Reviving a Facilitator's Passion

[Esther .]

Marty:

I don't think I know enough to know if there was anything you could have done
up front to prevent what happened, but I do know a couple of things:

1. Remember that in open space, whatever happens is truly the only thing that
could - which I take to mean in your circumstances that perhaps this group
was not ready to see the opportunity in the day or that there was something
else entirely happening in their lives which was "in the way" of their being
able to take advantage of this or perhaps the question was the wrong one for
them and no one had the nerve to really say, "Wait a minute, what we really
need to talk about is..."

2. Keep saying (as I used to say about my teenage kids - with clenched teeth)
"Every client has their path, every client has their path..." and have faith
that their process is their process and that they are learning what they need
to learn right now

3. A couple of questions that you might ask another time if faced with this
kind of dilemma (and I offer these with humility and unfair hindsight knowing
that these questions might well not ocur to me in the moment): "It seems like
there isn't much energy around this question for this afternoon. Perhaps
there is something else that is vital for this group to discuss to make
progress together?" or "It seems like there isn't much energy around this
questions this afternoon. May I make a suggestion that perhaps it would be
important for this group to discuss what things already work around here that
assist this group in contributing the value to the community that it wants to
make. Are there any suggestions for what it might be important for this group
to take forward in designing a new future?"

Just a couple of thoughts. Please discard what doesn't make sense to you.

Regards
Esther


Esther Ewing
The Change Alliance - Assisting Individuals and Organizations to Build
Capability
<A HREF="www.ChangeAlliance.com">www.ChangeAlliance.com</A>
330 East 38th St, Suite 53K
New York, NY 10016-9804
212-661-6024

Authorized Distributor, Panoramic Feedback
<A HREF="www.PanoramicFeedback.com">www.panoramicfeedback.com</A>

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