Kerry - I find myself pretty much in the same corner as you on the subject of "givens." I do find it very useful to talk to a client about expectations, and maybe that is the same as "givens," but I do my very best to help them to be just about as open to all outcomes as possible. I remember one time when working with a major pharmaceutical around strategic planning for their research effort when they stipulated that there would be "20 new compounds" (A compound is a new, but unapproved drug). They seemed pretty insistent on this number, so I asked the how they would feel if they got 21?? --- would they throw it away? Or how about if they only got 2 - but those two were the next generation of Lipitor and Viagra. Would they be unhappy? We got rid of the number and I think everything moved better for that.
Harrison 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 -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of kerry napuk Sent: Friday, April 02, 2004 10:20 AM To: [email protected] Subject: is it still open? Harrison Thanks for the potted history of OSLIST on 1 April. I have done my darnest NOT to enter this discussion, but restraint has given way. I was never comfortable with the whole notion of "givens" anyway, because they seem to limit possibilities and exploration. I do not like the idea of sponsors saying ahead of time what is and what is not possible BEFORE an event even happens. So, we never discuss them unless they are raised. Accordingly, I see no point in having givens on our exchange of experiences,insights, learnings, feelings, comments and any other word you can use to describe the brilliant and irritating things that humans say to each other. If we believe in a sense of Community and learning, there should be no censorship except the kind we impose on ourselves before dropping our pearls onto the LIST. If you don't want it out there, don't put it out! If you weren't sensitive about this before, you sure know about it now. However, I hope this discussion does not inhibit our flow, let's not put givens on ourselves! There are more than enough imposed by every institution and organisation in the world. Why add to the burden? With warmest regards from an Edinburgh, whose world famous arts festival programme was announced today, struggling towards spring with the sun still lurking behind a misty sky Kerry * * ========================================================== [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
