Thank you so much, Harrison, for sharing this. I can recognise the sadness. And I feel so humble actually having something concrete and simple to offer as a tool to open up for the people and the recourses.
Thank you! Hege Steinsland 14. jan. 2013 kl. 15:19 skrev Leslie Zucker (Creative/DC) <[email protected]>: > I’m loving this particular thread. I find myself nodding my head and agreeing > whole-heartedly as I read Harrison’s email to his client. The letter brings > the responsibility back to humans. The responsibility to choose a perspective > and to believe your own “self talk”. The only words that I would change in > the whole letter if I were to send it to my clients would be… instead of > “What are you doing, by way of doing business, that creates an environment in > which good people appear as dysfunctional, with morale at snake belly low, > and incapable of meaningful communication?” I would say “Who are you being > that creates an environment in which good people appear as dysfunctional, > with morale at snake belly low, and incapable of meaningful communication? > > As I am doing my certification in Life Coaching, I am struck – everyday- by > the power of the question... “Who are you being in XY or Z situation?” Maybe > clients such as the one Harrison describes would do a deeper dive into > self-reflection with that kind of question? > > This all leads me to wonder who of you fabulous Open Space folks are also > Life Coaches? I don’t even ask “IF”, but who? Would any of you like to do a > little exploring about the intersection of Open Space and Coaching? Have any > of you already written about this? > > Looking forward to any and all thoughts about this. > With smiles from Washington, DC – one week before Inauguration 2013! > > Leslie > > > Leslie S. Zucker > Training Manager, Human Resources Division > Creative Associates International > > AND > > Life Coach for Life's Dancers > www.lesliezucker.com > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris Corrigan > Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2013 11:51 PM > To: World wide Open Space Technology email list > Cc: World wide Open Space Technology email list > Subject: Re: [OSList] Afterwards... > > That is a good fierce question to host your client in. And your observation > that it is about the people and not the process is spot on. Anywhere there is > dysfunction or success it is down to the people. > > Chris > > -- > CHRIS CORRIGAN > Harvest Moon Consultants > www.chriscorrigan.com > > Art of Hosting - Participatory Leadership and Social Collaboration, Bowen > Island, BC November 11-14,2013 > > On 2013-01-12, at 5:08 PM, "Harrison Owen" <[email protected]> wrote: > > Well, the Open Space, previously noted, is over. For the client it was a > raging success, or so they said. For myself it was indeed marvelous, albeit > just another day in Open Space. But I also noted a sense of sadness, maybe > even tragedy. I have felt such feelings before, but never quite so strongly. > I had been told that the participants constituted a dysfunctional > organization, low on morale, and lacking in communication abilities. But when > we opened space, you surely couldn’t see any of that. Charged up, charging on > – with purpose, clarity, respect, and humor. What’s not to like about that? > But more to the point, how could the client been so wrong? The client in this > case is a duo (Chief and Deputy). Both are competent, sensitive, energetic, > bright – truly good folks. But the fact remains that the very same people > (“the employees”) who had been described as dysfunctional, dis-spirited, and > un-communicative… simply took fire! I believe this raises some questions that > we need to ask ourselves, and most especially our clients. In what follows, > you will see my attempt, appropriately redacted to cover the innocent. I > guess you could call this “After-work.” > > (An Afterwards email to my client) > > Given your initial description of the situation, it appears that some good > things may have happened. As I recall, the organization was described as > “dysfunctional with serious morale and communications issues.” Those may not > have been precisely the words, but pretty close. I heard what was said, and > was prepared for the worst, but to be perfectly honest with you, there was > nothing that I saw during our two days together that would lead me to such a > judgment. What I did see was a committed group of professionals deeply and > passionately engaged in their mission and with each other. To be sure there > were arguments and disagreements, but so far as I could see all of that took > place in a respectful manner. Above everything else they were genuine, warm, > people. Nice folks. With the exception of a few moments of trepidation at the > very start, which seemed to pass quickly (20 min?), it all flowed as a > marvelous tapestry of human endeavor. > > Assuming that my natural (and doubtless prejudiced) optimism didn’t get the > better of me, it is reasonable to ask, What happened? One might suspect “The > magic of Open Space,” but I think that would be a false conclusion. A more > accurate one would be, The Magic of the People. And that magic seemed to > appear almost instantaneously – well, after 20 minutes or so. All of which > could lead to a deeper and more interesting conclusion: The people didn’t > actually change at all, they simply showed up as they really were. And a > follow-on question: What was different? Same people, same issues, same > general constraints ( Washington is still Washington, and Africa remains its > enchanting, maddening self). To be sure, we were in an “offsite conference > center,” but I can tell you that had the space been available in the office, > the results would have been comparable. What was different? > > As you wander on down the road, there will be a natural tendency to assess > the impact of our two days together in terms of the number of > projects/fixes/changes that are followed up on, and implemented. Natural, but > superficial, I think. Some proposals will be dealt with, some won’t be, some > never should be. Indeed the world may radically change tomorrow so that just > about everything we talked about, thought about, and planned is irrelevant. > The question then will be, can The People demonstrate the same level of > professional competence, commitment, passion and responsibility as they did > over the past two days, and effectively deal with that new world? I believe > you have now set a new high bar for yourselves, and based on the demonstrated > performance, I believe the odds are really good. No guarantees, of course, > but one thing is very clear, The XXXX Bureau isNOT essentially a tattered > collection of dysfunctional people, out of steam, and out of spirit. > > And now we come to a really hard question – the pointy end of the stick, as > it were. What are you doing, by way of doing business, that creates an > environment in which good people appear as dysfunctional, with morale at > snake belly low, and incapable of meaningful communication? I don’t think > for a moment that the original assessment was wrong, but I do think there are > alternatives. Short take: Keep your space open. I do think you can apply some > of the lessons learned from Open Space so that good people can effectively > maneuver in tight quarters. > > > Harrison > > > > Harrison Owen > 7808 River Falls Dr. > Potomac, MD 20854 > USA > > 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer) > Camden, Maine 04843 > > Phone 301-365-2093 > (summer) 207-763-3261 > > www.openspaceworld.com > www.ho-image.com (Personal Website) > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST > Go to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
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