[Dialogue] The Occupy Crowd Meets the ToP Crowd: a Short Video

[Gordon Harper]

I know that many of us are engaged in some way with the Occupy movement, 
and it's a subject worth talking about.  We've had Occupiers in our 
facilitation training here in Seattle, and Molly Shaw and I have worked 
with several of their projects.

I caused something of a disturbance in the Force (who, me?) this 
January.  I announced at the annual ToP conference in Sacramento that I 
thought we might have some things to learn as well as to share about 
grassroots facilitation through dialogue with the Occupy movement--and 
that I had therefore invited about fifteen Occupiers from Seattle and UC 
Davis to our gathering for an interchange session.

This came about because I had mentioned to some of my troublesome 
friends here in Seattle that I would be attending this conference and 
then learned that a number of them would be on a trek visiting other 
Occupy groups along the Pacific coast during that same time.  It became 
very clear to me that God intended for our two groups to connect.

The ToP leadership team put this on the schedule as a small Open Space 
option on the last afternoon of our conference.  It would be while most 
attendees would be completing action planning in their task forces for 
the year ahead.

However, when I asked that morning for how many were interested in being 
part of this Occupy encounter, over 90% of the hands in the plenary shot 
up.  The leadership team died: there went the prime working time for all 
that planning.  (I may never be invited to another ToP conference.)

Nonetheless, despite shooting me looks that would have dropped a more 
sensitive soul in his tracks, our leaders rebounded gracefully, declared 
it a consensus that the whole conference would adjourn to the hotel 
veranda outdoors for this event and that the scheduled planning would 
simply start earlier, over lunch that day.

As you'll see from the video, I had a ball doing this.  This included 
participating in a little direct action after the session, led by the 
Occupiers, at the Capitol Mall a few blocks away (what's called a 
Guerrilla Mic Check, to use the technical term--not something included 
in this clip.  The marching that opens the video is of us on our way to 
cause that trouble).  No, no one got arrested doing it.

Joanna Kohler was our videographer, and Marti Roach and I worked with 
her on the editing.  You'll recognize a number of Order colleagues in 
the group, as well as interesting ritual activity, a great witness, 
clearly stated rubrics for participation and team facilitation being 
created on the spot by people who have just met one another.

Enjoy--and, if you share my sense of its importance, let's talk more 
about just what is going on with this movement and why we maybe should 
pay attention to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnjmWcJjET4

Gordon
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