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<p class="MsoNormal">At the very beginning, the recovered “Miss Fix it” that I
was with “No task too big” from the corporate world, becoming an Open Space
facilitator seemed like a climb to Mount Everest. This weekend supported by so
many friends (Christine Whitney Sanchez, Harold Shinsato, Lisa Heft, Larry
Peterson, Diane Gibeault, Harrison of course, Alan Stewart, Juan Luis Walker
and so many others), I felt I peaked at a Base Camp level with an absolutely
wonderful team: members of the Scrum Technology community and their many allies.<span style=""> </span>Indeed I have facilitated many Open Space
events <span style=""> </span>but this one in Phoenix AZ was truly unique and
special.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For this two day event, there was community before
we even met. <span style=""> </span>(The true spirit of
pre-work as Ms Heft would call it). <span style=""></span>Weeks
before, topics were flying on the internet around this theme of “Scrum beyond
Software” on blogs, on twitter, on facebook and everywhere. Dreams were
starting to crystallize, anticipation was building and the spirit of welcome
was in the air. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ll admit that I was somewhat trepidatious<span style=""> in</span> this chaotic, “who’s doing what”
shared leadership, self-organizing world with my new techie friends. I breathed in and breathed out, knowing that what they have done to
change the world in technology, in community, as free agents and free spirits
to make this global world a smaller place, through technology change and large
system change, well I knew they had something precious to share with the rest
of the world. <span style=""> </span>And share they did.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From California to Serbia, Canada to the Eastern US, from
the Mid-West to the Far-West, they came.<span style="">
</span>The banner and welcome signs became works of art, the chairs quickly
arranged in circle, everything was ready the night before. Comfortably settled
in this incredible place called “Gangplank”, certainly worth reading about (<a href="http://gangplankhq.com/">http://gangplankhq.com/</a> ) that could not
have been better chosen for all its principles and values which parallel so
much of who we are in Open Space, the conversations began.<span style=""> </span>Quickly participants bounded to the center,
many still infused with the Orlando event last March that Harrison hosted.<span style=""> </span>The topics just kept coming, too many to
really count because it really didn’t matter.<span style="">
</span>It was the passion behind the words that mattered most. <span style=""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What I realized in that instant is that when there is a
spirit of welcome, a diverse group, people who are there because they want to
be there, a sense of urgency because the world needs this and a complex topic
that sparks and ignites, well indeed magic or real life happens.<span style=""> </span>People quickly shed their facades, threw caution
to the wind, and they got to work.<span style=""> </span>In my
opening remarks, I talked about nervous energy (for those who had never sat in
a circle like this in Open Space) and pent-up energy (for those who just wanted
to get on with it so pressing were the topics they wanted to discuss)
suggesting that these were the perfect ingredients for innovation and
creativity.<span style=""> </span>I invited all to pause, to look
around that giant circle as if seated in the Arizona desert <span style=""> </span>to see who was there and to leave room from within
for the 4 principles and the Law of 2 feet to do their thing.<span style=""> </span>Leave some space to be surprised, I said, and
let go of pre-determined expectations. <span style=""> </span>These principles and this law, would be some
of the precious take-aways to be used in our life beyond this event. <span style=""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No sooner were those words spoken than my job was done.<span style=""> </span>I truly became invisible (with a slight tad
of sadness I’ll admit) knowing that passion and responsibility had found their
place and there was truly nothing left to do.<span style="">
</span>Yes in some cases, there were concerns: were people documenting their
reports, were we capturing the names of all the participants…and I chose to
simply smile knowing that I could not interrupt the intense conversations
(butterflies, bumble bees and participants) as it would perhaps crash the one
magical moment where individuals were connecting and creating something greater
than I could imagine. <span style=""> </span>I had no doubt
that everything would be alright, that responsibility would combine with
passion and that action would naturally emerge which it did and will. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So I stood back and quietly watched the intense expressions,
the energy bouncing off the walls (exhausting at times), the charged
discussions, the markers flying on the flip chart sheets, the smart phone video
cameras capturing the action in the moment, the live stream twitter comments
enticing folks outside the room to respond. It was exciting; it was exhilarating!<span style=""> </span>Anyone interested, have a peak (blogs and
live stream) <a href="http://phoenix.scrumgathering.org/">http://phoenix.scrumgathering.org/</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And then at some point, I shed my facilitator role too and
had a few wonderful and life changing conversations with a few butterflies.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As we closed the circle after two days asking people to say not
what they thought but rather to describe how they “felt” about what had
happened, I knew then just as I had experienced it at the Wave Rider event in
Toronto and also at WOSonOS <span style=""> </span>in Taiwan
that these moments would never happen again. This is it and this is now!<span style=""> </span>Certainly what happened in those two days
borrowing from the title of one of Harrison’s books is that for those two days in
Phoenix, we were “Expanding our Now” and I, for one, will be forever grateful to
have had a small part in making this happen with others.<span style=""> </span>My love affair with Open Space
continues.<span style=""> <br></span></p>Suzanne<br>-- <br>Suzanne Daigle<br>NuFocus Strategic Group<br>7159 Victoria Circle<br>University Park, FL 34201<br>FL 941-359-8877; <br>CT 203-722-2009<br><a href="http://www.nufocusgroup.com">www.nufocusgroup.com</a><br>
<a href="mailto:s.daigle@nufocusgroup.com">s.daigle@nufocusgroup.com</a><br>
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