Michael (Anglican Chaplain) - There is no question that AI and other such things can do a world of good. And I don't think that Artur is suggesting that they are bad, wrong or not useful - certainly I wouldn't suggest that. But I would ask, are they the most efficient, effective, and powerful ways to achieve those good results? In my experience AI, FS, Dialogue etc have taught us to value the power of appreciation, the utility of common ground, and the marvel off good, deep conversation. All good, all true. But it takes an awful lot of work to get there, which might be totally justified if there were no other way. But again (in my experience) appreciation, common ground, and deep conversation all appear in OS as natural, emergent phenomenon. Best of all the people believe they did it all by themselves. And they did! Further more they know at some deep level that they can do the same thing again - and will. That is true empowerment. It is not the method, the process, or the facilitator. It is the people. And I can go and take a nap knowing that they will do an infinitely better job no matter how hard I might work.
Is it all perfect? Well it is perfectly what it (OS) is. But things can always improve. We can all learn to be better Wave Riders - and every time we open space we have the opportunity to practice. Training, as it were. And then it is Game time. . . Harrison Harrison Owen 189 Beaucaire Ave Camden, ME 04843 207-763-3261 (Summer) 301-365-2093 (Winter) Website www.openspaceworld.com Personal Website www.ho-image.com OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html _____ From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Anglican Chaplain Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 2:19 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: What I love most about OST (was Re: [OSLIST] Origins of "one less thing" and "letting go" I take most of the points Artur raises in his email. I wouldn't be too mutually exclusive about OST and Appreciative Inquiry. I do think they can be (and have experienced) them being complementary. People interviewing each other in pairs and in small groups about their appreciative experiences can be a great way of building trust; revealing corporate mythology (by listening for recurring themes); and might actually help shape up, collectively, the really key question for Open Space (rather than assuming that people 'at the top' know what this question should be). In this way, the group is empowered rather than dispempowered I think. Of course, much of the time AI is completely unnecessary - people are already on the edge of their seat and ready to go. But in some contexts I think AI can be a useful warm up. Michael Wood _____ From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Artur Silva Sent: Thursday, 30 July 2009 5:22 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: What I love most about OST (was Re: [OSLIST] Origins of "one less thing" and "letting go" Hi people: It is interesting, but the thing that I most love about OST has much to do with "one less thing"... OST is, as far as I know, the only methodology where the facilitator has to create a certain number of previous requisites, do a concise opening, and then let the people do their own work. This assumes that one believes in the people in the room to do the job and gives them all the power to self-organize. And it works every time! When I compare OST with all the other "facilitation" methodologies that I have studied, what most impresses me is that in all the others the facilitator (or a lot of facilitators) has (have) the central role. He/she/them is everywhere, doing all the sorts of things, (unconsciously) letting people to "understand" that without him/her/them (the facilitator(s) they would not be able to do the job. That is also the reason I have difficulty in understanding how the some people that facilitate OST, can also facilitate more formal/control_oriented methodologies. Ora why must we add other things (like a "warming up" up or AI session at the beginning) to something that is already perfect. Add one more thing only disempowers people. Discover one more thing not to do - that is the real job of the facilitator preparation! And, of course, all this has everything to do with Taoism and very little to do with normal western thinking that is our biggest enemy when trying to facilitate OST - to forget and bypass the paradigm in what we have been educated, I mean, indoctrinated. We must also let go of that! Artur PS: In what concerns your PS, Harrison, "no comments!" ---------- --- On Wed, 7/29/09, Harrison Owen <hho...@verizon.net> wrote: From: Harrison Owen <hho...@verizon.net> Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Origins of "one less thing" and "letting go" To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Date: Wednesday, July 29, 2009, 11:34 AM I love it! "Thinking of one less thing to do" is a throw-away I have used for years. I've called it the "design principle for OST." If it turns out to be Taoist that will be superb. Some kind of channeling, I would guess. Harrison PS - Artur I also wrote the Wiki article, now several times revised by whomsoever. More channeling? ho * * ========================================================== 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 * * ========================================================== 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 * * ========================================================== 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
