Re: [OSList] Where angels fear to tread

[John Watkins via OSList]

Jeff,

In the educational equity world we call this “radical inclusion” and “design 
from the margins.” Glad to see it show up in your work too. And of course it 
reminds us of the classic Meg Wheatley quote about healing a system by getting 
it together with more of itself, especially the parts of it that it didn’t even 
know were part of it. 

John W

Sent from John's iPhone

> On Nov 18, 2021, at 5:10 PM, Jeff Aitken via OSList 
>  wrote:
> 
> Thanks Peggy. 
> 
> Your practices for intentional invitation look great - glad you shared them! 
> 
> My question was being a little bit provocative. Your response is a big key. 
> 
> I've been taught that the vital insights needed for the health of a system 
> (such as a lifeplace) often come from the bottom and the edges.
> 
> The capacity to listen to "the stranger" who shows up in Open Space is also a 
> cultural teaching. 
> 
> I've experienced OS in which topics that needed to be raised did not appear 
> until the second day. The tricky elements of trust, comfort, risk, courage, 
> power, etc all have their say in this. We can prepare with sponsor coaching 
> and skilled invitation as you detailed.
> 
> Thank you again, and Birgitt and Michael.
> 
> Jeff
> 
> 
> 
>> On Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 2:15 PM Peggy Holman via OSList 
>>  wrote:
>> Like Michael, I have had the experience of leaders making a list behind the 
>> scenes and being surprised that participants not only posted everything on 
>> their list but also things that they hadn’t thought of that turned out to 
>> matter to them. And, of course, the experience of witnessing the passion, 
>> interest, and creativity of people often surprises everyone who is in an 
>> Open Space meeting for the first time.
>> 
>> Jeff, to your question about requisite variety of topics in an Open Space, I 
>> see that as a matter of being mindful about invitation. The biggest 
>> investment of preparation time for the Open Spaces I’m involved with are 
>> inviting, as Harrison would say, “the people who care.” Whomever I’m working 
>> with, I encourage them to do the work of thinking through, given their 
>> purpose, who makes up the system — who are the people who care? In many 
>> cases, that may include involving a microcosm in shaping the organizing 
>> question and invitation so that it resonates with the people of the system.
>> 
>> I take my cue on how to think about who makes up the system from Marv 
>> Weisbord and Sandra Janoff’s rubric of inviting the people who “ARE IN” — 
>> with Authority, Resources, Expertise, Information, and Need. I also suggest 
>> an overlay for considering demographic diversity. For thinking about that, I 
>> draw from the Maynard Institute’s “Fault lines” - race, class, gender, 
>> geography, and generation and two “fissures” - politics and religion. Not 
>> all dimensions apply to every situation but bringing them up enables the 
>> people planning the Open Space to make a conscious choice about whom they 
>> invite and how.
>> 
>> This is a long-winded way of saying that my experience is that by doing the 
>> work to invite a requisite variety of people, a requisite variety of topics 
>> will show up. And then, to the principle of whoever comes is the right 
>> people, I let go of worrying about it.
>> 
>> Birgitt — to words and embodied experience, yes you are saying what I meant: 
>> it is not the words used that are most likely to help, rather the embodied 
>> experience. For example, describing the experience of Open Space and what it 
>> produces can be enough for some. For most of us, hearing a description or 
>> even seeing a video doesn’t come close to being there. It is a 
>> multi-dimensional experience that involves, head, heart, body, spirit. 
>> Rarely does this come across in a description. A story might communicate 
>> more of it. But I’m guessing most people discover some aspect they hadn’t 
>> expected from just reading, hearing, or watching a video about it.
>> 
>> Appreciatively,
>> Peggy
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Peggy Holman
>> Co-founder
>> Journalism That Matters
>> 15347 SE 49th Place
>> Bellevue, WA  98006
>> 206-948-0432
>> www.journalismthatmatters.org
>> www.peggyholman.com
>> Twitter: @peggyholman
>> JTM Twitter: @JTMStream
>> 
>> Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Nov 17, 2021, at 1:52 PM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList 
>>>  wrote:
>>> 
>>> Dear Birgitt,
>>> 
>>> your two sentences:
>>> 
>>> "My perspective: following the principles of OST, spirit shows up in the 
>>> moment, inspiring people to post exactly the topics that need to be posted 
>>> at that moment in time. This dynamic is altered when relying on anyone to 
>>> pre-post topics, or to set meta-topics, catering to limitation rather than 
>>> abundance of possibilities."
>>> 
>>> had some memories come up.
>>> 
>>> In at least three of the ost events I was involved in it turned out that 
>>> the sponso

Re: [OSList] Where angels fear to tread

[Jeff Aitken via OSList]

Thanks Peggy.

Your practices for intentional invitation look great - glad you shared
them!

My question was being a little bit provocative. Your response is a big key.

I've been taught that the vital insights needed for the health of a system
(such as a lifeplace) often come from the bottom and the edges.

The capacity to listen to "the stranger" who shows up in Open Space is also
a cultural teaching.

I've experienced OS in which topics that needed to be raised did not appear
until the second day. The tricky elements of trust, comfort, risk, courage,
power, etc all have their say in this. We can prepare with sponsor coaching
and skilled invitation as you detailed.

Thank you again, and Birgitt and Michael.

Jeff



On Thu, Nov 18, 2021, 2:15 PM Peggy Holman via OSList <
oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

> Like Michael, I have had the experience of leaders making a list behind
> the scenes and being surprised that participants not only posted everything
> on their list but also things that they hadn’t thought of that turned out
> to matter to them. And, of course, the experience of witnessing the
> passion, interest, and creativity of people often surprises everyone who is
> in an Open Space meeting for the first time.
>
> Jeff, to your question about requisite variety of topics in an Open Space,
> I see that as a matter of being mindful about invitation. The biggest
> investment of preparation time for the Open Spaces I’m involved with are
> inviting, as Harrison would say, “the people who care.” Whomever I’m
> working with, I encourage them to do the work of thinking through, given
> their purpose, who makes up the system — who are the people who care? In
> many cases, that may include involving a microcosm in shaping the
> organizing question and invitation so that it resonates with the people of
> the system.
>
> I take my cue on how to think about who makes up the system from Marv
> Weisbord and Sandra Janoff’s rubric of inviting the people who “ARE IN” —
> with *A*uthority, *R*esources, *E*xpertise, *I*nformation, and *N*eed. I
> also suggest an overlay for considering demographic diversity. For thinking
> about that, I draw from the Maynard Institute’s “Fault lines” - race,
> class, gender, geography, and generation and two “fissures” - politics and
> religion. Not all dimensions apply to every situation but bringing them up
> enables the people planning the Open Space to make a conscious choice about
> whom they invite and how.
>
> This is a long-winded way of saying that my experience is that by doing
> the work to invite a requisite variety of people, a requisite variety of
> topics will show up. And then, to the principle of whoever comes is the
> right people, I let go of worrying about it.
>
> Birgitt — to words and embodied experience, yes you are saying what I
> meant: *it is not the words used that are most likely to help, rather the
> embodied experience*. For example, describing the experience of Open
> Space and what it produces can be enough for some. For most of us, hearing
> a description or even seeing a video doesn’t come close to being there. It
> is a multi-dimensional experience that involves, head, heart, body, spirit.
> Rarely does this come across in a description. A story might communicate
> more of it. But I’m guessing most people discover some aspect they hadn’t
> expected from just reading, hearing, or watching a video about it.
>
> Appreciatively,
> Peggy
>
>
>
> 
> Peggy Holman
> Co-founder
> Journalism That Matters
> 15347 SE 49th Place
> Bellevue, WA  98006
> 206-948-0432
> www.journalismthatmatters.org
> www.peggyholman.com
> Twitter: @peggyholman
> JTM Twitter: @JTMStream
>
> Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into
> Opportunity 
>
>
>
>
>
> On Nov 17, 2021, at 1:52 PM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList <
> oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
> Dear Birgitt,
>
> your two sentences:
>
> "My perspective: following the principles of OST, spirit shows up in the
> moment, inspiring people to post exactly the topics that need to be posted
> at that moment in time. This dynamic is altered when relying on anyone to
> pre-post topics, or to set meta-topics, catering to limitation rather than
> abundance of possibilities."
>
> had some memories come up.
>
> In at least three of the ost events I was involved in it turned out that
> the sponsors prepared a set of "issuse" they felt should be part of the
> event before the event... in case nobody would post them.
> To the surprises of the sponsors all their issues were posted by the
> participants.
> In addition, they themselves experienced that other issues entered their
> mind during the process that they then posted.
> In many other ost events sponors were very surprised about the broad
> passion, interest, creativity, etc. and most of all selforganisation that
> manifested...
>
> For what actually happens when ost is part of t

Re: [OSList] Where angels fear to tread

[Peggy Holman via OSList]

Like Michael, I have had the experience of leaders making a list behind the 
scenes and being surprised that participants not only posted everything on 
their list but also things that they hadn’t thought of that turned out to 
matter to them. And, of course, the experience of witnessing the passion, 
interest, and creativity of people often surprises everyone who is in an Open 
Space meeting for the first time.

Jeff, to your question about requisite variety of topics in an Open Space, I 
see that as a matter of being mindful about invitation. The biggest investment 
of preparation time for the Open Spaces I’m involved with are inviting, as 
Harrison would say, “the people who care.” Whomever I’m working with, I 
encourage them to do the work of thinking through, given their purpose, who 
makes up the system — who are the people who care? In many cases, that may 
include involving a microcosm in shaping the organizing question and invitation 
so that it resonates with the people of the system.

I take my cue on how to think about who makes up the system from Marv Weisbord 
and Sandra Janoff’s rubric of inviting the people who “ARE IN” — with 
Authority, Resources, Expertise, Information, and Need. I also suggest an 
overlay for considering demographic diversity. For thinking about that, I draw 
from the Maynard Institute’s “Fault lines” - race, class, gender, geography, 
and generation and two “fissures” - politics and religion. Not all dimensions 
apply to every situation but bringing them up enables the people planning the 
Open Space to make a conscious choice about whom they invite and how.

This is a long-winded way of saying that my experience is that by doing the 
work to invite a requisite variety of people, a requisite variety of topics 
will show up. And then, to the principle of whoever comes is the right people, 
I let go of worrying about it.

Birgitt — to words and embodied experience, yes you are saying what I meant: it 
is not the words used that are most likely to help, rather the embodied 
experience. For example, describing the experience of Open Space and what it 
produces can be enough for some. For most of us, hearing a description or even 
seeing a video doesn’t come close to being there. It is a multi-dimensional 
experience that involves, head, heart, body, spirit. Rarely does this come 
across in a description. A story might communicate more of it. But I’m guessing 
most people discover some aspect they hadn’t expected from just reading, 
hearing, or watching a video about it.

Appreciatively,
Peggy




Peggy Holman
Co-founder
Journalism That Matters
15347 SE 49th Place
Bellevue, WA  98006
206-948-0432
www.journalismthatmatters.org
www.peggyholman.com
Twitter: @peggyholman
JTM Twitter: @JTMStream

Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity 






> On Nov 17, 2021, at 1:52 PM, Michael M Pannwitz via OSList 
>  wrote:
> 
> Dear Birgitt,
> 
> your two sentences:
> 
> "My perspective: following the principles of OST, spirit shows up in the 
> moment, inspiring people to post exactly the topics that need to be posted at 
> that moment in time. This dynamic is altered when relying on anyone to 
> pre-post topics, or to set meta-topics, catering to limitation rather than 
> abundance of possibilities."
> 
> had some memories come up.
> 
> In at least three of the ost events I was involved in it turned out that the 
> sponsors prepared a set of "issuse" they felt should be part of the event 
> before the event... in case nobody would post them.
> To the surprises of the sponsors all their issues were posted by the 
> participants.
> In addition, they themselves experienced that other issues entered their mind 
> during the process that they then posted.
> In many other ost events sponors were very surprised about the broad passion, 
> interest, creativity, etc. and most of all selforganisation that manifested...
> 
> For what actually happens when ost is part of the everyday life of an 
> organisation over a number of years with a special focus on the vast system 
> of that enterprise have a look here
>> https://www.westkreuz-verlag.de/de/Practicing-Open-Space-Our-First-Ten-Years-E-Book
> 
> in English, French, Polish, Spanish and Chinese ... translated from the 
> German Original by ost-colleagues all of you know
> 
> Cheers from Berlin
> mmp
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Am 17.11.2021 um 21:32 schrieb Birgitt Williams via OSList:
>> Jeff...thanks for sharing the article and for the discussion that emanated 
>> from the question you posed to the OS list. I have enjoyed the responses and 
>> look forward to more conversation showing up. You have added more great 
>> questions.
>> You asked:Do we assume that the passion and responsibility of a gathered 
>> group will create the requisite variety of topics/contexts to generate 
>> excellent Warm Data from a theme question, and foster these unseen 
>> tra

Re: [OSList] Where angels fear to tread

[Jeff Aitken via OSList]

https://thesideview.co/journal/warm-data-and-iced-lemonade

Here Nora and global friends talk about Warm Data, and the new project they
created last year, People Need People, trying this work online together.

Stories like this share the juicy reality, as we also know from our
experiences in Open Space.

On the oslist, I like to put focus on the different design elements of OST
and WDL, which are important to assess and learn.

And yet our lived stories are "what gives credence to the notion that a
deeply human response to complexity is possible."

This ties in to our earlier thread, about Working With Stories, and the
beauty that we gather in our stories of Open Space around our world.

Onward...
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