Colin -- so maybe the image is more "drawing things together" as opposed to "sucking things in"? Of course, when you suck things in, they do become compressed and drawn together. Maybe both images work together??
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 Colin Morley Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2004 1:23 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: PROVOCATIVE QUESTIONS Harrison I love the line that Open Space is a huge sucking hole that draws out knowledge. It is amazing how much people know when they have a little time and space to work things out. And how hard it is for people to contribute this knowledge in a 'normal' business environment where the 'experts' have to be brought in to do every sliver of a sliced up process. Maybe its not just about ignorance. But also about re-membering things. Nescience and Open Space could be the rejoining of the specialist bits of science that get cut up and disconnected. Happy Christmas everyone Colin Morley -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Harrison Owen Sent: 21 December 2004 13:05 To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: PROVOCATIVE QUESTIONS I was recently asked to write a piece about "Nescience and Open Space." I suspect your reaction paralleled mine -- what the hell is that? Truthfully I had never seen the word "Nescience" before -- although I could guess the meaning. Something about "ignorance." But that doesn't quite do it. If you take the word apart, just a little bit, something a little deeper starts to come out. Ne-Science. Science is knowledge, or the process of gaining knowledge. Nescience would be the absence of knowledge, usually called ignorance -- but maybe more. It occurred to me that Nescience and Science might relate to each other in the same way that "negative" and "positive" do when one speaks about electricity or an electrical field. Neither one is good or bad, and both are necessary in order for current to flow. Useful power only shows up when the positive is grounded in the negative. All by itself, the positive does nothing. A little arcane and weird, I guess, but following the thought along -- Nescience would be the negative field which draws out Science. Or -- Nescience is the Open Space in which knowledge shows up. Or -- Necience is the question and Science the answer. Which might bring you to the curious position that Open Space is questionable. Which is true. And it might also give us another way of thinking about what happens in Open Space. Coarsely put -- Open Space is a huge sucking hole that draws out knowledge. It is not about asking provocative questions -- but BEING the essence of question itself. I apologize to all those on the LIST (Probably the majority) who do not have English as a primary language. If what you have read above sounds a little twisted and strange -- that is not due to your unfamiliarity with English. It is pretty damn weird -- but I guess the same could be said for me. Anyhow, I have been having some fun, and who knows whether I will write the article. One side of me dearly wants to rise to the challenge. Another side of me says -- Hold on a minute. We got enough trouble without putting out an outrageous title -- something like "Open Space is Ignorance." 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 Brendan McKeague Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 2:56 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: PROVOCATIVE QUESTIONS G'day folks I've been pondering lately on the 'art of provocative questioning' - or curiosity. Working recently with couple of 'undecided' clients - co-designing a process for working with staff groups on such themes as 'team-building days' or 'planning conferences' - we've discussed the notion of 'different purpose, different space, different process' They had already decided that they wished to go off-site but seemed reluctant to engage in any unconventional or 'way-out/weird' activities... One of my key questions to them now is: Why would you invest so much to take your staff, team, whatever away from their normal 'business as usual' space - place of work - and then just expose them to the same old 'business-as-usual' processes...where predetermined plans, outcomes, bells and whistles dominate the timetable? During the ensuing conversation, I usually have the opportunity to provide an invitation to consider a real alternative - if you are going away, then go away in more than just a physical sense - go away in terms of place, pace and space... a different place - removed from the usual environment, sights, smells, sounds, tastes, touches in order to create a different space - in which the unknown can be made known, the unusual can be accessed and the creativity of people can be unleashed at a different pace - a slowing down and/or a speeding up, determined by those who are there, in response to the energies and passion that emerge from them as they engage with each other and with the theme... This basic, simple question and subsequent conversation seems to have provoked a couple of welcome 'ah-ha' moments from sponsors struggling to accept the 'risks' associated with their 'loss of control' or fear of the unknown.... It's so much fun developing 'provocative questions' - much easier than trying to provide answers! Any other favourite 'provocative questions' hanging around? Cheers Brendan * * ========================================================== 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 * * ========================================================== 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
