[OSList] Exploring the Principles: Whoever comes are the right people

[Daniel Mezick]

paul,

Thanks for your recent posts. This one brings to mind the Core 
commitments, in particular #6:

=====
#6
=====
I will disengage from less productive situations

  * When I cannot keep these commitments,
  * When it is more important that I engage elsewhere.

=====


I wonder if you might enjoy this link, the source of the text above:
http://liveingreatness.com/core-protocols/the-core-commitments/



On 10/30/13 6:32 AM, paul levy wrote:
> Dear all, the second of two posts. Comments and insights most welcome...
>
> warm wishes
>
> Paul Levy
>
> Like many of the open space principles, they are true at an archetypal 
> level. The people who are in the room to get to work together on 
> something are the people we have. Where attendance in that room is 
> voluntary, we have a community formed out of freedom, and that 
> commitment means the right people are in the room. The rightness here 
> is born of free commitment. There's also a more pragmatic perspective 
> that says: Here we are, here and right now, and this is who we have, 
> so let's get to work!
>
> Some open space facilitators misunderstand this "rightness" and 
> suggest to participants that we should just accept who is here as the 
> right people and get on with things, stifling any conversation or 
> regret about who isn't in the room. They then present this principle 
> as a kind of dogma as follows:  Whoever didn't come, clearly didn't 
> need to be here. This is a pity as reflection on who isn't here and 
> even freely chosen attempts during the open space event itself to 
> contact those absent and attempt to bring them into the space, or at 
> least involve them in some way, is then stifled.
>
> Whoever comes are the right people, but that statement isn't rendered 
> any less true if we ponder on who isn't there and at least acknowledge 
> absence. This can actually be empowering and energising, as long as we 
> don't stay away from what we can do together in the room by becoming 
> blocked or paralysed by who isn't in the room.
>
> Let me offer a couple of examples to prove this.
>
> Someone doesn't attend who is ill. They wanted to come. They couldn't. 
> In the feeling of the community, this is still one of the "right" 
> people. We mention them. We might even read out a good will message 
> from them, sent by text. They might even email a few suggestions for 
> what sessions they might have offered at the open space, had they been 
> able to attend. We still have the right people in the room, but we can 
> now imagine an empty chair, and also fold in what the person who might 
> have occupied that chair might have brought. This can enhance and 
> raise awareness in the community.
>
> Here's another example. A key decision maker prioritises a different 
> meeting from the open space they were intending to attend. A group at 
> the open space explore a challenge of product redesign and reach a key 
> decision point halfway through their session that needs the yes or no 
> from the absent key decision maker. The group acknowledges that 
> absence to each other. In one case, a member of the group contacts the 
> decision maker and gets their input remotely, just for five minutes, 
> and the group can then progress to further action around the product 
> redesign. In another case they agree to meet with the decision maker 
> as soon as possible after the open space event and, in the meantime, 
> make a provisional decision, then proceeding on the assumption that 
> the decision maker will say yes, but also creating a "plan B" in case 
> of a no.
>
> In both cases there are, at least in one sense, "right" people who are 
> have not come. Holding them in mind, involving them where possible can 
> help the space to further open.
>
> So, when introducing the principle "whoever comes are the right 
> people", it is important not to present this as "we are the good guys 
> who came, and the bad guys didn't so they are irrelevant to our work 
> here" or as "they ain't here, now shut up and get over it". This 
> principle is not there to stifle either regret or reflection. It is 
> there to affirm the value of being in the present, and with committing 
> to who and what we have right now. It is no accident that the people 
> who are here are here. They responded to the invitation in freedom. 
> Yet we can also "involve" those outside the circle by filling the 
> empty chairs with creativity and care. "What would John have said had 
> he been able to be here?" "Is there anyway we can get Steve in for the 
> afternoon session?"
>
> Don't fear flexibility and also the notion that presence at an open 
> space doesn't only have to be physical.
>
> More here: 
> http://rationalmadness.wordpress.com/treasures/open-space-realm/
>
>
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