Dear Reinhard, a curmuddgin is a difficult, crusty, ill-tempered (sometimes old) person, says my Unabrigded. I think it would be a great sight to have a couple of them (like the selfproclaimed curmuddgin ho and some fs human) come out of their church kick-boxing or even better, a whole flock of them (each representing one of the 18 methods described in Peggys book) getting at each other. On the issue of mix/max ( I call them mm groups and hand out m+ms when it is time for them to meet in future search, where they are a part of the givens in the design structure) I tried the following: when I get in touch with the future search-facilitator in me thinking at the same time of mm groups I stay calm. when I get in touch with the open space-"facilitator" in me thinking at the same time of mm groups I meet the anxious me in me. This simply means to me, mms have their time and space in fs-events (for me) and not in os (for me). Although the edible m+ms could very well lighten up the mood in either event. Now could this also mean that all the talk of underlying principles being common to a variety of large group "interventions" is blurry-eyed hogwash? Merry xmas michael PS: Again, I hesitated using "facilitator" for my role in accompanying an open space....in German the term used is usually "Moderator" which I think is quite inadequate. "Moderator" is also not the most appropriate term for fs but seems to fit the facilitator role in fs better. For open space I use the German word "Begleiter" which in one way translates into "companion" in the sense of someone who walks a stretch with you. It would not surprise me if these terms and my faible for one or the other were another indication of principles quite distinct and specific for the various methods.
No idea what a curmuddgin is. seems like a strange kind of priest coming out of his church for kickboxing with some other priests. I have experienced a lot of methods, open or mix/max. I have seen people in a group initiated by yourself, Harrison, who did not dare to use their two feet and leave, because it was you. I have seen people after Open Space sessions who just had a nice time without any consequences. I have seen people who went really deep in other Open Space sessions, like the one in Oberursel, where facilitators talked about their workaholism. I have seen very beautiful mix/max sessions like the one in Borl, Slowenia, organized by young girls from London shortly after the refoundation of Slowenia. It's the people, according to me, the people and their passion, finding their topic - or beeing found by it. And since whoever comes is the right people, people getting into mix/max groups are the right people as well. It's the only thing that could have happened. happy christmas Reinhard Michael M Pannwitz Draisweg 1 12209 Berlin, Germany FON +49 - 30-772 8000 FAX +49 - 30-773 92 464 www.michaelMpannwitz.de To subscribe to the oslist, send the following message (and nothing but the message): "SUBSCRIBE OSLIST" to lists...@listserv.boisestate.edu SUBJECT field should be left BLANK
