Hi Michael, what an interesting situation. I don´t really have any suggestions but more some thoughts about what might happen. Open Space creates a different structure than the usual in an organization. It allows what needs to be discussed to surface and in this case there seems to be much pain and uncertainty so if you chose to open space in this situation you have to be aware of all this pain that might emerge in the open air. If the meeting is long enough and the space is really open to discuss all this, it might solve some of the misunderstandings and miscommunications that has occurred in the church. I think in this case the givens or boundaries are really important so everyone knows what is going to happen after the meeting, what will the results be used for. Also important that they are wide enough to handle the amount of grief and conflict that might arise. I think working with the grief cycle in the planning meeting and in the debrief meeting is a good way to raise awareness of where they all are in the cycle so they can help each other work it through. Eiwor
-----Ursprungligt meddelande----- Från: oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org] För Michael Wood Skickat: den 2 april 2014 03:59 Till: 'oslist@lists.openspacetech.org' Ämne: [OSList] Open Space and boundaries A Case Study.... One of the principles that I have generally worked with in Open Space is helping the client get clear on the 'boundaries' of the space that's being opened. For example, helping people who come into the space to know 'what up for grabs here and what isn't? What decisions have already been made?' So picture this (purely hypothetical of course)....a church community in which the pastor has (in many peoples' opinion) run off the rails and the main church body is in the process of trying to dismiss him; the church is in compete disarray and completely conflict ridden, many people have left; the pastor who holds all the keys, banking passwords; church telephone connections etc etc, has taken legal advice and had hunkered down in the church owned house where he continues to hold the reigns of power (via some of his 'allies' in the church) despite not formally being the Pastor of the church anymore.... So...here we have a situation where the 'boundaries' are actually in a state of complex flux and uncertainty. The financial 'givens' are ambiguous; there is no 'locum' pastor in place because of legal uncertainties with the existing pastor...etc etc. So in terms of 'Opening Space', do we wait a bit longer until some of the legal boundaries are clarified, OR open space right away in the midst of the mess....my hunch is the latter, but any thoughts from anyone? Cheers Michael _______________________________________________ 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 _______________________________________________ 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 .