Marvelous discussion! I take all the points raised about the necessity for sensitivity to the way others may see us and the baggage (historical, genetic, etc) that we carry. That said, I find it interesting (wonderful?) that despite multiple blocks, that in other circumstances would render the services of some particular facilitator non-useful, it remains possible for the most unlikely person to open space in an effective fashion - provided that person shows up in an authentic, centered and focused manner, and quickly passes into the shadows of "space holder" as soon as the space is opened. It was from that perspective that I suggested to Brendan that, should the sponsor decide that he should open the space, there would be no problems. Indeed, there might even be an added bonus (as Lisa points out) - that perhaps for the first time - the participants might encounter a caring, supportive male.
In my previous example about me facilitating the YWCA gathering (500 women and me) I in fact suggested to the organizing committee that they might want to have a female do the honors, and further that I knew many such females who could do all that with distinction. For whatever reason they decided to go with me, and off we went. And as far as I can tell there were no problems, at least in terms of the effective function of the group in Open Space. They did what they came to do, and two years later introduced a constitution and structure that confirmed the radical transformation of the YWCA. At least that is what they said. I do have to admit, however, that at the conclusion of the gathering several of the participants came to me with the question, "Couldn't a woman do this?" To which I replied - Of course, and the next one is all yours. As I heard the story, they accepted the challenge and have been opening space ever since. Good on them! My real point was to underscore how, at least in my experience, Open Space apparently operates well below the levels of culture, ethnicity, gender, economics, etc. I find this to be both strange and wonderful. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20845 Phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Judi Richardson PONO Sent: Saturday, October 01, 2005 6:46 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: Cross Cultural Facilitation Hi Brendan - I read your message here and the replies and have taken some time to breathe with it. I acknowledge the frankness your client expresses is very touching. I've been involved in many cross-cultural and cross-gender experiences and have no ready answers as I think each one asks to be taken individually. It would be wonderful to have an Aboriginal woman who stands in her fullness of self as a role model and facilitator for this one, eh? Anyone you know you could refer to them? I note that the client states her confidence in having you hold the space - should they choose to retain your services, I would suggest they introduce you in the invitation - that way everyone will know ahead of time that you will be there? My next question is to you - do you feel you could hold the space? There have been a few times when I've referred clients to someone else as I felt I was too passionate to "stay out of the space"!! Hope this helps even a little bit! Judi Judith Richardson, MA, BA, BEd, MEC PONO Consultants International Optimizing Performance, Potential and Profitability Phone: 902.434.6695 Fax: 902.435.1085 Winner International Coach of the Year 2004 www.ponoconsultants.com _____ From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Brendan McKeague Sent: Saturday, October 01, 2005 12:22 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Cross Cultural Facilitation G'day folks in the OS global community A new client has asked me about facilitating a one-day OS for a group of stakeholders and others about the creation of a refuge/hostel for indigenous women - she has only minor concerns about using Open Space having recently experienced her first event with me - her major concern is about using a non-Aboriginal white male as the facilitator - see honest and forthright comments below - and this event would be in a different part of the country from where I live and where I'm not known locally in the indigenous community - any thoughts on this query? Any stories of this sort of cross-cultural/gender scenario? Cheers Brendan We have an opportunity with the new site being built in ----- to devote some of our resources to responding to the plight of indigenous families. Having a different focus away from the mainstream site gives our service an opportunity to explore, with the assistance of indigenous stakeholders, a different way of responding to women and children from indigenous families escaping violence. I don't know what this will look like and it will be difficult and we won't always get it right. It will be a process of learning and experimenting with new ways of responding to families. This is like a leap into the unknown for us because it will change our service. It has not been undertaken by any other service to my knowledge, so there is no blue print to how we should proceed. Having said this, I do think it is possible and I believe it will have a positive impact on our service as a whole. There would be about 35-40 people invited to this gathering which would represent all of the key groups that would have an interest in a mainstream organisation taking on and providing a service to Aboriginal women and children. There has been a positive reaction so far to the proposal from Aboriginal organisations but I am sure we will face some resistance/perhaps hostility? (I will probably know this before we enter an open space) - and in a sense that is one of the reasons why I think an Open Space forum will be good so that we can hear and respond to people's concerns. One of my concerns Brendan is how they will receive you as a facilitator of this process. I am confident about you holding the space for us to discuss these issues but I also don't want to set you up in the process either. I am worried that there might be some hostility to a man facilitating the process and not a woman (you may be the only man there). I would love your thoughts around this and whether you have done anything similar before. Part of me says be courageous and go with what you think will work and another part of me is scared stiff! * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
