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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Dear Thomas,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>I would very much like to hear the ideas that you and your colleagues have come up with. I believe you, who live there and are deep in your cultural reality, have probably already found the best ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>None of the issues you mention are new…fear, hostility, mistrust to politicians and municipality, and people being hurt. All of these are coming to the forefront instead of being buried behind illusion, including the effects of prejudice and racism. These same issues come up in just about any country I have been in, with the catalysts to bring them to the forefront different in different circumstances. I don’t think any of us can forget the extreme of genocide in various countries like Rwanda and Tasmania. And so you, in Sweden, are contending with what is always under the surface. Fear, fear of loss, fear of the unknown…and all of the faces that such fear takes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Thomas, you have stood here at our Harmony Circle, in which those of us who gather commit to holding space for our whole lifetime for opportunities for harmony in the world. Before anyone makes that commitment, we caution you not to do so unless you can do what every really good facilitator of OS must do…to be completely neutral to outcome, no attachment to outcome, no taking of sides, no judging anyone as good or bad. We talked about how it is possible to hold this stance of being what I refer to as a ‘resonant energy field generator’, holding a frequency of love….for a lifetime, in times of war, in times of fear, pain, challenge and how to hold this stance even when it might be more ‘natural’ to want to take action to fix something. And thus, my only suggestion is rooted in this. If the facilitators can do their inner work and stay in genuine contact with their self and with Spirit, it is possible to be helpful. If the foundation for acting comes from panic, or judgment, or inner conflict of any kind, it is likely to make a mess.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Blessings to you all,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Birgitt<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Birgitt Williams<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>President & Senior Consultant of Dalar International Consultancy, Inc. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.dalarinternational.com/"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'>http://www.dalarinternational.com</span></a><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Co-founder of the Extraordinary Leadership Network </span><a href="http://www.extraordinaryleadershipnetwork.com/"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'>http://www.extraordinaryleadershipnetwork.com</span></a><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Co-founder of the Genuine Contact™program and author of The Genuine Contact Way: Nourishing a Culture of Leadership </span><a href="http://www.genuinecontactway.com/"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'>http://www.genuinecontactway.com</span></a><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Co-owner of the Genuine Contact Co-owners Group Ltd. </span><a href="http://www.genuinecontact.net/"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'>http://www.genuinecontact.net</span></a><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Supporting leadership development for leading in a culture requiring agility and flexibility in a performance environment of constant change.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Leadership development at your own pace? Become a member of the Extraordinary Leadership Network </span><a href="http://www.extraordinaryleadershipnetwork.com/"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'>http://www.extraordinaryleadershipnetwork.com</span></a><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> to participate in an online leadership development program designed to increase your leadership skills and capacity. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>PO Box 19373, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA 27619<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>phone: 1-919-522-7750<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> genuine-contact@googlegroups.com [mailto:genuine-contact@googlegroups.com] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Thomas Herrmann<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, February 18, 2016 5:34 AM<br><b>To:</b> 'World wide Open Space Technology email list'; 'GC list'<br><b>Subject:</b> [GC] How to shift a destructive "information-meeting" to a constructive dialogue meeting?<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>Dear friends in Open Space/GC-list<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>I have decided to focus my time and energy, as much as possible, to contributing in a critical area here in Sweden. Last year we received 160 000 asylum seekers. Of course this means some challenges but also lots of fantastic opportunities. Many many people are engaging as volunteers, villages who have “been sleeping” for decades wake up etc etc <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>One of the challenges is that neighbours often become afraid when new asylum camps are opened near where they live. Or homes for lonely refugee children (35 000 came last year). There are so many rumours going on, and shit is spread on social media – so many “normal” people are very much afraid from stories they heard – often false ones but also that single events create pictures in people’s heads.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>In my hometown one school which was being rebuilt to house lonely refugee children was burnt down </span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Wingdings'>L</span><span lang=EN-GB> and we had many fires like that all over the country </span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Wingdings'>L</span><span lang=EN-GB><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>What the authorities usually do when a new housing is to open is to invite the public to a “information-meeting” where they put some politicians, the CEO of the company running the camp, some officials from the municipality in front of a crowd of people who are worried and some are even outright hostile with racist ideas. You can imagine what usually happens… I was in one of those meetings a couple of weeks ago, it was horrible. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>I think the usual impact is: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Symbol'>·</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span><span lang=EN-GB>Increased fear and hostility towards people coming to our country from war zones. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Symbol'>·</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span><span lang=EN-GB>Increased mistrust to the politicians and municipality. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in'><span lang=EN-GB style='font-family:Symbol'>·</span><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> </span><span lang=EN-GB>People at the front get more or less badly hurt. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>Not a very good result. In fact it’s outright dangerous to arrange these kind of meetings. But mostly they don’t know better. Which is quite surprising to me as there are thousands of trained facilitators in our country.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>Since some time I have been working with colleagues in our Open Space and Genuine Contact communities to create alternative ways to have such meetings. We have some good ideas but would also like to hear what comes up for you? Normally these meetings are conducted in the evening, length of 2-3 hours. Normally they are not well planned and not facilitated other than trying to control them. They are called “information meetings” which says a lot.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>So I’d love to hear your experiences, ideas, suggestions…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>Thomas Herrmann<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>Open Space Consulting AB<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=SV><a href="http://www.openspaceconsulting.com/"><span lang=EN-GB>www.openspaceconsulting.com</span></a></span><span lang=EN-GB><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-GB>Ni når </span><span lang=NO-BOK>oss per telefon: +46 (0)709 98 97 81 eller Epost: </span><span lang=SV><a href="mailto:thomas@openspaceconsulting.com"><span lang=NO-BOK>thomas@openspaceconsulting.com</span></a> </span><span lang=NO-BOK><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=NO-BOK><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=SV>Open Space Consulting AB är ett företag med STORA ambitioner att guida ledare, organisationer men även lokalsamhällen att nå sin fulla kraft för att infria sina drömmar. Vi bidrar med kunskaper och praktiska verktyg för att stödja er att finna er bästa väg. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=SV><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=SV>Mer information<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=SV>LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult">https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasherrmannopenspaceconsult</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=SV>Facebook Företagssida: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OpenSpaceConsulting">https://www.facebook.com/OpenSpaceConsulting</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=SV><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span lang=SV style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><hr size=1 width="100%" noshade style='color:#A0A0A0' align=center></span></div><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span lang=SV style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>No virus found in this message.<br>Checked by AVG - <a href="http://www.avg.com">www.avg.com</a><br>Version: 2015.0.6189 / Virus Database: 4522/11626 - Release Date: 02/14/16<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>-- <br>-- <br>You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google<br>Groups "Genuine Contact" group.<br>To post to this group, send email to <a href="mailto:genuine-contact@googlegroups.com">genuine-contact@googlegroups.com</a><br>To unsubscribe from this group, send email to<br><a href="mailto:genuine-contact+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com">genuine-contact+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com</a><br>For more options, visit this group at<br><a href="http://groups.google.com/group/genuine-contact?hl=en?hl=en">http://groups.google.com/group/genuine-contact?hl=en?hl=en</a><br>--- <br>You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Genuine Contact" group.<br>To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to <a href="mailto:genuine-contact+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com">genuine-contact+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com</a>.<br>For more options, visit <a href="https://groups.google.com/d/optout">https://groups.google.com/d/optout</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>