[OSList] From Bulgaria with Love

Wed Oct 12 10:29:33 PDT 2016

I always found the parties were the best part. There was the time in Venezuela at a Sugar Plant. Labor and Management were not doing well. At machete points – literally. We had close to 1000 folks, all under one tent. Theme was: Future of our Business. Everybody was predicting blood… everywhere.

Usual stuff happened. Sit in circle, create bulletin board (all Spanish, of course), open market place. Go to work. They did. 

Some hours later – might have been 12 – we stopped. I don’t know where the beer came from, or the band. But we rocked. Somewhere around 3-4 in the morning, things kind of went quiet. My last memory was the Shop Steward (head Labor) and The Plant Manager embracing and crying. Of course nobody ever saw that, and wouldn’t admit to it if they did. 

Funny things do happen in Open Space.

Harrison

Winter Address

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

301-365-2093

Summer Address

189 Beaucauire Ave

Camden, ME 04843

207 763-3261

Websites

www.openspaceworld.com

www.ho-image.com

From: OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Elwin and Joan via OSList
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2016 12:07 PM
To: Susan Basterfield; World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] From Bulgaria with Love

Susan,

How well I relate to your comment, " The organisers were a bit nervous about OS, but i said ‘trust me, it’s magic’ and so it is…..  feeling grateful!! "

I held the first OST in Bulgaria while directing a USAID project in 1997.  The battle lines had been drawn between the "new democratic association members" and the "classic Communist Party Union members" as to development control of the Bulgarian dairy industry.

More than 100 players were present including the USAID Mission Director and the US Ambassador. 

My project co-director's (Bulgarian women) anxiety was so high she turned literally yellow/green in color. 

When I invited the participants to step to the center of the circle and create the agenda, virtually every one of them rushed out the door!  I stood there alone. 

When a colleague approached and asked "what happened" I answered "the only thing that could happen!"

As it turned out, they all needed to go outside to smoke a cigarette.  

When they returned the market place was robust and at the end of 2 1/2 days the National Dairy Association of Bulgaria was born, complete with By-Laws.  

You should have been at the party that night, Oh Boy!!

Elwin Guild

Future Development International

Portland Connecticut

  _____  

From: Susan Basterfield via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>
To: Suzanne Daigle <sdaigle4 at gmail.com>; World wide Open Space Technology email list <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> 
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2016 8:51 AM
Subject: Re: [OSList] Frederic Laloux, Ricardo Semler and Open Space

What wonderful timing.  I am currently in the midst of an afternoon of Open Space in Sofia, Bulgaria, where I shared the keynote at the reinventingorganizations.eu <http://reinventingorganizations.eu/>  conference  with the marvellous Jos de Blok.  The organisers were a bit nervous about OS, but i said ‘trust me, it’s magic’ and so it is…..  feeling grateful!!  

>From Bulgaria with Love, 

Susan 

x

On 12/10/2016, at 15:23, Suzanne Daigle via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

For anyone consumed as I am with Open Space in the Workplace, this is the most fantastic interview between Frederic Laloux (Reinventing Organizations) and Ricardo Semler (Semco, Book Maverick, etc).

Posted on Frederic Laloux Facebook: 

"Last week Ricardo Semler (of Semco - Maverick fame) and I had a conversation as part of his series on LeadWise. I very much enjoyed it - it was fun comparing notes on what we see happening today. He has been in this space way way longer than me, of course, so it was interesting to hear his perspective, even though I was sort of the one interviewed... "

 <http://www.leadwise.email/lm/laloux/teaser?partner=laloux> http://www.leadwise.email/lm/laloux/teaser?partner=laloux

If you click the link it will give you a short preview and a link to go to the full 52 minute interview. Highly recommend. The topic of opening space comes at the very end in a surprising way.  I have no doubt that the greatness of Semco was created 30 years ago  (coincidence ?!_) out of an Open Space when people did not know what open space was though indeed we've all known it deep inside of us from the beginning of time. 

Suzanne

Suzanne Daigle
Open Space Facilitator
NuFocus Strategic Group

FL 941-359-8877
Cell: 203-722-2009
www.nufocusgroup.com <http://www.nufocusgroup.com/> 
s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
Twitter @Daiglesuz

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Susan Basterfield - Founder

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