Happy Father's Day (very long)

ELEDER AURTENETXE PILDAIN eleder.aurtenetxe at gmail.com
Sun Jun 20 08:18:21 PDT 2010


Wow, Suzanne, beautiful story!

Thanks a lot for sharing it, and thank you Gerardo and our Access Queen too!

Going fast to celebrate father's day with my children (didn't know about it
:-)!

Suzanne, as your dad said, "Sue, you’re going to be really good at this;
you’re made to do this kind of work."

Best wishes!

Eleder Aurtenetxe
BM31_BILBAO
www.burumapak.blogspot.com
Twitter: @Eleder_BM

2010/6/20 Suzanne Daigle <sdaigle4 at gmail.com>

> Hello to my dear Open Space family,
>
> This is a story about a daughter, a father and Open Space. Something
> happened in Berlin in May, but the story started a long time ago and
> with buckets of gratitude, I want to gift it to all of you, my Open
> Space family, hoping what happened to me also happens to you.
>
> While at the WOSonOS in Berlin, I happily spotted the Open Space
> Technology Guide in Italian on the Access Queen Auction table.  I was
> determined to bid and win this valuable book with the intent of giving
> it to my dad, an Italian aficionado who is now fluent in Italian after
> more than a decade of learning the language, traveling to Italy to
> visit many Etruscan ruins and an avid reader of Italian newspapers on
> the internet. He is 80 years old. I overbid the young Michael Pannwitz
> a few times; he graciously stopped bidding when he saw how much I
> wanted it.  As I was collecting my prize, I had the good fortune of
> running into Gerardo De Luzenberger, who had translated this wonderful
> guide.  I asked him if he  would inscribe it for my father which he
> did, in Italian.  I would have to wait until I returned to Florida to
> know what he wrote. My intention then  was for dad to read Gerardo’s
> note and perhaps scan a few pages in the book, which hopefully might
> give him a better understanding of Open Space. Lord knows he had heard
> me talk about it often enough, like a smitten teenager with a new
> boyfriend.
>
> I have struggled to explain OS to dad (and many others) in terms that
> he could relate to.  As a retired radiologist and student of life in
> everything from science, to ancient history, art and music , Dad has
> always been someone more focused on data, facts, and accuracy than on
> the workings of  people dynamics, collaboration, and large system
> transformation which he sometimes described as politics with too many
> controlling leaders – probably lots of truth to his assessments.
> Throughout my life, dad and I had had more than our share of talking
> “at” each other rather than “with” each other in the ways of many
> daughters who want to be like their dads yet fail to realize that it's
> more about being yourself and living the best of who YOU are. That
> said, our debates are similar to those everywhere with facts and
> wanting to prove something blocking us from the essence of what's
> important..
>
> Well things are different now between us because of Open Space.  Yes
> we still talk about facts but we also talk about the "other stuff"
> too.  We share in ways we have never shared before, with an easiness
> and joy of just being together. He tells me stories of his youth, of
> his life, dozens and dozens of them, some I've heard, many I have
> not.. We laugh and we share with mom listening on quietly as
> entertained by the stories as I am.  What's also really different now
> is how interested he is in the details and essence of the work I am
> doing. Still sometimes hard for me to explain it to him but I'm
> getting better at it.
>
> The ITALIAN Open Space guide was a big breakthrough and I still smile
> at what happened.  Well dad read the ENTIRE book from COVER to COVER.
> He was glowing in his assessment of how easy it had been to read,
> describing the excellence of the translation which according to him,
> captured the essence and feel of the English language in which it had
> been conceived now written in the new language that he loves.  Was I
> ever surprised but should I have been?
>
> And then here’s where the fun begins.  Boy did I get grilled!  All of
> a sudden he was interrogating me about the Open Spaces I had been
> involved in this past year, asking if they had fully met the criteria
> outlined by this chap Harrison Owen, a guy he evidently admired as he
> glowingly described his common sense and “tell it like it is” style
> which is also dad's style.  Of course dad was referring to the Open
> Space event that have: a real issue of concern, high levels of
> complexity, diversity, voluntary self-selection and a decision time of
> yesterday.  He asked me about my “topic themes” , the groups and who
> they were, and about the book of proceedings and reports.  Admittedly,
> many of my early ventures in Open Space were timid and did not fully
> conform but at least I was plunging in.  My mom, who was eavesdropping
> on our telephone conversation that day, tried to mediate what became
> heated and passionate discussions between us.  In the end, probably
> the best compliment a daughter can get from her dad is to hear him
> say: Sue you’re going to be really good at this; you’re made to do
> this kind of work.  And then the conversation opened up in a whole new
> direction with us animatedly talking about all the situations and
> possibilities of where Open Space can make a huge difference in the
> world, the stuff he cares about and the stuff I care about. The list
> was endless.
>
> Now as I come out of  our second annual Open Space with my NuFocus
> family having spent 2.5 intense days together looking at our
> international future and possibilities  I see the same powerful
> breakthroughs between  the guys and the girls that make up our
> company. The layers peel off, gently at first when we started a few
> years ago and then so very fast as we revel in being together,
> exploring our future and just being ourselves.  Open Space is a
> precious gift.  I see it as the invitation to take that first big bold
> step of courage as it was for us: to bravely be who we are, to notice
> ourselves and others and then just get on with our beautiful life.
> Magic in so many ways!
>
> So Gerardo, thank you translating the OS guide and for your personal
> note to my dad and Harrison well, Happy Father’s Day. Who  knows maybe
> you and dad will one day enjoy a martini together, which is something
> else you have in common besides being “straight talkers”.  Happy
> Father's day to all the OS dads out there as I wish you all the same
> beautiful journey of love with your kids as I have with my dad (and my
> mom) in this last chapter of their lives.
>
> Yes, much has changed in my life since I met Open Space and what I
> realize now, more and more, is that this simple STORY is the STORY of
> many, people in all kinds of situations, people with passion who want
> to make a difference. Simple stories because of the predictable
> patterns that unfold and that allow us to release the unique
> leadership that's inside of each of us. These individual insights of
> us as leaders are the true building blocks of community and a
> collective.  It all starts with the  "simple" stories of who we are.
>
> Much love to all on this Father's Day,
> Suzanne
>
>
>
> --
> Suzanne Daigle
> NuFocus Strategic Group
> 7159 Victoria Circle
> University Park, FL 34201
> FL 941-359-8877;
> CT 203-722-2009
> www.nufocusgroup.com
> s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
>
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