Seeking a very strong facilitator

Thu Nov 1 20:04:09 PDT 2007

WOW

Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:  Diana -- were it not for the fact that driving to Toronto from Washington,
DC seems a little much, I would definitely be on the road! At least I would
make the offer. And I think I even have the necessary experience.

Some years ago a friend became ill and asked me to fill in for her with what
she termed "a difficult client." She didn't provide any more details, but
she was a good friend and obviously in need, so I agreed. The client was a
major division of a very large global institution, and when I arrived at the
appointed time and place I was given an envelope containing a note from my
friend. I have lost the note, but I remember the essence. She said, "I guess
I should have warned you, but these people have the reputation in our
organization of being the meanest, feistiest, most cantankerous group of
executives in our organization. They dearly love a good fight, but best of
all they totally enjoy eating facilitators for lunch, after which they can
go home with their reputation in tact. Good luck!" In as much as I was about
to enter the circle (yes we were going to open some space!) I didn't have
too much time to think about it -- so I just went with the flow, so to
speak.

I walked into the circle, protected only by my hat. I stood quietly for a
moment considering the assembled group. Seems to me that there were about
150 of them and truthfully I have never seen a more hostile crowd. Arms
folded across their chests, heads lowered, eyes barely slits -- and very
quiet. I let the silence build for a long time, a very long time. When I
broke it (silence) I said, "I don't have a clue why you are here or what you
expect to do, having just come into all of this. But if you know what needs
doing, have some real passion for getting it done, and are willing to take
personal responsibility for your actions, I can help. If you don't care or
won't take responsibility, we can all go home right now. Your choice.

It was pretty quiet. People looked at me and each other. They looked at the
floor and up to the ceiling. I just waited. 

After a while a voice from somewhere in the circle said -- "We have an awful
lot to do and we care about doing it. Let's get on with it."

"Right", I said, and started walking around the circle -- inviting people to
notice each other and to take a deep breath. . . Well you all know what
happened next.

At the end of two days in the closing circle when the microphone came back
to me I thanked them for the pleasure and privilege of being with them.
Truly they were an awesome bunch. And I couldn't help but add that it seemed
to me that they had just blown their reputation as real Tigers.

I don't quite know where I am going with all this, but one thing for sure--
I have never met a group that could not function well in Open Space provided
they cared and would accept responsibility for what they cared about. And if
neither passion nor responsibility is present -- not much of utility is
going to happen. And it doesn't have much to do with strength, so far as I
can see. Indeed vulnerability may be much more important. 

Harrison 

Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20854
Phone 301-365-2093
Skype hhowen
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com 
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.ho-image.com 
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Diana
Larsen
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2007 1:55 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Seeking a very strong facilitator

Hi,

I'm looking for your help and recommendations. Do you know someone 
who is a strong facilitator and lives in the area within driving 
distance of Toronto Canada? When I began wondering how I could find 
such a person, my thoughts immediately turned to this list...where I 
knew I would find other strong facilitators who would recognize and 
know where to find the best folks. So, thanks for being here.

Here's the story:

This year, I'm serving as the chair of a group of thirteen strong 
personalities who work together on the board of a industry 
association non-profit (mostly volunteers and a couple of staff 
members). We usually work in monthly teleconferences for our board 
meeting, then two or three times a year come together for a face-to- 
face meeting. We have set the time for 1.5 days in early December, 
and already have a list of tasks we need to accomplish during the 
meeting, including at least one report from an outside service 
provider, so I suspect we won't hold the meeting in open space. :- 
( (Just to manage everyone's expectations.)

I'd like to find a strong, general facilitator who can rein in some 
folks and encourage others; who can offer a few alternative processes 
for discussion, visioning and action items; and who comes from 
outside the software industry. I need someone with excellent 
facilitation skills because we have facilitator members in the group, 
and I want them to focus on the topics at hand rather than meta- 
critiquing the facilitator in the backs of their (my) minds. ;-) We 
need someone who is strong enough to let us relax and trust their 
process.

Who would you recommend? Please send suggestions/recommendations to 
me off the OS list at dlarsen at futureworksconsulting.com . (Michael, I 
will also check the worldmap. ;-) )

Again, thanks everyone,
Diana

Diana Larsen
www.futureworksconsulting.com
Chair, Agile Alliance Board of Directors www.agilealliance.org
co-author: "Agile Retrospectives" http://tinyurl.com/3dr5v3
Ask me about: "Secrets of Agile Teamwork: Beyond Technical Skills" 
workshop
Dec 11-13, Portland OR

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