As I’ve been reflecting on Harrison’s passing and what it means to me, I stumbled into the message below that Harrison wrote to the OSlist exactly 19 years ago - March 18, 2005. He asks:
What have we learned? Seems like a fitting way to celebrate him...inviting us to answer his question. An excerpt from below: > My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to > reflect of the past 20 years [now 39 years] (or at least that part of the 20 > years in which > you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of > what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open > Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you > choose to share. > > I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a > call to all you Lurkers! ...Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a > good time to break > the silence!!! … > Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the > Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to > reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not > just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is > your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMMENTARY! I suggest that we > just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle. So I leave you with the question while I reflect on my own response to it. Love, Peggy _________________________________ Peggy Holman [email protected] 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 > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Harrison Owen <[email protected]> > Subject: [OSLIST] What have we learned? > Date: March 18, 2005 at 3:39:53 PM PST > To: [email protected] > Reply-To: OSLIST <[email protected]> > > In 1985 the first Open Space happened in Monterey California. This year (in > case you haven't noticed) is 2005. In short OS has been around for 20 years > (not counting the 14,000,000,000 years previously). So what have we learned? > > > This is not an idle question. A recent publication of the American journal, > JABS - otherwise known as the "Journal of Applied Behavioral Science" > offered a "special issue" dealing with Large Group Interventions. All the > usual suspects appeared, but somehow Open Space was among the missing. One > of the editors, Barbara Bunker, who is definitely an acquaintance, and I > would consider a friend - told me that they had advertised for "papers" - > including the "OS Network" - and nothing showed up. Frankly, I don't recall > seeing anything, but my eyesight is getting pretty cloudy. Anyhow, I feel > inspired to ask a question - What have we learned? > > This is not about making a special edition of JABS. And for sure it is not > about "sour grapes" because we were not really present in JABS. It is all > about a genuine question - What have we learned???? > > My hope would be to inspire/goad/embarrass/encourage each one of you to > reflect of the past 20 years (or at least that part of the 20 years in which > you participated in the OS community) - and offer up your understanding of > what you, personally, have learned - about Open Space, yourself in Open > Space, about organizations in Open Space. And of course anything else you > choose to share. > > I would hope that we would hear from more than the usual suspects. This is a > call to all you Lurkers! Last time I checked there were some 440 folks on > OSLIST. Not everybody has been heard from! Now would be a good time to break > the silence!!! > > And although it is doubtless Politically Incorrect - I suggest a rule for > our discussion. Pretend this is a closing circle, and we are passing the > Talking Stick. Take a moment, maybe even a LONG moment (days/weeks) to > reflect on what you have learned, and then talk as long as you want. And not > just the "good stuff" - the pain and disillusionment as well, if that is > your story. You have the stick! And please NO COMENTARY! I suggest that we > just let this roll without response - just like a Closing Circle. > > In August we will gather for OSONOS in Halifax. That gathering will be a lot > of things - but one of the things it WILL be is a celebration of 20 years in > Open Space. I can think of no greater birthday present from everybody to > everybody than a reasoned, articulate description of what we have learned in > the 20 years on the journey. > > Harrison > > Ps Assuming we have really learned something and manage to give that > learning expression, there is no doubt in my mind that a copy of our > Collected Works would be fun to read. ho > > > > > > > > Harrison Owen > 7808 River Falls Drive > Potomac, Maryland 20845 > Phone 301-365-2093 > > Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> > > Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org > Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm > [email protected] > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > > > > * > * > ========================================================== > [email protected] > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > >
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