Learning to expand our NOW
Michael Dobbie
mishek_d at YAHOO.COM
Sat Apr 23 12:42:58 PDT 2005
Hi Cheryl,
I've made the assumption that this list is simply being run in an Open Space
format. Am I wrong and are you requesting that something different from this happen
here?
'Clarifications' can be a tricky thing to judge. They can mean a lot of different
things to different people. What's wrong with each of us all taking care of what we
think are those unecessary 'clarifications' simply by using the old law of delete? I
myself am enjoying this current collective proccess of clarification and (to me)
community building. It's stuff I will often relate and connect to much better than some
of the other dry second hand, third person sharings, discussions and analysis we
tend to have so much of here.
To me this stuff is Here and Now and we who wish to be more Here and Now are
speaking here and now.
So for now, since I'm here, I should give a quick Hello to my friends out there! I
don't think I'll make it to the next OSonOS in Halifax but I'm here, as always, part of
this global one....
Michael.
On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 20:21:15 -0700, Cheryl Honey <wecare at familynetwork.org>
wrote:
>I'd like to suggest that matters pertaining to clarifications be made directly with
individuals and not posted to list. Thanks....cheryl
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Spady's
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Sent: Friday, April 22, 2005 12:00 PM
> Subject: Re: Learning to expand our NOW
>
>
> Okay, I have to pipe in a bit on this one...
>
> Masud, I find it extremely ironic that the posting you made to Therese implies that
she was being judgmental and then in this post you instantly jump to conclusions
and "judge" her...hmmmm... IMHO you cannot factually conclude that her lack of
response was some sort of avoidance on the issue. As Lisa has pointed out, there
could be a zillion reasons why she didn't respond within a day (hardly enough time
to even make a conclusion)...I think you read way too much into this as you were
obviously waiting for a baited response from her.
>
> Just my 2 cents worth...
>
> Judy Spady
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Masud Sheikh
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Sent: Friday, April 22, 2005 9:28 AM
> Subject: Learning to expand our NOW
>
>
> Dear all,
>
> In the interest of expanding my "NOW", I request a favour/favor (being Canadian,
I can use both spellings):
>
> Yesterday, I had a conflict with Therese Fitzpatrick, when I posted the following
note:
>
> ">Funda, such an event would not be negative...it could be wonderful and life
affirming.
>
> > And it could unleash new, positive initiatives in the world.
>
> Please forgive me for reacting, Therese.
>
> "Would not be negative....." - Is that not highly judgmental, Therese - an opinion
expressed as fact?
>
> Masud"
>
> Therese's lack of response makes it evident that my "NOW" did not contain
enough space for her to respond. For those of you who can have space for my
views, as well as hers, can you please suggest an alternative way of posing my
comment/question?
>
> My best wishes
>
> Masud
>
> There is something called learning at a rather small level of organisation. At a
much higher gestalt level, learning is called evolution - Gregory Bateson
>
*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
>From Sat Apr 23 16:39:27 2005
Message-Id: <SAT.23.APR.2005.163927.0400.>
Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2005 16:39:27 -0400
Reply-To: mcooper at integralvisions.com
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Michelle Cooper <mcooper at integralvisions.com>
Subject: FW: Deafened People thriving in OS
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
I realized this just went to Diane when I intended it to go to the list.
Michelle
-----Original Message-----
From: Michelle Cooper [mailto:mcooper at integralvisions.com]
Sent: April 23, 2005 04:09 PM
To: diane.gibeault at rogers.com
Subject: RE: Deafened People thriving in OS
Thanks for sharing this wonderful story Diane. I honour your creativity and
how you adapted. I facilitated a meeting where a deaf person and a deaf
blind person were present (and a seeing eye dog), but I can imagine it took
some thinking to adapt to a whole room full of persons who had lost their
hearing. Having to choose words wisely and modify the cadence of my speech
so that the two intervenors (one on a laptop typing out the words for her
client and the other signing on the hand of the blind person) could keep up
was indeed a challenge for me. The deaf blind woman was the person who gave
me powerful feedback about the importance of walking the circle. She came to
me later to thank me. She said that although she could not see me, she could
hear loud and soft and she could feel me pass by. She said that it made her
feel included in the process....and by the way both posted topics and hosted
discussions in a group of over 100 women!!
Great job.
Michelle
[Michelle Cooper] -----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Diane
Gibeault
Sent: April 22, 2005 07:55 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Deafened People thriving in OS
Possibilities with Open Space are almost limitless.
Here is how I adapted the process to meet the challenges at hand for this
Open Space meeting for deafened people - people who once heard and spoke but
have now lost their hearing completely or in good part and have not
necessarily learned sign language or lip reading.
The invitation from a volunteer organization went to the community at
large. Over twenty people met for half a day. The theme was focussed on
service and access needs of deafened people. Communication was assisted by
interpreters, sound enhancing ear plugs and simultaneous captioning services
enabling participants to read spoken words on a large screen.
We were able to preserve the formation of the full circle of chairs by
having some of the hearing participants (partner accompanying a deafened
participant, sponsor of the organization, sign language interpreter and
facilitator) sit at one end of the circle, their backs to the screen which
other participants needed to see.
As the facilitator, I could not walk in the circle while speaking because
it would have interfered with the view of the screen but I did walk around
the circle once without speaking. I had told the group I would do so and
that at the same time, they were invited to let their eyes go around the
circle, acknowledging the richness of the people present. I made eye contact
with everyone, we all smiled and nodded to welcome each other and they did
the same with other participants. The circle was bound.
Harisson Owen’s “less is more” never was so true. To explain the process,
I had to speak slowly, using few words, choosing key important ones so that
the captioning note takers and interpreters would represent the ideas as
clearly and as completely as possible. Otherwise, they will cut on what was
said or put it in words that may not reflect as well what you wanted to say.
Beth Martin a OS trainee who assisted in the Open Space was asked by the
sponsor to take the role of reading the screen and signalling to me when I
had to slow down. If a message had been really distorted, she would have
caught it and let me know.
Participants wrote their topics and only when all had finished did they
take turns to announce them from their seat. This way, everyone could look
at the screen or interpreter. Otherwise, they would have missed the topic
announcements because they would be looking at their sheet while writing
their own topic. Participants with topics then picked up a Post-it with time
and place and put up their topics on the wall. After this first round, some
came up with more ideas for topics and we proceeded in the same way again.
Once all the topics were on the wall, further instructions were given and
off they went to sign up. If they needed to negotiate combinations or time
changes, they could communicate with each other by writing on the paper pad
they were given or calling upon an interpreter. Each meeting site had a
large screen computer and a note taker and participants sat around to read
on the screen what was being said. Interpreters went where they were needed.
There was a talking piece at every meeting site to help see who was
speaking. A real break was scheduled between the two discussion rounds to
give everyone a rest from reading.
Discussion reports were completed after the event, given it was only a
half day meeting. For reporting to the entire group at the end of the event,
two flip charts were placed near the circle in the plenary room and
initiators had been invited to write two or three lines that captured the
key idea or action coming out of their discussion. This encouraged them to
organize their thoughts and it condensed the reporting period. Initiators
read their two line reports that were captured by the interpreters and the
larger screen. Participants exchanged comments, reactions and more stories.
For the closing, the talking piece worked like it always does and words
came from the heart to bring meaningful closure to this event.
They were energised by this kind of exchange that brought them out of
their isolation. They would have wanted to keep on. They talked about having
another meeting. This kind of experience was a first of its kind for these
participants and for this community of people with hearing challenges. A few
months later, they formed a self-help group that is now meeting regularly.
The quickness of participants to take charge of the process, the level of
participation, the energy and the enthusiasm about the results and about
this way of meeting were the same as for all the other open space groups I
have facilitated. Open Space does work with any group as long as there is
passion for the reason that brings people together.
Diane Gibeault
Diane Gibeault CPF / FPA
Diane Gibeault & Assoc.
www.dianegibeault.com
diane.gibeault at rogers .com Ottawa Canada (613) 744-2638
Facilitation and Training in Support of Transformation
Facilitation et formation en appui à la transformation
* * ==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU ------------------------------ To subscribe,
unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about
OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 0516-7, 22/04/2005
Tested on: 23/04/2005 3:59:29 PM
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2004 ALWIL Software.
---
avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean.
Virus Database (VPS): 0516-7, 22/04/2005
Tested on: 23/04/2005 4:38:22 PM
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2004 ALWIL Software.
http://www.avast.com
*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
More information about the OSList
mailing list