Interesting questions! (And most delightful questioners)
What has enabled the Open Space listserv to flourish? Plenty of space (no arbitrary restrictions, managers, moderators fully self-organizing). Lots of passion people really care about what they ask and how they respond. Genuine responsibility guess what? Real Open Space. If nothing else, there is real integrity here. We walk our talk. In what ways has the listserv helped the Open Space community of practice to evolve? In just about every way you can think of. Absent OSLIST and I think you would have excised the manifest heart and soul of the operation. In what ways has it affected you and your own practice to evolve? More ways than I can count or even think of from the very practical/mechanical like how to enable convergence. I still like voting :-) -- and I have certainly employed have employed all the other approaches that have made an appearance here. At the other end are the theoretical and spiritual inquiries. I expect that my mind eventually would have settled on Self-Organization as a most interesting area for contemplation, but that interest certainly took wings here on OSLIST. What wishes do you have for the list's future? More of the same and better. At least until it is over. And when its over its over. Some years ago somebody asked me what my hopes were for Open Space. I said I hoped it became something like Accounting something that everybody did (at least in a cash economy) although some did it better than others. At this point, Accounting is not all that remarkable. It is just something you do. When Open Space Technology is no longer remarkable, strange or different just something people do, I guess we may have done our job. Although as I think about it, my Accounting friends do seem to spend a lot of time thinking and talking about how to do it different and better. So maybe we are in this for the longer haul? No matter, it sure has been fun to this point, and I would anticipate more of the same. And when I am not having fun any more, I guess I am out of here. Thanks Peggy and Juanita ho Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20845 Phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://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 Peggy Holman Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 6:44 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: A question about OS listserv Friends, I was on the phone with Juanita Brown this morning (our first meeting). No doubt many of you know of her; she is the creator of the World Cafe (http://www.theworldcafe.com/). It was love at first conversation for me as I heard so much compatibility with why I love Open Space expressed in her stories about the World Cafe. Apparently, she has heard about the OS list from several colleagues (including the irresistible Alan Stewart). She asked me what I thought makes it work (actually, she asked this much more beautifully but I'm saving her wording for you below). I believe her interest derives from wishing to create a similar resource for the World Cafe community. I suggested she pose her question to the list itself. As I ponder my own response, her questions seemed perfect for the new year -- a moment to reflect on what makes this list such a gift, what it has meant to you as an individual and to us as a community. Here are Juanita's questions, with a couple I've added inspired by her inquiry: What has enabled the Open Space listserv to flourish? In what ways has the listserv helped the Open Space community of practice to evolve? And I would add: In what ways has it affected you and your own practice to evolve? What wishes do you have for the list's future? I'll forward responses to Juanita every few days. I've encouraged her to sign up and see for herself, so we may all soon have the pleasure of her company. In any case, I look forward to learning, once again, from all who are attracted to this inquiry. >From snowy Seattle, Peggy ________________________________ Peggy Holman The Open Circle Company 15347 SE 49th Place Bellevue, WA 98006 (425) 746-6274 www.opencirclecompany.com _______________________________________ The World Café Living Knowledge Through Conversations That Matter <http://www.theworldcafe.com> http://www.theworldcafe.com To subscribe to the World Café listserv send an email to: <mailto:theworldcafe-requ...@communityfrontiers.com> theworldcafe-requ...@communityfrontiers.com Type the word Subscribe in the subject line of your message * * ========================================================== 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