Ditto for me too! Suzanne
On Sat, Mar 23, 2013 at 9:49 PM, Lourdes Adriana Diaz-Berrio Doring < [email protected]> wrote: > Yes I agree with Nici I was going to say the same thing! > Adriana Diaz-Berrio, Montreal, Quebec > > > 2013/3/23 Nici Richter <[email protected]> > >> What a wonderful conversation! >> Oh - I am loving it! >> Thank you! >> Nici Richter >> Johannesburg, South Africa >> >> >> On 23 March 2013 14:56, paul levy <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Dear colleagues >>> >>> Someone suggested I post this and I'd be delighted with some reflections >>> on it... >>> >>> warm wishes >>> >>> Paul Levy >>> >>> Follow-Up and Flow in Open Space... >>> >>> *"Time runs backwards in the spiritual world."* >>> >>> No, don't stop reading. Not yet. >>> >>> There's a lot of debate in the field of emergence focused on "when >>> things open up, how do you close them down?". >>> >>> In the realm of Open Space, often the textbook reply is not to close >>> down at all but simply to open some more space for closing down... >>> >>> In other words, if we are worried about outcomes from an open space - >>> what will happen back at base, the actions, the commitments in practice, >>> then all we need to do is to follow up with an invitation to another Open >>> Space that focuses on the question of action. So you need at least two open >>> spaces to get stuff done. >>> >>> Another view is that one should trust the open space itself - whatever >>> happens of course is the only thing that could have. And many open spaces >>> do self-organise sessions about action so... just trust the process. It >>> always works. >>> >>> A third view is that these are paying clients we are usually talking >>> about. As facilitators we can't just leave the organisation "up in the >>> air", walk away and let them do what they will with the space we've opened >>> up! Many facilitators then reach for the post-it notes, often in the last >>> hour, and start to draw out (or bleed?) actions from the meeting. All kinds >>> of clever prioritising and voting ensues. Elsewhere I've suggested this >>> might be a counter-productive way of going about things. >>> >>> Now, here's an alternative view and its based on the idea that time runs >>> backwards in the spiritual world. No! Stay with me. Just for a bit longer. >>> Imagine you put what went "before" you (past), before you (in front of you. >>> >>> For those of you still here, read on... >>> >>> I am going to suggest that follow up is often best at the start, not >>> after the event. I've tried it. It works. If the client is very concerned, >>> even at the planning stage, that action must result, then, of course, >>> include the invite to decide and commit to actions in the invitation to the >>> open space. Make that call to action explicit and that will help to set the >>> path for the right people to come. Some open space invitations are very >>> "theme" focused and it is easy when we immerse in self-organising >>> conversation, to forget the element of our will that sometimes sleeps a bit >>> when we go into the head space of sitting in circles, self-organising the >>> content of what is often talk, talk, talk. >>> >>> So, build the reminder of action in the invitation before the event. Put >>> action before the event, not after it. >>> >>> Yet even then it is easy to forget when the space opens. Not always, but >>> often. >>> >>> Now, stop reading if you don't like apparent craziness. >>> >>> Try this. Before the event, invite those coming to share what they think >>> the actions should be arising from the Open Space. Ask them to come up with >>> actions before the event has started. This can be done online or at a >>> pre-meeting. Get the actions out. When an open space is commissioned, it is >>> often because a critical issue or challenge in the organisation or >>> community has given rise to it. It is born out of restlessness. And >>> restlessness is often takes the form of blocked flow. People often know (or >>> think they know) what the actions and priorities are. Not everyone, but >>> some. They may not be correct, but they sit there, bubbling behind the damn >>> of "not yet" or "no". >>> >>> If certain actions have already been fixed and decided by leaders, be >>> open and transparent and build them into the invitation. If the actions are >>> to be arrived through community and organisational input then use a method >>> to surface them - but not after the open space - BEFORE it. The reason is >>> because a lot of the future already sits as potential in the word, hidden, >>> waiting to emerge. Human beings often tap into this and know what needs to >>> be done, before they explore how, and verify why, sometimes deciding >>> against anyway. The bubbling potential underneath is the potential for >>> "realisation" and it is mostly about action. The release of potential is >>> often exhilarating. Often at open space events, that potential for action >>> gets lost in the self-organising gorgeous chaos of of emergent head-talk. >>> Especially in the West. >>> >>> Get them out on the table BEFORE the event. Put them up on the wall. >>> THEN open the market place. The suggested "follow-up" actions will then be >>> "incomes" not "outcomes" of the event. They will be there, not bubbling >>> underneath, but instead shared consciously, and they will irritate and >>> inspire. And often sessions well self-organise around them. By the end of >>> the day, what we put "before" us, before the event started, now stand >>> "Before" us as commitments after the event. >>> >>> Trust the self-organising nature of open space and also trust the >>> inherent knowingness of the human collective and individual will. There's >>> often no need to worry about actions not arising from an event, if we >>> accept that those actions were largely already there in the collective >>> story and flow AND genius of the community. >>> >>> Some of those actions going in will be thrown out, others re-affirmed, >>> others changed and played with, and new actions will also come into being. >>> >>> I'm not suggesting this for all Open Spaces. Actually it works best >>> where action forms the main part of the invitation, is vital to the sponsor >>> and the community and also where there's an intuition that many of the >>> actions are already known and the open space overall theme is really more >>> about the who, when, where, why and how. >>> >>> Put the ending at the beginning, the imagined actions as the inspiration >>> and input. Then space will open around what we already think and feel needs >>> to happen. It might not. But then, again, it just might. >>> >>> But please, ditch the post-its and the after-event prioritising. It has >>> nothing to do with opening space. >>> >>> I believe that when we start an emergent conversation we may well have a >>> blank page. But usually organisations and communities travel along >>> timelines of past into present into future that are more like tapestries >>> than lines. Linear is but one way we experience life. Yet past is always >>> playing into the present, the future in the form of the unrealised and the >>> potential inspires us in the know. Often something in the future will be a >>> direct transformation or culmination of something that began in the past. >>> We are also past, present, AND future, which is more of a picture rather >>> than something linear. In open space, the action often precedes the word. >>> Allowing those actions to speak in the past of the open space often creates >>> a marvelous alchemy of flow where past and future meet in open space in the >>> present. >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> OSList mailing list >>> To post send emails to [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >>> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: >>> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> Nici Richter >> Strategist >> Sustainable Strategic Insight >> http://www.sustainablestrategicinsight.co.za/ >> >> Mobile +27727406181 >> [email protected] >> >> Skype: nici.richter >> Facebook: Nici Richter >> >> 90 WestMeath Road >> Parkview >> Johannesburg >> Gauteng >> South Africa >> 2193 >> >> _______________________________________________ >> OSList mailing list >> To post send emails to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: >> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org >> >> > > > -- > > Adriana Díaz-Berrio Ph.D. CRHA > (514) 739 2268 > www.diazberrio.com > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > -- Suzanne Daigle NuFocus Strategic Group 7159 Victoria Circle University Park, FL 34201 FL 941-359-8877; CT 203-722-2009 www.nufocusgroup.com [email protected] twitter @suzannedaigle
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