- asking them to wait a little before posting topics
- for them not to feel like they need to post certain topics
- not to try to steer the conversation, or try to resolve conflicts
and ask them instead to participate as just one more person in the group.
This question was inspired by coming across the document "Ground rules for
Managers" in Lisa Heft's Open Space Idea Book. In that document, Lisa you go
through a number of things that you communicate to leaders and managers
ahead of an OST event, which include the requests above.
When I came across this document in the book a few years back, I was
surprised as I hadn't really heard of such a practice before.
And finally for the first time I used it recently. I run a bimonthly
Nonviolent Communication community practice event in OST (with one small- or
perhaps for some, not so small- change-- we start with a short centering
meditation)
And it's hard to gauge right now if making those requests have helped in any
way. The one person who I spoke to the longest about it seemed to ignore the
requests in the document (I adapted the document for my situation; and the
document explains that this is really something meant to be communicated
orally. Most people I told them briefly about this over the phone or in
person and then sent a full document over email).
I'm really excited about making those requests in future OST events where it
seems appropriate.
And Lisa especially, I'm wondering that since you self-published the OS Idea
Book, if your thinking around making those requests has changed.
Thanks all!
abrazos,
Raffi
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Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
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