Taking a Nap

Sue Scott msscott1 at mindspring.com
Sun Jan 30 21:13:48 PST 2005


Oh, Harrison, I have to agree about some of the best thinking being done in
the dreamy state of napping, especially just when falling asleep or waking
up. Then I have written so many things, conducted make-believe conversations
that solved all kinds of conflicts, and rearranged ideas and concepts in
creative ways. Sometimes, upon awakening, I do what I dreamed about. But
whether I do or not is not the main point, as I know that I *could* do those
things if I chose to and I feel a refreshing sense of hope with which to
tackle whatever comes next.

Love,

Sue Scott who is presently in the bright and cheery state of Oregon USA and
definitely awake


****************************************************************************
*****************************************************************
To work in the world lovingly means that we are defining what we will be
for, rather than reacting to what we are against.

Christina Baldwin
****************************************************************************
********************************************************************
----- Original Message -----
From: "Harrison Owen" <hhowen at comcast.net>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 5:22 AM
Subject: Taking a Nap


> Mikk and Funda - -
>
> I never really thought about it, but it may be (as Mikk suggests) that
> taking a nap is more than an accommodation to my own needs. There is no
> secret as far as I am concerned that by the time I have gone through the
> opening of the space, I am pretty well bushed. I start a lot earlier than
> the participants with some quiet time for myself (meditation), come into
the
> room way before anybody else just to get the feel and sense of the place,
> and then of course there are all the complex :-) practicalities to take
care
> of like magic markers and Post-its. Once all that is done a whoosh of
> energetic anticipation erupts, groups form, lots of chaos -- and then
> (usually) silence if everybody has gone to breakout rooms. I am just plain
> tuckered out and a nap, or definitely a long quiet walk, is the only
option.
> Certainly seems like the right thing to do.
>
> But I can see Mikk's point. It is all about letting go and opening up some
> more space as well. In order to take a good nap -- you just have to let it
> all go. Otherwise you just toss and turn, and the nap is useless. And by
> physically removing myself, more space inevitably opens. For anybody who
> thought I was going to take charge, my absence puts that silly notion to
> rest. Of course, there have even been times when I had no (other) place to
> go and found a quiet corner in the main room. Talk about sleeping on the
> job!
>
> There may be something else here as well. I have noticed over the years
that
> my most useful thinking seems to take place when I am asleep. (Don't
laugh!)
> Given a real knotty problem that is going nowhere near solution -- I find
> that the best thing to do is "sleep on it." More often than not, when the
> morning comes, the way forward is clearer. I suspect that the secret is
that
> I have given my good old subconscious some space and time to work in --
> without all the distractions of waking state. I would guess that the same
> sort of thing happens in dream-time in Open Space. I am no longer
distracted
> by all the words and externals, and have a real opportunity to appreciate
> the emerging possibility space the group has created and is busy
exploring.
>
> How is that for a rationalization? But anyhow, I think naps are wonderful.
>
> Harrison
>
>
>
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20845
> Phone 301-365-2093
>
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit:
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Mikk
Sarv
> Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 5:27 AM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: facilitator & sponsor identity
>
> Dear Funda,
> during last OS facilitator's training I provided, the becoming
facilitators,
> who tried out opening space for others found out, that just "taking a nap"
> is the most challenging, but most efficient exercise to get the space
> opened.
> With best greetings,
> Mikk Sarv
> Estonia
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Funda Oral" <fundaoral at ttnet.net.tr>
> To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
> Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 12:12 PM
> Subject: Re: facilitator & sponsor identity
>
>
> > thank you Harrison...this is really the best job in the world; the
> responsibility is "taking a nap" :-)
> >
> > > Kimden: Harrison Owen <hhowen at comcast.net>
> > > Tarih: 2005/01/28 Cum PM 11:47:22 GMT+02:00
> > > Kime: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> > > Konu: Re: facilitator & sponsor identity
> > >
> > > Funda - for you Anything! Yes I think you have it just right. The
> sponsor(s)
> > > is the one(s) who needs the space opened. And the Facilitator is the
> person
> > > who does the work. This also includes taking a nap if I am the
> facilitator.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Harrison
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Harrison Owen
> > >
> > > 7808 River Falls Drive
> > >
> > > Potomac, Maryland   20845
> > >
> > > Phone 301-365-2093
> > >
> > > Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
> <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>
> > >
> > >
> > > Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> > >
> > > Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
> > > OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> > >
> > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives
Visit:
> > > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
Funda
> Oral
> > > Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 8:38 AM
> > > To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> > > Subject: facilitator & sponsor identity
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Referring to my last (today's) answer to  Zachary's question. I think
i
> > > confuse the role of the facilitator and the
> > >
> > > sponsor.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I want to share with you while trying to clear my mind;
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > -there is a "question" that is worth opening a space
> > >
> > > -sponsor is the one who should be sensitive to the question in the
> subject
> > >
> > >  and looking for the answers
> > >
> > > -faciliator should be neutral...he is not looking for the answers...he
> > > doesn't need to listen or
> > >
> > >  read the answers. He just makes a formal introduction among the
> sponsor,
> > > guests and the
> > >
> > >  question...and explains the method (OST)...and that's it....so
> facilitator
> > > should be really
> > >
> > >  without any identity, expectation, neutral...even doesn't have any
> interest
> > > in the question and answers
> > >
> > >  and be able to leave sponsors and guests alone and free....
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > So the facilitator's main role should be offer a space to those who
> should
> > > own and solve their issue
> > >
> > > where the facilitator doesn't have any responsibility or stake.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I appreciate any comment on that, especially from Harrison.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > thanks,
> > >
> > > Funda
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > * * ==========================================================
> > > 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
> > >
> > > *
> > > *
> > > ==========================================================
> > > 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
> > >
> >
> > *
> > *
> > ==========================================================
> > 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
> >
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> 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
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> 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
>

*
*
==========================================================
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  Sun Jan 30 22:39:09 2005
Message-Id: <SUN.30.JAN.2005.223909.0800.>
Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 22:39:09 -0800
Reply-To: chris at chriscorrigan.com
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Chris Corrigan <chris.corrigan at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Story of a powerful 1.5 day open space (long)
In-Reply-To: <BE226263.A1AF%chris at springbranch.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

That is something I want to know more about too.  The Urban Aboriginal
Strategy has been notable in its flexibility.  It is the federal
government's response to the overwhelming problems facing Aboriginal
people living in urban areas.  At some level, the federal government
understood that they don't have answers and that the community does.
Largely based on our experience of five years ago when Open Space was
used to set the agenda for the Vancouver strategy, the Prince George
event proceeded from the basis that an inclusive process was needed to
truly sense the community priorities.

The money is being spent by a federal government department that
traditionally doesn't have much to do with Aboriginal issues, and so I
think this is an example of "sparse prior connections" helping to
generate a "nutrient environment", two of Kaufmann's predicates for
self-organizing.

There has been pressure for years from the Aboriginal community to let
the communities themselves set the agenda for action.  Everyone, the
federal government included, is aware of how wrong it is that the
government sets the agenda for communities.  And so this sense of not
having answers I think is another piece of the puzzle...if we don't
have answers, why don't we just ask the community?  There are fairly
powerful bureaucrats who have opened themselves up to this process.  I
think they are convinced by the ability of the communities to take
care of themselves.  The track record has been hard won, and it is
undeniable.

In terms of working with government, this has been the most open and
trusting process I have ever seen.  That is not to say that there
aren't some fears and desires to control some outcomes.  To meet those
needs we have invited the conveners back to a follow up meeting on
February 15 where we will make some decisions about how this money
will be spent and overseen.  If and when I learn more about the
machinations that went on, I'll let you know.  Everyone is very open
in this process, as you can tell, and so I'm sure the nest story will
be fascinating.

Chris


On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 10:07:31 -0500, chris weaver <chris at springbranch.net> wrote:
> Chris, thank you for telling the story of this powerful event, and for
> sharing the circumstances and design choices (all notable for their
> simplicity) that led to such alchemy.  Will you tell us another story?  It
> sounds as though the sponsoring agencies (as well as whoever determines how
> UAS funds are used) were in an uncommon place of trust rather than of
> fear/control.  Will you tell us the story of the development of this trust
> capacity?  I'm curious about the cultural & political elements of the story
> but moreso about what in your own practice as a consultant was helpful in
> generating trust.
>
> Chris
>
> > From: Chris Corrigan <chris.corrigan at gmail.com>
> > Reply-To: chris at chriscorrigan.com
> > Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 15:26:13 -0800
> > To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> > Subject: [OSLIST] Story of a powerful 1.5 day open space (long)
> >
> > Colleagues:
> >
> > Time for a story.
> >
> > I am coming off a remarkable Open Space event that ranks up there with
> > the very best I have ever experienced.
> >
> > Five years ago, my first truly big and important Open Space
> > facilitation was to kick of the Urban Aboriginal Strategy for
> > Vancouver.  This is a federal government strategy aimed at supporting
> > emerging solutions to the myriad of problems facing Aboriginal
> > populations living in Canada's larger cities.  That event brought
> > together 175 people in one day and set an agenda which is being
> > followed to this day.
> >
> > Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I was privileged to work with the
> > urban Aboriginal community of Prince George, a smaller city (80,000)
> > in the northern interior of British Columbia.  The UAS has been
> > extended to this community now with a commitment to spend $500,000
> > over two years and, like we did in Vancouver five years ago, people
> > wanted to use open space to kick it off.
> >
> > Five years ago we did a good job, but we also learned something
> > important.  We learned that one day of Open Space is enough to get
> > good discussion going but it puts a damper on the community
> > leadership.  The results of the Vancouver forum were taken by
> > government and a handful of agencies and implemented within existing
> > structures and processes.  Not a problem per se, but it did means that
> > some of these projects, especially around family support and
> > homelessness did suffer a little from some of the pre-existing
> > political battles in the community.  In Prince George we gave
> > ourselves a day and a half with the promise that one day would be
> > about dialogue and one day would be about action and project planning.
> > We were committed to looking past the existing ways of doing things
> > and opening up ourselves to the possibility that passionate new
> > leadership was also out there waiting to be invited into being.
> >
> > The sponsoring agencies, a loose consortium of service providers,
> > government and local First Nations and Metis groups set the stage for
> > the success of this event right off the top.  They let go of the
> > process.  They decided that the UAS should not be controlled by the
> > existing agencies and organizations, and that because we were trying
> > to solicit community leadership, they would truly turn this over to
> > the community.  That willingness and openness made a huge difference
> > on the day.  In our pre-meeting, phrases like "we need new ideas to
> > grow" and "supporting community leadership" became touchstones for the
> > media campaign that formed the invitation.  The sponsors stated their
> > desire to be completely transparent in how this process was to unfold.
> > They even committed to publishing a summary of the OST results in the
> > local paper.  Over three weeks these messages were repeated in local
> > media with the starling results.  On the day 275 community members
> > showed up.
> >
> > These were people from a variety of agencies both Aboriginal and
> > non-Aboriginal.  They also included regular citizens, youth, elders,
> > disabled folks, folks with mental illness, the poor and dyslexic and
> > the rich and educated.  There were entertainers, politicians, social
> > workers, businesspeople, athletes, activists and teachers.
> >
> > At the stroke of 10:30 yesterday morning the first of 55 discussion
> > groups met on a huge range of issues and by the end of the day we had
> > a 63 page proceedings document with summaries from 41 groups.  Over
> > the course of the day, I caught snippets of conversation, including
> > yelling, quiet reflection, lots of talk in the Carrier language and at
> > one point an Elder stood up in one group and began to sing like a
> > small bird, her light song carrying over the large room we were in and
> > causing everyone to stop a moment and turn their attention to her.
> >
> > On day two, about 100 people returned to work on projects.  We did
> > non-convergence, which is to say I simply opened the space again and
> > invited people to post invitations to work on projects based on
> > yesterday's discussion.  I asked for passion to be tightly bound to
> > responsibility on this day and invited people to be specific about
> > their project plans.  All the conveners knew that there was a meeting
> > scheduled on February 15 for follow up to which they would be invited,
> > and that if they got their proposals together by April 1st, the UAS
> > money was there to support their initiatives.
> >
> > Twenty-four project postings were made and these convened into 19
> > groups.  The work of these groups ranges from using a mobile library
> > bus to encourage inner city literacy to setting up a holistic healing
> > centre for families, to creating a homelessness committee to starting
> > a forum for agencies to work together in conversation with one another
> > to continue to talk about ways to meet the emerging needs.  Several
> > project champions have no organizational affiliation, being stay at
> > home mothers, or teachers in an early childhood development program,
> > or budding writers who are trying to break into mainstream media.  All
> > of them found support from existing organizations and in just one and
> > a half hours, partnerships were made, action plans drafted and in some
> > cases, goals, objectives and visions were written.  One group became
> > so close that when they were finished, they stood in a circle for a
> > minute tightly holding hands and prayed together.  All of this was
> > self-organizing, all of it happened in Open Space.
> >
> > For perhaps the first time in my life I feel like I've seen the
> > deepest potential of this process.  We had a sponsorship group that
> > was free of ties to outcomes, remarkably open to whatever might
> > happen.  We had a federal government department willing to take a risk
> > with a half million dollars - a pittance in the scheme of things, but
> > a huge boost to these budding consortia of passion.  And we had people
> > who spent a day together in a climate were there was very little nay
> > saying and where there was hardly a problem raised that couldn't be
> > addressed by someone in the room.  And we have a solid follow up plan
> > that embraces the project conveners and will invite them to take
> > charge of the process of managing this money over the two years so
> > that it may be used effectively to support the directions that seem to
> > be evolving anyway.  In fact if the money weren't there, I'm not sure
> > it would make much difference.  People are so eager to take
> > responsibility for the solution, the invitation to do so was almost
> > enough as it was.  It was a glorious day and a half of emergent,
> > chaordic leadership.
> >
> > In short order I'll be posting the invitation materials (including the
> > radio ads), proceedings and other stuff on my website, for anyone to
> > look at and use.  I'll send a link to the list when it's up.
> >
> > Thanks again to this community for continuing to inspire and support
> > my practice.  Because of you, I feel like I am able to offer a world
> > full of good ideas to my clients, and I know they appreciate your
> > wisdom being available to them.
> >
> > Meegwetch,
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > --
> > -------------------------
> > CHRIS CORRIGAN
> > Consultation - Facilitation
> > Open Space Technology
> >
> > Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
> > Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.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
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> 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
>


--
-------------------------
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

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