Dear Brian et al, I think we fall into a trap if we refer to the warm-up as a discrete entity that one might find in a book or learn from another facilitator. I suggest that you do use warm-up consistently as part of the OS process. As you said "Seems to work for me and the people I work with." You do it so often and well that it just flows.
You also wrote: "One group did comment strongly about the absence of an appropriate warm-up. They were largely Facilitators who had little knowledge of OPEN SPACE, but it seemed to work pretty well anyway. I think they really noticed it was different from their previous experience - which was true." So I wonder whether: a) they were all stuck in their heads and waiting to learn some new facilitators' tricks, or b) feeling anxious about a different process and so analysing, i.e. stuck in the head department, or c) there was some variation in the degree of warm-up they needed (which does happen) so they hadn't quite got there. This is why every warm-up has to monitored every time one does it to push through to the energy. And maybe there was another reason or more that I can't imagine - "but it seemed to work pretty well anyway." It's so delicious to work with these variations in human beings and events - nothing is ever the same as last time or next time. >From My limited OS experience I wonder, do you find that opening the space is longer or shorter at times depending on how you intuitively sense it needs to be? Yours, Ros. * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html