Dear fellow OS'ers, Recently I attended the annual Intertraining conference near Moscow. Intertraining is a professional association of trainers and consultants in the nonprofit sector from countries of the former Soviet Union. During the conference there was a 3 hour Open Space-like meeting to determine in which areas we would develop strategically in the coming year. It was consciously described as not exactly like Open Space. Of the 40+ members present, some 90% had participated in Open Space and probably a similarly high figure had been trained in it.
The facilitators didn't do many of the things that I associate with OS's form and yet the event had many of the qualities of OS, though admittedly not all of them. This led me to wondering just how absolutely essential these pieces of the form are. What wasn't done: 1. no walking in a circle (the two co-facilitators sat at the head of the room) 2. no attention to breath, request to look about the room 3. the theme was framed very generally and almost accidentally. We all knew why we were gathered. We usually leave the last day of the conference for planning the year ahead. No desired result was framed either. 4. clear explanation of the need to draw on one's passion and to take responsibility for the session topic offered What was done: 1. request to walk to center, write topic, write name, and post. (this was done once, not three times as I understand is better) 2. report forms given out 3. Also facilitators took it upon themselves to tell us where we should post the topics. After the 2 45-min. sessions, we gathered and in traditional business meeting format (with Robert's Rules of Order), presented our reports and if there were any proposals that needed to be voted upon, we discussed them and voted on them. This part of course was no longer OS. But the energy of the sessions felt very much like OS. I wouldn't call it full OS. I proposed two sessions and I later got feedback that this was seen as a provocation, maybe that I wasn't afraid to propose ideas. Maybe the not-walking inhibited other folks. But I am glad that I had my two sessions. Altogether there were some 10-12 topics I am not inclined to experiment at this point with not doing the circle, but a comment of one colleague had me thinking. She noted that when she was trained in OS, the "rules" for the form seemed too rigid for her (the walking, breath, etc.). It felt "Protestant" to her. I am inclined to believe that in their hearts the facilitators trusted the space would be opened and that internal opening allowed for the space to open externally. Your comments? Raffi Aftandelian * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
