A note on the death of Peter Frost

[Chris Corrigan]

Hi friends:

Just a note to the list to mark the death of Peter Frost on Monday
after a short and intense struggle with melanoma.  In addition to
being a respected academic in the fields of organizational culture and
leadership teaching out of the University of British Columbia, he was
also my father-in-law.

Although he was not an Open Space Technology facilitator, Pete was an
open space guy.  Several of you had met him.  I know most recently
Brian Bainbridge took him and his wife Nola to lunch in Melbourne last
spring, a lunch they enjoyed immensely.  He had met Michael Herman
(who helped trim the Frost's Christmas tree in 2002!) as well as
Harrison and Birgitt and had deep respect for OST and what it meant in
the world.  My first OST event was conducted out of Pete's copy of the
old green user's guide.  I remember him giving me the book when I
consulted him about ideas for a workshop.  "Here, try this," he said.

Most recently, Pete had been writing about compassion in
organizations, and his work of the past five years culminated in a
book published in late 2002 by Harvard Business Press called "Toxic
Emotions At Work." (http://www.toxinhandler.com)  Together with
colleagues at UBC and in Ann Arbour, Michigan, he co-founded
CompassionLab (http://www.compassionlab.org), an interesting academic
group looking at organizations as arenas for the practice of
compassion.  On their website (and in Pete's book, and a previous
Harvard Business Review article) Pete quotes one of his favourite
lines from an OST practitioner: "There is always grief in the room."
He heard Birgitt Williams say this when he sat in with us in a
facilitation training back in 2001.  That quote served as a bit of a
mantra for his work and for CompassionLab.

Pete loved Open Space and was always interested in the stuff that came
from this list.  It gave us hours and hours of fascinating
conversations, with my own thinking and work shaped by what I learn
here and seeing how it bounced around with him.  As he was dying, he
took great comfort in knowing that as a family we were all holding
space for him.  He knew exactly what that meant, having incorporated
the concept into his work on toxicity in organizations as a
fundamental practice of compassionate managers..  The language of this
community spoke directly to his heart and the practice of OST in the
world gave him great hope and satisfaction that humans in
organizations and communities could work together with heart.

We are having a celebration of his lilfe at UBC next Monday.  If
Pete's spirit or work touched you and you are in the neighbourhood,
please join us.  Email me for details.

Cheers,

Chris

--
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CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com

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