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<DIV>Christine is right, some of us are lurking here from that international
non-profit she mentions. I am Sue Scott in Oregon and I am a volunteer with that
organization which consists mostly *of* volunteers. My take on this idea of
starting with smaller OS groups is yes, it can be very effective. Our
organization consists of many, many smaller groups that make up progressively
larger groups throughout the world. We span cultures, customs, age groups, and
socio-economic groups. It would be very hard to get many stakeholders together.
Because we are diverse in these ways and because we are so very passionate about
our cause, change on an international basis can be perceived as negative and
threatening. Besides, we mostly function as smaller groups so it makes sense and
feels natural to introduce OS that way.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In our organization, we work for change around our
cause by influencing/having conversations and by sharing resources and
information through small groups. So it stands to reason that we would
accept change (including OS) in our own organization best by influence,
sharing, and small groups. We already have this model and understand
it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>I have also found that it works much better to act a change rather than to
announce that there is going to be a change. So as smaller groups experience OS
and change their orientation towards working together, it naturally
spreads.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am pretty inexperienced at OS. Yet in my heart, I
recognize it as something that has already been in my life and in the life
of my organization. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From Sue who is no longer just lurking</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=093442115-11112004><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#008080>to
build capacity by bringing appreciative, self-organized and
distributive processes and practices into their organization. Because
of the fear that had unfortunately arisen from a recent systemic change
process, we have found that initially opening space with smaller groups feels
safer and has naturally led to an eagerness to try OS with larger groups, with
some especially strong advocates now among those who were originally the most
wary. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
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<DIV><SPAN class=093442115-11112004><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"
color=#008080></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=093442115-11112004><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#008080>A
lovely result of doing smaller to larger OS events is that those who are
already experienced in OS have often "talked it up" to their
colleagues, further mitigating the fear. The more experienced OS'ers
also often jump right in to post topics and model self-organization - this has
been especially helpful to me when English is NOT the primary
language.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=093442115-11112004><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"
color=#008080></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=093442115-11112004><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"
color=#008080>This summer, I will be opening space at their international
conference, the largest group so far. I hope some of the folks from this
organization (who I know are lurking here :-) will jump into this
conversation and share their experiences and
perspectives! </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=093442115-11112004><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"
color=#008080></FONT></SPAN> </DIV><FONT size=4><SPAN>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"></SPAN></FONT><FONT
face="Viner Hand ITC"
color=#008080><EM><STRONG>Christine</STRONG></EM></FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><FONT color=#008080><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS">Christine Whitney Sanchez<BR><FONT color=#800080>Triune
Milagro, LTD</FONT><BR></FONT><STRONG><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS">480.759.0262 <BR></FONT></STRONG></FONT><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS" size=1>VISIT OUR WEBSITE: </FONT></FONT><A
href="http://www.triunemilagro.com/"><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"
size=1>www.triunemilagro.com</FONT></A><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">
</FONT></FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
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