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paul,<br>
<br>
Thanks for your recent posts. This one brings to mind the Core
commitments, in particular #6:<br>
<br>
=====<br>
#6<br>
=====<br>
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I will disengage from less productive situations
<ul>
<li>When I cannot keep these commitments,</li>
<li>When it is more important that I engage elsewhere.</li>
</ul>
=====<br>
<br>
<br>
I wonder if you might enjoy this link, the source of the text above:<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://liveingreatness.com/core-protocols/the-core-commitments/">http://liveingreatness.com/core-protocols/the-core-commitments/</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 10/30/13 6:32 AM, paul levy wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAAnJsbDsqrB-NmYUqnkQsABrgPGf5iYsvDOZg7tT=2jE1L2ZuA@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Dear all, the second of two posts. Comments and
insights most welcome...
<div><br>
</div>
<div>warm wishes</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Paul Levy</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div>Like many of the open space principles, they are true at
an archetypal level. The people who are in the room to get
to work together on something are the people we have. Where
attendance in that room is voluntary, we have a community
formed out of freedom, and that commitment means the right
people are in the room. The rightness here is born of free
commitment. There’s also a more pragmatic perspective that
says: Here we are, here and right now, and this is who we
have, so let’s get to work!</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Some open space facilitators misunderstand this
“rightness” and suggest to participants that we should just
accept who is here as the right people and get on with
things, stifling any conversation or regret about who isn’t
in the room. They then present this principle as a kind of
dogma as follows: Whoever didn’t come, clearly didn’t need
to be here. This is a pity as reflection on who isn’t here
and even freely chosen attempts during the open space event
itself to contact those absent and attempt to bring them
into the space, or at least involve them in some way, is
then stifled.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Whoever comes are the right people, but that statement
isn’t rendered any less true if we ponder on who isn’t there
and at least acknowledge absence. This can actually be
empowering and energising, as long as we don’t stay away
from what we can do together in the room by becoming blocked
or paralysed by who isn’t in the room.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Let me offer a couple of examples to prove this.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Someone doesn’t attend who is ill. They wanted to come.
They couldn’t. In the feeling of the community, this is
still one of the “right” people. We mention them. We might
even read out a good will message from them, sent by text.
They might even email a few suggestions for what sessions
they might have offered at the open space, had they been
able to attend. We still have the right people in the room,
but we can now imagine an empty chair, and also fold in what
the person who might have occupied that chair might have
brought. This can enhance and raise awareness in the
community.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Here’s another example. A key decision maker prioritises
a different meeting from the open space they were intending
to attend. A group at the open space explore a challenge of
product redesign and reach a key decision point halfway
through their session that needs the yes or no from the
absent key decision maker. The group acknowledges that
absence to each other. In one case, a member of the group
contacts the decision maker and gets their input remotely,
just for five minutes, and the group can then progress to
further action around the product redesign. In another case
they agree to meet with the decision maker as soon as
possible after the open space event and, in the meantime,
make a provisional decision, then proceeding on the
assumption that the decision maker will say yes, but also
creating a “plan B” in case of a no.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>In both cases there are, at least in one sense, “right”
people who are have not come. Holding them in mind,
involving them where possible can help the space to further
open.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>So, when introducing the principle “whoever comes are the
right people”, it is important not to present this as “we
are the good guys who came, and the bad guys didn’t so they
are irrelevant to our work here” or as “they ain’t here, now
shut up and get over it”. This principle is not there to
stifle either regret or reflection. It is there to affirm
the value of being in the present, and with committing to
who and what we have right now. It is no accident that the
people who are here are here. They responded to the
invitation in freedom. Yet we can also “involve” those
outside the circle by filling the empty chairs with
creativity and care. “What would John have said had he been
able to be here?” “Is there anyway we can get Steve in for
the afternoon session?”</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Don’t fear flexibility and also the notion that presence
at an open space doesn’t only have to be physical.</div>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>More here: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://rationalmadness.wordpress.com/treasures/open-space-realm/">http://rationalmadness.wordpress.com/treasures/open-space-realm/</a></div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<br>
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