For me, Open Space is improv in action. During the Improv conference itself, I learnt some really neat ways of using improv games to explore the principles and Law as well as the concept of 'letting go' as a facilitator.
Hi Viv, Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Could you expand upon those ways of using improv games... I'm intrigued!!! Thanks, Ashley > [Original Message] > From: Viv McWaters <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Date: 10/25/2004 7:47:23 PM > Subject: Reflections of a Bumblebee > > Hello all > > After OSonOS (Open Space on Open Space) in Goa (12th conference) , I > bumblebbed off to the Improv in Business Conference in San Francisco > (3rd conference), and then to the Australasian Facilitators' Network in > Wellington, New Zealand (7th conference). After all that travelling, > it's a relief to be home at last and I'm enjoying the spring sunshine. > > Here's some observations/reflections. Each of the conferences I went to > attracts people who don't necessarily belong to an 'obvious' > professional group eg Society of Engineers. As a result, I think, many > people are looking for a professional 'tribe' or group that they can > relate to. At each conference there was talk about 'community' - what > community is, it's role and whether not <this group> constitutes > community. There was also talk at each conference about 'why we meet', > what our purpose is, and how we should organise ourselves, and support, > each other into the future. > > OSonOS used Open Space for the whole three days, Imrov in Business used > Open Space for one day, and AFN used Open Space for half a day. In each > case, Open Space provided opportunities to explore, deepen and > improvise :-) At all three conferences there were people who had never > participated in an Open Space event before. In San Francisco and > Wellington, the opening was pretty much 'by the book' providing an > opportunity to experience the process (especially) for those who hadn't > seen it before. In Goa, the opening was more 'organic'. > > The day of Open Space at the end of the Improv conference provided > opportunities to explore issues/topics that had emerged. Interestingly, > there seemed to be a bit of 'will you do a session on such-and-such?' > With the Open Space concluding the conference (except for a fantastic > Playback Theatre wrap up), the closing circle provided an ideal > opportunity to also close the conference, with people able to express > their thanks etc. In Wellington, the Open Space closing circle felt > like a conference closing (although there was still a free night and > another half day to go), maybe because it was focused on future > commitments whereas it could have simply been a reflection on the > process of using open space. In any case, open space provided people at > all three conferences to take personal responsibility for their own > passions, and added an exciting and spontaneous dimension. > > For me, Open Space is improv in action. During the Improv conference > itself, I learnt some really neat ways of using improv games to explore > the principles and Law as well as the concept of 'letting go' as a > facilitator. But a major learning was when we did Team Rhythm with Paul > Cicco where he uses a vast array of music-making implements (tubes, > bells, drums, rattles etc) to explore M Scott Peck's community > framework that is in his 1987 book 'The Different Drum: Community > Making and Peace'. > > I had a major Ah-Ha! moment when it occurred to me that this framework > also can help explain people's reactions to Open Space. Forgive me if I > oversimplify this (or get it wrong) but here's how the framework goes: > there are four stages to community-building. Stage one is Organisation > where people happily go along with rules, structure and being told what > to do; Stage Two is Chaos where there's uncertainty, exploration and a > sense of purposelessness; Stage Three is Emptiness that Peck describes > as 'letting go of the need to heal, convert, fix or solve; the need to > control; expectations and preconceptions; prejudices; and idealogy, > theology and solutions. The final stage is Synergy. > > As well as describing the experience of Open Space, this also explains > for me (or provides a metaphor at least) for the diversity of > reactions and my own journey in OSonOS over the years. It also throws > some light on the struggles occurring in three diverse, yet amazingly > similar, communities - the International Open Space community; the > Applied Improvisation network; and the Australasian Facilitators' > network. All are struggling (to a greater or lesser degree) with > identity, purpose and future directions, while providing fantastic > opportunities for learning and sharing and doing leading edge work. I > look forward to being a part of these amazing communities as we > improvise our way forward, accepting the offers the universe throws at > us. > > Cheers > > Viv > > PS Sorry for any cross postings > > *************************** > Viv McWaters > Beyond the Edge Pty Ltd > PO Box 665 Torquay 3228 > Australia > (03) 5261 9498 > 0417 135 406 > > "Thus the task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen, but to > think what nobody yet has thought about that which everybody sees. " > Schopenhauer > > * > * > ========================================================== > [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
