In the afternoon while walking by I saw an info post about an evening event around cultural pillars in a city (Luzern, Switzerland). Curious as I am, having fun exploring the Unmapped it managed to come to the event (even though with 30 min delay due to a call with a potential client discussing with him the benefit of the lean approach).
The benefit of coming late was that the crowd was already listening to the main presentation (after two pre-presentations) of Dr. ThomasHeld on the Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Luzern (KKL) and its birthgiving process. It turned out to be that he was sort of the facilitator to make the process of establishing a 225 Mio CHF hall on the lakeside in Luzern, which has only 60.000 inhabitants - a huge project!
He told the crowd, that they managed back in 1991 when the project first started to use the "Round Table" concept that was facilitating the GDR transformation in the first months after the Wall had come down (with a smile on his lips). Then after his presentation he offered to answer specific question and quite soon a negative power emerged into the room (so it seemed to me).
And then a strange thing happened: I stayed seated until almost all others had left the room, a few people got to talk with Dr. Held. A few minutes into a feeling where I felt that the positive energy that had fueled up during the past hour had left the room in minutes, I stood up and went to the window, saw some copies on a table close to it and a DIN A3 copy caught my interest. It was the story behind the KKL and the role Dr. ThomasHeld played in it. Reading the first lines of the article gave me the impulse to connect with Dr. ThomasHeld, who still was standing at the podium, thanked him for his inspirational talk.
Not long after (merely minutes) I was invited to join the crowd in a restaurant for some talk. Again there was a constraint - needed to visit an ATM - on my way phoned a dear friend, told her about the first of the evening till that moment. Entering the restaurant with icy hands and a warmed ear (from the phone;-)), my mind was open to what would come to me in the next moments.
It happened to be that I was invited into joining the already filled up table, and the next conversations went on smoothly into fields I never expected, about Singularity University, Twitter (usefulness), and questions on how to cope with complex (almost unsolvable seeming) business problems [such as the vision of the KKL for Dresden].
In a way we all followed - unconsciously the U Process in large chunks - into unknown fields of action and opportunities that emerged through using the set up power of the "social field" that pulled everybody in the direction to make the vision [a new concert hall in Dresden] not staying a dream but rather making it REALITY.
So my very personal PresencingStatus on the events of yesterday:
Good: taking the chance to visit event, follow the impuls to join in the restaurant, asking the bold question "Where can I sit down? Seems to be full." (in the restaurant)
Tricky: Being late, the feeling that the power in the room had left, not jumping too far ahead on explaining Twitter to newcomers
Learned: Going to the Balcony/ Window helps to reframe thinking and the situation, taking unknown chances opens new opportunities
Action: Writing a blog post (what I do right now), visiting "Dido and Aeneas" a second time to learn more about the subtle changes within a social field
