Diane - your words resonate with me.
I too believe nobody should have to be certificated or 'blessed' or
have to come to a workshop to be able to know and do Open Space.
I too find that the workshops are those wonderful opportunity to learn
in-person with others of diverse experience and insights.
As a learner myself - I thrive more on an experiential learning
environment than by reading - though I learned so much from the User's
Guide.
I learn even more deeply by having begun in a workshop that you
taught, Harrison - sharing thoughts in person and being with a group
of richly different thinkers.
So: we all learn in different ways and I love it that only each person
alone gets to say when they are ready - not some teacher-type.
And about the workshop experience - I do not feel I have to teach
anything someone can learn from reading or from jumping in and doing.
So besides the experiential learning offered I find that I am teaching
more of such things as how to support and sustain the ideas and
momentum created by an Open Space event, how to think about all those
things in advance that can maximize access and inclusion, stories of
how Open Space has been used around the world and in different
settings and for different tasks, how it can be used before or after
other meeting processes to achieve some particular learning or task
objective...
I also find that people want to come together to share lessons learned
about working with groups no matter what is the method or process -
such as how to do invitation as relationship building, how to think
about the full ecology of an event not just the process, and so on. So
I find that people enjoy our various workshops because it is also a
coming together of a community for sharing thoughts and experiences
about our work with groups.
Your workshop participants are lucky to be so welcome in the knowledge
they invite from inquiry as well as the wisdom they carry within them,
Diane, Artur and others,
Lisa
On Feb 26, 2012, at 3:48 PM, Diane Gibeault wrote:
An invitation to grow - Arthur you have summed up very well what
"training-learning" opportunities are really about in my mind - I
will share other ideas on what you mentioned Arthur but before I
want to say that I agree with Harrison as well about reading your
book or just experiencing OS and then doing it.
If the concern is that people will perceive that training is
required, I agree that it should not be the case. I don't know
anyone who offers certification for OS or implies that people must
take some training to do OS. If there are some, as you say, what can
we do about it other than have this conversation. Invitations I saw
are about exploring and going deeper. I personaly encourage people
at every OS event I facilitate, to just do OS (no talk of training)
- I'll say more in a minute on how but before, a word on why to even
consider inviting people to "training-learning" of OS.
OS is not there, now, or in the foreseeable future for many. They
just don't have the chance to experience it. For those people who
prefer doing or talking with others as a learning style or who
already have a passion for OS from what they read and now want to
live it, why not offer the opportunity? And for those who want to
go deeper, why can't they have the chance for face to face
collective reflection? We know OS itself is so much richer, face to
face. One (reading or living) does not exclude the other (learning
with others). It just contributes to make OS known and used by more
people. It's about keeping the space open for learning and letting
go of people who may not offer learning as we would like it.
Suzanne, I connect with your feeling of "coming home" when you
experienced OS. That is exactly how I felt when I did my training on
OST that Harrison lead. I do see at learning events, that many
people have a transformative experience of one type or another. It's
all a gift and our community keeps on giving it, in a variety of ways.
Just DO IT - How I encourage participants at any OS event to "just
do it": every participant has a one-pager of the principles with a
very short line of what they mean as described in the opening, and
they have the report form with a few lines about the news room.
Before the closing, I say: "You have experienced Open Space, you
have the basic tools, you see how important it is to have a theme of
real interest, you know about the invitation and the question. Just
do it. If you want to know more, there is a good book called OST
Users'Guide. " Many do tell me immediately that they will do it with
their classroom or their team etc.
Arthur, CULTIVATING together is a wonderful image! I'm with you.
When I invite people to an OS learning event, they first experience
OS after having read the book in advance, they reflect together,
then go deeper with an OSonOS on their questions some of which are
often about how to prepare and how to work with sponsors to increase
chances of a more sustained impact. Exploration, story telling and
looking at how OS can be an ongoing way of being in organizations
and in our lives are all part of the co-learning, Wave Rider
included. Participants are also invited - those who wish to on the
3rd day - to jump right in and do an opening of OS in a small group
(like putting on the training wheels on the bicycle right away to
break the ice). It's amazing how afterwards, they talk in a
different way of the essence of Open Space.
Their words about the essence of OS are treasures for life.
Diane
_______________________________________________
OSList mailing list
To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org
To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org
To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org