Facilitators that turn into space invadors can not hold time and space for the unfolding of the forces of selforganization, and are not able to even approach the simple but tough requirement to be fully present and at the same time be invisible. Following this, your belief that facilitators shouldn't call sessions is not only your belief. And don't forget, we facilitators get paid for our intervention to do nothing. Greetings from Berlin mmp Michael M Pannwitz Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany +49 30 7728000 mmpannwitz@posteo.de See the Open Space World Map with 535 Open Space Workers living in 81 countries and active in 145 countries worldwide: www.openspaceworldmap.org

isaac, i think the answer to your question depends on [everything]. so we might consider a slightly different question, and others might frame this better, but in the moment... under what conditions would you post/convene or not a session in an open space session where you're the facilitator? to that i would say... not ever, IF i'm hired in by some organization to facilitate the meeting they're having about their future. that said, i do remember one corporate gathering about something like renewing management spirit, sitting off to the side of everything and having a lot of folks stop by. often started with "boy, i wish i had your job" as i was apparently doing nothing. and then we'd have a chat about the potential for managing with an open space mindset. then there are other times, when i'm facilitating, usually for free, and i'm actually a member of the group. sometimes the group has had multiple OS experiences together, or a number of members have facilitated OS elsewhere. it depends also on the purpose... are we trying to solve something specific or is this a networking/learning sort of setting. sometimes i've worked, nominally, as a "scrum master" with software teams but understood my actual role as an opener and holder of space. but the agreed rules of scrum practice mean that i'm not only convening meetings but sometimes it falls to me to be quite involved in the work, facilitating, probing, mediating, and even managing time boxes for the work. what i would say in "always" terms is that we always need to be mindful of who's holding the space. and in "never" terms, i'd say never forget that we're not really in charge. so convening a session or not, i'm always looking out for who is holding space (might or might not be me) and either way, i've never got THE solution and never in charge of what's happening, even when it might apparently be my job to be in charge. on a practical note, IF i do put a session up in open space, i never choose the first session or the last session. i let folks get a head of steam up on their own, and experience me holding the space... and then never in the last session, either, so i can give full attention to how things start to complete themselves and come back together at the end of the day. for those who don't live by the never ever rule, under what conditions have you decided it was okay to post/convene a session? m -- Michael Herman Michael Herman Associates 312-280-7838 (mobile) MichaelHerman.com OpenSpaceWorld.org On Fri, Dec 6, 2024 at 12:38 PM Michael M Pannwitz via OSList < everyone@oslist.org> wrote: > Facilitators that turn into space invadors can not hold time and space > for the unfolding of the forces of selforganization, and are not able to > even approach the simple but tough requirement to be fully present and > at the same time be invisible. > > Following this, your belief that facilitators shouldn't call sessions is > not only your belief. > > And don't forget, we facilitators get paid for our intervention to do > nothing. > > Greetings from Berlin > mmp > > Michael M Pannwitz > Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany > +49 30 7728000 mmpannwitz@posteo.de > > See the Open Space World Map with 535 > Open Space Workers living in 81 countries > and active in 145 countries worldwide: > www.openspaceworldmap.org > OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org > To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org > See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org >

Michael Herman, I think you’ve captured the spirit and practice of the conditions for convening a session when you’re facilitating beautifully. As you said, purpose sets the context. I don’t think I have ever posted a session when I’m hired to run an Open Space. When it is a gathering of a group of which I am a part and I’m not being paid, if I feel moved to do so, I have posted something. And, for the reasons you named, never during the first or last session. The only thing I can think to add is that I rarely feel up to posting something. There’s something about doing the opening and being tuned in to the quality of the space that holds my attention pretty completely. When I have posted something, I think it has always been when I am holding space as part of a team. So I know if I am immersed in a session, others are tending to the space. The years of Spirited Work provided a great learning ground for discovering what worked. Spirited Work was an Open Space community of practice that met in Open Space four times a year - once a season - from Thursday afternoon to Sunday lunch time for seven years. Forty-sixty people came every session. About half of them regulars, half of them newcomers. Our focus was on what does it mean to be a spiritual being in a material world? We used Angeles Arrien’s Four Fold Way as the themes of each season: Winter is the warrior: show up and be present, Spring is the healer: follow what has heart and meaning, Summer is the visionary: tell the truth without blame or judgment (or as I came to think of it: tell the truth with compassion), and Autumn is the teacher: be open, unattached to outcome. We learned a lot about what it means to live in Open Space all the time from those years. Peggy _________________________________ Peggy Holman Co-chair, Berrett-Koehler Foundation <https://www.bkfoundation.org/> peggy@peggyholman.com Bellevue, WA 98006 206-948-0432 www.peggyholman.com Enjoy the award winning Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity <https://peggyholman.com/papers/engaging-emergence/> "An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become the fire". -- Drew Dellinger > On Dec 6, 2024, at 1:04 PM, Michael Herman via OSList <everyone@oslist.org> wrote: > > isaac, i think the answer to your question depends on [everything]. so we might consider a slightly different question, and others might frame this better, but in the moment... under what conditions would you post/convene or not a session in an open space session where you're the facilitator? > > to that i would say... not ever, IF i'm hired in by some organization to facilitate the meeting they're having about their future. that said, i do remember one corporate gathering about something like renewing management spirit, sitting off to the side of everything and having a lot of folks stop by. often started with "boy, i wish i had your job" as i was apparently doing nothing. and then we'd have a chat about the potential for managing with an open space mindset. > > then there are other times, when i'm facilitating, usually for free, and i'm actually a member of the group. sometimes the group has had multiple OS experiences together, or a number of members have facilitated OS elsewhere. it depends also on the purpose... are we trying to solve something specific or is this a networking/learning sort of setting. sometimes i've worked, nominally, as a "scrum master" with software teams but understood my actual role as an opener and holder of space. but the agreed rules of scrum practice mean that i'm not only convening meetings but sometimes it falls to me to be quite involved in the work, facilitating, probing, mediating, and even managing time boxes for the work. > > what i would say in "always" terms is that we always need to be mindful of who's holding the space. and in "never" terms, i'd say never forget that we're not really in charge. so convening a session or not, i'm always looking out for who is holding space (might or might not be me) and either way, i've never got THE solution and never in charge of what's happening, even when it might apparently be my job to be in charge. > > on a practical note, IF i do put a session up in open space, i never choose the first session or the last session. i let folks get a head of steam up on their own, and experience me holding the space... and then never in the last session, either, so i can give full attention to how things start to complete themselves and come back together at the end of the day. > > for those who don't live by the never ever rule, under what conditions have you decided it was okay to post/convene a session? > > m > > > -- > > Michael Herman > Michael Herman Associates > 312-280-7838 (mobile) > > MichaelHerman.com <http://michaelherman.com/> > OpenSpaceWorld.org <http://openspaceworld.org/> > > > > > On Fri, Dec 6, 2024 at 12:38 PM Michael M Pannwitz via OSList <everyone@oslist.org <mailto:everyone@oslist.org>> wrote: >> Facilitators that turn into space invadors can not hold time and space >> for the unfolding of the forces of selforganization, and are not able to >> even approach the simple but tough requirement to be fully present and >> at the same time be invisible. >> >> Following this, your belief that facilitators shouldn't call sessions is >> not only your belief. >> >> And don't forget, we facilitators get paid for our intervention to do >> nothing. >> >> Greetings from Berlin >> mmp >> >> Michael M Pannwitz >> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany >> +49 30 7728000 mmpannwitz@posteo.de <mailto:mmpannwitz@posteo.de> >> >> See the Open Space World Map with 535 >> Open Space Workers living in 81 countries >> and active in 145 countries worldwide: >> www.openspaceworldmap.org <http://www.openspaceworldmap.org/> >> OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org <mailto:everyone@oslist.org> >> To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org <mailto:everyone-leave@oslist.org> >> See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org > OSList mailing list -- everyone@oslist.org > To unsubscribe send an email to everyone-leave@oslist.org > See the archives here: https://oslist.org/empathy/list/everyone.oslist.org