In our recent discussion of "The Givens" it may have appeared that I was dismissive of looking at all that. And the truth of the matter is that I have found myself spending little time with clients on the subject before opening space with them. But that is only part of the story. It is not that I think The Givens are inconsequential, not worthy of discussion, but rather that (for me) they are always secondary to The Question - which eventually turns into the theme. Why are we doing all this anyhow? What, or where, is the heart of the matter?
In a private note, Brendan McKeague wrote as follows: In preparing for Open Space with a community, we always need to identify 'what is the key question here?'. There is no point in gathering people around an issue that does not touch their passion, their excitement, their energy or their spirit. Oftentimes, organizations or communities do not really wish to name the real issue, preferring to skirt around it, remaining in denial, using avoidance tactics like procrastination or other subtle forms of resistance. It takes a brave leader to stand up and declare that the 'Emperor has no clothes' and that it is now time to confront the key issue(s) facing this organization so that we can address these and move on. Brendan expresses my feeling and experience very exactly. And I guess what I have found is that when we (I) zero in on The Question, and go as deeply as I can (or the folks are willing to go), The Givens take on a secondary importance, or else are so obvious as not to need discussion, which may be the same thing. I wonder if others have had a similar experience. 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 osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives 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: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
