Five things going on in Open Space:
There are 5 things going on in open space: we tell, we hear, we bump, we unearth, we emerge.
:- Doug.
Archive for September 16th, 2013
Open space is bringing people into density
Open space has the effect of bringing people into density. This increases bifurcation points: choices. Examining its nonlinearity suggests that it is not only bumping together that leads to surprising choices, but that gathering makes accessible something akin to the collective unconscious or memory, and further still, that it has a catalytic effect of stirring up emergence. It does not require thinking beyond the local, immediate; however, given that we are human and see beyond our noses, we are wont to look for a bigger picture; and in either event, we affect the actions of the whole by our local actions.
So the magic of open space is not magic at all. First, it is not about making something happen for ego: it is precisely the reverse, taking us beyond ego, even sometimes going so far as to kill the ego. Second, it has a predictable quality to it, it follows a natural pattern, and is not a miracle, a deviation.
But open space is dangerous. It can rearrange these elements, all there before, and threaten the duration of those old ways and institutions. In the same way a baby threatens the existing ways of his family, bringing, if we have eyes to see, and stillness of heart to wait, the hope of new strengths and life.
:- Doug.
Drawn to each other
We see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil
because we are drawn to good each other
:- Doug.
