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<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>Chris' story reminded me of some feedback
I got from a Viet Nam era Army Special Forces veteran. I met him when
I worked with a class at Antioch University Seattle. We were sitting in a
circle and I had been talking about the nature of circles as the fundamental
geometry of communication.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>He came to me after the session ended and
told me that when he trained for the Special Forces, they did all of their work
in circles. He said when you had people with different skills and
different ranks coming together on a team, it helped level the ground for the
team to work together effectively. He said that experience had shaped his
style of management ever since.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>from sunny Seattle,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>Peggy</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" 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=chris@chriscorrigan.com href="mailto:chris@chriscorrigan.com">Chris
Corrigan</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, May 09, 2007 11:44
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [OSLIST] OST with Armed
Forces</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Hey Jaime:<BR><BR>I've recently been working with several
people individuals who have all been former military personnel in the United
States Army, Air Force and Marines. We have talked often about the role
of conversation in carrying out military work. The best story I heard
came from a former US Army Captain who was in command of 25 Lieutenants during
the Vietnam war. As he was learning about Open Space he told me he had
done something very much like Open Space in the jungle during the war.
This man's job - his name is John - was to take orders from the higher command
and translate them into field manoeuvers. After getting it wrong twice,
meaning that two platoons he sent out didn't come back, he decided that he had
to try a different approach to executing orders. He told me that he
shifted his style. When he got an order, he gathered his 25 lieutenants
together and they had a serious, focussed and open conversation about how to
execute those orders. After they had generated a number of options, they
choose the course of action that seemed both least risky and best chance for
success, not an easy thing to balance. Although it sounds like a pretty
standard planning exercise he said that the only other time he had felt the
same quality of conversation was in the Open Space events we were running at
his workplace. It actually reminded him of how important those circles
had been in the jungle <BR><BR>It seems that when life is on the line - both
yours and your "enemy's" - the wise thing to do is open a little space.
If it works there, in actual combat situations, it says something about the
rest of the challenges life throws at us. <BR><BR>For what it's worth, I echo
the sentiment that others have noted here that folks who are in the military
and police are generally more frank and truthful and "action oriented" than
the average citizen, and they value good conversation before undertaking
important jobs. They are deeply familiar with the consequences of bad
planning and an inability to find clarity with one another. They might
tend to operate on faster time cycles than the rest of us too, but that
doesn't mean they can't slow into the reflective pace of a nice juicy open
space. <BR><BR>Also I have heard Birgitt Williams tell the story of her Open
Space at the Royal Military College here in Canada a number of years ago,
during which the sponsor, the commanding officer, noted that "democracy ends
at 5pm!" Perhaps Birgitt will weigh in on this story. It's a
really good one about control, hierarchy and where smart ideas really come
from. <BR><BR>Cheers,<BR><BR>Chris<BR><BR>
<DIV><SPAN class=gmail_quote>On 5/9/07, <B class=gmail_sendername>Kerry</B>
<<A href="mailto:k@napuk.demon.co.uk">k@napuk.demon.co.uk</A>>
wrote:</SPAN>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid">Jaime<BR><BR>We
did an event on police and the black community in Glasgow in 2000<BR>with 47
people, which was the first formal dialogue between police
from<BR>superintendent to constables on the street and
activists.<BR><BR>Good luck with your
event.<BR><BR>Cheers<BR><BR>Kerry<BR>Edinburgh<BR><A
href="http://www.openfutures.com">www.openfutures.com</A><BR><BR>*<BR>*<BR>==========================================================<BR><A
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A><BR>------------------------------<BR>To
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clear=all><BR>-- <BR>CHRIS CORRIGAN<BR>Facilitation - Training<BR>Open Space
Technology<BR><BR>Weblog: <A
href="http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot">http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot</A><BR>Site:
<A
href="http://www.chriscorrigan.com">http://www.chriscorrigan.com</A><BR><BR>Principal,
Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.<BR><A
href="http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com">http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com</A>
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