An interview with an Open Space facilitator

It came to me in a dream.

Facilitator: Before we start on our journey together, I must have your government-issued credit card number and expiry date. And I should inform you that I bill by the word.

[ I pass my card across the authoritative-looking table free of all objects. He looks at it for about five seconds and passes my card back to me. He seems to have committed my credit card number to memory! ]

Facilitator: Let's begin. I must now guide you.

[ At this point, the Facilitator placed a two-foot-long stick of incense into a soil-filled terra cotta plant pot and ignited the end. I had to wait a couple of minutes while he composed himself. ]

Interviewer: So, what is this Open Space all about?

Facilitator: What we do here is create Open Space. We facilitate the creation of Open Space. In order to arrive at a consensus in a complex world, we need to create an Open Space so that consensus is free to waft over and take up residence in the space we create.

Interviewer: But doesn't open space already exist?

Facilitator: If it does, you need my skills in order to see it. When you think you see Open Space in front of you, you have to really ask yourself if you are just deceiving yourself or whether there is really Open Space there.

Interviewer: But what if we need to arrive at a conclusion -- something actionable? In other words, what if we need to fill that open space with something we can use?

Facilitator: Actionable items are just a social construct. Let's discuss what you really mean by that. We need to achieve consensus. My job above all else is to create Open Space. If there are ideas and objectives in place, this clouds our judgement. My goal is to free you of objectives and any preconceived accomplishment you may have entered the room with. If you have built something, we must knock it down. I need to have complete Open Space to do my work.

Interviewer: [getting tired] Well, let's move on. Why do you folks have an affinity for aboriginals and pagans?

Facilitator: Aboriginals and pagans worship the Open Space that nature provides. If you build a building, there is no Open Space. If you accomplish something, there is no Open Space. We seek to provide Open Space in order to build on it with future sessions.

Interviewer: But don't trees interfere with open space?

Facilitator: It is all about perception. When I see trees, I see Open Space.

Interviewer: Can I have my credit card back?

Facilitator: I have already given you your card back, but this does not end our relationship. We have much more to discover together.

Interviewer: Can you please forget my credit card number, then?

Facilitator: What you fail to understand -- and it is common amongst the people I facilitate -- is that this information is the foundation of our journey together. Without a foundation, you can't build something that will last. If the foundation crumbles then everything atop it also falls to the ground. If not today, then some day in the future. We must keep the foundation in place so that we can build on it together in the days, months, and years to come.

Interviewer: [obviously distracted from his train of thought] But I thought you said buildings interfered with open space?

Facilitator: When I see buildings...

[ At this point, the Interviewer remembered that he had to make a very important phone call. ]