Tonnie, Robyn, <br>This, and what you have each written, is why I am so committed to Open Space. The emotions, the vulnerability, the sharing, the internal turmoil, the pain, the questions and <b>this</b> discussion is all part of the (our) story of Open Space...it's about life itself! I feel connected and so very grateful. It's why I'm here; it's why I am pursuing this path with courage and a conviction that goes deeper than anything I've ever done in my life. <br>
<br><b>What is success in Open Space?</b> If we see conflict, displeasure, chaos, confusion, within ourselves or others, does it mean it was less of a success? If the sponsor expected something they did not immediately see, is it less of a success? How do we measure the "feeling of aliveness" that surfaces or the gratitude we feel when people respond to an invitation to speak their passion for the first time or the stirring in their soul when they discover others in a deeper way? How do we measure when others find their courage to take responsibility, no matter how big or small the step?<br>
<br>As Tonnie described it, stuff happened, big stuff when he went back 2 years later. I have taken the liberty of reproducing the note that Michael Pannwitz sent me (see below) this summer with a similar story. And there are so many more. As someone who was only recently introduced to Open Space, I do not have those stories yet. The "greatness" that I see with Open Space is based on where I have lived ...in the depth of organizations...which was my home for nearly 25 years, the places where I worked with so many informal and formal leaders at every level of the organization, people I loved and admired. Oh how we would have benefitted from Open Space!<br>
<br><b>My </b>courage here and now is to speak my thoughts and "gut" feelings after only a half dozen Open Space experiences and to continue to open space wherever and whenever I can. I feel urgency because there is so much need for what we do. When people pay us currency for our work, they have expectations. Our "wave riding" work, I think, is helping them and us, reframe what success looks and feels like. Seeing what we don't always see; knowing what we "intuitively" know but don't speak, and learning to value in a different way than just money, return on investment, solutions etc. -- something different than what we have traditionally valued...something that has much greater meaning. No easy task to communicate what people cannot know until they experience it. <br>
<br>Now here's Michael's inspiring story:<br><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSUZANN%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C03%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSUZANN%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C03%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSUZANN%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C03%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><style>
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<p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" class="MsoPlainText">Dear Susanne,</p>
<p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" class="MsoPlainText">just returned from an afternoon reception at the
headquarters of the Berlin protestant welfare organisation in honor of a couple
of people who received rewards for their lifelong passion for social issues...its
the kind of gathering where you are bound to see people you havent for years or
even decades...so I always go!</p>
<p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" class="MsoPlainText">Shortly after I arrived a lady rushed up to me, calling
out my name, hugging me...I had no clue...and then excitedly told me about an
event at a local highschool in 2001 that she attended as a parent...and how it
changed her life...and the life in the school...and how amazing it is in which
way the spirit (yes, she spoke of the spirit) of that event 8 years ago is
alive and does its thing in the school even today.</p>
<p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" class="MsoPlainText">She did not talk about any specific project...but I
remembered that 8 weeks after the event they had a "Next Meeting" to
look at their projects. And they had two more in the year following the
event...at the last one I attended the principle came up to me, furrowed brow,
saying, well, something strange is happening, he has much more time than he
used to have, people would come much less frequently to talk about stuff with
him but obviously were out there leading projects, and, for the first time he
had really ample time to pay attention to long range planning and conception,
stuff he always wanted to have time for...</p>
<p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" class="MsoPlainText">Ok, part of the story I knew already, the part with the
spirit jumped at me today...it will become part of the kind of story that I
tell clients when they ask me about sustainable effects/outcome...and I can
give them the name of the school and the principal because the school and the
principal are in the local news and papers all the time...</p>
<p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" class="MsoPlainText">Aside from all the organisational stuff I tell the
sponsor when sustainability is desired.</p>
<p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" class="MsoPlainText">I enjoyed myself with your message and especially touched
myself with the pictures...all looked like "home", it is immediately
identifiable as open space.</p>
<p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" class="MsoPlainText">Greetings from Berlin</p>
<p style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" class="MsoPlainText">mmp</p>
<br><br><br><br> <br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Suzanne Daigle<br>NuFocus Strategic Group<br>7159 Victoria Circle<br>University Park, FL 34201<br>FL 941-359-8877; CT 203-722-2009<br><a href="http://www.nufocusgroup.com" target="_blank">www.nufocusgroup.com</a><br>
<a href="mailto:s.daigle@nufocusgroup.com" target="_blank">s.daigle@nufocusgroup.com</a><br>
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