Oh, I love it when we pull the covers off of Chris, or -- as in this case -- Chris shows his real hand. Always more going on than meets the eye. And Michael shares my own feeling/observation that when doing an OS, the less said the better. Form the circle and move on. Or maybe Be the Circle, and don't talk about it.
That said, this circle of conversation is grand. And to pick up a point that Michael raised -- Other geometries of meeting exist and are used -- each with their own peculiar ambience. I find it instructive to think about them, and those thoughts always bring me back to the primacy of the circle as truly fundamental to meaningful and deep human communication. Typical geometries would include the rectangle (as in sitting at a table) -- and my experience is that every time folks get in this pattern the mode is negotiation and dominance -- It is "our side" vs "your side". And of course all eyes go to the head of the table in search of the leader. If two individuals are sitting at either end, you are very likely to have a tug of war. You don't have to say a thing -- it just happens. It is interesting to note that what starts out as a friendly lunch can quickly degenerate into a us and them. And I think the culprit is the table (rectangle). And then of course we have the Dense Square -- otherwise know as classroom arrangement. There is a certain advantage with this in that it eliminates ambiguity. No question about who is in charge, and what the general status of combatants might be. Those sitting in rows are stupid, and the one(s)at the front is smart. Only one thing to do -- Sit Down! Shut up! Take notes! I'll take the circle every time. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20845 Phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris Corrigan Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 11:09 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Properties of circles Hi Michael, and others: Okay, let me rephrase this. I'm not looking for a script for opening, I'm looking for more perspectives on what circles do for process. It's a theoretical question, not one of practical significance! How's that for candour? Seriously, I am interested in this primarily because I am currently looking at how process is a significant arena of colonization and why recovery and transcendence of indigenous process is a truer and deeper form of decolonization than simple systemic change. As part of this inquiry, naturally I have been working with circles, both in Open Space and in other process, including many indigenous processes here in Canada. And I have noticed that circles have important impacts on process both from an observational view and from the perspective of a participant. And thus my inquiry about what other have observed circles "doing." So? Chris --- CHRIS CORRIGAN Bowen Island, BC, Canada http://www.chriscorrigan.com [email protected] (604) 947-9236 > -----Original Message----- > From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Pannwitz, Michael M > Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 3:18 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Properties of circles > > Dear Chris, > just walk the circle and get people to focus on each other. > Skip the rest. > Greetings from Berlin > mmp > > > On Fri, 9 Jan 2004 15:00:48 -0800, Chris Corrigan wrote: > > >Hi folks: > > > >I was writing out the basic script that I use for opening OST meetings > >last night and while reading it I noticed that I spend a lot of time > >introducing people to the ideas and properties of circles. I think > >circles are fundamentally important to process, and so I'm collecting > >other people's notes and properties of circles. > > > >So here is my script with the three things I usually do to bring the > >circle to awareness. Have a read and then ask yourself what you can add > >to this. What are the other cool properties of circles? > > > > Circles are really rather neat forms of geometry because > >they force us to have a look at things in a particular way. For > >example in a circle, we don't really know who "the leader" is. In fact > >we may be forgiven for thinking that the leader is either not here, or > >is each one of us. And as a leader who is not here cannot do anything, > >it must be that each one of is a leader. > > > > Also circles teach us that there are some things that > >can only be done by groups. For example, you will notice that this > >circle of chairs isn't really a very good circle. It's actually a > >strangely distorted ellipse. That is because for one person to set up a > >perfect circle of chairs on their own is a nearly impossible task. But > >I'll show you a small miracle. I'll stand in the centre here and ask > >all of you to stand by your chairs. Now square up so that you are > >facing me and when you've done that check to see that you are sitting > >slightly behind your two neighbours. Now sit down. Have a look around. > >You have just made a perfect circle. This is something only a group can > >do and it took only a few seconds. If I had had to do that it would > >have taken me hours. This is important to note. It's as if we all > >carry the coordinates for calibrating a circle within us but they can > >only be activated by acting along with several others. > > > > Finally, here's one more thing about a circle. If I > >stand in the middle then you will all agree that you are looking at me. > >But none of you will agree that you have the same view of me. You can > >see me, but your perspective is absolutely unique. It is not shared by > >anyone else. We agree on the object of our observation but none of us > >share the same perspective. Remember that today as we work on these > >issues. Without each perspective we would not have a full picture. If > >you were all behind me then none of you could say with certainty that I > >had a face. By surrounding me we have the whole picture, but we have to > >ask one another about the pieces that we are missing. If you folks > >sitting behind me want to know how many fingers I'm holding up, you have > >to ask this person I'm facing. That's how it is with problems too. > >Remember that today. > > > > > >So what else can we build into our openings about circles? > > > >Chris > > > >[PS Florian.some of this probably qualifies as "even"] > > > > > > > >--- > >CHRIS CORRIGAN > >Bowen Island, BC, Canada > >http://www.chriscorrigan.com > >[email protected] > > > >(604) 947-9236 > > > >* > >* > >========================================================== > >[email protected] > >------------------------------ > >To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > >view the archives of [email protected], > >Visit: > > > >http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > > > > Noch 8 Plätze zu vergeben zur 3. Lernwerkstatt für open space- > BegleiterInnen vom 25. bis 28. Januar 2004 in Vlotho. Jetzt anmelden > www.michaelmpannwitz.de/o_lernwerkstatt2004.htm > > Michael M Pannwitz, boscop > Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany > FON: +49 - 30-772 8000 FAX: +49 - 30-773 92 464 > www.michaelMpannwitz.de > www.openspace-landschaft.de > > * > * > ========================================================== > [email protected] > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of [email protected], > Visit: > > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
