[OSList] the story I told when opening space in NYC in 2015

Suzanne Daigle sdaigle4 at gmail.com
Sun Jan 7 04:00:23 PST 2018


Christine and Skye,

It takes so little for me to create these little thank you notes. As you
gift us with your brave stories, sharing openly, it gives us courage in our
work and reminds us how lucky we are to have each other, to be connected
with such a wonderful community in life. My act of courage is stepping
forward, not wanting to take credit for you, not wanting to diminish it in
any way, yet feeling  a deep need to celebrate it and share it.

On Facebook, Eva P. Svensson said: "Wish I was there, and know that you are
the right people and that you will have a great time 🌟".

 To which I responded:
"Eva, as we watch each other's work, somehow I think it's as if we are
there holding Space with others from afar.

Harrison never certified or franchised Open Space Technology. All that he
asked is that we share our stories. I think that also means sharing
pictures and sending little notes like yours here. It makes us all feel
connected... Like butterflies and bumblebees, visible or invisible."

Suzanne from Florida where it's also cold but not nearly as cold as Maine
or the Northeast. Be warm.

On Jan 7, 2018 3:26 AM, "christine koehler" <chris.alice.koehler at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Thank you so much Suzanne, SO incredibly nice of you to dedicate so much
> of your time and energy to sharing the words of others
> Christine
>
> Le 7 janv. 2018 à 02:01, Suzanne Daigle via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> a écrit :
>
> Christine, merci pour le souvenir de ce Forum Ouvert où tu as ouvert une
> espace extraordinaire.  Thank you Christine for the indelible memory of
> this moment in 2015 when you opened the Space in New York. Your words are
> as powerfully resonant as when you told us the story then. Not too long,
> rest assured.  And Skye thank you for extending such a compelling call to
> action for our upcoming gathering.
>
> In honor of what you've both written, I created a collage of photos from
> years past and posted on Facebook. It's a time when each of you were in New
> York.
>
> https://www.facebook.com/groups/7189220743/?multi_
> permalinks=10156959599630744&notif_id=1515286052533116&
> notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic
>
> Suzanne xoxo
>
>
>
> Suzanne Daigle
> Open Space Facilitator
> NuFocus Strategic Group
>
> FL 941-359-8877 <(941)%20359-8877>
> Cell: 203-722-2009 <(203)%20722-2009>
> www.nufocusgroupusa.com
> s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
> Twitter @Daiglesuz
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 5, 2018 at 5:22 AM, christine koehler via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
>> Dear OS community,
>>
>> As I am preparing myself to open space (and also longing for not being
>> able to join you at the International House next week), I came across the
>> story I wrote just after the Paris attack in 2015 and that I told when
>> opening space for the Practice of Peace.
>> Reading it again after those years, I believe it is too long a story to
>> be used to open space.
>> However, I remember how meaningful it was for me at that time to be able
>> to connect the terrible events I had gone through and the hope I had (and
>> still have) that opening space might be one very meaningful way to act when
>> dealing with events that bring sorrow to life. How meaningful it was also
>> to be able to share my story with you.
>> This summer, while attending an Art of Hosting gathering, I met a man
>> from Austria whose son was deeply injured in the next attack, in November
>> of the same year, in Bataclan, the club where 130 persons were killed.  His
>> family is still today heavily impacted by those terrible days. This made me
>> think that those stories may still be worth sharing.
>>
>> Here it goes.
>>
>> "To begin this seminar and welcome you I could offer you the story of
>> this year theme *“Opening Space for Peace and High Performance in Work
>> and in Life: Navigating Chaos, Confusion and Conflict »*. The first part
>> « Peace and High performance » comes from Harrison. As he loves to tell
>> stories, I am sure he will be delighted to tell it to you when he will be
>> there this afternoon or in the coming days. And if you forget to ask him,
>> just read his book « Wave Rider: leadership for high performance » where
>> the story is being told.
>>
>> Instead I will tell you how strong those words echoed for me in the past
>> days, as we in France went through as you all know those terrible moments.
>>
>>
>> I was in my office on Wednesday, January 7, a  grey winter day in Paris,
>> preparing to receive guests I had invited via Twitter to listen together to
>> the launch of an online course some of you may know : Otto Scharmer’s U
>> lab, dealing with Transforming Business, Society, and Self. A theme dear to
>> my heart.  That’s at that precise moment that I learned that our satirical
>> newspaper Charlie Hebdo, has been attacked and that many of “them” were
>> dead. You may know what happened in those dreadful days: the initial 13
>> deaths,  the tracking, the shooting of several police officers, the Jewish
>> supermarket assaulted, more deaths and the killing of the 3 gunmen.
>>
>> I have seen this going on in front of my eyes. The supermarket is 15mn’s
>> walk away from my apartment. Charlie Hebdo’s newspaper is closed to the
>> university where my daughter is studying. One of the supermarket clients
>> studied in the same business school than my husband.  All those horrors
>> sounding suddenly so close. So during those days, I experienced a large,
>> very large palette of emotions: shock, anger, sadness,  fear, doubt,
>> confusion, more fear for the future: would our society split into opposite
>> camps ? would this lead to more chaos?
>>
>>
>>
>> After Charlie Hebdo’s shooting, a minute of silence was decided in all
>> public spaces. Private places did the same. Schools did the same. As they
>> did so, we suddenly discovered that there were some classes were children
>> would not silent, would not be shocked by what had happened but found it
>> absolutely normal. Suddenly the kids showed what we all knew was there and
>> had tried to forget.  Kids repeat what they hear at home. And so we all
>> heard via radio or TV that there are some places in our society where the
>> killing of others brings joy and comfort. Even if a minority, it shows us
>> that something has gone wrong.
>>
>> How was it possible? how did we go together to such a situation where
>> there is such madness? Will we ever be able to change this? Can we define
>> the problem, imagine a solution and just press a button to fix it?
>> Obviously, we won’t. This is not the kind of problem that can be fixed. We
>> already tried, and obviously, those killings showed us that we failed.
>>
>>
>>
>> Then on Sunday, in some places on Saturday, marches were organized all
>> around France. Everybody was invited to join.
>>
>> I don't participate often in protest marches because I don’t like big
>> crowds. I am afraid I could be trapped in a sudden moment of violence.
>>
>> But this Sunday, it did not matter. Maybe there was a risk, I feared it
>> and I was scared. But one thing I knew for sure was that I cared. I care
>> for being able to live a peaceful life with everyone around me, no matter
>> if they are white, yellow, black or red, if they believe in Jesus, Mahomet
>> or don’t believe in any kinds of gods, if they speak, act ,fight or keep
>> silent. So because I care, I went to the march. And so did 1 and half
>> million people, including governments leaders from all over the world
>> (including some whom we may question the way they understand the word
>> “freedom” or “peace”), representatives of a diversity of religions,. I saw
>> babies, toddlers, teenagers, as well as old people needing a stick to walk.
>> I saw people from all corners of the society, rich and poor alike.  I had
>> never seen so many people all around the Place de la Bastille. We couldn’t
>> walk to place de la Nation, the final destination of the march, because of
>> the many barriers to protect the government officials. But we
>> self-organized, walking in nearby streets, finding our ways that were no
>> direction or goals but as a way of being present. we walked, not quite
>> silent all the time, singing, or saying poems aloud.
>>
>> The effect on me was incredible : being there and feeling that all of us
>> were there to show respect, solidarity, support was comforting. More than
>> once I had tears in my eyes. Like finding a steady point in our hearts
>> again we could lean on. Maybe we’ll be able to do it, after all, maybe
>> we’ll be able to fix the problem, if so many of us care,  consider
>> ourselves as relevant and affected, there should be hope. There is hope.
>>
>>
>>
>> For me this is exactly the story of open space. We live in a complex
>> world, that is becoming more complex every day, or where we see more and
>> more complexity every day, everything being interconnected, because people
>> write, talk, travel, use the internet. One action here impacts the whole.
>> One drawing, one satirical cartoon impacted the world. This shooting
>> impacted the world. Maybe this peace march impacted the world.
>>
>> We live more and more often in chaos , confusion, conflict.
>>
>> No great man can now save the world, even if deep inside I would love to
>> believe in this kind of magic. The magic in fact is elsewhere : It depends
>> on us all. To invite those who care. And let flow the energy of love. Did
>> anybody tried to organize and control those 1.5 million people in the
>> streets of Paris, a city full of narrow streets? I don’t think so.  Someone
>> who cared made an invitation. Those who had the authority prepared the
>> place: initiated a place of origin, a place of destination, advertised 2
>> roads to follow. It ended up with the place de la Nation, supposed to be
>> the final destination, being full from early morning,  and many many more
>> than 2 roads with people marching. I bet the police just secured the
>> minimum, for the officials, and then self-organization took place, every
>> responsible person doing his job, and surfing chaos. Some shops had closed
>> for security reasons. Restaurants and café re-opened and probably had one
>> of the best turnover of the year. I bet if anyone had tried to organize and
>> control 1,5 million people, they would have failed. Just letting us
>> self-organize  worked perfectly well. And doing so, without even realizing
>> it, we opened the possibility for peace and high performance, because when
>> we care and take responsibility for what we care for,
>>
>> And thus comes peace.
>>
>>
>>
>> During those 3 days you’ll discover or re-discover –for me it’s a
>> discovery every time- a way to experience this, you will experience in your
>> own bodies how it feels when you take responsibility for what you care, in
>> work and in life.
>>
>>
>> -- Christine
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> OSList mailing list
>> To post send emails to OSList at lists.openspacetech.org
>> To unsubscribe send an email to OSList-leave at lists.openspacetech.org
>> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
>> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
>> Past archives can be viewed here: http://www.mail-archive.com/os
>> list at lists.openspacetech.org
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> OSList mailing list
> To post send emails to OSList at lists.openspacetech.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to OSList-leave at lists.openspacetech.org
> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
> Past archives can be viewed here: http://www.mail-archive.com/
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20180107/1be194a3/attachment.html>


More information about the OSList mailing list