chris, great ! i love that story. we have to be open-minded to do open!space. than open!space happens itself, sometimes out of the backside of what we are just doing. thank s for sharing your expirience florian
Chris Corrigan schrieb: > These recent posts about quick Open Spaces are right in line with what I > had to do today. > > I was working with a small First Nation who is currently in a land > dispute during which they have blocked a road. They've been branded > "millitants" and basically made out to be public enemy number one. We > offered them Open Space if they wanted to try a new way out and they > invited us out to the First Nation today to talk about the process with > their "Lands and Title Committee," the Chief and some members of the > Council. > > I thought they wanted a presentation on Open Space and some process > facilitation around what they wanted to do with OS in the context of the > community. After me doing an hour of hopes and fears and explaining how > OS works we discovered that there had been a communications mix up. It > turned out that they wanted to do an Open Space right then and there, > with the nine people on the committee, on how to work better together. > > Of course, we were already sitting in a circle (thank you Birgitt -- is > there ANY other way to facilitate ANYTHING?!), so that wasn't a > problem. And as a well prepared facilitator, I always travel with a > supply of markers, tape and post it notes, so we had the raw materials. > It took exactly thirty seconds to come up with the theme (How can we > work together more effectively as a committee?) and i then proceeded to > open the space. > > Opening was a breeze, as I had already spent 20 minutes explaining the > principles and the law and how OS works. Five issues came forward, > which were slotted into two half-hour time slots. Two of the groups > consisted of one person madly writing away and the other three > discussions were spirited, respectful and lacking in any of the conflict > which they had been warning me about. In the end they designed ways of > dealing with conflict on their committee, how to establish proper > authorities in the community for their direct action, criteria for > appointing people to various committees (whoever comes is the right > people, as it turns out), and how to balance long term goals like > fighting for their land rights against short term needs like putting in > speed bumps. All this in an hour. > > Of course it wasn't REALLY deep stuff, but it was a lot deeper than what > we were doing. Everyone acknowledged the difference in quality during > the closing circle, for which I used a rock gathered from outside the > building -- they literally meditated upon the future of their territory. > > All of this is to say that it's possible to do short ones, and it's > possible to do small ones, and it's possible to do both with no warning, > preparation or prior understanding. > > I know: duh... > > By the way, they have decided to use OS with their entire community to > acheive this balance between short term and long term goals, and they > want to also do one with their non-Aboriginal neighbors, government > officials and the police who have been on the other side of the > barricades to try to find ways of getting out of the unresourceful place > everyone is in. > > I could use some detailed advice on that one... > > Cheers, > > Chris > > -- > CHRIS CORRIGAN > 108-1035 Pacific Street > Vancouver BC > V6E 4G7 > > Phone: 604.683.3080 > Fax: 604.683.3036
