Shaggy dog story. I love it all! Catherine adds to the tale. Harrison suggests co-facilitating leading to space being open by youth. I love it all! I feel the magic, I see it happening. The spirit, the energy vibrant, joyful and totally beautiful! Suzanne hoping it to soon happen here in Canada. On Aug 9, 2011 6:44 PM, "Harrison Owen" <[email protected]> wrote: > Catherine - For sure the story is the Thing! No matter how told. Anyway that > works - Works! And a suggestion for your "next act" with all those good > young folk. Make it a "condition of contract" (not that you really have one > J) - Next year one of the current crop will "co-facilitate" with you. And > the year after. They are on their own - with you as "coach" Sort of work you > out of a job - but I think the role of "coach" would be every bit as much > fun! > > > > Harrison > > > > Harrison Owen > > 7808 River Falls Dr. > > Potomac, MD 20854 > > USA > > > > 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer) > > Camden, Maine 20854 > > > > Phone 301-365-2093 > > (summer) 207-763-3261 > > > > www.openspaceworld.com > > www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST > Go to: > <http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org> > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Catherine > Pfaehler > Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2011 5:17 PM > To: 'World wide Open Space Technology email list' > Subject: Re: [OSList] The Gentle Art of Doing Nothing -- a continuing saga > > > > Ah, Harrison - YES. Something in me refuses to go into theory on OST, or to > try to explain it. I prefer to tell stories and to let people have a bit of > the experience. On my business card, it says "Whenever it starts is the > right time". All truly great wisdom is of utter simplicity. > > > > And yes, it is not glorious. Invisibility requires an attitude of deep > service, and you never quite know what comes out of it, plus you are never a > part of the group, but an invisible outsider, a nobody. What a challenge to > the ego. But humility, gratitude, amazement, wonder are the rewards. J > > > > A few weeks ago I held space for 25 young people in our naturist campground > "die neue zeit" (the new era) in Thielle. It was our 7th annual OS event > there, my yearly give-away, this time reserved for young people. They had > fun, worked and played some, found it "extraordinary" and "different", and a > few days later, when asked by the camp manager if I would do it again next > year, it suddenly dawned on me that perhaps - if that is meant to happen - > this was a way of offering the spirit of OS to the next generation on the > camp, thus enforcing their sense of responsibility (a great topic as they > are all in puberty.) - and that I couldn't do anything better! > > > > My two cents - love, Catherine > > > > Catherine Pfaehler > > lic.oec.HSG > > Open Space Begleitung > > Burckhardtstrasse 2 > > CH - 3008 Bern > > Telefon +41-(0)31 - 536 05 31 > > Mobile +41-(0)76 - 488 15 46 > > [email protected] > > www.open-space-begleitung.ch > > > > _____ > > Von: Harrison Owen [mailto:[email protected]] > Gesendet: Sonntag, 7. August 2011 23:34 > An: 'World wide Open Space Technology email list' > Betreff: [OSList] The Gentle Art of Doing Nothing -- a continuing saga > > > > This may be something of a "shaggy dog" story, but it does have a point, I > hope. Maybe even several points - ending with some reflections on the role > of the facilitator. So bear with me (Grrrr!), if you will - and we WILL get > there. I promise. > > > > Birgitt's call to awareness of the flow of Spirit or energy is surely to the > point. If nothing else such awareness will remind us how deeply connected we > are with each other and the total cosmos. As our physicist friends will tell > us, it is all energy, albeit a little clumpy at points, and we are but a > little clumpy moment of the flow. The more esoteric amongst us might > substitute Consciousness/Spirit for Energy, but I suspect that you come out > at pretty much the same place. Different story, but similar conclusion. We > are all in "this" together, united in ways that we can scarcely think or > know - though goodness knows we have spent a lot of time trying. And the > journey of exploration continues, as well it might, for it may well be the > most important journey we will ever take. Something about finding our home > in the universe. Who am I, where am I, where am I going??? I would guess > that we have made some progress, though truth to tell, I am infinitely more > wonder-struck by the immensity of the horizons and the vastness of the > unknown, and the presently and probably unknowable. Awesome, and not a > little bit humbling. But the Quest is real and exciting - or so I have > found. > > > > And then there is Open Space Technology. That funny thing that popped into > our conscious experience courtesy of two martinis. Not planned, designed, or > expected. It appeared as what seemed to be a good idea at the time. And the > ridiculous part is that it "worked" when virtually all (current) theory and > practice indicated that it couldn't, wouldn't and shouldn't. Even worse it > has continued to work (by virtually any definition of "work") through 100's > of thousands of iterations, in 136 countries, over 25 years. Something > definitely was going on - but what? > > > > When faced with the unknown, particularly something that seems to make no > sense at all, we humans are driven to sensemaking. Our normal approach is to > tell a story in which we attempt to pull all the available facts, as we see > them, into a coherent narrative - that makes sense. A different form of > storytelling, perhaps more formal, is to create a theory which is literally > - "a way of seeing things" (from the Greek "theorein" to see). But theory > building and storytelling are one and the same, albeit there are different > rules and terms. Many people when faced with a theory (or story) almost > inevitably ask - Is it true? Is it right? But unfortunately, I don't think > those questions really apply. All theories (stories) are false to some > extent - we don't see all the facts, we don't understand the facts we've > got, and after all there are lots of ways to see things (multiple > theories/stories). But we can ask, Does it work? And "work" in some fairly > precise ways. Is it fully descriptive (takes into account all known facts)? > Is it powerfully predictive (not only accounts for the present state, but > points the way to the future)? Is it elegant (covers all bases with a > minimum of words - Occam's Razor)? Given these criteria it becomes fairly > easy to spot "bad" theories. They make sense only by leaving out/down > playing salient facts. Their predictive power is minimal. And they do all of > the above with a maximum of verbiage/jargon. > > > > Now back to our funny Open Space Technology. What's the story? What's the > theory? I suspect that for many (most?) people, particularly those coming > from an academic environment (B-Schools, OD programs, etc) Open Space is > seen as part of a much larger complex of "Large Group Interventions" and > shares a common linage and theory base. In a word, OST was developed as an > intervention out of the insights and practices of Behavioral and Management > Science. As such it is an articulated process, initiated and managed by > facilitators (managers) intended to produce pre-determined outcomes. This > was certainly the position of Billye Alban and Barbara Bunker in their book > on the subject produced some years back. I may have missed something, but I > have seen little, if anything that appears to be going in a different > direction. Truthfully it seems that the academic community has pretty much > given up on Open Space, perhaps hoping that it would just go away. But it > hasn't - and the theory offered is, I am sorry to say, just bad theory. It > does not account for, or accord with, the facts of the case (and after all > the experiment has been run more than a few times). And the predictive power > of the proffered theory is off by a country mile. Indeed, according to the > theory, Open Space simply couldn't happen. As for elegance, the words at > best are confused and convoluted. In short, it just doesn't work. Bad > theory. > > > > So what are the alternatives? Doubtless there are many, but I fancy two. The > first I would call, "Open Space as a Journey of Spirit." The second: "Open > Space - Self-Organization made manifest." > > > > "Open Space as a Journey of Spirit" is a story (theory) I have been trying > to tell for the better part of 50 years. In the beginning I didn't know > anything about Open Space Technology (no martinis) but the thought was > there. We are on a journey, the evolution of our consciousness in the open > space of our lives. I won't bore you with the details, but if interested you > can check them out in my first book, "Spirit: Transformation and Development > in Organizations." - on my website. Or the updated version, "The Power of > Spirit: How Organizations Transform" - from Barrett-Koehler (Amazon.com). > > > > The second story, "Open Space - Self-Organizations made manifest," is > actually a sequel to the first. If I put it all together, it would go > something like. Self-Organization is what Spirit does. Details to be found > in "The Practice of Peace," and Wave Rider: Leadership for High Performance > in a Self-Organizing world." These were written for very different audiences > - and when the audience changes, the story must as well. May sound a little > dishonest or sleight of hand - but every good storytellers knows what I am > talking about. > > > > So there's the story in bits and pieces - but what about the good old > Facilitator? The point I said I would get to.?? > > > > When facilitating Open Space, I have found that two things are necessary: > Total Presence. Absolute Invisibility. Yes it is paradoxical and polar. But > I find that when you get into the deep places in life, everything is > paradoxical and always best expressed as polar statements. Total Presence > means you are really there - not just in physical form or emotional intent - > but in every sense of the word, Presence. It doesn't come without effort. > For myself, some serious meditation is in order (See my chapter on "Personal > Preparation for Open Space" in the User's Guide.) It ain't for everybody, > but that is my way. > > > > And then we get to Invisibility. This may work in other places in our life > as well ( I think it does) - but as a "facilitator" of Open Space, I find it > essential. I am not "there" to shape, form, enhance, create the experience. > That will all take care of itself (that's why we call it > self-organization!). I am there to INVITE people to join (that take 15 > minutes tops) then I become the "microphone stand." I am the point of > grounding, the negative pole in the energy flow, the symbol and sign of the > question, The Quest. No answers - just Questing. And the energy/ Spirit will > flow if it has a ground. Ordinarily that takes place quite naturally, thank > God! But in the event things get a little clogged, I am there as a drain. > Not exactly a glorious occupation, but essential for all of that. And best > done with a minimum of advertisement - Invisibly. > > > > And there is also a secret. It is a joyous occupation! And No, I am not a > masochist, blushing violet, or afraid (ashamed) of my power. I got a lot. I > know it - and I also know that power held is power destroyed. It feels great > to give it away. Even better to know that you never really had it in the > first place. J > > > > Harrison > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Harrison Owen > > 7808 River Falls Dr. > > Potomac, MD 20854 > > USA > > > > 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer) > > Camden, Maine 20854 > > > > Phone 301-365-2093 > > (summer) 207-763-3261 > > > > www.openspaceworld.com > > www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST > Go to: > <http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org> > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > >
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