Dear Birgitt,
from where I stand, space always is. So no need to open it. Often,
however, the space is not very large and sometimes it is shrunk to a
mere dot in the universe.
And then there is the question, what on earth the space is for, no
matter how huge or how tiny. To me, in this context, it is the
playground for selforganisation to do its thing.
And then, selforganisation always is.
So, here I have space always and selforganisation always.
What then is the role/function of me and others involved in a situation
where an urgent issue needs to be dealt with?
Having worked as a facilitator with nothing much else than OST in the
last 15 years, I happily will offer it in situations where conditions
appear suitable first of all to the sponsor/client for expanding the
space for selforganisation to do its thing.
At the beginning of an OST event, the sponsor opens the event (opens the
space is also what I usually say, mostly to make clear that it is not me
doing that... it might be less sloppy and just simpler and more
congruent with my understanding of space always being open for me to say
"opens the event").
Then, I introduce OST with the idea to expand the space just a bit so
that selforganisation can do more of its thing. At that moment it seems
to me, everyone in the room is involved in contributing to expanding and
holding the space... and from here on in much more so than me and, it
seems, very little aware of it, apparently finding it the "normal" or
"natural" thing to do, no need to really talk about it. This puzzled me
early in my OST work, thinking the participants need to appreciate more
what they were achieving. All attempts (evaluation, medicine wheel,
etc.)did not seem to add anything to the event and I had the feeling we
were taking up the time of participants with something that mainly
interested me.
How does this relate to outcome?
In my practice, the Planning Group (usually 6 to 12 weeks before the
event) always produces a mind map visualizing what the world looks like
to them the day after the event, what has changed, what is different,
how they feel, which perspectives have been opened, what happens at
their place of work, in their community, etc., their aspirations, vision
of the future.
Looking at the mind map after the event and going through it together,
typically not only showed that just about everything happened the way
they had envisioned it AND a lot more (be prepared to be surprised).
This exercise also did not seem to catapult them into paradise... now I
suggest that they just post the mind map along other stuff from the
event itself in the Next Meetings where they continue to work on their
projects after the OST event.
So, my picture of everyone at the gathering is not a system that needs
resonant energy broadcasted to them from me or the facilitation team but
a gathering of people that are enjoying, living, working and doing other
fun and productive things in a space just a little bit more expanded
than usual in which selforganisation is at work just a little bit more
than usual.
What I can report in my deminishing work with OST is that the two
clients I have this year (NACOA Germany with its third strategic
conference early in 2012 and an it-outfit in a couple of months
rethinking some basic "givens" in their non-stop business) are
broadcasting wonderful energies in my direction... I wonder what will
happen without such stuff!
Wishing you more quiet time to connect...and if you are in Berlin, I
will convene a Stammtisch...
Hugs
mmp
PS: Rereading my comments I wonder what makes me work so hared, trying
to understand everything so hard... my suspicion is that my old friend
"control" is alive and kicking. And I also see that there are a whole
bunch of assumptions on stuff such as "space" and "selforganization" and
"expanding" and "selforganization doing its thing" and many more that
are probably very important: Are they really touched by our half-way
technology?
On 03.08.2011 02:40, Birgitt Williams wrote:
Warm greetings!
I have been absent from this list for some time and am delighted to be
connected now, at least for a while, taking advantage of some quiet time
over the summer to connect with people and ideas.
A topic that I wish to address is about the outcomes of an OST meeting
in relation to the energy field of the facilitator. From my perspective
and experience, there is a direct relationship. I often ask OST
facilitators what they mean when they say that they ‘open space’ and
‘hold space’. My perspective on the facilitator ‘opening space’ is that
this is just not so. The facilitator does not ‘open the space’. The
sponsor ‘opens space’ in his or her organization so that the facilitator
can conduct the form of the Open Space Technology meeting. Viewed from
that lens, I make choices when I prepare with the sponsor for the OST
meeting, and what I ask of the sponsor and his/her participation during
the meeting itself. For example, the sponsor teams I work with are
coached about working with their personal energy to support the highly
engaging participatory process. I ask them to sit equidistant from each
other in the circle and ‘hold the space’ open for the best possible
outcomes and the greatest participation. At the end of every day of the
meeting, we meet simply to discuss what it felt like to them to have
opened the space and held the space. The reflections are amazing.
My role as the lead facilitator and the role of my co-facilitators is
one of working with the space being held, of going through the form of
OST, and more importantly to be in touch with ourselves as resonant
energy field generators. Every one of us works at being in genuine
contact with ourselves, with our personal energy field, and within that
genuine contact experiences love and peace and joy. Our job as resonant
energy field generators is to broadcast this frequency from ourselves to
give the greatest opportunity for everyone within the gathering to reach
their greatest potential in the moment of the meeting. ‘Holding the
space’ from my perspective is this very connection and interpretation of
self as generating a resonant energy field. Doing little, being much.
When a meeting goes well, there are many factors, including how well we
created an energy field as facilitators and how well we did this
together with our sponsors. We recognize that in both our observer role
and in our role as energy field generators, we influence the meeting and
the outcomes of the meeting.
Blessings to all,
Birgitt
Birgitt Williams
President and Senior Consultant, Dalar International Consultancy
<http://www.dalarinternational.com>
Author, The Genuine Contact Way <http://www.genuinecontactway.com>
919-522-7750
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