Thank you, Suzanne, loved your story. Still no
task too big. May there be many more "nows"
expanded.
Greetings from Taiwan.
Gail
At the very beginning, the recovered "Miss Fix
it" that I was with "No task too big" from the
corporate world, becoming an Open Space
facilitator seemed like a climb to Mount
Everest. This weekend supported by so many
friends (Christine Whitney Sanchez, Harold
Shinsato, Lisa Heft, Larry Peterson, Diane
Gibeault, Harrison of course, Alan Stewart, Juan
Luis Walker and so many others), I felt I peaked
at a Base Camp level with an absolutely
wonderful team: members of the Scrum Technology
community and their many allies. Indeed I have
facilitated many Open Space events but this one
in Phoenix AZ was truly unique and special.
For this two day event, there was community
before we even met. (The true spirit of pre-work
as Ms Heft would call it). Weeks before, topics
were flying on the internet around this theme of
"Scrum beyond Software" on blogs, on twitter, on
facebook and everywhere. Dreams were starting to
crystallize, anticipation was building and the
spirit of welcome was in the air.
I'll admit that I was somewhat trepidatious in
this chaotic, "who's doing what" shared
leadership, self-organizing world with my new
techie friends. I breathed in and breathed out,
knowing that what they have done to change the
world in technology, in community, as free
agents and free spirits to make this global
world a smaller place, through technology change
and large system change, well I knew they had
something precious to share with the rest of the
world. And share they did.
From California to Serbia, Canada to the Eastern
US, from the Mid-West to the Far-West, they
came. The banner and welcome signs became works
of art, the chairs quickly arranged in circle,
everything was ready the night before.
Comfortably settled in this incredible place
called "Gangplank", certainly worth reading
about
(<http://gangplankhq.com/>http://gangplankhq.com/
) that could not have been better chosen for all
its principles and values which parallel so much
of who we are in Open Space, the conversations
began. Quickly participants bounded to the
center, many still infused with the Orlando
event last March that Harrison hosted. The
topics just kept coming, too many to really
count because it really didn't matter. It was
the passion behind the words that mattered most.
What I realized in that instant is that when
there is a spirit of welcome, a diverse group,
people who are there because they want to be
there, a sense of urgency because the world
needs this and a complex topic that sparks and
ignites, well indeed magic or real life happens.
People quickly shed their facades, threw caution
to the wind, and they got to work. In my opening
remarks, I talked about nervous energy (for
those who had never sat in a circle like this in
Open Space) and pent-up energy (for those who
just wanted to get on with it so pressing were
the topics they wanted to discuss) suggesting
that these were the perfect ingredients for
innovation and creativity. I invited all to
pause, to look around that giant circle as if
seated in the Arizona desert to see who was
there and to leave room from within for the 4
principles and the Law of 2 feet to do their
thing. Leave some space to be surprised, I said,
and let go of pre-determined expectations. These
principles and this law, would be some of the
precious take-aways to be used in our life
beyond this event.
No sooner were those words spoken than my job
was done. I truly became invisible (with a
slight tad of sadness I'll admit) knowing that
passion and responsibility had found their place
and there was truly nothing left to do. Yes in
some cases, there were concerns: were people
documenting their reports, were we capturing the
names of all the participantsĀand I chose to
simply smile knowing that I could not interrupt
the intense conversations (butterflies, bumble
bees and participants) as it would perhaps crash
the one magical moment where individuals were
connecting and creating something greater than I
could imagine. I had no doubt that everything
would be alright, that responsibility would
combine with passion and that action would
naturally emerge which it did and will.
So I stood back and quietly watched the intense
expressions, the energy bouncing off the walls
(exhausting at times), the charged discussions,
the markers flying on the flip chart sheets, the
smart phone video cameras capturing the action
in the moment, the live stream twitter comments
enticing folks outside the room to respond. It
was exciting; it was exhilarating! Anyone
interested, have a peak (blogs and live stream)
<http://phoenix.scrumgathering.org/>http://phoenix.scrumgathering.org/
And then at some point, I shed my facilitator
role too and had a few wonderful and life
changing conversations with a few butterflies.
As we closed the circle after two days asking
people to say not what they thought but rather
to describe how they "felt" about what had
happened, I knew then just as I had experienced
it at the Wave Rider event in Toronto and also
at WOSonOS in Taiwan that these moments would
never happen again. This is it and this is now!
Certainly what happened in those two days
borrowing from the title of one of Harrison's
books is that for those two days in Phoenix, we
were "Expanding our Now" and I, for one, will be
forever grateful to have had a small part in
making this happen with others. My love affair
with Open Space continues.
Suzanne
--
Suzanne Daigle
NuFocus Strategic Group
7159 Victoria Circle
University Park, FL 34201
FL 941-359-8877;
CT 203-722-2009
<http://www.nufocusgroup.com>www.nufocusgroup.com
<mailto:s.dai...@nufocusgroup.com>s.dai...@nufocusgroup.com
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--
Gail West
ICA
3F, No. 12, Lane 5, Tien Mou West Road
Taipei, Taiwan 111
8862) 2871-3150
SKYPE gwestica
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