Strange Happenings in Open Space / Ralph Copleman

[Harrison Owen]

Ralph Copleman is off on his 60th birthday tour of the US. But he had a
parting note for us and asked me to post it, which I am doing. I assume that
Ralph will find some InterNet Cafes along the way, and join us from time to
time. Ralph wrote:

Today I facilitated an OS meeting for about 65 people, the complete employee
group of a long-time nonprofit client.  This was the first time the entire
group had participated in an open space meeting together.  The theme was all
about moving forward together as they recover from shocks and changes of the
previous year.

They posted about 23 sessions on all the familiar topics: improving service,
better communications, finding more resources, taking better advantage of
technology, etc. -- all important concerns, of course.  In the middle of the
mild tumult that so often characterizes the writing and posting of the
topics, one fellow almost slipped past without reading his "passion" paper
aloud, and I asked him if he'd read it.  He shrugged and held it up for all
to see.  All he'd written on the page was a large question mark and his
first name.

A couple of hours later his session convened.  Nearly half the entire group
had come to participate.  I found out later that he started by asking if
anyone had any questions.  The group then generated about 18 questions -
things that were on their minds, I guess, about life in the changing
organization, and then they did their best to answer them for each other.
Together.  From a distance I could hear yelling, clapping, laughing, and
cheering coming from their area.

I'm curious to know if anyone on the List has seen anything similar in open
space.  I ask that the group copy me on any responses that they post on the
List. ___


Ralph's email is rcopleman at comcast.net 

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
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