open space and heros

[Lisa Heft]

Hello, wonderful Christine -

I agree with Ms. Pat - you can always be the one to hold the  
microphone and whisper 'just the title', tell the group 'just the  
headline - they will have to come to your group to learn the story' -   
or as I sometimes say - 'sentence, not paragraph' with a smile. Or you  
may be of the style to not do that at all and let what happens  
happens, as some people do. In that case: my recommendation is to b-r- 
e-a-t-h-e (for yourself and for them).

I have been in a situation where one person picked up the mic in the  
center and opened up a multi-page manifesto that he proceeded to read,  
then he wanted to take it around the circle (mic still in hand) to  
have everyone sign it. That made me a little crazy inside my head but  
I just breathed and tried to figure out a place to step in, love him  
up, invite people to hear more at his session and segue to the other  
waiting topic announcer / session hosts.

I have also been in a situation where a church was using Open Space  
and other dialogic processes before that to inform their strategic  
(pastoral) plan. And there was one little angry and very very busy  
group of people who were very negative (always) and they explored  
reasons for and against including or dis-including those particular  
people in their invitation.  They really understood human systems and  
Open Space - so we talked about what might happen, how others in Open  
Space would simply go elsewhere (nobody would feel 'trapped' if they  
used the Law of Two Feet and went to the sessions that interested  
them), and how unrealistic it is to imagine that by disincluding a  
part of the system it is absent from the system.  So the Bishop made a  
personal invitation to that group of negative angry people. And as it  
turns out they did not choose to attend.  Maybe because they would not  
have focus? Hard to say.

And I have also been in situations where just when the Agenda co- 
creation process is over and I have given the last information about  
process and the day's schedule (the moment when the group is about to  
shift into its discussion circles) - or during Closing Circle where  
everyone is sharing their discoveries and reflections - where one  
person says something very negative or asks for a change in process or  
something.  These are two moments that can be high anxiety for some  
people, I understand.  In those moments, I become the 'lightening rod'  
- everyone is looking at me to see how I will respond. All I can do is  
breathe, love that person up as best I can, and model that conflict is  
not always a bad thing - sometimes it illustrates diversity or another  
way of seeing things or prickliness (like a cactus) that is real.

And sometimes I forget to breathe, and respond not so perfectly. Oh  
dear, I am human.

But usually it all works out beautifully - prickly people included...

They are lucky to have you,
Lisa

Lisa Heft
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
Opening Space
lisaheft at openingspace.net



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