This is George

So I spent yesterday and today working an overnight meeting/workshop for some companies here in Japan working on getting that "sustainability" thing right. (for some reason the workshop was in the mountains, a three hour bus-ride from Tokyo, and most people never once stepped out of the hotel - I have yet to figure out why we have to drive unsustainable transportation so far to have a meeting, but anyway...) The meeting went really well, I learned a ton and a half about how this sustainability thing plays out in the "real world".

Aside that, one of the biggest things I learned though is that, no matter how cynical I may sound about it, the Natural Step Framework kicks arse. They didn't use it, but I wish they did (joining the conversation two years after it had begun I was in no position to say "let's go back to the beginning and start over -although I can propose that Monday).

Another thing I couldn't shake from my little brain is how FRIKIN' POWERFULL open-space is -or at least how frikin' powerful I suspect it would be. There were more than a few instances where, based on my limited experience with it, it would have been far more productive at creating high-quality shared output that everyone feels is theirs and is happy (or extatic) about.

Ever since the first day I met Open Space, way back on the sixth day I was in Sweden, I have been completely in love with it, but I attributed that to my personality type which favors less order, more chaos, less "need to speak up", more "listen and learn", less "tell us what to think about", more "let's think about this!". I can't help but think that this is exactly what this meeting needed.

Was this a life changing moment for me? Time will tell.