Luminary! Love the word. Suggests light in abundance. Elimination of shadows. Cessation of uncertainty. Enlightenment for sure! How strange that such people can be real party poopers!! I can certainly understand the syndrome. Always treated like pampered princes, they suddenly join the people. Shocking!!! And yet in my own experience, the true "Luminaries" are those who share their light without prejudice or precondition - they are just there, fully present to the situation.
I suppose you could look a being in Open Space as a sort of separation of the sheep from the goats - those who require the spot light from those who are the light. That always ends up being a useful determination, I think. When it comes to working with "Luminaries" (false or true) in Open Space, I have never found it necessary to do anything different from what I would ordinarily do, such as: 1) Have a good heart to heart conversation with the sponsors before the gathering. Especially about the guest list and the invitation. Make it very clear that this is an event for those who care to come which automatically makes them the right people - whose "rightness" is determined by their caring and not their "star power." If they want star power, have a star show - fill the theatre seats with folks, turn out the lights (keep them in the dark :-)) - and turn on the stars. I guess there is a place for something like that, but it's not open space. 2) Help people to understand that the motive power is passion and responsibility - which amongst other things makes it very clear that the quality of the experience (both learning and contribution) is totally in the hands of each participant. And if there is a problem - The Law of Two Feet will cut in. Seems to work every time. Harrison _____ From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Peggy Holman Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2007 8:25 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: The challenge of "luminaries" Along with Stephen Silha, I just completed an Open Space with 150 journalists. Actually, it was a mix of mainstream journalists, media educators and students, and citizen journalists. It is the 5th gathering of the "system of journalism" that Stephen and I have done in the last 2 years. It was also the largest. Along with the size, it brought a new twist to our journalism work. We have developed a positive reputation and as a result, attracted a handful of people considered expert in the changing landscape of journalism. These "luminaries" are used to being on stage, the ones others turn to as the experts. And, while ego may be a factor for some of them, they truly do bring particularly valuable insights. Following the conference, we head from one of them, who was quite turned off by the whole experience. Here's an excerpt: > Instead I was at a New Age, "open circle" conference where > the questions were as flat and meaningless as possible so no one would feel > excluded. Just so we don't dwell on this individual, a variation of this luminary situation occurred with the Nexus for Change. In that examploe, I spoke with one of the "luminaries" who had originally planned on attending. She cancelled at the last moment because she just didn't see a role for herself. She described herself as a high introvert and without a role, felt she would not be comfortable there. So, here's my question: these folks (even the ones with egos) have gifts to offer. What experiences have you had in creating conditions where luminaries/elders/experts actually see a role for themselves and make a productive contribution to an Open Space? (In retrospect, my current thought is to talk to them beforehand and encourage them to post a session on a question they wish to explore or, if they don't feel the others present are sophisticated enough for their question (whether that is actually the case is an entirely different question), at least post a session on a subject they believe others would be interested in learning about from them.) thoughts? curiously, Peggy ________________________________ Peggy Holman The Open Circle Company 15347 SE 49th Place Bellevue, WA 98006 (425) 746-6274 www.opencirclecompany.com For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to: www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook "An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become the fire". -- Drew Dellinger * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist