[OSList] Fwd: Two precious gifts... (long)

[Suzanne Daigle]

Christmas came early this year!

Yesterday, Chuni Li sent me a short note and a video link MonmouthCaresOpen
Space <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvB1dDGS0ik&feature=youtu.be> of an
Open Space that she facilitated for her organization.  Then this morning in
my facebook account, Jasmina Nikolic of Belgrade Serbia posted *nearly **1000
photos* of a major OS event that she facilitated less than 2 weeks ago
titled: *REFLESS Project Open Space Event - Reforming Foreign Language
Studies in Serbia -
TEMPUS*.<http://www.facebook.com/Refless.Project.Serbia?sk=photos> She
had attended the "Scrum beyond Software" open space event in Phoenix in the
fall of 2010.

The only thing better than facilitating an Open Space is when someone who
attends an Open Space that you facilitated or worked at, subsequently
facilitates a major Open Space in their own organization.

As a former journalist,  I love sharing the story of others knowing that
often people hold back in telling their own story.  I invite you to see the
vibrancy of Serbia through the photos and to read the story of New Jersey
and watch the wonderful video that goes with it.

"This is a feature story, a human interest story about Open Space.  It is
the story of a colleague and a friend Chuni Li who facilitated an Open
Space for her organization MonmouthCares -- a strategic retreat as they
embarked on their next ten years.

 MonmouthCares, Inc., is a private non-profit agency in New Jersey, an
organization that works with families to facilitate positive change so that
children with emotional and behavioral problems along with their families
have the greatest opportunity to live, thrive, develop and lead as free and
normal lives as possible in their communities.

I had tears in my eyes recognizing the depth, significance and power of
Open Space and what happened in those two days. I celebrated knowing that
everyone connected to the wonderful mission of this agency, those who are
making a difference in people’s lives every day, had an opportunity to
engage and participate in creating the next 10 years of Monmouth Cares.  I
felt the courage and care that went into introducing and planning this
event.  Courage because as often happens in Open Space, when people are
invited to something they don’t know or understand, there is trepidation
and yes even resistance.

Listening to the video, with Chuni narrating the basics of Open Space,
watching it unfold and feeling the purpose, mission and true spirit of
invitation spoken by Kathy Collins, the executive director of
MonmouthCares, seeing Chuni walk the circle and then the participants
speaking their topics and filling the Marketplace wall, I knew that what
happened there was so very special, special and magical in the way it is
always is in Open Space when people came together in the fullness and
contribution of who they are as equals.

When this happens in the workplace, this is no small thing. No matter how
progressive the organization, its people and its leaders; the simple act of
people getting together in a way that invites everyone to discover, speak
and share what they are passionate about and then work together on the most
important issues of an organization, its present and its future, is no
small feat.

So thank you Chuni for sending me this video and thank you for allowing me
to share your story with our Open Space community so that others can learn
and celebrate what happened at MonmouthCares. May it inspire many to bring
this gift of opening space to their workplace!

This story is also a story of connection. I met Chuni in New York last
January at the annual Open Space training program with Harrison, Karen
Davis and the late Ralph Copeland (in spirit).  The theme was “Opening
Space for Higher Purpose: Peace and High Performance for Myself, Others and
our Planet”.  Fast forward to the summer, Chuni and I had the opportunity
to work together with Gerry Kirk (a former client) on a major Open Space in
New Jersey, a 2-day event with 150 people.  Chuni invited her boss, Kathy
Collins and a colleague at MonmouthCares, Jerome Scriptunas, and the rest
is history.

So in closing, I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did seeing its
greatness in the familiar, a familiar that has been repeated hundreds of
thousands of times in Open Space events around the world for more than 25
years.


Happy Holidays everyone and thank you for allowing me to share these
precious gifts with you!"

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
twitter @suzannedaigle




-- 
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
twitter @suzannedaigle
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