having been trained by the motley lot who dreamed up this stuff, i can attest that even that great privilege does not mean that i know much or should be let near the folks in your organization.
jeff. On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 3:53 PM, Peggy Holman <[email protected]> wrote: > To be certified confused…where do I sign up? > > Chris -- thanks for your decidedly clear and unconfused comments on > certification. > > I seem to recall in some past conversation that rather than certification, > lineage is alternative to the client conundrum of who am I hiring? To be > trained by the creator, or by someone who trained with creator, on down the > line seems to have worked for a variety of practice traditions through the > ages. > > Still no guarantee, as Chris noted below. > > appreciatively, > Peggy > > > > > > > On Aug 8, 2013, at 10:35 AM, Chris Corrigan <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Ohh I love this topic too, because as we go on and on it becomes clearer > and clearer to me that Harrison's original idea (which predated Open > Source) was sheer genius. There is an expression in english: "Closing the > barn doors after the horse has left." It's too late to certify people in > Open Space Technology, and thank God! > > You simply cannot certify people as a way to protect the brand and the > reason is simple. > > Certification is based on an industrial quality assurance model In other > words, every product leaving the factory is guaranteed to work the way we > say it is going to work. If it doesn't you can have your money back and > we'll give you a new one that works. Every product can be tested before it > leaves the factory to be sure it works reliably, > > You simply cannot do that with facilitators. No amount of certification > will guarantee that a client will get what they want every single time. > And a facilitator taking a single training in Open Space or some other > method will by definition NOT be perfect leaving the factory. You need to > develop a practice, and even still there are contexts and situations that > will challenge and surprise you. "Be Prepared to Be Surprised" is the only > certification I can reliably give to anyone that has trained with me. We > are not engineers, architects or doctors. We are people whose skill is in > responding well to myriad and changing contexts. > > The International Association of Facilitators went down this route. I > have seen some horrible facilitation done by people who are certified by > the IAF. So much so that I have no faith in that certification as standing > for anything. It is a worthy idea but it simply cannot be implemented. > > Open Space is a brand like brainstorming is a brand, like using markers > and flipcharts is a brand, like parliamentary procedure is a brand. In a > few more decades, with any luck, the world will have forgotten where it all > came from and it will just become a basic operating system of groups. In > the last 10 years that prospect has really come on as people have stolen, > mashed up, mixed together, modified and redesigned Open Space Technology. > Participatory process is becoming an acceptable way of doing things, and > will only become more so. Most conference goers for example are now able > to report on conference evaluations that they would have rather had a world > cafe or an Open Space than a keynote address. I see it all the time. > There is a fluency in the world with this method and others. > > I fundamentally distrust anyone who makes a concerted effort to certify > Open Space. If Harrison Owen, the guy that put it all down on paper, > refuses to do it for excellent reasons, then I wonder what gives anyone > else the right to do it. > > And for me that is a terrific example of how to steward something that > really has an impact in the world. Offer it up and let it go and only > defend it from those that would try to own it. Thankfully Open Space > Technology I think is at a place in the world where it defies ownership. > Anyone who tries it will simply be laughed off the stage. > > Chris > > > > > On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 9:29 AM, Kári Gunnarsson <[email protected] > > wrote: > >> I love the Certification dialogue and I think that the recurrence of >> the dialogue is necessary. As I have looked around of things that >> trace there roots to open space or give the impression to be similar >> is some way. Some of these processes have the Certification hierarchy >> protecting the Quality of the Brand and the revenues steaming from the >> property that the brand name is. >> >> The hierarchy of the Certification process associated with Brand names >> is a way to close space and create tension witch in turn will fuel the >> flow of cash from the people that can pay, excluding the people that >> can not. It is an exercise in creating a closed system to fuel a >> business plan. And naturally, any start up consultancy offering some >> tools will need some flow of cash to pay the phone bill. >> >> When I was at Wosonon in Berlin back in 2010, I head one participant >> saying. "You always have the clients that you deserve". >> >> By knowing that the space for clients is well open and the law of >> mobility is active from them is perhaps a little scary. This scare can >> be remedied by letting go of the outcome and commit time to prepare to >> be of more benefit for my future clients. >> >> Here I have opened up many lines of thoughts that stay with me when I >> think about this topic. What I would like to have written down is some >> sort of vision on how to go about using the open space as a central >> idea and core philosophy in a practise. >> >> On Certification, my vote would go for "no central Certification", but >> I don't mind that various offspring's of Open Space go ahead and >> create there own brand name with the associated cash flow headaches >> and salaried sales staff of Certification trainings in there bid to >> get a bought with a handsome cash out from lager companies. >> >> That said, I would like to see more people get interested in the >> "boring" methought of meeting, working and begin together called open >> space. >> >> By the way, I am bored to tears by people hearing about open space and >> begin pissed off by the way open office layout (also called open space >> in my country) has been ruining there work experiences. >> >> This is starting to be a long rant, Ill stop now. >> >> With the breeze from Iceland >> Kári >> >> >> On 8 August 2013 14:50, Harrison Owen <[email protected]> wrote: >> > Certification (whatever that might mean) seems to be a perennial topic. >> I >> > suppose that is understandable, but for myself it is a horrible idea. My >> > reasons are several. First of all it is too much work. The thought of >> > developing the criteria, programs, and even worse, “protecting the >> brand” is >> > totally exhausting. We’d have to have certifiers to certify the >> certifiers >> > and so on ad infinitum. Second reason – Open Space seems to be taking >> care >> > of itself. When folks come on with “A little Open Space,” “Sort of Open >> > Space,” “Modified Open Space,” ... the participants (increasingly) >> > understand that they aren’t getting the genuine article—and say so. I >> recall >> > one instance where a large gentleman stood up in the middle of the >> “program” >> > and loudly proclaimed, “This sure ain’t Open Space! I’m out of here.” >> And he >> > walked. I guess you could call that “Market Certification.” Best of all >> --- >> > it works all by itself. One more thing not to do!! >> > >> > >> > >> > Harrison >> > >> > >> > >> > Harrison Owen >> > >> > 7808 River Falls Dr. >> > >> > Potomac, MD 20854 >> > >> > USA >> > >> > >> > >> > 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer) >> > >> > Camden, Maine 04843 >> > >> > >> > >> > 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 >> > >> >> >> >> -- >> Kári Gunnarsson >> [email protected] >> gsm: +354 8645189 >> _______________________________________________ >> 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 >> > > > > -- > --- > CHRIS CORRIGAN > Facilitation - Training - Process Design > Open Space Technology - Art of Hosting > > http://www.chriscorrigan.com > > *Upcoming workshops* > * > > Wise Leadership in > Practice<http://www.kaasamine.ee/koolitused/wise-leadership-in-practice> > August 22-25, Sänna Cultural Manor, Estonia > > * > *Art of Hosting - Art of (Inter)action* <http://www.aohmontreal.org/en/> > *October 8-10, 2013, Montreal, PQ.* > > * > Art of Hosting <http://aohrivendell.withtank.com/> - Participatory > Leadership and Social Collaboration > November 11-14, 2013, Bowen Island, BC, Canada. > * > > > _______________________________________________ > 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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