It seems that there always is ba choice between living as a master of one's own life or a slave.
Our role seems to be a herald of the good/bad news that the choice is open. Well, what's our choice as a community of Openspacers? ;-) spark 2012. 2. 28. 오전 1:06에 "Harrison Owen" <[email protected]>님이 작성: > Well done Peggy – and you really have my curiosity aroused. All about the > 1%! I do understand that some significant percentage of the participants > (did you say 20%?) appeared “disoriented” – and you are certainly right > that a good dose of Freedom Shock can be unsettling, and might be the > cause. My problem is that I don’t think I have ever encountered such a > situation – at least with the numbers you indicate. This is not to say that > every OS I have done had a 100% satisfaction rate, that Freedom Shock > didn’t ruffle a few feathers, or that nobody ever left. But honestly, I > have never seen anything such as you describe.**** > > ** ** > > Just to be absolutely clear – I am not doubting you for a minute, nor am I > even vaguely suggesting that you are somehow “inadequate” as a space > opener. I’ve known you too well and too long to even suspicion that. So > what’s the difference. What have I missed?**** > > ** ** > > It could well be that my own powers of observation are less than acute, or > if acute, then blinded by a natural bias – believing that everybody MUST > love OS. All possible, but even with a with a very dark pair of rose > colored classes, I don’t think I would miss 20-30% of the folks walking out. > **** > > ** ** > > The closest thing to what you describe that I ever experienced came in two > rather strange, and never to be repeated situations. The first was not an > Open Space per se, but rather a training program back in the days when I > offered a whole mess of lectures and a little bit of Open Space. Hopefully > I can be forgiven, but that is what “training programs” used to be, so we > all thought. In the case, a substantial number of the attendees had come > with the explicit purpose of discrediting Open Space and substituting their > own understanding of what training and facilitation was all about. Needless > to say I didn’t have a clue when we started that was the situation, but I > sure found out – and once the cat was out of the bag I simply took a walk > (Law of two feet) telling all the participants that when they figured out > what they wanted to do, and if wanted me to be a part of it – just let me > know. It was all very interesting, and in a very curious way – total open > space!**** > > ** ** > > The second situation occurred rather early on in my Open Space journey. A > group of trainers and facilitators asked me to “demonstrate Open Space.” > Not knowing any better, I asked them to come up with some sort of theme and > “we did it.” We sat in a circle, created a bulletin board, opened a market > place – and everybody left -- muttering, “Is that all there is?”**** > > Never again!**** > > ** ** > > One thing I have thought of which might be the difference is that in > virtually all cases (certainly in the last 20 years) when somebody comes to > me they want an Open Space. Or putting it the other way around, it is never > the case that I was trying to convince somebody to use Open Space. Indeed > there have been any number of situations where after talking to the people > I suggested that they go out and see if they can figure any other way to > achieve what they had in mind. Should they run out of options please to > come back and I would be happy to talk. Just for the record, the return > rate was about 50%.**** > > ** ** > > So what do you think?**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > 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**** > > ** ** > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Peggy Holman > *Sent:* Monday, February 27, 2012 1:23 AM > *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list > *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Teach Them to Fish / A Note to My Friends**** > > ** ** > > I'd like to dive under the metaphor of "distributing fish" when opening > space. What I'm about to say may be controversial, but I think it's a > discussion worth having.**** > > ** ** > > As background, when I first started opening space, I always jumped right > in. Ninety-five percent of the time, following a few words from the > sponsor, I still do. I want to be clear that the reflections that follow > involve a narrow set of circumstances -- say 1% of the time -- when I have > found it useful to give away some fish.**** > > ** ** > > In that 1% of cases, jumping into Open Space left a sufficient number of > people confused, out of focus, and unsure why they had come that I think it > reduced the potential of the experience for everyone. I'd describe most of > these situations as high in "freedom shock" -- a wonderful term that > Harrison coined to describe, in his words, "the reaction of a very bright, > experienced group of professionals who had suddenly been granted everything > they wanted with no strings attached, and it seemed to terrify them".**** > > ** ** > > So when the conditions are ripe for a lot of freedom shock -- say, 20-25% > of participants -- I think it's useful to give away a few fish. **** > > ** ** > > I'm offering my reflections on What does it mean to distribute fish? When > does it makes sense? How do you do it?**** > > ** ** > > I would love to hear how others see it.**** > > ** ** > > *What does distributing fish mean to me?***** > > ** ** > > It means setting the context with why are we here and who is here with > more than a few words from the sponsor. It doesn't take much but, I have > found circumstances in which setting the stage makes a world of difference > for the effectiveness not just for an event, but for what happens > afterwards. Far more go fishing on their own and with newfound partners > when they've been fed a few fish and learned something about fishing.**** > > ** ** > > *When does it make sense to distribute fish?***** > > ** ** > > I first ran into the need through the early Journalism That Matters events > (http://journalismthatmatters.org/events-notes/), which brought together > the "whole system" of journalism. When I co-hosted the second and third > Evolutionary Salons (http://www.thegreatstory.org/ev-salon.html) -- > wildly open ended explorations of what it means to be conscious agents of > evolution, they added to my reflections on the need for some work up front. > **** > > ** ** > > Even in these events, most jumped right in and ran with the experience. > Yet there was a notable minority, perhaps 1/4 to 1/3, who were so > disoriented they left or simply wandered around lost. They couldn't figure > out how to navigate the space. Now I can make the case that this was > exactly the right outcome. I have no doubt the experience got them > cooking. So this isn't about right or wrong. It is about overall > effectiveness.**** > > ** ** > > I haven't tried to describe the conditions before now but found them > emerging as I thought back on some of the wild rides I've had. When the > following conditions are ALL present, giving away fish is useful:**** > > ** ** > > * There isn't the infrastructure of an organization or something that > provides an implicit context for all that is happening.**** > > * The question is "big" -- which can seem abstract or unfocused to some. > (Example: What is the new news ecology and how do we create it?")**** > > * The people are coming together just for the event. While some may know > each other, they're all likely to go their separate ways following the > experience. When the group is highly diverse, it compounds the situation. > (Of course, it also increases the potential of the experience when people > have what they need to orient.)**** > > * The majority of people coming have never experienced Open Space or > something like it. (So not only is the content, while attractive or they > wouldn't be there, a stretch, the form is completely unfamiliar.)**** > > * There's no clear sponsor in the traditional sense -- a senior manager > of an organization or an organization that brings an orienting set of > assumptions. (Journalism That Matters and the group of us co-hosting the > Evolutionary Salons just brought interesting questions.)**** > > ** ** > > In short, if the context isn't easily understood, it's the responsibility > of the organizers to make it so. **** > > ** ** > > *How do you distribute fish?***** > > ** ** > > I've run into the conditions I described above when working with ambitious > societal questions that aren't anchored in pursuing specific activities. > Such circumstances don't lend themselves to experts setting the stage. So > I look for ways in which people answer the questions for themselves -- in > which they create a context through understanding the mix of intentions > present, and who's bringing them.**** > > ** ** > > In other words, it's still about the people in the room pursuing what > matters to them. **** > > ** ** > > I've used a variety of approaches to accomplish this, sometimes for an > hour, sometimes for a half a day, depending on the situation and the > desired outcomes: **** > > ** ** > > * People sharing the questions they've brought with each other, sometimes > with a World Cafe around the conference theme. Sometimes, when there are > some folks who have some deep thinking or practice to offer as inspiration, > 2-3 are invited as "conversation catalysts", to talk for a max of 10 > minutes each, setting the stage for a conversation in the room. **** > > ** ** > > * Creating a "who's coming" bio book sent in advance can give people a > sense of who's in the room without spending time on introductions. Or > we'll provide some means for people to self-identify the roles they play. > For example, at a number of Journalism That Matters sessions, we've had > stickers for different roles that people could put on their name tags. > **** > > ** ** > > * Setting up a "trade show", where anyone can share their work at a table > for an hour or so. It's lively, informal, and people get to spend their > time learning about what others are doing. It also clears the way for > folks who come with an agenda to loosen their hold on it because they get a > chance to tell their story. **** > > ** ** > > By the time they're done with these types of activities, I find even the > most freedom shock prone have gotten enough of a grounding to dive into > Open Space.**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > All these activities are informed by the assumption that people have the > answers within them. They are a way to provide more context when it isn't > coming from an obvious source.**** > > ** ** > > So, that's about it.**** > > ** ** > > Thoughts?**** > > ** ** > > appreciatively,**** > > Peggy**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > _________________________________**** > > Peggy Holman**** > > [email protected]**** > > ** ** > > 15347 SE 49th Place**** > > Bellevue, WA 98006**** > > 425-746-6274**** > > www.peggyholman.com**** > > www.journalismthatmatters.org**** > > ** ** > > *Enjoy the award winning *Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into > Opportunity <http://peggyholman.com/papers/engaging-emergence/>**** > > > "An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get > burnt, is to become > the fire". > -- Drew Dellinger**** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > On Feb 24, 2012, at 8:06 AM, Harrison Owen wrote:**** > > > > **** > > Artur – your point about “teaching” is well taken. And given the state of > language at the moment it is doubtless necessary to take the route you > have taken in describing the role of teacher-as-mentor/guide. Couldn’t > agree more! But wouldn’t it be nice if real teaching could be defined and > understood as you have suggested? This whole subject is very pertinent to > me at the moment as I am pulling myself together for the upcoming > conference Manila on “The Future of Learning.” I have agreed to do a one > day dialogue on Learning just to raise and shape the questions – then it is > on to the Maine Event which will be 2 days of Open Space. Should be great > and we will be having folks from all over Asia. You should come! And by the > way so should anybody else on the LIST. Dates are March 27-20 and our > hostess in Sharon Chao at SEAMEO-Innotech. For the details contact Sharon > [email protected]**** > > **** > > **** > > **** > > 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**** > > **** > > *From:* [email protected] [ > mailto:[email protected]<[email protected]> > ] *On Behalf Of*Artur Silva > *Sent:* Friday, February 24, 2012 8:20 AM > *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list > *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Teach Them to Fish / A Note to My Friends**** > > **** > > Amen for almost everything! And thank you, Harrison, for reminding us of > all this.**** > > > > > **** > > A small observation: I have struggled myself with the same old saying: > "instead of giving a fish, teach them to fish". Yes, if you "give a fish" > you are patronizing and disempowering the other. But, if you "*teach to > fish*" aren't you also disempowering him?**** > > **** > > Having done professional training and facilitation (intermittently) for 40 > years and teaching at Universities for 20 years, I have come to the > conclusion that *the role of a Professor is not to teach*. It is to *help > the students to learn* and more specifically to "*learn how to learn*" - > anything, anytime, for all their lives... **** > > **** > > So it is not "to teach to fish"; it is to help them "*to learn* > (remember?) *how to survive*". It may be fishing today, hunting > tomorrow, cultivating in another day, but especially it will change every > now and then, and the student must be prepared to "*learn as a way of > being*" (from the title of a book of your friend Peter Vaill).**** > > **** > > So, indeed the teacher/professor/facilitator must *learn how to disappear*, > so that the student can surpass the master - at least, if he his younger, > as he probably will continue to learn for a longer time. **** > > > But this is not a disagreement because - if I understood well - this is > exactly what your post says.**** > > > Warm regards**** > > > Artur**** > > **** > ------------------------------ > > *From:* Harrison Owen <[email protected]> > *To:* 'World wide Open Space Technology email list' < > [email protected]> > *Sent:* Thursday, February 23, 2012 9:31 PM > *Subject:* [OSList] Teach Them to Fish / A Note to My Friends**** > > **** > > There is an old saying to the effect that when seeking to help people it > is infinitely better to teach them to fish than to give them fish. The > point is obvious. When you learn how to fish you can feed yourself. The > secondary point may be less than obvious. When you are simply handed a fish > the conditions for learned helplessness and continued dependence, to say > nothing of subservience are created. Even with the best, most altruistic > intentions in the world, a fish handout has its problems. And what does all > this have to do with the price of tea in China? Not much, I guess, but I > think it has a lot to say about our roles as facilitators.**** > > **** > > One of the things I have always loved about Open Space is that it is not > rocket science. Anybody with a good head and good heart can “do it” – a > reality which has been proved time and time again. Early on I thought the > “magic” lay in the simplicity of the process – but it turned out it was > worse than that. There isn’t any process that “We do” – in fact the process > does us. Yes, I know – you have heard all this before… self organization at > work. We are simply remembering what we already know. But well before I > made any connection between Open Space and self-organization, I was struck > by its simplicity and universality – it simply worked… everywhere. The > immediate impact of this realization was a “tag phrase” I found myself > uttering at every opening of space. At the beginning and at the end I told > the folks,” There is absolutely nothing that I am doing with you that you > cannot do for yourselves.” It was all about teaching fishing.**** > > **** > > As time went along I found myself working the implications of this phrase. > Substantively, I told everybody who came to me that, while I would be > pleased to open their space, I would do it only once. Should they want to > do it again, I would help from the sidelines, and for all subsequent > gatherings, they were on their own. A second impact on my practice resolved > into a simple phrase: “Think of one more thing not to do.”**** > > **** > > Having come into the “business” (of facilitation) in the late ‘60’s I > found myself in the midst of a flowering of methods, techniques and > procedures emanating from the emergent OD movement in all of its > manifestations. Suddenly the “simple meeting” became a massive cookbook of > possibilities. Warm up processes, Ice breakers for starters. Interventions > of all sorts during the main course, with “Kumb’yah” and holding hands for > desert. I jest, but only just. Designing such a thing could take months > and involve dozens of people. And when it came to the actual meeting it > almost seemed that the Conference Committee plus assorted Facilitators > outnumbered participants by 2:1. I couldn’t help but wonder…was this trip > really necessary?**** > > **** > > In many ways, Open Space (OST) came to me as an answer to my questing. It > is true that two martinis helped and marked the birth, but I think the > period of gestation had been going on for a bit. I have joked that my > essential laziness was the primal cause, but more basic was a deep hope > that there had to be a better way. Was it not possible that human beings > could engage in intelligent conversation without “all that stuff?” The gin > helped, I suppose – but the answer was ridiculously simple: Yes – Just sit > in a circle, create a bulletin board, open a market place, and go to work. > All the rest is history, but I wasn’t out of the woods.**** > > **** > > Given my prior experience, to say nothing of the experience and practice > of my friends, I just could not believe that something so simple could > possibly work without help. Obviously we needed to “prepare” for Open > Space. And so I tried any number of warm-ups and ice breakers – trust > games, relaxation exercises, visualizations and more. Most were pleasant, > maybe even fun – but did they really add value? The only way to find out > was not to do them – and find out.**** > > **** > > As often happens, the first iteration of the experiment (dropping stuff) > happened quite unintentionally. I was in South Africa in the anxious days > immediately post Apartheid. We needed to do an Open Space -- FAST. Nobody > had ever heard of Open Space, but they were ready to try anything. So we > just did it. No preparation, no warm up, no nothing. Just the barebones: > circle, bulletin board, market place and to work. And to work they went! I > learned something, which has been confirmed again and again as the > experience grew. When space needs to open – Just Do it. But I must confess > that holding hands at the end still can feel good, although there is no > need to sing Kumb’yah.**** > > **** > > But it wasn’t just the warm ups. As my experience with Open Space was > growing, friends and colleagues were creating their own approaches. Diana > Whitney and David Cooperrider with Appreciative Inquiry and Juanita Brown > with World Café, for example. Wouldn’t it make sense to sequence or combine > all these things? We tried, and it was fun – but did it really make any > difference? Did the work move more swiftly, were the conversations deeper? > Was the follow-on more effective? Despite my best efforts, I could see > little if any improvement, *and I really wanted to*. And to the extent > that there was a marginal plus, that seemed to have less to do with the > cumulative effect of the several approaches – and more to do with the > simple fact that people had been together longer. In fact on multiple > occasions participants would come up to me to ask why we hadn’t done it all > in Open Space? “That is where the cookie really crumbled,” one person said. > (Translation: “That’s where the conversation really got real.”)**** > > **** > > I know this is an argument I can never win. But the truth of the matter is > that there is no argument and I have no interest in winning. Each of us > must make our own judgment as to what might be the most effective and > appropriate in each situation. That said, the fact of the matter is that in > 27 years of observation I have never seen any group of people have the > slightest bit of difficulty entering into Open Space – even when the topic > under consideration was viciously volatile. Always worked, all by itself. I > have, to be sure, seen situations where the sponsors (and often the > facilitators) were more than hesitant. But for the people themselves – no > problem.**** > > **** > > I suppose there could be an argument if my basic concern were to defend > this approach (OST) against all others, any combination thereof, or > extraneous heterodoxies. Were that the case, I am sure that I could be > (should be!) accused of a very biased, proprietary self-interest. But my > interest is rather different, and the simple truth of the matter is that I > would be delighted if all methods and approaches were simply to disappear – > right along with every last Facilitator. Throw out the Tool Box and The > Profession! No longer needed. It is all about teaching folks to fish.**** > > **** > > I judge myself and the impact of my work by a single criterion: How fast > can I become redundant? How soon can the folks fish for themselves? My task > becomes infinitely easier as the simplicity of my approach increases and > the necessity to explain fades away. Best of all would be a situation where > there is really nothing to explain – just Do it. And then remind the folks > that they did it, and can do it again. No more. No less. After that the > only thing left to do is post a sign: “Gone Fishing!”**** > > **** > > 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**** > > **** > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > > **** > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org**** > > ** ** > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > >
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