Open Space Magic

[Suzanne Daigle]

We lived the Open Space magic!

Exhausted, exhilarated, in awe and filled with gratitude…Wow! Wow! Wow!  Our
budding company, which is almost two years young, just completed its third
Partner Summit. As a community of *wholistic *partners joined by our
associate marketing company colleagues and a handful of close business
friends, we decided to give it our all , invest and immerse ourselves in a
full-blown Open Space.

It was a time of transformation, of discovery, of intense reflection and
emotions, of intimate sharing of dreams, fears and hopes all under the big
tent of Open Space.  Diane Gibeault, who had trained about a third of us in
Ottawa (English and French sessions), guided us through our two and a half
days of emergence and convergence which culminated in a flurry of
action-packed initiatives that we each feel so passionate about and so
deeply committed to. There are no words to describe the magic of what
happened there.

There were many funny moments.  Like the night before we started when we
discovered there was no electricity in our chosen Open Space venue. We knew
the place was in construction and had seen the cement floors, exposed
ceilings, bare white walls now adorned with the 4 Principles, Law of 2 feet,
Market place, etc.  Then there was the weather: dark and gloomy every day
except for the final morning which meant that the natural light we had
planned on from all those windows still kept us in the dark.   We connected
cables from the corridor to manage our newsroom equipment. It was all part
of the chaos and confusion, of the birthing and letting go.

In a frenzy of activity, we helped in the prep creating the posters, the
forms, designing the invitations, creating a banner with the theme of
"Inventing our future". We wanted to learn and experience EVERYTHING as
participants so that one day, we would truly know what our clients would
live and feel when they tasted their first Open Space.

I got the OS bug at an Art of Hosting event.  Trusted my gut and attended
the Open Space training in Ottawa. Was then totally hooked after helping a
friend facilitate her first Open Space.  From there, it was Wave Rider at
Sleeping Lady. Now next week, I’m taking the big leap by hosting my first
Open Space at the Ions Noetic Science conference in Tucson on Harvest Day. I
will be surrounded by many friends of Open Space and feel confident (though
I will have butterflies in my stomach) that self organizing will work there
too.

After our own Open Space summit, I now know without a doubt that Open Space
works.  How could it not?  It’s all about self organizing and shared
leadership, a living system and the laws of nature. Yes Harrison, you have
been singing the tune for a long time. I get it!  We get it! And for us,
what we want to do now is be Wave Riders by living Open Space from the
inside out in our community of practice.

So Diane Gibeault,  Barbara Hebert, Sharon Joy Kleitsch, and my Sleeping
Lady friends…, Larry, Anne, Roosevelt, Sherry, Anh, Colette, Elaine, Dan,
Jun, Robert, Dale, Tenneson, Brian, Teresa, Ashely, Joan, Elena and so many
others, thank you for inspiring me in Leavenworth. What a precious gift!

If any of you are in Tucson for the IONS conference next week, come join us
on Sunday afternoon June 21st . The theme of this Open Space Harvest
is  *Global
Shift: Next steps* and if you come "Be ready to be surprised!"


Suzanne

941-359-8877

203-722-2009 (c)

s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
www.nufocusgroup.com

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