Ah, Wendy, your message strikes a string in my heart. I find myself having this huge resistance to other methods and the amount of left brain work it takes from the facilitator, e.g. in World Café, to find out the right questions, even if its together with the sponsor. What a responsibility! Plus a resistance to standing there with a stop watch and time the time for conversations for everybody There is a knowing inside me that OST can do the job in all circumstances - if we take enough time to get ready, and to formulate the theme the way the organization feels it needs to be stated. Something inside me refuses to go complicated, knowing and living with OST for almost 20 years now. AND this can be really difficult when somebody isnt ready, but wants to work with me because they have heard good things about an OS-event I have facilitated Perhaps I need to learn to say no to such an organisation.
These are the main questions I am pondering these days. Perhaps I will find a way to bring good examples on my website which can help deal with some of the fears. Thank you - Catherine Catherine Pfaehler Senn lic.oec.HSG Open Space Begleitung Kellersriedweg 8 CH - 2503 Biel +41-(0)32 - 365 68 41 c.pfaeh...@bluewin.ch _____ Von: Wendy Farmer-O'Neil [mailto:we...@xe.net] Gesendet: Donnerstag, 23. August 2007 08:36 Betreff: Circles and open space Thank you all for this wonderful conversation. What is arising for me as I sit with your questions and comments, is that underlying all of our passionate choices is the intention of opening more space wherever we are. I know that is always my intention and I trust and have faith that it is yours also. Sometimes this opening of space looks like world café or appreciative inquiry, because thats the widest, edgiest space that the sponsor can conceive of. Sometimes its a progression of ever more open processes until the group trusts me and itself enough to leap into OST (Im always humbled and blown away by leaders who move through huge fear and/or organizational resistance and say Go for it!). And sometimes it means holding the open space event in my heart and keeping that space open for months or years until the sponsoring group wants OST. All of the time, however, I am fostering a deeper understanding and familiarity with OS principles and practices and demonstrating the benefits. And I have had plenty of resistance to the circle. I work a lot with social service agencies and when they walk into a room set up in a circle, they dont look surprised, they roll their eyes and say, Oh no! Not another process! What are you going to do to us? And at the end of the day they thank me for NOT doing anything to them. ARGGGHHHH! Hence the reason for my conviction that OS is one of the only truly ethical processes aroundit doesnt steal power from people. Its not about me, the Grand Facilitator!!! Thank God/dess/Spirit/your word here! So, thank you Kaliya, for sharing how you have grown and fostered open space practice in your communityI resonate with your pragmatism. Your approach is not something I had considered before and it has helped me to stretch my thinking. You obviously had a determination to introduce your community to the benefits of OS and you made the principles and practices work for you rather than becoming a servant to the technicalities of the process itself. Its really invigorating to encounter someone who has chosen to make positive use out of circumstances that most of us view as a challenge. As Harrison keeps reminding usit always worksand your experience widens the horizon of what that means. And isnt one definition of mastery: knowing when to break the rules? ;-) The question Ill be sitting with now is: If the artists/hosts presence is embodying the essence of OS, what is the minimum of form required for it to still work? Cheers, Wendy Wendy Farmer-O'Neil Prospera Communications & Consulting Services 250.713.2351/1.800.713.2351 weblog: www.wordgravity.blogspot.com No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.484 / Virus Database: 269.12.2/966 - Release Date: 8/22/2007 9:05 AM * * ========================================================== 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