<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms;">Thank you Harrison, Jack, Michael, Karen, Glory, Lisa, very much for your considerate and insightful teachings.<br><br>I appreciate </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms;">
the reminder that our individual
experiences and perspectives of <span style="font-style: italic;">anything</span> can be, often are, different from
those of every other person in the same "here and now", whether it's of the surroundings or the food or our interpretation of someone's words.</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms;">
<br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms;">
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms;">And I am
also taking to heart the good reminder that so much of the learning is in
the sharing. Because those disparate individual perspectives and experiences are also aspects of some underlying seamless whole that we can only enter into together.<br><br>I love the questions that you all offer--ones that I can ask of my
acquaintance who said she disliked Open Space because of particular events she participated in, and also of my friend
who facilitated those events--that communicate a sense of
interested curiosity and a little bit of gentle poking to see where the
stuckness was. For my learning, and theirs too. (In my usual work, we call that kind of poking, "palpating for the
tender points" and then when I find them, I insert a needle right
there!) In essence, you open more space via your questions and invitations
into future possibilities.<br><br>Harrison wrote:<br></span><blockquote style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote"><span><font color="#ff0000"><font face="Arial">
<font size="4"><span style="font-size: 16px;">
Let's
suppose that your friend was basically a control freak in disguise (we
all are to some extent). She/he said all the right words, but at the
end of the day, the need to be "in charge" was just overwhelming. And
it showed. And the space closed, and the folks were unhappy. </span></font></font></font></span><br><span><font color="#ff0000"><font face="Arial"><font size="4"><span style="font-size: 16px;">
</span></font></font></font></span><br><span><font color="#ff0000"><font face="Arial"><font size="4"><span style="font-size: 16px;">... Perhaps she/he really wanted to let go, but
wasn't able to. </span></font></font></font></span><br><span><font color="#ff0000"><font face="Arial"><font size="4"><span style="font-size: 16px;"></span></font></font></font></span></blockquote><span>
<font color="#ff0000"><font face="Arial"><font size="4"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><br></span></font></font></font></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms;">and Glory wrote:</span><br><blockquote style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;" class="gmail_quote">
<font color="#800000" face="Arial" size="2"><strong><em>'What prevented you from
using your two feet?'</em> (smile, wink - delivered lightly)</strong></font><br></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br>and I think that in the situation I was asking about, both were somewhat true: as a facilitator, my friend tends to have an action-oriented agenda that in this case went in a different direction from what some of the participants wanted to explore; and the participant I spoke with did not choose to step up and declare, or move towards, what she cared about. I imagine that these are common scenarios.
<br><br>And so I am curious to read your responses to Lisa's tender questions about the scenario of what do you do when you trust the process (and you care about that space and that client, but they're not "yours"), and you don't have confidence (yet?) in the skillfulness of a particular facilitator?
<br>Which I am holding in the same breath as Jack's invitation
</span><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 14px;">to love the destination that resides in ... each (w)holy step.</span></font><br><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms;">
</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms;">Thank you again for your generous & thoughtful responses,<br>
and Happy Red Fire Dog Year! (the first day of the lunar new year)<br><br>Christy<br></span>-- <br>weblog: <a href="http://lifecultivatinglife.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
http://lifecultivatinglife.blogspot.com
</a><br><br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 1/29/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Lisa Heft</b> <<a href="mailto:lisaheft@openingspace.net" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
lisaheft@openingspace.net</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">Hello, Ms.
Christy!</span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">I am on the
road so unsure when this message I am sending will get into the conversation
stream, but…</span></font></p><span>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">Christy wrote:</span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;"> </span></font></p>
<p style="margin-left: 0.25in;"><font color="#000099" face="Trebuchet MS" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><</span></font><i><font color="#000099" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-style: italic;">
What, if anything, do you say/do/think when someone says to you,
"oh, I've been to an Open Space Technology meeting before, and I didn't
like it, and wouldn't want to do it again," …and upon gentle inquiry
you discover that what they were told was "Open Space" was not really
so very open? And/or that something was missing (for example, session summaries
weren't posted or shared or compiled in a timely way, or at all)? …And
especially when the spaces in question were held by really wonderful people
(definitely possessing "good heads and good hearts") whom you like
very much?</span></font></i><font color="#000099" face="Trebuchet MS"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">><br>
<br>
</span></font><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;"></span></font></p></span>
<p><span><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">Ahhh</span></font></span><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">
, Ms. Christy.<span> </span>Indeed
I have had that experience.<span> </span>All I
can say is that it's an opportunity to share how choice of appropriate
method/tool/technology, design of time, and attention and respect to pre-work,
detail and follow-up are the cornerstones of good facilitation, no matter the
method.<span> </span>Maybe even to share your
own 'survivors of bad Open Space' stories if you have them, if
appropriate.<span> </span><span>And
to invite that person to another event in future.</span></span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">There are a few
facilitators I know (no matter the methods they use) that I dearly love and to
whom I would never refer a prospective client, alas.<span> </span>Because I trust the process, but I have
seen or experienced a situation that person has facilitated that I would not
like to see repeated.<span> </span>And even so,
I can still love that colleague for who they are, for their intention, their
passion, their dedication…</span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">Your question
raises an interesting point.<span> </span>So not
to take you off Christy's question, but to add another one -- what do you
(all of you) do when you hear that a great client has selected a facilitator
you have seen do lousy work, or about whom you have heard others complain?<span> </span><span>Very tricky.</span><span> </span>I had this situation and I had a hard
time wrestling with my own feelings and concerns.<span> </span>Do I tell the client, with the fear that
it makes me sound competitive or unprofessional?<span> </span>Do I let them have their own experience,
hoping it will be good?<span> </span>I have done
the latter.<span> </span>What have you others
done / felt / experienced?</span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">As with so many
things, my other answer is: I call situations like this – a breathing
lesson…</span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;"> </span></font></p>
<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">Lisa</span></font></p>
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<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black;">___________________________</span></font><font color="black"><span style="color: black;"></span></font></p>
<p><b><font color="blue" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: blue; font-weight: bold;">L i s
a<span> </span>H e f t</span></font></b></p>
<p><font color="blue" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: blue;">Consultant, Facilitator, Educator</span></font></p>
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<p><font color="black" face="Trebuchet MS" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black;">94705-1106<span> </span>USA</span></font></p>
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<span style="color: black;">lisaheft@openingspace.net</span></font></a></span></font><font color="black"><span style="color: black;"></span></font></p>
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