Hurry up and wait

Port Alberni, BC

I was speaking with a client the other day about an Open Space event we are planning. The theme of the event has to do with slowing down communities, to get a handle on the pace of change. We were reflecting on one of the pre-conditions for a good Open Space event being urgency. We had a good chuckle at the notion that, in these communities, there is an urgent need to slow down! I love the creative tension of this paradox.

We build in time for ourselves personally to slow down and reflect and sometimes we do the same for organizations. But it’s rare that communities do this. I love working with communities where we build community-wide reflection into the life of the community. If you live in a place, like I do, where development pressures threaten to drive the agenda for how the whole community will evolve, then you can appreciate the urgency for slow.