Here's another part of the story that demonstrates the power of Open Space.
During the opening, the mikes failed. Not totally - there was one mike that was sort of semi-functional, but the second mike was useless. As you can imagine, with over 1,600 folks in the cavernous space where the event was held, sound was a big issue. As I was opening the space, Claudia was letting me know that the people in the back couldn't hear me. I just kept breathing and walking and praying. As I walked by the sound guy, who was literally holding his head in his hands, one of the Smooth Operators caught my eye and said, "Whatever happens, Christine." I can't tell you how much that meant to me. Thank goodness we had that huge double-sided screen suspended from the ceiling so that the folks who couldn't hear were at least able to see the principles and law, etc on the screen. And as participants announced their sessions, a Smooth Operator (who the tech team had recruited at the last minute) madly typed in the topics on the big screen. You won't be surprised to hear that it all worked splendidly, in spite of so many people having trouble hearing. People took responsibility to find out what was happening from the people around them. And most everyone was quite patient. I think they could tell that the sound was beyond anyone's control at that point. By the time we were preparing for the closing circle, we had a new sound guy and fabulous sound. While participants were sharing what got them moving, what had most heart and meaning for them and how the space could be kept open in Girl Scouting, you could have heard a pin drop. Each voice was crystal clear. And hearing their voices was what this was all about. >From sunny, unusually warm Phoenix. Christine Christine Whitney Sanchez KAIROS Alliance Inc. 2717 E. Mountain Sky Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85048 480.759.0262 www.kairosalliance.com <http://www.kairosalliance.com/> _____ From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Claudia Haack Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2006 2:08 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Report available - Girl Scout Open Space for over 1,600 & Strategy Cafes for thousands more Harrison, While I did share this "little funny story" verbally with the sponsors, I think it got lost in the sheer volume of other things that were accomplished and that are happening at the GS right now. Actually, I was trying to sort through so much at the time myself, that it really took the place of a funny anecdote for "insiders". The potential for reflecting on the learnings of the story as an illustration of how Open Space works didn't occur to me. So I really like your suggestion for finding a way to do that now in one of their publications. Or, maybe on the site where they have all the reports etc. Thanks - Claudia Claudia Haack KAIROS Alliance Inc. tel. 608.288.8315 fax.480.247.4824 -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:] On Behalf Of Harrison Owen Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2006 9:06 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Report available - Girl Scout Open Space for over 1,600 & Strategy Cafes for thousands more Claudia - I think that is precisely the sort of story that should be fed back into the system. At the very least it should be part of whatever report you all may be making to the sponsors. There is an enormous amount of learning about what happens in Open Space (and I think all self-organizing systems) over time. People start where they are, and if they are in a complaining mood, that is what you will get. And it is very necessary. You have to go through the past before you can deal with a future. And the point is - they obviously got to a future which I would guess is what the "critics" saw as being "better." And the fact that the level of training in all sessions (as far as facilitations skills was concerned) was the same - all Zero is noteworthy. The people did it all by themselves. We may know all that - but this little, funny story could well take the sponsors and others to a new level of understanding. How about an article in the "Scouting News" - or whatever it may be called? Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20854 Phone 301-365-2093 Skype hhowen Open Space Training <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute <http://www.openspaceworld.org/> www.openspaceworld.org Personal website <http://www.ho-image.com/> www.ho-image.com OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html> www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Claudia Haack Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2006 9:28 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Report available - Girl Scout Open Space for over 1,600 & Strategy Cafes for thousands more Yes, I am anxious to see myself what will happen with all this. One of the funnier examples of how well Open Space works is reflected in this little story. A rather large group of attendees was about 2 hours late. They missed the opening of the space and arrived just at the tail end of the time when sessions were posted. After the event was over they debriefed and agreed that the "facilitators" of the first series of sessions were the worst - they definitely needed more training. They said that during those first rounds of sessions people were mostly complaining. But the last series was much better, because the "facilitators" were so much better. They recommended to us to please make sure that we would train "facilitators" better and spread the good ones out over the different session spaces. If they only knew:) Claudia Claudia Haack KAIROS Alliance Inc. 606 Orchard Dr. Madison, WI phone: 608.288.8315 fax: 480.247.4824 www.kairosalliance.com <http://www.kairosalliance.com/> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Report available - Girl Scout Open Space for over 1,600 & Strategy Cafes for thousands more From: Joelle Lyons Everett <[email protected]> Date: Sat, February 04, 2006 11:23 pm To: [email protected] wow, Christine and Claudia, what a beautiful piece of work! I'm eager to reconnect with the local council (who had their own Open Space a couple of years ago) and hear what they have to say about the national event. Thanks for your vision, your courage, you willingness to hold space for Council and volunteers to work out all the details. I'm very excited to see what comes out of this initiative. Joelle * * ========================================================== [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 * * ========================================================== [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 * * ========================================================== [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 * * ========================================================== [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 * * ========================================================== [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
