[OSList] An Improbable invitation. A poem about a job.

[Harrison Owen SR]

Thank you!

Harrison

On Sat, Nov 20, 2021 at 8:05 AM Alan Halford via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

> Fabulous!!!!!
>
> On 20 Nov 2021, at 8:42 pm, Phelim McDermott via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
> Hello lovely space openers.
>
> I wanted to share something. Firstly it’s about a job advert but also
> about how stuff we do at Improbable has been changed by the practice of
> invitation.
>
> First off I’m sure my wife Matilda won’t mind me sharing this story. She
> formed and co-runs an organisation called “Mothers who make” it’s an online
> and offline support group that grew out of one of our own open space
> events. It supports the idea that we need to open more space into our work
> and life spaces so that the the roles of both mother and maker are not
> separate or marginalised by the other.
> Check it out you might want to take part. You can join from anywhere in
> the world.
>
> https://www.improbable.co.uk/job-vacancies
>
> Anyway a few years back Matilda put out a job advert for a Producer role
> at MWM in a traditional way. Job specs, salary, responsibility etc.. she
> got at most a handful of replies. So she decided to create an informal
> advert. An invitation. She spoke from her heart and from her passion and
> vulnerability with real honesty about what the job would be and what it
> would involve. Raw. She got 100 applicants. A real indication that it’s not
> just the sessions called but the original invite that need passion and
> responsibility to give it grip.
>
> https://www.improbable.co.uk/
>
> So Improbable (link above) is a company that makes shows and opens space
> wherever we can are currently looking for a new executive director. We put
> out the formal job advert a few weeks ago and shortly afterwards we put out
> our informal invite which is  below..
>
> Please spread the word and notice that we are hoping to ensure no one
> should exclude themselves from the possibility of interviewing, especially
> if you don’t work in theatre.
>
> Yes this might be you.
>
> Here is the Invitation:
>
> https://www.improbable.co.uk/posts/executive-director-informal-job-ad
>
> Here’s the text so you don’t have to click a link!
>
> “A POEM ABOUT A JOB.”
>
> An invitation to Join us. A poem about a job.
>
> On our Gathering blog, https://www.improbable.co.uk/posts/the-gathering
> you may have read that we’re looking for a place to belong and to create
> belonging. We've been gathering clues, seeking out places, talking to
> people, in our quest for a home for the company. We have also just put out
> a call for a very particular, key collaborator - last week, we announced
> that Improbable is looking for a new Executive Director.
>
> Our Executive Director will, of course, be helping to take care of
> Improbable - what it is, what it does, what its unfolding vision is, and
> what it may be. However, one vital focus of this person's role will be
> helping to make The Gathering, our home for Improbable and our practice,
> happen.
>
> You can read the formal job ad here.
>
> https://www.improbable.co.uk/job-vacancies
>
> It does what job ads have to do – it talks about tasks, responsibilities
> and qualifications. There is a heading called 'Person Specification' which
> lists things like:
>
> Excellent written and oral communication skills
> Excellent project management and time management skills
> Experience of line management and excellent people skills
> An understanding of funding systems and track record of fundraising from a
> variety of sources
>
> Etc.....
>
> What it doesn't and can't talk about is spirit.
>
> Spirit Specification.
>
> So we want to do that here. Not to list the spirit needed by the person in
> the Executive Director role because the specific thing about spirit is that
> it does not belong to anyone. It exists between people. An understanding of
> this is at the heart of the company's practice, that the brilliance of the
> work, be that an Opera, an Impro, or an Open Space event, does not lie in
> any one person's singular stellar performance, but in the atmosphere
> between the players, even amongst the audience - between all the
> participants, it emerges. Much like in a poem, the meaning unfolds from the
> combination of the words and their particular clustering, their
> constellation.
>
> Here then, below, is a kind of poem. A list poem. It shares something of
> who we are, and of our spirit.
>
> This is our 'Spirit Ad':
>
> We are Improvisers. Performers. Directors. Writers. Artists. Facilitators.
> Parents. Partners. Friends.
>
> We are leaders. We are listeners.
> We are tricksters.
>
> We have spent our lives following our curiosity, trusting the unlikely,
> believing in the quirky, the subtle, and the irritating, giving time and
> space to all the improper things that are usually dismissed or discarded in
> a creative process. We are also all these things ourselves: improper,
> quirky, irritating. We are not always easy to live with.
>
> We are often… Sad. Overwhelmed. Furious. Funny. In despair. In hope.
> Determined. Devoted. Disgruntled.
>
> We believe that Improvisation can save the world.
> We are wildly ambitious and not attached to the results.
> We believe in the power of vulnerability.
> We are committed to celebrating and holding space for the marginal. We
> mean those marginalised by race, sexuality, gender, class, (dis)ability -
> all of these things - and we also mean the marginalised in ourselves: the
> dreams, dilemmas, accidents, odd impulses, uncanny images.
>
> We are Improbable, seeking a home, and, right now, seeking a collaborator,
> otherwise known as an Executive Director, to help us make it all happen.
>
> If the spirit of this speaks to you...
>
> If you care, not only about theatre but the way in which theatre is made...
>
> If you believe grief has as much value as gold...
>
> If you believe poetry is as hard as nails...
>
> If you believe spirit has as much leverage as a plan...
>
> If you believe leaders are followers...
>
> If you believe silence is as eloquent as words, and that listening is as
> important as speaking…
>
> If you believe that dreams are as real as the real...
>
> If you’re happy to step out before the ground has appeared...
>
> If there’s one thing that you know and it is that you ain’t learned
> nothing yet...
>
> And, in a time of despair, if you believe the story of the artists is not
> over just yet...
>
> Then, maybe, you should apply for this job.
>
> Formal invite here:
> https://www.improbable.co.uk/job-vacancies
>
> And, as we say when we are Opening Space - after that moment of silence
> when we are waiting to see whether everyone is done calling their sessions
> - if you are thinking maybe you should, maybe you shouldn’t, maybe you
> should......
>
> People from diverse backgrounds, in every sense of the word, are
> encouraged to approach us. Unlikely, implausible and improbable applicants,
> are, by definition, extremely welcome.
>
> Lee, Phelim and Matilda
> ————————————-
>
> Love
>
> Phelim X
> ---------------------------
> ___________________/////////////
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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>
>
> *Alan Halford & Associates*
>
> *Open Space Technology AficionadosMediation and Conflict Transformation*
>
> *Facilitators*
> *www.alanhalford.com.au <http://www.alanhalford.com.au>*
>
>
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