At 06:05 PM 11/23/2001 -0900, you wrote:
Harrison, I find your statement "for a long time it has been obvious that for the facilitator of Open Space, it is much more about "being" than "doing,"" to be very refreshing. I think the mediation profession, as a whole, is less comfortable with that idea. Your statement may be somewhat less true for mediation because I assume (without really knowing) that mediation engages with people at a level of deeper interpersonal conflict than is engaged in most OST events. In many mediations, there are moments when "doing" something seems to be critical to keeping the conversation moving in a constructive way. Still, I think the mediation profession generally would benefit from taking a closer look at the quality of "being" that is inevitably linked to the quality of "doing." I also agree wholeheartedly that a meditation practice is a very useful way to attain a helpful state of being. (I love the lingual closeness of mediation and meditation..... though it can be tricky. I've found sometimes that people confuse mediation, meditation and medication!)
At least in my practice, mediation in Open Space is just like anything else in Open Space -- It seems to happen all by itself. The people do it -- with no help required from me. I recognize that this observation may run somewhat counter to the prevailing theory and practice of some Mediators, but there it is. I would guess that there are situations where a more active role might be required, but I have never run into one. Even when the level of conflict is very high and the issues are old and deep. For example, in South Africa in the days shortly after Mendela's release from prison we did Open Spaces with such folks as Zulus, Hausa, Afrikaners -- all together, and no problem. I have often wondered why this is true, and my best guess is that The Law of Two Feet provides the needed "safety-valve" Folks come together because they want to solve some issues. At the same time I think it to be true that nobody (save for a few pathological types) really like to blow their cool, so to speak. The desire to solve the issue brings them together, and the Law enables each individual to judge when they need a walk around the block to "cool off." I have seen this lots of time, and never seen it to fail. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, MD 20854 USA phone 301-469-9269 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website www.mindspring.com/~owenhh 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
