a story of Talking "Sticks"

[Vliex, Carla (cvl)]

In an recent Open Sapce for Unicef Sarajevo, the sponsor used an "Oscar" as
a talking stick. In the night before they had a kind of cabaret where
everybody got an Oscar ( e.g. for lossing most weight, for being the most
cheerfull person in the team, etc.) And you know, in the closing circle
everybody, with this Oscar, said something. The most impressing was a
technichan who said:
"this is the first time in my life that I feel I am being a part of team, of
the person's I am working with".

Carla

> Met vriendelijke groet,
>
> drs. Carla J.P. Vliex
> _______________________________________
> Organisatieadviseur
>
> Twynstra Gudde Management Consultants
> Stationsplein 1, 3818 LE Amersfoort
> Postbus 907, 3800 AX Amersfoort
> Telefoon 033 4677760, Fax 033 4677479
> Mobiel 06 53927407
> E-mail cvl at tg.nl, Internet www.tg.nl
>
>
> ----------
> From:         Gerard Muller[SMTP:gm at openspace.dk]
> Reply To:     OSLIST
> Sent:         Wednesday, 26 February, 2003 09:21
> To:   OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject:      Re: a story of Talking "Sticks"
>
> The client I mentioned earlier (Director of a Province, last Monday) chose
> a collection
> of H.C. Andersons fairy tales as his talking sticks. In all of the past,
> the only person
> coming from that province who is known worldwide is HC Andersen. But isn't
> the Spirit of
> a community found in its (fairy) tales ? The closing circle had no trouble
> recognising
> the talking stick as the right one for that occasion.
>
> Greetings from denmark,
>
>
>
>
> Gerard Muller
> Open Space Institute Denmark
>
>
>
>
>
> WB-TrainingConsultingDevelopment wrote:
>
> > Gerard
> >
> > thank you for helping me to deepen my understanding, what the talking
> stick is about.
> > And for the technical hints
> >
> > I very much appreciate your sharing
> >
> > Bernd
> >
> > On Thu, 20 Feb 2003 10:00:47 +0100, Gerard Muller wrote:
> > Dear all,
> >
> > A conversation with a collegue about the use of the talking stick
> inspired
> > me to send this mail about one detail of it.
> >
> > Instead of bringing one myself, I now ask the sponsor of an event to
> think
> > of one.
> > After explaining what we use it for, I say something like the following:
> >
> > I would like to ask you to choose the object, and to explain why you
> chose
> > it
> > (or else decide who should do this).
> > Ideally, the object symbolises the direction, vision or process you have
> > started. It could be an old object which your organisation has which can
> > also be connected to the future.
> >
> > For an Open Space I do coming Monday, which is for an organisation which
> > works well (but is much like a machine) and needs to go through an
> > intensive change process, I added " It could be an object which can
> > symbolise the values and strenghts which the organisation tradtionally
> has,
> > but which has the
> > flexibility and responsiveness to the environment which you envision.".
> >
> > The particular CEO the next day wrote back "Thank you for the challenge!
> If
> > I can handle that in accordance with your demands, the rest of the day
> will
> > be easy!"
> >
> > I feel that leaving this up to the sponsor has a couple of advantages,
> the
> > most important one seems to be
> > that if chosen well, the object (and the story with which it is
> introduced)
> > is better than anything I could
> > bring along - and most clients really make an effort choosing something.
> > The choice sometimes reveals things I have not noticed or understood
> about
> > the situation, and it is also fun because of the creativity
> > which emerges.
> >
> > Some examples of talking "sticks" I have experienced: a 5000-year old
> > flintstone, a mountai crystal, a Lego helicopter (leadership was the
> > issue), a branch with apple blossom (the future strategy for apple and
> pear
> > producers), the statuette of the sower ( symbol of an agricultural
> > university), the declaration of the rights of children (librarians of
> > children's books), a Nokia cellphone (creating a network). Most
> interesting
> > - and powerful - however I feel are the stories to introduce the objects
> > with, rather than the objects themselves. It's probably the combination
> > that does it.
> >
> > In situations where it is unclear who should open the meeting
> introducing
> > the talking stick provides an opportunity for a second person to have a
> > clear tole. For example in the case of a university which was making its
> > strategic plan in Open Space, it was clear the Chairman of the Board
> would
> > open the meeting.
> > However the Rector in reality had most of the responsability (and work).
> So
> > I asked the rector to find the object and introduce it.
> >
> > I look forward to hear any other experiences or examples.
> >
> > Greetings from Denmark,
> >
> > Gerard Muller
> > Open Space Institute Denmark
> >
> > *
> > *
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