paul,
Thanks for your recent posts. This one brings to mind the Core
commitments, in particular #6:
=====
#6
=====
I will disengage from less productive situations
* When I cannot keep these commitments,
* When it is more important that I engage elsewhere.
=====
I wonder if you might enjoy this link, the source of the text above:
http://liveingreatness.com/core-protocols/the-core-commitments/
On 10/30/13 6:32 AM, paul levy wrote:
Dear all, the second of two posts. Comments and insights most welcome...
warm wishes
Paul Levy
Like many of the open space principles, they are true at an archetypal
level. The people who are in the room to get to work together on
something are the people we have. Where attendance in that room is
voluntary, we have a community formed out of freedom, and that
commitment means the right people are in the room. The rightness here
is born of free commitment. There's also a more pragmatic perspective
that says: Here we are, here and right now, and this is who we have,
so let's get to work!
Some open space facilitators misunderstand this "rightness" and
suggest to participants that we should just accept who is here as the
right people and get on with things, stifling any conversation or
regret about who isn't in the room. They then present this principle
as a kind of dogma as follows: Whoever didn't come, clearly didn't
need to be here. This is a pity as reflection on who isn't here and
even freely chosen attempts during the open space event itself to
contact those absent and attempt to bring them into the space, or at
least involve them in some way, is then stifled.
Whoever comes are the right people, but that statement isn't rendered
any less true if we ponder on who isn't there and at least acknowledge
absence. This can actually be empowering and energising, as long as we
don't stay away from what we can do together in the room by becoming
blocked or paralysed by who isn't in the room.
Let me offer a couple of examples to prove this.
Someone doesn't attend who is ill. They wanted to come. They couldn't.
In the feeling of the community, this is still one of the "right"
people. We mention them. We might even read out a good will message
from them, sent by text. They might even email a few suggestions for
what sessions they might have offered at the open space, had they been
able to attend. We still have the right people in the room, but we can
now imagine an empty chair, and also fold in what the person who might
have occupied that chair might have brought. This can enhance and
raise awareness in the community.
Here's another example. A key decision maker prioritises a different
meeting from the open space they were intending to attend. A group at
the open space explore a challenge of product redesign and reach a key
decision point halfway through their session that needs the yes or no
from the absent key decision maker. The group acknowledges that
absence to each other. In one case, a member of the group contacts the
decision maker and gets their input remotely, just for five minutes,
and the group can then progress to further action around the product
redesign. In another case they agree to meet with the decision maker
as soon as possible after the open space event and, in the meantime,
make a provisional decision, then proceeding on the assumption that
the decision maker will say yes, but also creating a "plan B" in case
of a no.
In both cases there are, at least in one sense, "right" people who are
have not come. Holding them in mind, involving them where possible can
help the space to further open.
So, when introducing the principle "whoever comes are the right
people", it is important not to present this as "we are the good guys
who came, and the bad guys didn't so they are irrelevant to our work
here" or as "they ain't here, now shut up and get over it". This
principle is not there to stifle either regret or reflection. It is
there to affirm the value of being in the present, and with committing
to who and what we have right now. It is no accident that the people
who are here are here. They responded to the invitation in freedom.
Yet we can also "involve" those outside the circle by filling the
empty chairs with creativity and care. "What would John have said had
he been able to be here?" "Is there anyway we can get Steve in for the
afternoon session?"
Don't fear flexibility and also the notion that presence at an open
space doesn't only have to be physical.
More here:
http://rationalmadness.wordpress.com/treasures/open-space-realm/
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