this is helpful clarification, harrison. it occurs to me that 'non-convergence' popped up for this reason... because my experience was that in *some* situations, the voting-style convergence did just get in the way. sometimes, as i've said earlier, even posters seem to get in the way. seem like more of a show than is necessary (in small groups).
so my own wondering is echoing yours... what is the minimum structure (physical/process including posters, circle, tape, even paper and markers -- cf john engle in haiti with non-readers) necessary to support a group's mutual and simultaneous awareness of their own being (as enacted via the Law) and the being of the group/larger world (as embodied by the circle, marketplace and principles) ...mutual awareness of control and out of control??? seems that the speaking (noticing) that the law exists (that it is true) is most useful at a minimum for the former (view of individual) and the building of some bulletin board announcement space (written or verbal) are most imporant for the latter (view of group). the rest happens naturally or not at all. since there could be no group if there was no purpose, then purpose, question, invitation, theme, whatever would be present naturally. circle might happen naturally, but that probably need only be invited, rather than pre-set. in groups of 200+ it might just be a matter of saving time to set chairs in a circle. and it does give us something to do, some way to 'take care' of our own preparation. ultimately the question of how much or little is required to support mutualiy is necessarily new in every group, every meeting, every moment. truly a life practice, one moment at a time. this reminds me that, in my experience, this mutuality -- the willingness to let others be as real to me as i am to myself, even and including when the 'other' is a 'bigger body' that we'd normally call a 'group,' -- is the natural ground from which compassion (wish that others be free of suffering), love (wish that others be happy), joy (delight in others happiness) and confidence (equanimity) automatically and immediately arise. i'm guessing it's fair to lump these things into the group form called 'spirit.' during the evening event i did last week, i practiced pulsing my awareness between my own spine and the circle/group throughout the eventing, until even though they were always distinct in awareness, they were also part of one soup. took me four days to burn off the sense of joy. wow! not sure what would happen if the event had been longer or the group more prone to conflict. maybe just the same, maybe not. seems this mutuality has always been part of the story you've told about open space, harrison... "the good news is, the bad news is" ...passion and responsibility... female opening, male directing... individual and group... lots of dualities to hold and let touch together... in the pulsation between big group and small groups... until we notice that the big group is still fully present even when we can't see all the bodies spread out in nooks and niches, and also noticing that the little personal connecting sparkles fly across the big circle, as special relationships made during breakouts don't totally dissolve when the big circle re-forms. everybody seems to have a sense of everything. in shorthand, again.... spirit. reminds me of many years ago when i used to suggest that opening space was like blowing bubbles... and trying to blow the biggest bubble possible. necessarily that challenge presents a need to balance how i direct my breath and what kind of movment and structure i see forming right in front of me... and also balancing the pressure it will take to finish the bubble and set it afloating and the amount of air i have left in my lungs... inner sense and outer needs, inner goal and outer structure. bubble, breath, quivering surface, pulsation in the flow, and attention... until all one and all done, a bubble, whole and free to go where it will. so i wonder what would happen if one of us were to go into the empty conference room, write "what is the future of this company? ...and what should it be?" on the whiteboard. and then sit down and start blowing bubbles. i hear that some people actually manage to create jobs and lives not so very different from that. this is what i'm imagining as possible now. <grin> hmmm... Harrison Owen wrote:
I knew I was going to get in trouble when I wrote this one. But there was some sort of purpose. For fairly obvious reason, I would be the last person to deny the power and utility of OS -- and I really cannot quibble with its completeness. Surely it has a beginning, middle and end. What pushed me, however, was some concern about our objectives. Why do an OS? Obviously there are multiple answers, all valid in their own domain. Such things as a) Having a better meeting. b) Energizing an organization. c) Building a strategic plan. d) Designing a new product. e)etc, etc. All useful and good, I am sure. But why do we REALLY do it? My answer to this one would be -- to enable folks to see themselves as they really are, and fully appreciate their wholeness. When, if, or as that happens -- there is no need for Open Space, and it becomes quite clear that OST was just a step along the way. In a word -- a halfway technology. It was in this context that I found my self wondering whether there were some things that we did (or did not do) that stood in the way of what (for me) was the ultimate objective. ho 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 Judi Richardson Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 12:12 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: OST as an "halfway technology" Hello Harrison and all, I have not read all the replies to Harrison's posting as I received the initial posting and printed it off to take with me as I travelled to Open Space for an international conference on Globalization. I am responding to your posting now that 140 participants have generated 40 topics and moved to their groups. A teacher arrived last minute with 30 high school students -- and, as always, they add amazing things to the group. I shall catch up on the replies to your posting upon my return. I was curious at the Halfway Technology statement and I see OST as a complete process. We, as human beings, are here to evolve. For a point in time, people agree to gather, to suspend disbelief around some principles and one law. In your posting, Harrison, you eluded that we do this just to be what we already are. I consider the objective mirror of OST -- time out of time -- as a chance to see ourselves as we are -- and once we do that we have to change. I would love it if people see some of the habitual patterns they develop -- and drop those to become more of what we are -- fearlessly. Who am I to have the audacity to expect the group to go further? It is their process. It is up to their passion and responsbility to go further. You state, Harrison, that it would seem that OST is not to be considered. Why beat the drum of what we don't want? I find more and more who want to explore the OST process -- in training and in practice. I facilitated OST for 38 B. Ed. students once and they started doing their presentations with OST -- no training -- worked myself right out of a job there! My wanting more for an organization would be "closing space" -- what right do I have to project my disappointment on their process? I see my work to build a relationship to the process, to the space, the form, in building the container as the content belongs to the group. OST - for however long is a snapshot in time in the evolution process -- time out of time, out of habitual patterns, embracing creative tension. I sat up last night with participants from Uganda, Zimbabwe, Australia, LeSotho, Canada and the US who wanted to ask questions and play with participatory processes. When I finish here I'm off to Toronto to facilitate a change process for an institution including a one and one-half day OST. The next week I am opening space for Aboriginal Fisheries Works in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. And in the moment we close the space -- it is a full technology -- complete, perfect in its imperfection! And for now I see a few coffee cups to pick up! <grin> with deep appreciation for the reflection and looking forward to reading others responses! Judi __________________________________________________________ Judith Richardson, MA Coaching & Consulting Optimizing Performance, Potential and Profitability www.ponoconsultants.com www.emergentfeminine.com Subscribe to our newsletter at www.emergentfeminine.com Check out www.emergentfeminine.com for special programs and new products! 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