Julie -- I don't think you have tied yourself in knots at all. Or if you did it was surely a knot that most of us have found ourselves wrapped up in at one time or another. It has been clear to me ever since that anybody with a good head and a good heart can "do" Open Space. A little training can certainly help with some of the details, but in most cases, simply having been a part of an OS will suffice. Or reading The Book. Having said all that, I think it is also true that it then may take a life time to "learn" to do it really well. But it is learning of an odd sort. In fact it is mostly un-learning of much of what we previously taken to be "gospel" when it comes to working with groups -- such as the whole business about "optimal group size." The core of all this is (as you point out) Letting Go -- and being comfortable with doing that. Almost every training program I have been a part of eventually got to this core element. I guess I find some real justification for training programs in this fact. I am not sure that you can "learn to Let Go" -- but the whole process of thinking about that and taking some first steps seems to go better with some friends and fellow travelers in attendance. Strange -- we have real problems giving up something we never had in the first place!
Call it what you will -- attitude adjustment, spiritual journey -- this is not about gaining some new skill or technique. I guess it is really about a life change. And not everybody will choose to take the trip. Harrison ----- Original Message ----- From: "Julie Stuart" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 4:51 AM Subject: Re: "learning" OS and more; was use of OS in a training for trainers > Raffi, > > Sorry, I think I tied myself up in knots in my last mail. > > I have found in my work that some people focus on "being trained" in order > to feel that they can facilitate a (any) process, and want to be sure that > they have got the "right" training from the "right" people in the "right" > format. I can see the argument for this with some tools and techniques, > although I have heard of people facilitating future search (for example) > without any training at all, simply using the book and applying the > principles. > > With open space however, I don't know that it is the training (or lack of > it) that makes the difference. The real key it seems to me is to actually > trust the process and the people, rather than just saying that you do. I > can't see that any amount of training, even with the best, can guarantee > that someone will get it. I know people who have been trained in open > space, who have used it at times with groups, who understand it completely > intellectually and think it's a fantastic thing - but when it comes to > actually opening space with a group they feel utterly out of control as > facilitators and set rules and give instructions and essentially close the > space right back down again. No matter how often they see it work they > still can't believe that the group will self-organise without their help > (the market place seems to cause particular panic), or that a self-selected > group of 20 people will be able to have a meaningful discussion (given the > facilitator wisdom that self-managing discussion groups shuoldn't be larger > than 8 or certainly 10 people). > > I hope that this is a little clearer? I'm winding down for a couple of > weeks on holiday, and my brain seems to be slightly muddled this week. > > I went to a Quaker school but I am not actually a Quaker myself. When I > moved to secondary (high) school there was a choice of several local schools > for me. One of these was very competitive and the other was more supportive > of individuals and had an ethos of helping every pupil achieve the best that > they could do, in compeition only with themselves. I felt at that stage > that there really was only one choice for me. It has to be said, that at > that time the school was (and sitill) is a part of the state education > system, and there were very few Quakers attending, but the Head was always a > Quaker, and I feel that something of the values percolated down into > everyone who went there to some extent. > > All the best, > Julie > > > >From: Raffi Aftandelian <[email protected]> > >Reply-To: OSLIST <[email protected]> > >To: [email protected] > >Subject: [OSLIST] "learning" OS and more; was use of OS in a training for > >trainers > >Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 11:08:35 +0400 > > > >Hi Julie! > >Thanks for your response! I didn't quite get what you meant here: > > > >"what I really wanted to > >say was that learning or remembering open space doesn't seem to me to be > >directly related to what training a facilitator has or has not received, > >and > >that focusing on the training aspect might not be the most helpful thing to > >do. I think that it is more closely linked to your experience and > >approach, > >and to whether you as a facilitator can actually believe what you say to > >participants - that they really can self manage and come up with something > >great on their own." > > > >There was an important thought or several thoughts in this paragraph; but I > >am not exactly sure what you meant. > > > >You say you went to a Quaker school, but you don't say you are a Quaker. I > >came to Quakerism in Russia, but for a variety of reasons do not practice > >it (in the sense of going to Meeting for Worship). One of the things I have > >wondered about is why Quakers (maybe the Quakers on this list will reply!) > >don't use OS regularly in the life of the Meeting, as another tool for > >conducting Meeting for Worship for Business. While I think discerning the > >spirit of the group and using consensus is very powerful, conscious use of > >OS is also about Spirit. I sometimes find meeting for worship for business, > >well, boring frankly. Maybe that's a reflection of much innerwork that I > >need to do, to truly understand how passion reflects itself in this type of > >meeting. > > > > > >Raffi Aftandelian > > > > > >Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2004 08:46:15 +0000 > >From: Julie Stuart <[email protected]> > >Subject: Re: use of OS in a training for trainers > > > >Raffi, > > > >I think that it's wonderful that you felt able to conduct part of a > >training > >session in open space despite some misgivings. I just wanted to reply to > >the last part of your mail, about "learning" to facilitate open space. > > > >From my experience in facilitating various types of off-the-shelf > >participative processes (as well as hybrids that we develop to suit a > >particular purpose), open space is not necessarily something that you need > >to be formally trained to use. I have several colleagues who have been to > >learning workshops on open space, and yet of everyone in the organisation > >it > >is me who invariably takes the baton and runs with it when an opportunity > >arises to open space with a client. I think that this is because open > >space > >is something that resonates with me personally and I especially enjoy the > >challenge to my normal ways of control that it offers me. On the other > >hand, my colleagues find it very difficult to let go and trust in the > >process and the people to self-manage, and they know themselves that while > >they get it in theory they just don't quite believe in it. I have never > >had > >any formal training in open space - I just go with what I've learnt from > >the > >books, from OSonOs in Swenmark last year, and from the wisdom I've gathered > >from lurking on this list for the past couple of years. I have had lots of > >training in general facilitation skills and in other processes so perhaps > >this gave me the confidence to jump into open space more quickly than > >otherwise. > > > >So, in case I've missed my point and rambled off, what I really wanted to > >say was that learning or remembering open space doesn't seem to me to be > >directly related to what training a facilitator has or has not received, > >and > >that focusing on the training aspect might not be the most helpful thing to > >do. I think that it is more closely linked to your experience and > >approach, > >and to whether you as a facilitator can actually believe what you say to > >participants - that they really can self manage and come up with something > >great on their own. > > > >I'd also like to thank you for the links to AVP information. Although I > >grew up and live in Northern Ireland and went to a Quaker school, I had > >never heard of the project before. Good luck with all your work, > > > >Julie Stuart > > > >* > >* > > > >* > >* > >========================================================== > >[email protected] > >------------------------------ > >To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > >view the archives of [email protected]: > >http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > > >To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > >http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > * > * > ========================================================== > [email protected] > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
