Skill building and Open Space: I can understand why folks think that some sort of personal/group skill building might be helpful. But my personal experience is that such efforts rarely do any good, and may actually be harmful. I remember one occasion with a large bank where there was concern that the OS environment would be so strange to bankers that it was necessary to provide some training by way of warm up. So, at great expense, a friend of mine was hired to do a full day of "Creativity enhancement" before the Open Space. Truthfully it was a lot of fun, but the almost universal reaction from the participants was a question: Why did we waste that time?
My friend who had done the training of course wanted to know what I thought. I tried every trick in the book to avoid the question, but eventually they cornered me. And I said what I thought. Fun -- but no enhancement to Open Space. I didn't tell them -- but as it happened I had just come from a 2 and 1/2 day OS with a similar group dealing with much more contentions issues. Those folks simply showed up at 9:00 and went to work. If anything the previous group worked better than the bank because they weren't trying to remember all the better ways to be creative. They just concentrated on being creative. As a matter of fact, you really couldn't tell any difference between the groups. One of the mantras around here is that Open Space always works -- even if it doesn't work quite as you might have expected. I think the key here is "expectations." In my own experience it is true at maybe a 99% level that groups of all sorts display a degree of openness, collaboration, innovation that is vastly in excess of what might have been expected in terms of prior history of that group. I have never worked in Russia, but I have worked with a number of groups who lived in similar circumstances, and it was always the case that the sponsors were "amazed." I think it is really important, however, to let go of our "expectations." All comparisons are odious, but to make the point -- If you work with patients in the orthopedic section of a hospital, a lot of the "normal" things that happen in Open Space just won't happen. Broken legs are not healed by Open Space. But I would bet that some very remarkable things would occur -- made even more remarkable if the participants have some time to reflect on, and build on their experience. I guess what I am saying is that were we to trade in our expectations for reflections, that would be a useful move. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20845 Phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of BrendanMcKeague Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 8:55 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: magic can be messy Well done Raffi and thanks for the story - and thanks Michael and Joelle for articulating much of my thinking in response. For me as facilitator, I am growing into a deepening recognition of the power of this process and my own powerful presence as facilitator - or as some of us at OSOZ discussed - the OS practitioner. As perused previously in this very List, learning to be comfortable with just 'being with' and resisting the temptation to 'do for' is a grand journey towards spiritual wisdom - albeit painful and discomforting at times for those of us steeped in education, schooling and training that conditions and rewards interventions, fixing, controlling outcomes etc. I'm glad you feel like a fraud - I did too and still do occasionally (especially whenever I'm fortunate enough to pocket a reasonable fee) - and then I repeat my precious mantra 'don't just do something, stand there' - easy enough for many of my fellow laid-back Irishmen, but not this one. As for providing others with pre-event skills in other areas of their personal and/or collective competencies - that's another story and may be important and necessary for the group to undertake for sure. This discernment and subsequent action is I believe another's role - more like a consultant to the organisation. Its great if the community itself recognises this need for skill-building in the Open Space - or in reflection after the event - and can then action the plans necessary to meet its own identified needs - and look for / hire a trainer/facilitator to design and provide a training package - that could be you or someone else. No matter - in my experience - as long as the two roles are separated somehow - and VERY CLEAR in my own mind - me as the practitioner of Open Space and me as the skills builder in other areas of personal/collective competency-building. Keep believing Raffi - the magic is indeed messy - that's what makes it magic! Brendan At 12:07 AM 15-04-2004 +0400, you wrote: >Dear friends and colleagues, > >I just finished doing another Open Space here in Moscow with a local NGO >that works with teenagers with substance abuse issues as well as at-risk >youth. This was a 1.5 day strategic planning session preceded by an >evening of storytelling. > >It was the first time I'd ever gotten to conduct an evening of >storytelling prior to the OS. It was great to see, feel the power of story >prior to an OS. > >The OS itself left almost all participants rather sad and disillusioned >and some I heard felt that this seemed a little strange that the >facilitator walks in, opens space, hangs around, and then closes it. As if >the facilitator does nothing. I had written before that I had struggled >with this feeling that in conducting OS, I have the sense of the Emperor >who wears no clothes, that I felt like a fraud. While I may never hope to >really understand what OS is, I feel it more. And feel confident enough in >what happened in the last OS to say that right now at least the unpleasant >truths that came up in OS with the organization I worked with were what >was necessary at that moment. That this will take them further. They came >face to face like never before with the difficulties people have in taking >responsibility. They began thinking more about what it would take to "grow >up" as an organization, to set more rules, be a little tougher on each >other. > >So, as I slowly make my way into consulting work, it's so good to know >that this is something I get satisfaction from, something I believe in >(and my doubt alongside the faith in OS is the force that gets me more >excited about OS!). Enchantment, mesmorized. > >And as always questions: > >1. Training of participants pre-OS in facilitation skills and other >important skills. > >I wonder how much, if at all, do other OS facilitators train the client >(or potential participants of an OS) in basic facilitation skills and >other skills that might come handy in an OS (report writing, writing >action plans, project development) prior to the OS as a means of helping >the OS itself bear more fruit. > >I noticed that the groups did not really develop action plans at all. >After convergence I explained that they were to work out action plans and >answer the detailed questions in the report form (I did not read out the >questions). Neither group did that, instead they further discussed the >question, which probably is fine, too. Maybe that's what was needed at the >moment. > >2. How much time do you spend establishing what the client will do to >ensure the participation of all the people they intend to invite? Do you >encourage, work with the client to ensure that participants commit to the >whole Open Space? We had participants come and go (one person was there >for storytelling and then showed up at the closing circle...for example!), >which of course is fine. But I wonder if I should've worked with the >client to think through what exactly they could do to get as strong a >commitment on participation from invitees as possible. > >I'm sure I'll have more questions, but that's all for now! >Thanks, >Raffi > >* >* >========================================================== >[email protected] >------------------------------ >To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, >view the archives of [email protected]: >http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > >To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: >http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
