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Wow - thank you Peggy and Birgitt - very valuable.<br>
<br>
I'm curious about two things. What is the difference between focus
on welcoming, and a focus on safety - and how can the sponsor help
make the space welcoming?<br>
<br>
The second - the reason safety has become much more important to me
is the story of the Aluminum Company of America as told in the book
"The Power of Habit", the company was turned around by making safety
the priority. The CEO said, "If you want to understand how Alcoa is
doing, you need to look at our workplace safety figures." He was
saying that profits were less an indication of the health and future
prospects of the company than safety. And as a result, the end
result was much more profits as well as growth.<br>
<br>
One of the pioneers of Agile Software development, Joshua Kerievsky,
made this one of the four pillars of "Modern Agile". You can look
that up, but part of what it says is "Make Safety a Prerequisite:
Safety is both a basic human need and a key to unlocking high
performance. We actively make safety a prerequisite by establishing
safety before engaging in any hazardous work."<br>
<br>
I notice some of the prior OSList posts about safety was that Open
Space helped grow safety. But it's probably not helpful to "make
safety a prerequisite" before convening an open space event. But
perhaps that's really just a given. An unstated prerequisite of any
welcoming invitation. Will you help me resolve my discomfort around
letting this question go?<br>
<br>
Thanks!<br>
Harold<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 9/21/16 11:40 AM, Birgitt Williams
via OSList wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAKF340iNABm1hq4f-bBU94RFWCnftK782t_Uf+hyBVSo8qYzww@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Hi Harold,
<div>I believe that the greatest issues about safety come about
when a facilitator attempts to reassure people that 'this is
safe space'. We can never know if the space for conversations
is actually safe, despite the safeguards built in by the four
principles and the one law of OST. Those who choose to enact
their leadership into the unknown, taking risks, being
vulnerable, will do so....maybe now, maybe at a subsequent
meeting. Those who for whatever reason need to hold back will
do so.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Even to assure people that they have some responsibility
for safety in themselves assumes too much. People take risks,
they may know or not know the consequences that might come
about, the collateral damage that might ensue. People cannot
be responsible for even personal safety as it is not within
their control.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>And so I agree with what Peggy has offered as an
alternative. The concept of welcoming space. This takes me to
my concept that the facilitator doesn't open the welcoming
space for the meeting....it must be the sponsor who does so.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Great question Harold!</div>
<div>Birgitt<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr">On Wed, Sep 21, 2016 at 2:32 PM Peggy Holman
via OSList <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div style="word-wrap:break-word">Great question Harold! I
always wince when people say the space needs to be safe.
If you make space so safe that it leaves the opportunity
for messiness out, nothing happens. Sometimes I’ve said
"safe enough”. Ultimately, as you said, a sense of
safety comes from within.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Rather than safety, I have come to focus on
welcoming space. (With a nod to Juanita Brown, who
helped me to understand the value of welcoming.) A
spirit of welcome creates conditions for who and what
shows up. And if you start cultivating a culture of
welcome, then there’s room for all voices — and those
who come discover they belong. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Peggy</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
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<div>_________________________________</div>
Peggy Holman<br>
Executive Director<br>
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15347 SE 49th Place<br>
Bellevue, WA 98006<br>
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target="_blank">www.journalismthatmatters.net</a><br>
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href="http://www.peggyholman.com"
target="_blank">www.peggyholman.com</a><br>
Twitter: @peggyholman<br>
JTM Twitter: @JTMStream<br>
<br>
Enjoy the award winning <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.engagingemergence.com"
target="_blank">Engaging Emergence:
Turning Upheaval into Opportunity</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
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<br>
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<blockquote type="cite">
<div>On Sep 21, 2016, at 11:16 AM, Harold Shinsato
via OSList <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org"
target="_blank">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>>
wrote:</div>
<br>
<div>
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> Dear
People(s) of Open Space,<br>
<br>
What is the importance of safety? What, if
any, work is needed in the "pre-work" to help
ensure safety?<br>
<br>
It seems that safety is doomed if the "givens"
are that the people in the organization must
either be silent or agree with the "powers
that be" on everything.<br>
<br>
I'm seeing two aspects to this. At one level,
systemic oppression (such as explicitly
killing, imprisoning, or otherwise effectively
punishing dissent) clearly would shut down any
opening in an open space.<br>
<br>
And at another level, safety is something we
can be responsible in ourselves. With enough
passion and courage, we can take
responsibility for own safety. And also, it
can be easy just to stay silent, or not to
look beyond the smallness of our comfort zone
because of the lenses we look through. And
then we won't even try something out of fear,
when something powerful could have been a
result of us taking a small step (or a small
series of steps to the center of the circle).<br>
<br>
What do you all think about safety, and
helping to encourage people to source their
own safety, as well as working with the
"powers that be" to help ensure some level of
safety?<br>
<br>
Thanks!<br>
Harold<br>
<br>
P.S. I did find one interesting post about
this in the archives from the late Father
Brian Bainbridge. <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org/msg01333.html"
target="_blank">http://www.mail-archive.com/oslist@lists.openspacetech.org/msg01333.html</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<div>-- <br>
Harold Shinsato<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:harold@shinsato.com"
target="_blank">harold@shinsato.com</a><br>
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href="http://shinsato.com/"
target="_blank">http://shinsato.com</a><br>
twitter: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://twitter.com/hajush"
target="_blank">@hajush</a></div>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Harold Shinsato<br>
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