Suzanne- With your point on the importance of being presence of caring for any human encounter, you've trully illuminated the treacherous ways I have trodden! You've surely opened a space for me and many encounters to be happened on my way to the future. Thank you very much. ;-()
Spark Open Space Institue of Korea sp...@openspace.kr 821072470636 ----- 원본 메시지 ----- 보낸 사람: Suzanne Daigle <sdaig...@gmail.com> 보낸 날짜: 2009년 12월 20일 일요일 오후 2:27 받는 사람: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu 제목: Re: Invitation Before invitation, conversation. Is it wrong to feel and see opportunities for opening space based on those conversations that happen every day in so many places? I feel myself listening differently now, engaging differently not to be leading people but to discover how life is where they are right now. I notice often the energy shifting as we talk about what's not working and what their world, our world would be like if... It's a conversation of many stories. With a certain longing, in that present moment, I hear hope and feel the positive energy about a future that could be different; I hear courage and the whispers of plans not yet shared with others but certainly in the mind . More often than not, the plans have to do with escaping where they are to start anew somewhere else. Very rarely do I hear plans for changing or improving the current place where they are. It's as if people cannot conceive this in the same way that people cannot conceive what happens in Open Space until they live it. They can't seem to conceive Super High Performance and a significantly improved quality of life in their current work situation based on the complex messes that are out there. Too big a leap somehow. Yet hope is still there buried somewhere. If I mention Open Space, I can feel people pulling back -- worrying already as they cling to their facade, fearing that they would need to expose what they guard closely--themselves. Then we might talk a little more, and I feel them drawn again as they imagine non-hierarchical, diverse conversations on topics that matter that people are passionate about and want to take responsibility for. Again, hope and courage re-surfaces. I see patterns, like a dance where we go back and forth. The longing to try and the fear about the unknown. Until the very end, to the point where the Open Space is about to start, I feel stress in the air. Do I nudge, entice and ignite? Yes. Do I talk with many prior to? Yes not to describe in any detail but just to be there listening quietly, for them to know me then and know my invitation. Do I bend people against their will? No or hopefully not. It is still very difficult to find that balance to not persuade in the wrong way and to only nudge in a caring way. When you know the transformative impact and power of Open Space, it is extremely hard I find to keep it bottled inside. In the end, as I imagine a tipping point to be "opening space" more often in all kinds of places, I believe it will come from the conversations that precede invitations -- conversations that may or may not lead to Open Space per se; yet important conversations that are still opening space. Suzanne On Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 3:51 PM, Ralph Copleman <rcople...@comcast.net> wrote: Power, control, and "WOW"... When I extend an invitation for OS, I am aware that at least some of those I am inviting may feel I am attempting to exercise a degree of power and control over some portion of their time and/or mind. No matter how much "Wow" I think I have put into my invitation, I have no control whatsoever over what others think. My practice is to begin holding space the moment I commit to a meeting. This is the way I know to be congruent with what I understand to be open space. If I seek to bend people against their inclination into thinking that the meeting is a good idea, important, etc., and then show up and say, "Welcome to open space," well then, I haven't been completely consistent. And the space is not really open. People accept invitations based on the way they think, perceive, think, trust, and/or project. Their lives include a range of circumstances and previous commitments. If I'm authentically holding the space right from the moment the idea of the gathering is conceived, there is nothing about the choice to accept the invitation that is not completely theirs. I may, of course, offer persuasion, promote possible benefits, or use enticing language and images. As a former public relations practitioner, I am not adverse to employing these tools, but I seek a balance that communicates my position and beliefs on one hand and the opportunity available to them on the other. So I have trouble with the idea that invitations "fail". I like what HO says about investigating how I could do things better if nobody shows, and I must ultimately let "Whoever comes..." be my guide. But if people are unavailable, too busy, too far away, or just not interested, well, I just figure I'm ahead of the curve! From sunny New Jersey, USA, Ralph Copleman * * ========================================================== 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 -- Suzanne Daigle NuFocus Strategic Group 7159 Victoria Circle University Park, FL 34201 FL 941-359-8877; CT 203-722-2009 www.nufocusgroup.com s.dai...@nufocusgroup.com * * ========================================================== 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
