The open space · format 1 of 3
The topic
discussion.
A subject agreed in advance that matters to everyone: what we are teaching our children about money, how the bills get split at home, what we did the first time we earned well.
It is the format for when what each woman brings is her own experience, not an opinion and not a solution.
It is also the easiest one to ruin: the moment somebody starts arguing in general terms, it stops being a circle and becomes a dinner party.
One of the three formats of The open space, the seventh block of a circle session. It is not used on its own: you choose between the three when that block arrives.
Its three rules
Each woman speaks from her own
Not what she thinks in general: what happened to her. «I think that…» is the sign that the format has slipped.
No debating
Nobody has to convince anybody. Two women can say the opposite and both stand.
No conclusion
The circle does not close with a shared answer. If it ends with more questions, it went well.
How it runs
- 01The guide names the subject · 1 minute
The one that was agreed. Without introducing it and without an opinion on it.
- 02Round · 20 minutes
Each woman tells hers. Order or open floor, either works, but everyone speaks before anyone speaks twice.
- 03What stayed with me · 5 minutes
Each woman says in one sentence what she keeps. It is not the group's conclusion: it is each woman's.
Good subjects
- What was said about money in the house I grew up in.
- The first time I earned well: what I did, and what I would do now.
- What I am teaching my children without telling them.
- How the bills are split in my house, and how that got decided.
- Something I bought that I have not told anyone about.
A good subject is answered by telling something, not by having a view. If it can be answered without anything having happened to you, it is not a circle subject.
Where it comes from
It comes from the practice of peer groups, where it has been used for decades under similar names. The three rules above are MQHD's formulation. It has no single documented author.