[OSList] In response to Tricia

[Suzanne Daigle]

Hi all, I posted a response to Tricia's "Sticky dots" email to us early
this morning. To my surprise, I then received this alert. Don't know if my
message went through and certainly don't know what was unacceptable or
inappropriate except maybe what "self organization and Open Space" might
invite :-)

The following email message has been *blocked* by automated email security
system:

   *From:*      sdaigle4 at gmail.com
   *To:*        cletaml at tp.edu.sg
   *Subject:*   Re: [OSList] Sticky dots Q - San Fran event reflections
   *Message:*   B512207ab0000.000000000001.0001.mml

Because it may contain *unacceptable language*, or *inappropriate material*.

Temasek Polytechnic
*Email Security Team*

*So here is what I wrote and I hope it will be acceptable and appropriate
to whoever: *

Dear Tricia,

Thank you for sharing this with us all as you have.  What a gift! I love
how you just let it rip describing it. All the details, your feelings along
the way, and your reflections and retrospective.  I will let others comment
as I do not think I could ever make one suggestion of anything that you
should have done differently. For me, it's not the point. And yes I will be
longish too...

*On January 22nd (not even a full month ago)*, you came onto this list and
said: "I am an OST newbie who is hoping to facilitate an Open Space for my
main client's annual meeting in a few weeks and I would like to get your
thoughts on incorporating hands on skill transfer into an Open Space. I did
do some book reading on OST and just attended the OST meeting in NYC this
weekend, but have never hosted an Open Space. *Then... you added* I do not
provide facilitation for this organization. I am one of a number of project
managers who work on teams to conduct market research and strategy
consulting projects for their clients in the life sciences arena. They have
agreed to my participation in the facilitation of the meetings and I have
referenced OST, but we have not yet discussed details on meeting design and
I am pretty sure they are not familiar with OST. This meeting will be a
small group of only the US folks - 14 in total. We will be meeting for 2.5
days. On an ongoing basis, we are all remote workers across the US and in
Europe and Japan and only see each other when we travel to a client's
location."

I remember thinking as I read this then: "Wow this may turn out to be a bit
of a challenge but you go girl. Why a challenge? Because I interpreted that
you were working with peer facilitators and consultants.  And what I also
know is how very different is the way of facilitating Open Space than
traditional facilitation. Taking from the French word "faciliter" it can
mean making things easier for others or  "plus facile" translated literally
"more easy".   Well for me therein lies the sticky wicket, whether in
facilitation or leadership, making things easier for others, smoother, more
predictable, coordinating, helping, managing, controlling, inspiring,
synthesizing, doing project management, guiding strategy, taking care of,
having it all together, are all the words of our profession. Yes most often
that's what project managers, consultants and leaders get paid for. I spent
a lifetime doing this with what I thought were good intentions. Making
things easier for others. I got successful at it, was promoted and
recognized. *And yet inside myself I never felt all that good about it.* I
really only felt happy when everyone was working together as equals, with
everyone jumping in and letting it rip. When stuff was happening in all its
messiness, with folks doing the most amazing things, going beyond anything
anyone could dream of. I had had sparks of this in my career but had never
been able to connect the dots...until I met Open Space.  This stuff of
self-organizing and an invitation for me to bravely and vulnerably  unleash
my own leadership with tons of room for others to unleash theirs without
knowing where it would lead was a huge leap.

*Harrison said: *You can’t open space if your space ain’t open!   Well I
might disagree a tad.

 I did open space even when my space wasn't yet open. I had to start
somewhere and jump right in. Cause it was only in the doing of it, jumping
on the court, not sitting in the bleachers that I got my courage and
learning.

It was easier said than done. I had a lifetime of "unlearning to do"!  And
it was painful and scary, still is, though a lot less. . After all, it
confronted everything I had done and what folks typically described as
success...an empty success really. Yes Open Space confronts a lot of the
stuff that we've been doing in leadership and facilitation...it is quite
confronting to see how much gets done, how energized and passionate people
get to be, how productive we all become when we simply *"Sit in a circle*,
create a bulletin board, *open* and *market place*, and go to work".  All
that effort, all that work, all that preparation, leading and guiding for
naught!

And whether consciously or unconsciously, that's what people start getting
when they participate in Open Space (whether you are facilitating or
participating). I didn't get this at first Tricia, all I can say is I did
what you did. I just jumped right in, faulting myself a lot for the things
I was doing wrong that I could have done better but really in the end, it
didn't much matter cause I was opening space and learning to unlearn a
little bit more every day.

When I started in Open Space, I jumped in just like you... . I talked about
it all the time...still do. Doing it for free, for pay, for a few bucks or
many more bucks. I made a commitment then, early on that I would do one
Open Space a month, whether I sponsored it myself or was invited. My
journey  in Open Space started a short 4 years ago! I have lost count how
many Open Spaces I have facilitated, co-facilitated or attended.  And now
this year, I and others are hosting the World Open Space in St. Petersburg
Florida.

So Tricia, you did nothing wrong.  I feel as if you were drawn into this
and gave your heart and soul to it. You invited others on the basis of what
you experienced in New York.  You jumped right in and I applaud you for
trusting your intuition and for courageously asking us for help and for
sharing.  In my book, you did nothing wrong and you did everything right.

Thank you Tricia, I am so glad you are here. Maybe we will see you in
Florida! Suzanne
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