Phil wrote: "There are three aspects of OS that I am curious about these days. The first is how to open the curiosity of attendees and engage them more fully, more quickly. So the idea of the Information Wall, artistically covered in recent, relevant papers, articles, photos, books, etc. related to the topic of discussion, and in an atmosphere well lit, with plants, brightly colored objects, etc., could perhaps tend to state to the participant "we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto."
Artifacts of all sorts can be a great plus -- provided the enterprise does not get out of hand. After all it is an Open space and not an Art Show. One of my favorite times was working with PBS (US Public Television) at a point when they were launching a new communications satellite and had real issues about how the enhanced capacity would be used. They were going from 4 channels(feeds) to 34, which meant a massive revolution in jobs, procedure, etc. Anyhow there were 350 corporate PBSers in a circle, facing each other and a life-size version of Cookie Monster (a Sesame Street Character)which sat in the center of the circle. High on The Wall was an enormous full color photo of the Satellite. Theme for the day: "From Cookie Monster to the stars -- How do we get there?" 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 osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Phil Culhane Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 11:01 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: A Note to The Old Curmudgeon from Phil ;-) Thanks for the kind note Harrison, and no worries, you didn't come across as defending doctrinal purity. Having done thousands of OS's, successfully, you will likely have the greatest range of experience of any of us as to what works and what doesn't. Of course, some might argue that very experience may act as a sort of "closing" that could keep you from seeing new opportunities. I don't suggest that has happened, by the way. I love the simplicity of OS. In fact, I will often tell my sponsor not to bother building and sending pre-OS information packets to participants, or if she does so, to send them electronic only - electrons are recylable much more quickly than trees, and I tell her point blank that almost no one, passionate as they are, will make the time to read the information packets. I have found, through my experience with events, that information packets are unnecessary preparations - they are usually unread. I remind sponsors that they are working with the native intelligence and combined experience of all the people who show up with their passion and responsibility in tow. And in a corporate/government atmosphere, cutting out the information packets is cutting out a big swath of work. So I too look to cut out unnecessary elements wherever possible. I fully ascribe to the philosophy of facilitator as invisible. I would expect no less of technology or knowledge workers used as a part of an OS event - unless they are invisible sources of energy, inspiration and support, they become as you say, electronic shock and awe - which renders the event less than useless. It becomes a staged theatrical performance - the diametric opposite of OS. Again, word choice is key - you are right to refer to the "appropriate" OS environment - I would guess I was thinking of the most "ideal" (appropriate) OS environment for any particular group - and as I work mostly with government/corporate and only occasionally with non-profit, educational and the like, when I think of the "ideal" environment, I am thinking of a typical requirement for the former group, not the latter. And it's true that OS's can be quite successful, even in dismal environments. That said, I don't think I'd choose a dismal environment. And I can remember events where I'm sure that a dismal environment affected the event negatively. There are three aspects of OS that I am curious about these days. The first is how to open the curiosity of attendees and engage them more fully, more quickly. So the idea of the Information Wall, artistically covered in recent, relevant papers, articles, photos, books, etc. related to the topic of discussion, and in an atmosphere well lit, with plants, brightly coloured objects, etc., could perhaps tend to state to the participant "we're not in kansas anymore, toto." The second is how to engage participants more fully in action planning, in those events (most of mine) where the intention is that some definite action (something more than stasis) comes out the other end. I'd be just as happy to have a group passionately shut a project down and disperse and go on with other aspects of their lives, if they can decide fully that it won't work - so there's no sense of buying into a result (which I don't think is useful for an OS facilitator). So if we could use "Knowledge workers", who can get answers to questions that might postpone the decision process, who can provide tools and methodologies for groups to decide more effectively, penetrating more deeply, that could be useful. And the third, and I believe I asked about it before, is appearance. As an OS facilitator, I believe it is necessary to engage the participants quickly, get their trust, get their respect, open their curiosity, and inspire them to engage more fully than they may have in years in a process that will be anathema to some. Then, after doing all this, I believe it is necessary to become completely invisible, while remaining completely present. How do we do this most effectively? I believe there are internal and external aspects of appearance. Thus, I believe the ideal facilitator will have completely subdued his/her ego. Flamboyant facilitators exist, and I'm sure they can be successful in OS. I don't know if they can be as successful as whatever the opposite of "flamboyant" facilitators is. When it comes to external appearance, flamboyant dress can unconsciously pass along the message "I'm in control here". I've been talking with an image consultant, talking about how various colours are culturally interpreted. It's interesting - one OS Facilitator I work with wears black - because black attracts light energy, and thus in a room with 50 people, if you NEED the facilitator, you can find him - your eyes are naturally drawn to the black light sink, wherever it is in the room. (Of course, if you try to pawn off responsibilities at him, he'll bounce them back at you, but he is "there".) Harrison, I liken this to your Akubra - it's a highly distinctive visual marker, though not "bold" - a marker that says "here I am - if you need me." Perhaps you don't intend it that way, perhaps you do? That said, I believe there are ways that we are, internally and externally, that can be more or less useful in the OS environment. My curiosity is consistently about what we can do to ourselves, to the environment, to the tools, the methodologies, to enable people to be more effective. The analogy isn't quite right, but there's a reason we wrap up birthday and christmas presents with colourful paper and pretty bows. It's a way of celebrating how special the event, and the recipient, is. The paper and bows shouldn't overpower the gift, but they can definitely enhance the occasion. I get the sense MG Taylor is paying a lot of attention to the environment - the wrapping paper. It makes sense that a cold, damp, dark, unsafe environment is good for little more than growing mushrooms. So if you are going to turn up the quality of the environment, how far do you go, what aspects do you focus on? Where's the biggest bang for the buck? There's possible logic in wrapping up the event in bright shiny paper, just to say "this isn't just another day - this is something special". Someone made a wonderful point here a couple months ago, that this list, more than anywhere we know, should be the one place that >anything< can be brought up and discussed. This is pure open space. We all bring our passions and responsibilities to this circle every day. Thus, no worries about my feeling "reined in." Cheers, Phil P.S. - I reserve the right to amend any and all of the above "I believe" 's as foolish obstructions are removed and I am able to open further. ;-) On Nov 17, Harrison Owen <hho...@comcast.net> wrote: > > It occurred to me as I read over some of my latest notes on the LIST that I > may have come across as the embodiment of the Old Curmudgeon defending > doctrinal purity at the expense of innovation and exploration. Doubtless I > am an old Curmudgeon but I am heartily in favor of innovation of all sorts. > Specifically, I think we have an enormous opportunity to use the powers of > data management in much more productive and useful ways. And Matt Taylor has > some good stuff in this area, albeit I have some questions about the > execution, particularly in an Open Space Environment. Those of you who have > wandered through my book, "The Power of Spirit," may remember in the final > section some discussion of using advanced (and some not so advanced) tools > for data mining and management in large OS's, multi-site simultaneous OS's, > and for longer term multi OS's in a single organization. At present we do > proceedings with computers and online. That is a good start, but once all > that data and information has been entered it seems a waste to just let it > sit there as a book or in some computer files. Technically there are simple > ways to mine that material to find over arching themes, related themes etc - > all of which may be of use to the organization as it searches its mental > space for new ideas and opportunities. To the best of my knowledge, nobody > has really done that. And of course there is also the possibility of > cross-correlating all of that material with larger data and literature bases > - which can give clues to new avenues and possible areas of collaboration > with folks who are not naturally resident in the initiating organization. In > effect, the organization would map itself and surrounding environment > electronically. Wonderful! And it all should be done. However, it should, in > my opinion, be done in a way that does not overwhelm the participants with > electronic shock and awe. Nor should it relieve participants of their > responsibility to take responsibility. What I am suggesting is that we pull > out all the electronic plugs, bells and whistles - but do that > transparently. It may be "nice" to have techies and knowledge workers > wandering about - but I would want to banish them to the back room and get > rid of them entirely as soon as possible. > > On another and (I think) related issue - "The ideal Open Space Environment" > I would suggest a change in wording and talk about "the appropriate Open > Space environment." To make the point allow me a little "reducto ad > absurdum." I would never suggest doing a corporate Open Space in a village > square all in the name of pristine simplicity. Corporate folks like > corporate trappings (maybe including sticky walls) and that is fine with me. > But I think it would be a terrible shame if it were to be assumed that Open > Space requires the service of a Five Star Hotel. It would also be a shame if > the corporate types assumed that you could never do an Open Space without > all the bells and whistles (pre-printed signs in multi colors etc). It will > work fine in a cramped meeting room, old warehouse, odd hall way - all on > the spur of the moment. > > So anyhow Phil I am by no means trying to rein you into the straight and > narrow. Just the opposite. I want to widen the discussion just as far as we > can go. > > Harrison > > Harrison Owen > 7808 River Falls Drive > Potomac, Maryland 20845 > Phone 301-365-2093 > > Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <<a href='http://www.openspaceworld.com/>'>http://www.openspaceworld.com/></a> > > Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org > Personal website <a href='http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm'>http://mywebpages.comc ast.net/hhowen /index.htm</a> > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: > <a href='http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html'>http://listserv.b oisestate.edu/ archives/oslist.html</a> > > > > > * > * > ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > <a href='http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html'>http://listserv.b oisestate.edu/ archives/oslist.html</a> > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > <a href='http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist'>http://www.openspaceworld.org/os list</a> > > * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist