True, so much relies on the awareness of the facilitator....if we could only read minds! ----- Original Message ----- From: "uwe.weissflog" <uwe.weissf...@t-online.de> To: <osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu> Sent: Monday, August 27, 2001 4:08 PM Subject: Re: Central Asia
> Dear William, > thanks for bringing Peter Bloch into this conversation, I, too, have learned > much from his work. In his book Stewardship (and also in an interview he had > with Michael Toms) he points to the differences of "leadership" and > "stewardship". My take on this subject is, that leadership (even in its most > refined form) is still about having control over people and stewardship is the > capability to give up the desire for control and instead focus on service (maybe > in the sense of Greenleaf, or more directly as Hermann Hesse describes it in > "The journey to the East"). > > Which brings me back to Kenoli's original email. When we invite into Open Space > we overcome the mindset of leadership and we become servants, in its truest > sense. We invite people to boldly step forward and take care for their own > lifes, which is new for many people. When, after the introduction in Open Space > someone steps into the circle to state a theme and then take responsibiliby for > convening a group, (s)he is also making a claim on her/his life. > > But herein lies also the dilema. Many of our clients are established > organisations and corporations. It doesn't really matter whether for-profit or > non-profit, the underlying structures seem the same to me. These are > organisations with clearly defined (often hierachical) power and control > structures. These structures eventual will clash with the basic principle of > Open Space (we are all of equal importance) and possibly to a lesser degree with > the principles of FSC and Learning Organisations. This has been reported many > times (I find the "Dance of Change, P.Senge et al" worth reading in this > regard). This dilema will be with us as long as we continue to be part of the > conversation called "Who has power over whom". > > So the question then is, what can we do? In my experience (I have facilitated > both Open Space and Future Search in technology and R&D environments, as well as > in community work) a dedication to "requesting and telling the truth" is the > only antidote (easy to say, difficult to do, I failed here more often than I > like). But it works. In cases where the boundaries and limitations were stated > clearly, at the beginning of the process, the resulting action plans had a > chance to be transformed into sustainable action. And people had a chance to > nurture their passion in a sustainable way. More easily in my experience in FSC, > but also successfully in Open Space. My learning from this is, that people can > live with constraints and limitations, but not with deception and lies. This is > were the courage and integrity of the facilitator will show - I found it a > challenging but most rewarding way of being a facilitator. > > Thanks again to all who brought this topic into the conversation - it gave me > the time and space for some real mindfulness. > > Uwe Weissflog > Pathway Guidance, Rinnengaerten 1, 34516 Voehl-Marienhagen, Germany > email: uwe.weissf...@pathwayguidance.com > email (personal): uwe.weissf...@t-online.de > phone: 49-5635-991197; fax: 49-5635-993934 > > * > * > ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, > Visit: > > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
