Hello Birgitt and others This discussion about 'modified open space' is very interesting. I am reminded of some facilitation training which I conduct where participants are encouraged to learn the 'pure' form of a process before making modifications. We stress the importance of understanding the rationale behind each step and behind participatory processes in general so that people can make informed choices rather than following a mechanistic recipe.
There is often a great desire to try modifications before people have fully internalised and understood a process - and there are many stories of poor facilitation where people have seen a process in action and think they can do the same without a deep understanding (or in some cases any understanding at all!). Thus facilitation and facilitators are seen by some to be ineffective, even dangerous. The other end of this spectrum is where someone can 'play' with processes with integrity and modify approaches to meet the needs of the group. This, I think, is desirable because it helps us all develop as people and as facilitators whereby we can make a difference in the world. For me it's imagination and creativity in action and I apply the same principles to opening spaces for people and organisations. But the question remains of how to minimise the damage caused by inappropriate use of open space. All I can do is continue to develop my own understanding, and share that with others - any alternative associated with control would be anathema to open space. Cheers, Viv Viv McWaters Integra Pty Ltd 45 Valentine Street, Ivanhoe 3079 Victoria Australia Ph/Fax: 61 3 9499 9300 "Thus the task is not so much to see what no-one yet has seen, but to think what nobody yet has thought about that which everyone sees." Schopenhauer
