Greetings - and Please help

[Barry Owen]

Greetings all, I am Barry Owen and have been lurking quietly in the
background reading, watching, listening . . . and changing a LOT of diapers
(my 20 month old daughter).

I have two bits to share:

1) For some years now, I have been in search of an opportunity to Open Space
here in Nashville,TN. The knock came at the door a few weeks ago . . . I
answered the door . . . and it was a church organization deeply entrenched
in the old way of doing things but NOW with a new visionary leader and a NEW
global mission. Huge diversity of people . . . Huge potential for conflict
(Equal rights issues, plus every HR nightmare one could imagine) . . . The
need to organize quickly in a new way to respond to the new Global mission.

We began with a 2 day Open Space. The morning of the first day, I watched as
these good folks (100 participants) arrived in this fabulous lodge to find
the circle of chairs. Tensions were high . . . there was not a genuine smile
in the place (LOTS of nervous, tense smiles). The new leader began with a
very appropriate and brief introduction during which he invited the people
to open their minds and hearts completely to help him redefine their
organization . . . I opened the space along with another local consultant .
. . These folks took to Open Space like ducks to water. There was LOTS of
passion in that room. We had 43 issues posted within 20 minutes - the 10 AM
sessions began at 10 AM - and they were off and running.

Evening news was VERY quiet . . . 2 new sessions were posted but no other
comments . . . a bit of high play as one group decided to fill the silence
by starting "The Wave." . . . The circle then disintigrated and everyone
went away.

The morning of day 2, I watched each person arrive with BIG genuine smiles
on their faces - LOTS of energy. It was known by all that the proceedings
from this event would be prioritized and then sent forth to be THE driving
document for next steps . . . I believe EVERY session was documented - These
folks took great care being sure that the reports were accuratley entered.

The closing was beautiful. We heard comments along the lines of: "I have
been with this organization for 15 years, and this is the first time I feel
that my voice has really been heard."

Next steps:
- They have already created a "Chapel" in the middle of their building to be
a central hub for keeping the dialogues going.
- A follow-up Open Space event (again 2 days) is scheduled in March
- Some Issues which surfaced during our event will become themes for
mini-open spaces in the weeks between now and March.

Perhaps we have the beginnings of an Open Space Organization?

This is the story in a nutshell . . . I could write volumes on specifics of
the event but I wanted to celebrate an Open Space success openly here on the
listserve . . . Firstly because it actually occured in NASHVILLE, TN (where
I have encountered the MOST conservative, "old way," control freak business
"leaders" imaginable) . . . This is a HUGE step for mankind (grin) . . . and
secondly because I have finally been able to exercise MY passion and open a
bit of space for an organization which has embraced it and is moving forward
in a positive light.

The second "bit" comes in another email . . .

Be well all,

b

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