hi annamarie,
in our space, we have 18 plots in one large raised bed. plots are
assigned
on first-come basis.
the previous garden leader and the guy who cut the grass in the park
took 6
of the 18 plots for themselves, what seemed like the sunniest and best
plots. the first thing i did was take no plot. one other garden
leader
takes one plot. everybody's equal, nobody gets more than one plot.
the next thing i did was set up an email group. when people ask for a
plot, i ask them to join the list. if they don't join, they never get
the
information needed to sign up. so i ask them to take some
responsibility
for their interest right away. it's not about a transaction that they
pay
their little fee for their little plot. they have to actually show up
in
the list.
then all the info goes out on the list. everything is done as
transparently as possible. assignments are done on a tenure basis,
first
pick to returning gardeners, then in order of joining the list.
i invite/suggest tilling the whole bet together in the spring. my
wife and
i live without a car, so i ask for somebody to pickup the rental
tiller,
and volunteers come out throughout the day to take turns using it.
some
don't show, and a few guys have a lot of fun giving the whole thing
second
and third coats with the powertool. some people have perennials to be
saved, and they are responsible for getting those marked for the
tillers.
through the summer, the list allows folks to ask others to water their
stuff while they go away. ask questions about various issues, who's
stealing tomatoes, what to do about the homeless guy sleeping in the
park,
is he the guy stealing tomatoes? what about tree trimming? or what
about
the big tree that shattered in the storm, the expert says it should
come
down, but can it be saved? always my thing is putting out as much
info as
i have and asking what anyone thinks, and what anyone can do to
contribute.
and yes, the shattered tree has been saved for a few years now because
a
couple of people on the list jumped to do what was needed to make that
happen.
we've had conflict of sorts, at least differences of opinion/agenda
over
spreading weed poison in the park where the plots are. so that
required a
fair amount of space holding on the list and in relations with my
neighbors. the neighbors were mostly willing to chip in and buy the
poison
service. the gardeners we're willing to chip in and help dig up the
dandelions, also to do research on alternative sprays. one gardener's
father was an ag scientiest for one of the chemical companies. so we
ended
up having a lot of good information, found an organic alternative, had
to
have only one nasty treatment, and the gardeners worked to dig weeds
within
the area closest to the garden bed.
mostly i ask a lot more questions and feed a lot more info into the
list,
our "wall" and don't hardly ever tell anyone what they need to do.
got a
little dicey in the weeds process, when a good friend and neighbor who
lives right next to the park, and led the weed poison charge, wanted
and
expected me to do just that -- tell everybody how it was going to be.
in
the end, my mailbox ends up being where organic weed treatment
donations
are dropped off by neighbors and gardeners. of course, i am also the
keeper of the neighborhood contact info directory page and the
neighbors
email list. in the garden there are a set of rules posted, as guides,
but
enforcement is left to the group.
i guess i should also say that this land is held by a non-profit in
chicago
that holds or leases claim to 70 or 80 green spaces. they handle
insurance, water bills, and other admin issues and contract with a
community group (the neighborhood association, in our case) and at
least
three local garden leaders. the way i came into this is that i saw
the
previous leadership running a very exclusive, controlling process and
happened to meet the director of the non-profit, who mentioned that
he'd
not heard from our garden leaders for years. i helped him reconnect,
but
also helped him re-write their contract with community group and
leaders,
adding a larger section for "stakeholder" signatures. expanding the
circle, if you will. so i went around and had this new contract
signed by
lots of neighbors and had a chance to talk to a lot of folks about
what
they thought of the park and the garden and the neighborhood. then
the old
leader got bothered that he'd not be in sole control, and walked out.
the
neighborhood association took a while to figure out that i wasn't the
devil, but over time that's been borne out by the work i've done to
engage
everyone in an open, expanding, resilient, emerging sort of process.
for my next trick, i try to get out and go take a nap for a year, or
at
least get out of some of the stuff like collecting fees, assigning
plots,
inviting the tiller day to happen. we'll see!
does that answer the question?
--
Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
312-280-7838 (mobile)
http://MichaelHerman.com
http://OpenSpaceWorld.org
On Sun, Dec 14, 2014 at 12:55 PM, Annamarie Pluhar <
[email protected]> wrote:
Hi! (I started to write just to Michael - but realized that others
might
find the question and answer of interest.)
How does the nominal leader run the community garden in OS? Most
particularly how does the work that needs to be done to manage the
garden
as a whole get done?
I ask as secretary of a Governing Committee that came into existence
when
the original founders alienated too many people (by being arrogant
and
punitive and authoritarian) and it was decided we needed to have some
structure and governance.
'Nuff said, interested in the answer!
Peace,
Annamarie
Annamarie Pluhar
Pluhar Consulting
http://www.pluharconsulting.com
802.451.1941
802.579.5975 (cell)
On 14 Dec 2014, at 11:26, Michael Herman via OSList wrote:
i woke up this morning thinking about this game, thinking in a
direction
similar to paul levy.
i am the nominal leader of a community garden now for four years. my
management is deeply informed by my learning in and about open space.
does
it count as 1 or 4?
i once had a client who flew me in to facilitate a meeting. we also
built
a weblog and they contacted me a number of times, over several years,
with
minor technical questions. do the meeting and the blog count as one
together, or two separate?
i taught my grandma to say "ah," as she began the active process of
dying.
she then repeated that seed syllable, a one-syllable mantra for
peace, on
every breath of her last week of life. she never opened her eyes but
over
that week completely relaxed her whole body. was that open space?
what
about up all night rocking a tiny, sick, neice?
i saw some new neighbors moving in the other day. our neighborhood
has a
lot of old houses and everybody moves in and starts updating
everything. i
offered my tools and experience. if they never take me up on that
offer/invitation, does it count? what if they just look for me at my
desk
in our front window, and wave when they see me, while out walking
their
dog? that could happen a lot. must count as only once? or maybe it
doesn't count at all?
what about three opening briefings, on three consecutive days of open
space
trainings i've done? and what about all the things that happen after
an
event, does the original opener get partial credit for things his/her
participants open later on?
to paul's point, i can ask questions like this about almost every
situation
where i facilitated a meeting in an open space way, and about many
other
situations where i was not "facilitating" anything, apparently. this
is
one of the ways i understand that we live in open space.
my approach to training folks in and about open space is
significantly
focused on the crafting of invitations, in the belief that if we make
enough invitations, over time, people, groups and good work are going
to
show up.
i also focus on discovering all the different ways that whomever i'm
"training" has already been opening space in their own lives. i don't
think anyone could come to this work without having already done it
before.
it would be completely un-understandable to them without prior
experience.
i think people ask for training so they can do what they already
know/do
better. so i try to build on and from whatever understanding they
bring.
so this question of seven or more is not so easy for me. not sure
it's
even helpful. i'm more interested in questions like:
1. when did you first hear about os or ost?
2. what was the hook? how did you notice it might have value?
3. when did you notice that you'd started letting it inform how you
live?
4. what has happened since then? what difference does it seem to
make?
and so on. a new game? the next round? maybe. or maybe it's just the
game Murli called OSLIST back in 1996?
michael
--
Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
312-280-7838 (mobile)
http://MichaelHerman.com
http://OpenSpaceWorld.org
On Sun, Dec 14, 2014 at 8:47 AM, Eva P Svensson via OSList <
[email protected]> wrote:
I have also stopped counting :-)
But love doing it whenever it’s possible.
:o)
Eva
Sweden
Bästa hälsningar
Eva P Svensson
*EPS Human Invest AB*
*Co owner Genuine Contact Group Inc*
*Medlem i Beyond Performance Group*
*"Verksamhetsutveckling genom människor skapar långsiktigt
välmående
företag och organisationer"*
Anåsbergsvägen 22, 439 34 ONSALA
Besöksadress; Norra Allégatan 8, Göteborg
Tfn: 0300-615 05, Mobil; 0706- 89 85 50
www.epshumaninvest.se
Skype: eva.p.svensson
Facebook sida: EPS Human Invest AB
twitter:@EvaPSvensson
*"Jag kan inte lära dig något. Allt jag kan göra är att ställa
frågor till
dig, och låta dig själv finna svaren." Sokrates*
13 dec 2014 kl. 18:05 skrev Gray via OSList <
[email protected]>:
Um...I've facilitated, at this point, a little over 60. Smallest was
8
people on Maui. Largest was about 375, in Chicago. Been doing it
since
2007.
And I say "um..." Because I am still learning, still figuring it out,
and
still hear Lisa Heft in my head saying "be more invisible, Gray..."
—
Sent from Mailbox https://www.dropbox.com/mailbox
On Sat, Dec 13, 2014 at 10:34 AM, Daniel Mezick via OSList <
[email protected]> wrote:
Hmmm, the the Lurker Game proved interesting.
...lots of seldom-heard-from voices! Quite a deep level of experience
being reported!
So interesting ... so much depth. Seems like something to ...
*explore....*
So: if you want, *you are cordially invited* to play ... let's call
it
the OST-7 Game:
========================================
*The OST-7** Game*
*The Goal:*
Get a collective idea of how many people here have actually
Facilitated 7
or more OST events in their lifetime. Put another way: what is the
depth of
practical OST facilitation experience across the entire membership?
*The Rules:*
If you have Facilitated at least 7 OST events, consider replying with
"hey" ... or optionally, with absolutely anything else you might like
to
say, for example: where you are located, last time you did one, your
hair
color, etc
*Tracking Progress:*
Watch the thread to track progress, by: # of replies, # of countries,
#
of OST events, replies per unit of time, # of people with red hair,
or
absolutely any other measures you like
*Play:*
100% optional. Play if you like. If you've done more 7 or more and
prefer
to just watch the game, that's OK too.
========================================
Notes:
- For this game, "OST" means something like this:
http://www.openspaceworld.com/users_guide.htm
- This is for Facilitating only; consider replying if you've
Facilitated at least 7 of these events in your lifetime.
- Please reply by clicking [Reply All] Or [Reply List], so the thread
stays together, under the same subject
Steps to Play:
- Click [Reply All] Or [Reply List]
- Reply with "hey" or with absolutely anything else you might like to
say
You are invited. What might happen next? Let's see...
Daniel
--
Daniel Mezick, President
New Technology Solutions Inc.
(203) 915 7248 (cell)
Bio http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/. Blog
http://newtechusa.net/blog/. Twitter
http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/.
Examine my new book: The Culture Game
http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/: Tools for the
Agile Manager.
Explore Agile Team Training
http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/ and Coaching.
http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/
Explore the Agile Boston http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/
Community.
------------------------------
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
------------------------------
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
------------------------------
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
