Success

[Therese Fitzpatrick]

I am not sure if what I am about to write fits in this conversation
(thanks, by the way, for the many great conversations on the oslist
recently), but as I read Chris' comment "we need to be able to embody
change in order to be able to welcome it" and Chris' observation,
which we could all echo, that when people do an org. development
'intervention', they expect something significant to happen. . . .

I think the reason to have open space events in organizations is to
build the capacity of that organization to be able to welcome change
as it emerges.  I don't imagine it would be easy to 'sell' this to
someone who wants to have a three day open space to create a strategic
plan or design a product development process but, for me, the real
value of having employees or members of an organization spend a day,
two or three in open space is to have them spend time practicing
following what has heart and meaning, to practice the law of two feet,
to practice trusting that the right people show up and the right thing
will happen.

And, I THINK (ask me in an hour and I might think differently) the
reason I am attracted to attending open space events and to being an
open space practitioner and, even, to collaborating as much as I can
with people who have experienced a lot of open space technology, is
because I deeply desire to be able to welcome what wants to show up
and I deeply value working with others who have begun to integrate the
principles of open space into their way of being.

I actually think, sometimes, that just creating a container for people
to spend three days together in open space doing whatever, without an
intention focussed on work, is the best org. development training any
org. could give itself.  And I believe it enhances the achievement of
measurable goals.




On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 13:43:19 -0800, Chris Corrigan
<chris.corrigan at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 11:04:33 -0500, R. Duff Doel <duff at innergy.ca> wrote:
> > "Some people will do anything
> > to maintain control and avoid success."
> >
>
> Often people expect big things from organizational development
> "interventions."  They wouldn't do so otherwise.  Retreats, planning
> sessions, Open Space forums...all come with the expectation that doing
> something significant will change things significantly.
>
> In working with sponsors I do have conversations about what
> transformation really means and how willing people are to transform
> themselves to meet the new world they are wanting to be born.  There
> is a real stretch in this work for people, to go into somewhere new
> while not abandoning what they know - the "safe ground" - even if the
> safe ground is no longer serving them very well.
>
> Fear, trust, openness, chaordic confidence...all of these are
> emotions, practices and states we need to grapple with to open
> ourselves to transformation.  We need to be able to embody change in
> order to be there to welcome it when it arrives.
>
> And so for me success is relative, but what I really invite people to
> stretch into is that place where they can embody the success they
> want.  If they can't then we have to get real about what we're willing
> to do.
>
> But if they CAN get really big and offer themselves up for change,
> unbelievable things can happen.
>
> Good question, Duff.
>
> Chris
>
> --
> -------------------------
> CHRIS CORRIGAN
> Consultation - Facilitation
> Open Space Technology
>
> Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
> Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com
>
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--
Warmly,
Therese Fitzpatrick

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