Among the Kpelle, the West African Tribe which largely inspired Open Space for me, the role of Space Holder is typically played by the Senior Elder. In a tribal council setting, when all the people are gathered in a circle, he will normally say nothing until the very end. At that point, he will utter a short saying or parable which encapsulates the discussion and essentially articulates the common finding (whatever that might be). More often than not, the saying or parable is very well known, but the art is to find just the right one that does the job. I think the key point for this elder, as also the OS facilitator, is to be basically invisible (at least in terms of overt participation), and yet profoundly present. I also saw more than a few situations when the Elder said nothing, for it was obvious that nothing more needed to be said. He just nodded his head, and it was over. My own reaction was that this was by far the most powerful sort of statement. Certainly in the lore of elders as told around the villages, the ones who said least, or nothing, rose to the head of the pack in the peoples estimation. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20845 Phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://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 Florian Fischer Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2004 8:52 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: visual bumble bees Am 28.02.2004 7:28 Uhr schrieb "Visuelle Protokolle" unter <[email protected]>: ..I want to ask you a question. .....When I walk through the groups in an OS, listening here, taking visual notes there, ...following the energy of honey smell. During the day I gather lots of images I draw this way, images which I bring together. ... I show my honey to the group afterwards, many of the others like it to have a visual overview of the proceedings, .....the unspoken energy that I felt and drew. So I found out that I create a group memory this way. ......you often talk about 'holding space'. But at African tribes meetings, at coffee brakes there is nobody holding space, or it is everybody. Self organized. Wouldn't some of you like to test a service to the group similar to the one I am practizing? Holding space in another way? Just start walking around drawing little images, not as a participant talking and arguing with the others, but wandering to and fro silently and open minded? And thus producing something wich no written protocol of the groups can substitute? As a stepping stone for sustainability, something to come back to, to show others? And maybe this way also participants would follow the example and draw a bit, like in World Cafè meetings using the table cloth for visual notes?
dear reinhard, about the question whether there is a space-holder in the coffe-brake I´m sure it´s the bar-keeper. about the question whether there is a spaceholder in african tribe meetings,I called my friend irene, she is well experienced in ethnology, lived together for a lot of while with the tribe of the dinka in sudan. yes, she answered, they never meet without someone, who is called AGAMLONG. agam is confirming, long is speach/speaking. in english we my translate that as confirmer or transmitter he is repeating part by part of the discussion between different opinions of the participants. that´s the way how the the dinka do it to give space, to give honour, to expand the now, to appreciate the process, to frame the emergence. your way of confirming a discussion by taking little images may serve in an equivalent manner. come to goa, to our next following OSonOS. show up into the circle, draw your message on a sheet of paper and offer it on the marketplace it will be fascinating. florian ---------------------- florian fischer begleitung im wandel d 10779 berlin, muenchener 6 fon 0049.30. 2116752 fax 0049.30. 2115943 [email protected] ----------------------- * * ========================================================== [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
