I completely agree with you, Bernd, in that I would also chose a 2,5 day OS instead of 1 traditional day and 1,5 day of OS, if I had the choice. In this case I was asked to only come in for the 1,5 days of OS after the traditional and I did not have any influence on the whole set-up. So the confrontation of both concepts was not part of a conscious design or strategy. Basically, I just dealt with what was there, when I addressed it. But learning from this experience, I would try to go for a 2,5 day OS next time.
Mayke ___________________________________________ essence - Beratung, Training, Coaching Mayke Wagner Hanser 3 88279 Amtzell GERMANY [email protected] Tel (+49) 07520 / 9232 02 visit us: <http://www.t-e-a-m.org> > Von: Bernd Weber <[email protected]> > Antworten an: OSLIST <[email protected]> > Datum: Thu, 1 Jul 2004 18:32:49 +0200 > An: [email protected] > Betreff: Re: [OSLIST] sharing my first OS experience > > Dear Sambiase, dear Mayke > > I have been working in the development cooperation field in Africa > for several years now and I agree fully with Maykes impression, that > there is usually a collusion between northern "development experts" > and southern participants, that the northerners should and do know > the answers, whereas those from the south are happy to get them, > without activating their own expertise. > > But I disagree with Sambiase, that it is a good strategy, to start > this way and then change to OS. Doing so shows you as the northerner > as supporting both concepts and therefore producing confusion. > > My experience is, that african people without os experience start > with such an expectation, of course. But northerners without os > experience also: they expect the expert to bring answers and > solutions. > > But after the introduction to OST, the collection of the themes and > the market these expectations have dissipated, and I very rarely met > the type of confusion you are relating. > > So I prefer doing OS right away from the beginning > > Bernd > > > > On Thu, 1 Jul 2004 08:45:01 -0300, Luiz Sambiase wrote: > Hi Mayke > Excellent. This strategy may be applicable to communities in my > country as well. ( Brasil) > Luiz > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Mayke Wagner, essence > To: > [email protected] > Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2004 5:47 AM > Subject: sharing my first OS experience > The first day of the conference was "traditional" > with one expert in front and everyone else listening. So the people > really experienced a change when the Open Space started and you could > tell they were struggling with those 2 concepts. My impression was > that in the field of developmental aid - certainly in the area I was > working in - the people felt comfortable with the idea of an expert > from the North (Europe) having the answer (and consequently the > responsibility - ability to respond) for the problems in East Africa. > Open Space questioned this assumption and invited them to acknowledge > their own expertise and ability to find their own answers for their > problems. After the first 4 sessions we had the evening news and in > the discussion it became clear that the participants were torn > between the "traditional" way and the Open Space way. I addressed > this struggle on a meta-level with the participants the next day > which was helpful to create some more discussion and insight... >> From a systemic point of view it was quite startling to see how this > "imperialism" of the European expert having the answers for the > problems of East Africa was supported by the behavior of the European > participants as well as of the African participants. Both sides > contribute their share to keep this pattern stable which in the long > run does not support sustainable independence... > > * > * > ========================================================== > [email protected] > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of [email protected]: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
