Oh Harrison, what a beautiful, inspiring and touching story--especially the last line when participant recognizes what has actually taken place. Food for the spirit and hope for the future in this story. Thank you
Kathryn Kathryn Thomson -------------------------- Proteus Communications prot...@shawbiz.ca Some doors open only from the inside Hafiz -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Harrison Owen Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 6:46 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Public Merger I can't let you all be the only folks who have all the fun! Last week I had the exquisite pleasure of visiting Red Wing Minnesota, located on the banks of the Mississippi River. The occasion was a "Community Consultation" about the possibility of merging the Public Health and Human Services agencies in the county. This had been tried some 10 years ago in a very "Top Down" fashion initiated by the County Executive. It was a disaster. However, the rational for merger still seemed to make some sense, even if just about everybody thought it was impossible. Eighty five people sat in a circle. Roughly 2/3's were from the two agencies, and the balance from neighboring counties which had either tried such a merger or were thinking about it. Nobody was particularly positive about the whole thing and even less positive about sitting in a circle. As one participant said, "merger was an outside possibility, and this sitting in a circle business was weird." But we went forward, albeit stoically. Minnesotans are stoic by nature. After the brief introduction the people were invited to identify the issues and opportunities for which they had a real passion. Dead silence, and nobody moved - for all of about ten seconds. Then they came and nobody thought it could happen here in Red Wing. They brought their issues, the really deep ones - and everybody had predicted that the conversation could only be superficial. Within an hour they were seriously at work. Intense groups met all over the big room. It got a little noisy and groups naturally cooperated with each other without any help (from me). When lunch time came, it was obvious that folks were hungry, and they mobbed the tables, but the conversations hardly took a break. The lunch was really good and very substantial - all of which had the usual effect on me. I just had to have a nap. So off I went, returning an hour or so later, just at the break point between the 3rd and 4th sessions. Folks were taking the opportunity for some more coffee and cookies - but the atmosphere had totally transformed. You simply couldn't tell one group from another - it was all mixed up. And the decibel level was filling the room with excited, pleasant conversation. When the final session ended the closing began. We didn't have time for a full talking stick ceremony, just a few comments. One stuck in my mind which came from a major (in the morning) skeptic. "We came to talk about the possibility of merger, but I think we have gotten ahead of ourselves. We are merged. Now we have to figure out the details." I just love it when a plan comes together. Particularly when everybody just knew it would never happen. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20854 Phone 301-365-2093 Skype hhowen Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website www.ho-image.com OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html> * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
