Thank you, Joelle, your remarks and remarks of all participants are very important for me and I will forward all this messages to my nice friend-collegue Marina, with whom we just tried OS for tax policemen, and it was fun as for some time the people who were interested in some topics looked at their chiefs and ... after some time we did have 5 topics for about 40 participant and they were great and difficult to discuss, as they concerned interactions between different federal services, and the secrecy of information - the opposite to the first, and also very interesting topics when the evaluation is keeping on "cases" so the worth situation is the better, so they wanted to hear some US experience in this question and also about the structure of local department of taxation policmen deals... they could not talk about many issues and said that they discuss all this question a lot of times. but I'm sure it was the first time everybody could post the question, discuss it and make a report!
so we hope the people who put all this questions will not be punished... as we did not fulfil the main rule, which Birgitt Williams told us on her training - to be sure about the givens... OK ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joelle Lyons Everett" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2001 11:16 AM Subject: Re: 550 plus! AND WHAT ABOUT 5,0000? > Lena-- > > The thing which would be so great about an OS for 5000 (or whichever right > people come!) is that so many people would have an experience of democratic > methods and a self-organizing system. > > Twenty years ago, when I was just beginning my consulting practice, we had a > big community meeting in the small town where I live--around 100 people, > which was considered a large meeting at that time, and a good number in a > town of only a few thousand (and they came from all the major systems in the > county, governments, NGOs, schools, etc.) > > Neither Future Search nor Open Space had been invented, but we wanted people > to discuss in small groups, using brainstorming principles--not > revolutionary, but really way ahead of where most organizations were at that > time. So we provided a short and simple training session for the people who > would lead and document each table group. Now these people, and many other > participants, knew these simple methods and could take them back to their > organizations. And it made a difference in the community. We had four such > meetings during five years, and the communication and cooperation between > different systems just grew and grew--until they no longer needed the annual > meeting; they were strong networks all through the year. > > I think your idea is feasible as well as important. You will need plenty of > space, for sure. And if the computers are not available, the American > consultant Ronald Lippitt, who facilitated many community meetings, did very > well for years first with hand-written notes and carbon paper, then with an > old-fashioned ditto machine to copy notes, which he handed around to all the > groups. > > I think that you will do well to pay no attention to remarks that OS does not > work, or that you are promoting your own interest. You know the truth about > what you are doing. And if the critics want to participate in an OS or two, > then they can experience whether it works. Changing the world is not easy > work--and many people the world over fear a situation where they cannot > exercise control over the outcomes. > > I salute your tremendous energy and your big ideas! > > Love, Joelle > > * > * > ========================================================== > [email protected] > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of [email protected], > Visit: > > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
