Two quick stories: Once I was facilitating an OST event between mayors and councilors from municipalities around Vancouver's along with local First Nation chiefs and band councilors. This was a gathering of something like 40 people from the political leadership of this region. There had been a lot of tension between the non-Aboriginal governments and the Aboriginal governments.
In the first discussion group, which was about something mundane like agreements to pick up garbage, a shouting match erupted between a non-Aboriginal city councilor and one of the First Nations Chiefs. It was hard to hear what was being said, but there were some pretty offensive comments that made it to my ears. Not far off outright racism. The conflict lasted for a few minutes and then the chief, who is a friend of mine, came over to me and said I know you arent going to intervene, but could you just remind me of the principles of active listening? I coached her as well as I could, trying to remember the principles myself and she went back to the fray. The heated conversation continued and then got really quiet. Later, someone from the group told me that after the conflict, people were wondering if I was going to intervene, and finally someone in the group said, You know, he isnt coming over here. This is our problem, and if we cant solve it, no one can. I try to think very carefully about situations like this, with the mantra One thing I do for the group is one less thing they know they can do for themselves. This is especially critical in conflict. I had faith that the group had the inner resources to move beyond the shouting, I knew it in fact because the Chief had asked me to remind her of her own resources. So I stayed out of the conflict and they got beyond it themselves, with a lovely observation about the process. In the second story, a group in deep grief wondered how they could improve communication in their office. They asked me to sit with them and I did, but I said very little. At one point, I suggested that the look into a Non-Violent Communication workshop in their office. I explained what I knew of that process and they thanked me for my advice. I wouldnt explicitly suggest to a group that people use any dialogue tool in Open Space other than those which come naturally to them, but it would be a great thing to have a bunch of NVC folks in open space around an issue of conflict and see how the processes work together. Welcome to the list. Keep those questions coming. Chris --- CHRIS CORRIGAN Bowen Island, BC, Canada http://www.chriscorrigan.com [email protected] (604) 947-9236 -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dominique Proudhon Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 9:57 AM To: [email protected] Subject: OST and conflicts OK, Harrison, I wont wait long then. Here is a question: Sometimes, conflicts do arise during subgroup discussions in an OS event. It is certainly not a problem per se, since, in my experience, they often reveal areas of greater creative potential. Still, a question remains: how to best handle them in order to prevent escalation and allow the group to own and discuss the issues in a solution oriented manner? I had a case once where I felt obligated to intervene because the conversation was feeding on blame and getting increasingly aggressive. A subgroup came to discuss the issue of clans excluding others and disrupting the overall group effectiveness. Although my intervention went very well (the subgroup decided to discuss the issue with the entire group, which agreed, and we went on with a mediation process in the circle where I helped the group clarify issues around clans and developing solutions to prevent/heal the negative side effects of natural grouping within the larger group), I felt like we had stepped out of the OS process, burnt a lot of energy, and lost some of the creative power of the OS process. No regrets though, since what was most alive at that time in the team was the conflict and they needed some way to cope with it productively. It was not OS for a time, since I became actively involved in the process. Even if I love doing mediation, I would much rather see people solve their conflicts by themselves. Is there any way to do all of it in OS mode? Can OS function when communication patterns in a group lead to blaming, finger pointing and retaliating? I am curious to hear about other practitioners experience with this. Also, what happens if youre the only facilitator and you have two or more conflicts at a time in different subgroups? You shoot them all f ? To resonate with Agneta Setterwalls post, I believe that communication processes such as the Non Violent Communication (NVC) can be great complementary tools to OS. They significantly improve peoples capacity to communicate from their own needs and expectations, rather than from blaming others for what they do not get in the relation. I believe running an OS event with subgroups talking NVC would be a kick! (have to try out that one). Any experience with communication training/practice in preparation for an OS event out there? Or what about having NVC practitioners to participate in subgroups as needed? All the best to all. Dominique. Dominique Proudhon Group Facilitation Problem solving Conflict resolution Dampierre 38470 Notre Dame de l'Osier France (33) 4 76 36 71 34 (33) 6 78 91 48 77 -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Harrison Owen Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 2:05 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: New member Dominique wrote: . I now would like to share this approach with others in France and starting a French Open Space Institute (web site in preparation for sometime next year). Of course, I have plenty of questions around OST, but Ill wait: This post is already long enough, you guys are busy, and I need to read more of the documentation to make sure I am not asking questions that have already been answered 20 times. Dont wait too long. Never met a question I didnt like, even an old one. Actually, most particularly The Old Ones. They give everybody a chance to revisit old familiar places and usually discover that what we took to be established wisdom was actually just the tip of an iceberg. Also good luck with OSI/France. As you can see already from this LIST, folks will be more than helpful. And on the journey, you might want to make contact with Christopher Schoch. [email protected] Christopher lives in Paris and was responsible for Executive Development (or something like that) for Accor Hotels. We did an Open Space together around the time of massive merger for that corporation. You can read the story, if you want, in Tales from Open Space. http://openspaceworld.com/tales.htm Good Luck! Harrison -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dominique Proudhon Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 2:58 AM To: [email protected] Subject: New member Good day all, I joined the OSlist a few days ago and have been lurking for a while. I am very impressed with the quality of the exchanges on this list and find myself drawn to participate. Several threads called my attention; in particular the one questioning the list itself (what are we doing? Arent we loosing our spirit, Should we split?) I find these conversations very healthy. And also the one about Civil Conversation, which resonates with an old questioning of mine around ways to implement real participative democracy I am dreaming of initiating some real debate around the question what world do we chose to build for tomorrow?. I believe we humans are caught up in our own contradictions: after centuries of evolving faster and faster technically, and having more transformative power than ever, we are now facing the essential question of Meaning: How do we participate in the world and to what end? What is our responsibility in regard to what is happening in our world? Especially all the not so nice little things like irreversible destruction of earth resources, loss of entire species, wars and weapon builders, starving, and all that noisy ongoing disconnected stupidity on our tv and radio shows that take people away from being I believe that for the first time, we, at least in developed countries, have won the freedom to look beyond simply working for survival, to ask ourselves: how do I want to also make this place a little better? Anyway. Ill stop here for today. My goal was actually to introduce myself: I am French and leave in Grenoble. After a PhD in molecular/cellular biology and 6 years of research. I decided to do something else with my life and moved to human resources development. I actually did that career move in the US: I lived 10 years in North Carolina. I wanted to understand why people so often get into conflicts because of films they make in their heads that have little to do with reality. I wanted to find ways to work on re-establishing lost connections, especially in the workplace, where they could serve common projects and goals. I trained with Will Schutz, originator of the Human Element, became a mediator, trained in various psychometric tools and got to work with various groups. Two years ago, just before I came back to France, I bought a book that called my attention: Open Space Technology, a users guide. I read it in the plane. It was one of those ha ha: I found something I was looking for. A piece of extreme simplicity that called on very ecological principles to set the stage for real connection between people and for meaning to happen. On top of that, this approach was shared openly without any bind, just as a gift to humanity, which seduced me even more... I decided to try it as soon as I would get the opportunity, here, in France. Starting a new business as a group facilitator/team consultant has not been easy thing. Things are slow going and I often get discouraged. But I finally got the opportunity to run two different open space events for two different clients in the last year (30 people and 36 people). Both very energizing experiences and both around the question How could we improve the way we function as a team?: I loved the first moments of surprise in peoples eyes, and then the sudden rush to bring up issues as they understood that the event was theirs. Several persons approached me at the end telling me how much this work had moved them from a negative reactive position to an engaged position and telling me about a number of places they would see such work as useful. Thanks to Harrison, they got a gift they deserved. Felt quite good to serve in such a meaningful way. Ill continue. I now would like to share this approach with others in France and starting a French Open Space Institute (web site in preparation for sometime next year). Of course, I have plenty of questions around OST, but Ill wait: This post is already long enough, you guys are busy, and I need to read more of the documentation to make sure I am not asking questions that have already been answered 20 times. All the best to each of you, Dominique Note: I am a guy, for those who would wonder. Dominique Proudhon Group Facilitation Problem solving Conflict resolution Dampierre 38470 Notre Dame de l'Osier (33) 4 76 36 71 34 (33) 6 78 91 48 77 * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
