Thank you Chris, that was beautifully put. Marie Ann
Skickat från min iPhone > 10 apr 2014 kl. 04:40 skrev chris.corri...@gmail.com: > > I’m a little late to this and see that other threads have spun out but I have > a thought or two. > > Containers - social containers - are absolutely essential to any level of > order. Without something to contain the chaos you simply have chaos. Order > arises when there is coherence. The coherence inside a container is > different from the coherence or the chaos outside a container. The place > where this transition happens is the boundary. The boundary may be permeable > to various degrees but it is certainly real. > > As to how the boundary is created, I think my experience says that it is > socially constructed. It can be influenced by many actions - including > intention, invitation, the nature of the shared culture within the container, > and the action that is undertaken. Open Space facilitators become helpful > when we can work with this container. > > How do you do that? In my experience, the most powerful and generative > containers are those that gather around a centre, rather that those that are > contained by a boundary. > > In practical terms what this looks like is simple: drop a powerful invitation > into the centre of a group (passion and urgency) and a group will coalesce > around that and “fall in together.” Your other option is to create a fence > and gather people up and put them inside it. This is much more work and > rarely effective. You have a container, but you also have a prison. > > When life gathers around a powerful centre you are invoking a pattern that is > replicated at many scales all through the natural world from galaxies to > atoms. The Milky Way is not a THING by virtue of someone maintaining a fence > around it; it is a thing by virtue of proximity to it’s centre. Same with an > atom. Same with social containers formed around invitation. > > the Open Space facilitator’s job I think is to pay deep attention to the the > centre of the work and to support a co-holding of thet centre with the > calling team for whom the work is really important. When you start making > rules about who is in and who is out, you are really getting lost in > container making. When you create just the right invitation, you feed the > hunger for togetherness, work and creativity that is essential for Open Space > - and any other generative, complex and self-organizing process - to thrive. > > Chris > > > >> On Apr 3, 2014, at 9:01 AM, Harrison Owen <hho...@verizon.net> wrote: >> >> It has been common for us to speak of Containers and Boundaries as somehow >> essential to Open Space. I can't quite find the place, but I do remember >> saying something like that myself, as in, "The role of the facilitator is to >> create the container..." It certainly made sense at the time, but I always >> felt a little uncomfortable with the image. Too mechanical, coercive... too >> something. And Michael has brought the subject up again. "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." You might call it "messy boundaries" -- and he raises the >> question whether one should press ahead with Open Space, or wait until the >> "mess" is settled down. On the one hand, Michael "hunches" that one should >> press on -- Open Space. But his hesitation comes, I suspect, from the prior >> notion that fixed boundaries/containers are necessary for an effective Open >> Space. What to do? >> >> Some thoughts (new ones for me): Containers are great for cooking soup, but >> are unneeded and maybe even problematical in Open Space. It is all about >> holding things together. In Open Space groups of people come together to >> deal with their issues. At the very least that would mean gathering in some >> common time/space, be that physical or electronic. It would seem that this >> co-location could be facilitated were some suitable "container" provided, >> presumably by the sponsor/facilitator. This certainly makes sense, and as a >> rough way of speaking, it seems to describe what is going on. But as I think >> about it, I think we may be missing a most important point. Coming together >> in Open Space happens because people care to come. And they continue their >> connection as long as they care to do so. (Law of two feet) >> >> From the "outside" it might look as if they were held in place by a >> container, but that is illusory. The actual dynamics are centripetal, the >> force is mutual attraction... people are "there" because they care to be >> there and not because they are contained by some external structure. In a >> word, we as facilitators really don't do a thing, and creating a container >> is the least of what we DON'T do. The people, from the beginning, do it all. >> >> >> Of course, there are situations where groups come together under orders, >> mandates, whatever. And they are definitely "contained." It is also true >> that the tighter that container, the less likely self organization will take >> place. If true, providing a container is not only unnecessary but also >> destructive. In the name of Opening space, we effectively close it. Or so I >> suspect it might be. Just thinking... >> >> Anyhow Michael, should my mental peregrinations lead anywhere useful, it >> would seem that your "hunch" was spot on. Forget the boundaries/container. >> Just invite the space to open. >> >> Harrison >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Harrison Owen >> 7808 River Falls Dr. >> Potomac, MD 20854 >> USA >> >> 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer) >> Camden, Maine 04843 >> >> Phone 301-365-2093 >> (summer) 207-763-3261 >> >> www.openspaceworld.com >> www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST >> Go to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org >> [mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Michael Wood >> Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2014 9:59 PM >> To: 'oslist@lists.openspacetech.org' >> Subject: [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 > > _______________________________________________ > 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
