Mark may be odd (I plead Guilty too) – but he does speak from a place of practical engagement. Otherwise known as, “in the trenches.” Not always pretty, but definitely where the rubber meets the road…
“Chaos is alive and well and now, fed by resistance, is a different animal for facilitators as ill intent looms large. If one's goal as leader is to obstruct, defame, ridicule, and act to prevent progress of any kind so as to counter any credibility for your co-leaders, then it is impossible. That is America today and it makes honest attempts at system improvement challenging to say the least. In any organization the leadership MUST embrace the power of collaboration and system improvement. There are a lot of really well run governments where the honest leaders seek to inspire positive improvements, continuously. In the great USofA we have a significant leadership crisis where mutually assured self destruction is taking place.” (Mark Carmel – quoted without permission) I would guess that we need to keep opening space – wherever, however, about whatever… but we sure need some breathing room. The details of “solution” are more than any of us can provide, or even contemplate. But we do know how to establish the space in which serious, productive conversations can take place. And that “conversation” is going to be a big one. Last count… something around 8 billion participants. Odd, wild, weird? For sure. But we do have the means. Will we find the will and the way? Stay tuned! ho From: OSList [mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Barry Owen via OSList Sent: Wednesday, January 9, 2019 8:46 AM To: World wide Open Space Technology email list Cc: Barry Owen; Mark Carmel Subject: Re: [OSList] Report From The Field Marai thank you for the offering of this video. It mirrors many of the thoughts swimming around in my head about the seemingly incessant "need" for many people to resist and fight when what's most useful is the Opening of more space. If only a sliver of the energy expended on this "warring" over anything and everything imaginable were to be directed towards more intentional human to human contact, this world be a kinder, gentler, and more forgiving world. As I witness so many layers of human ugliness manifesting all around us, my thoughts always shift to a mantra I've heard from Harrison Owen for years: Just keep on opening space! b Barry Owen Real Estate Strategist CEO/Principal Broker Pareto Realty, LLC <http://www.merriam-webster.com/audio.php?file=bixpar02&word=Pareto&text=%5Cp%C9%99-%3CSPAN%20class%3Dunicode%3E%CB%88%3C%2FSPAN%3Er%C4%81-(%3CSPAN%20class%3Dunicode%3E%CB%8C%3C%2FSPAN%3E)t%C5%8D%5C> \pə-ˈrā-(ˌ)tō\ The Vital Few 4004 Hillsboro Pike Ste 234-B Nashville, TN 37215 Office: 615-502-2080 Connect: 615-568-2123 BarryOwen.US WhyJoinParetoRealty.com Inviter - Facilitator/Practicer of Open Space Technology Opening & Holding safe space for people and organizations to self-organize around important issues and opportunities. Invite - Listen - Love Pareto Realty is a residential real estate sales firm that supports member agents in building and growing consistently productive niche businesses as they enjoy the healthy life rhythm they want and deserve. On Tue, Jan 8, 2019 at 3:31 PM Marai Kiele via OSList <oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote: Dear Mark, I appreciate your flow of energy and appreciation, both for OST and Harrison! I am fascinated, hearing about the „at that time“ largest educational transformation group and I honour you as someone who has walked the trails of OST before me. At the same time, I notice my resentment in regard to this part of your sharing: "beware of the evil spirits that seek the status quo at all costs“ and "fortify oneself against the forces that WILL seek to undermine change". I actually don’t live within a paradigm of something like „evil spirits“, and I find myself quite „resistant" to changing that world-view. I also don’t believe in setting myself up „against“ anything, but instead I believe in focusing on what is wanted. For me, this would include honouring those with a different perspective on what I desire (which might be change or transformation in regard to a specific subject). I have heard the term, „the client is resistant“ both in therapy and consulting contexts, and I notice great discomfort within me towards this kind of label. Not mostly, but also from my personal experience of someone giving me that „batch of honour". Someone who didn’t understand my perspective and how I was actually serving a group with my intervention. It has now happened to me several times that someone said to me (sometimes years later): „NOW I get you! I thought you were just annoying/resistant, but you were right / actually ahead of us with your perspective“. And.. there are times when I am not at all ahead, but truly resistant to change. For example because of different priorities. I will never forget the disbelief of the person at the iPhone help desk of my mobile phone provider: I called to ask how to activate my new iPhone 6. Which had been sitting in my desk for OVER A YEAR unused, after I had received the new model. He couldn’t believe that I hadn’t activated it right away. I imagine he might have shared that story during his coffee break with colleagues and all of them shaking their heads or laughing about that strange client. I just hadn't wanted to let go of my iPhone 3s (until I really had to because I couldn’t get software updates anymore). Back then, I so preferred its design. I mostly used it to make calls, not for the internet, and it fit so nicely into my hand and the back pocket of my jeans… Clearly a criteria that many tech savvy people will not find as important at I did! So the „moral“ of my story: What might be the things that other people value which we don’t understand, when we judge them as „resistant“? I very much appreciate how that perspective is embodied in this short video, narrated by Charles Eisenstein: What is it like to be you? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uStmnodUpOo Also, isn’t OST based on invitation? And if there is something like „resistance to following an invitation“, is it a true invitation in the first place? (Kudos to Dan Mezick and Mark Sheffield and their book on Inviting Leadership) With respect, Marai Am 08.01.2019 um 02:41 schrieb Mark Carmel via OSList <oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>: Greetings Fellow OST Practitioners! It is an honor to join you once again. I met the great Harrison Owen in the early 1990's and began immediately facilitating Open Space. I hope some of you remember me. Guided by Harrison's mentor-ship I set the world record with a 700 person group in 1993, the largest at the time for an educational transformation. To my fellow followers of His Honor, Harrison "The GREAT" Owen, THE Inventor of the Magic and Miracle of OPEN SPACE, (or the Receiver, from the Great Inventor...) I honor you for carrying on His Legacy. May I suggest to ALL, that when the Space is Opened to the Spirit of Change, you are playing with the fire of the crucible right there, fomenting the ferver that IS the crux of CHAOS, and thus bringing out the very, very Good in people, and also, sometimes, the bad. In all your preparations, beware of the evil spirits that seek the status quo at all costs, sometimes, literally. Change dies hard, as it is said, and in America, we now live in Retaliation Nation, where change, may be, and is, often, met with resistance. To fortify oneself against the forces that WILL seek to undermine change (and not in an open way, quite the contrary), and undermine the change agents championing change, one tidbit of hopefully useful observation is warranted: Make SURE Leadership is SOLID! It is such a joy to see O.S.T. alive and well. We ALL have Harrison to thank for His Gift of the Spirit of Human Understanding, Peace, and Reconciliation. Thank YOU, dear Father Harrison Owen!! Cheers! Long May OST Live!! O - Open Invitation S - System Innovation T - Transformation Communication Peace!! Mark Carmel _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org Past archives can be viewed here: http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org Past archives can be viewed here: http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
_______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org Past archives can be viewed here: http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
