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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Harrison,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thank you so much for this story. It is such
a powerful reminder -- when there's disturbance, open space. Even
when already in Open Space, open it wider.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Your talk of your sleepless night reminded me of an
experience during an Appreciative Inquiry Summit. The group of a
couple hundred people had just generated about 10 provocative propositions (for
those not familiar with AI jargon, these are statements describing the desired
future). The group was standing, looking at the statements and I said
something that I never do -- something about reaching consensus.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>(A quick aside...since I ran into OS, achieving
consensus ceased to hold any interest to me. I think OS transcends the
need -- when people experience the profound sense of convergence of what they
collectively and individually care about, they simply move to action that aligns
with each other. No need to spend tedious time building
consensus.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So, these unexpected, unwanted words had left my
mouth. Sure enough, a couple people started to get entrenched in their
positions. It was clear we weren't going to reach consensus standing
there. Worse, almost everyone else was solid in their feeling of close
alignment and ready to get on with things. So I asked for a group who
would be willing to get together on behalf of the whole. About 8 people
agreed to work things out. We met that evening and decided to come
together an hour before the whole group was meeting in the morning because we
were too fried to meet that night.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I hadn't a clue what to do to work through the
differences when I went to bed. Not a lot of sleep...and what I finally
realized was that my role was to create and hold the space for them to hear each
other. That was a huge leap of faith for me as I was letting go of any
certainty that we would reach any sort of agreement. And the work of the
last day was riding on this. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The group of 8 came together in the
morning. I told them an insight that I had during my sleepless night: when
there's one voice that seems to be holding things captive, rather than resenting
them and trying to convince them to change their mind, there was another, more
useful way to see this. That person was speaking an important truth and
our job was to hear the message they were struggling to express because it held
some kernel that was important to the health of the whole. With this
introduction, I passed the talking stick (sound familiar)? That's all it
took. Ironically, nothing from the wording the day before changed.
The people who had felt shut down, now felt heard and were ready to move
on.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Peggy</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=hhowen@comcast.net href="mailto:hhowen@comcast.net">Harrison Owen</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, August 25, 2004 3:15
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [OSLIST] Unintend
Consequences, Collateral Damage and Truth Telling</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Larry -- they did give me some warning. Sort of
like . . . there may be some "political stuff'' which I read as trouble. I
told them not to worry. Everything works in Open Space. I didn't tell that
what works. I figured we would find out. As for the timing, you are right --
my walk from the circle came on the morning of the 2nd day. Evening news the
night before set the stage. The dissidents (which was about 99% of the group)
read their manifesto. In no uncertain terms they said -- We aren't going to
take it any more. Details to be worked out. That is where we left it, and once
those words had been said (or rough equivalent) everybody was in shock. People
in that organization don't talk that way, and when they do, minds are blown.
And they were. Anyhow, as I thought about the next day (day 2) is was apparent
to me that the Moose had to be honored and buried. And people needed time to
make the decision to do that. which is why I opened the space big time. They
needed some air to come to grips with the new reality. And they
did.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>ho</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=larry@spiritedorg.com href="mailto:larry@spiritedorg.com">Larry
Peterson</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, August 25, 2004 4:45
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Unintend Consequences,
Collateral Damage and Truth Telling</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Thanks for
the truth </SPAN></FONT><st1:place><FONT color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Harrison</SPAN></FONT></st1:place><FONT
color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> – about
the event and about your experience in it.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Did you
see any of it coming in the planning before the event?<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Sometimes it is a real surprise when
the air is out, the dead moose in on the table and the spirit is
ebbing.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">I’m not
clear from your story when you “left the room”.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>If it was like
</SPAN></FONT><st1:City><st1:place><FONT color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Rome</SPAN></FONT></st1:place></st1:City><FONT
color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">, I assume
it was on Day 2 in the morning? <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>If so, what was evening news
like?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Or did this happen in the
middle of a one day event – <SPAN class=GramE>an impromptu</SPAN>
evening/morning news with a break and permission to leave.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>A little more detail here would help
me.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Larry<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes">Larry
Peterson<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes">Associates
in Transformation<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes">Toronto,
ON, Canada<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes">416.653.4829</SPAN></FONT><FONT
color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy; mso-no-proof: yes"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes"><A
href="mailto:larry@spiritedorg.com"><FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">larry@spiritedorg.com</SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes">
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes"><A
href="http://www.spiritedorg.com"><FONT size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">www.spiritedorg.com</SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-no-proof: yes">
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>* *
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