Lisa: Thank you for all this sharing, you make me fell safe, it is strange but that is how reading this makes me fell, I fell that open space is something that you get to understand much better when you accumulate experience as you have and I like this explanations that are precises, clear and very helpful to me. Adriana
2013/3/5 Lisa Heft <[email protected]>: > Celia - thank you so much for sharing your reflections, observations, > learning and interest with us. We all learn together, in this sharing. > > So many things can affect how a dialogue-based event goes, Open Space or > otherwise. > > I agree with what brother Chris and others say about invitation - to me, > invitation - is an essential, important, key part of any dialogue-based > event. Messaging, strategy, how, whom, why, giving enough advance time for > people to plan for attending, and many other things. Pre-registration is > also useful - finding out about people, engaging them with outreach and > relationship during and after the registration process, and so on. > > Then there is the selection of what process best fits the overarching > objective (reason for this particular meeting), Open Space or otherwise. > Based on an analysis of why, for whom, to what end, context, what came > before and what follows, how will the information / ideas / relationships > generated at this event be used post-event, and so on. Then the choice of > best-fit process to fulfill that - plus documentation design to support > that, and so on. > > Then there is the way - if Open Space is the process that fits the situation > - how we explain the Principles and Law, how we hold the space, and so on. > > Harrison is correct - there is hierarchy and cultural reasons for being not > used to self-organization, education systems that do not engage people in > critical thinking or dialogue, power dynamics - across all cultures. Not > just Kenya. > > And there are other cultures where people are expected to be paid for things > - take for example some clients of some NGOs for whom vouchers are given so > they can attend, or for whom meals or child care or bus money is offered so > they can attend... But this in itself does not seem to change the dynamics > of engagement. It just changes who attends and who cannot or who chooses not > to. > > I have facilitated Open Space in Mozambique and South Africa and other > dialogue-based processes in Zambia. I have not worked yet in Kenya. All has > gone very well, no problem with culture and and not only that: Open Space, > when it has been used - has broken through power dynamics and hierarchal > dynamics and intercultural differences and class and academic level and > everything else. So I do not see it as different in Africa - although of > course wherever we work - whomever we work with - it is important to be > aware of our own cultural filters, expectations and lenses. But Open Space > itself has a way of working even if we are not the same culture as the > people for whom we facilitate - because the facilitator very quickly becomes > invisible - though completely present. > > There is also the idea of timing. In so many countries such as so many > African countries - the time of elections is fraught with memories of > violence and corruption and grief. Could this event have been timed at the > right time? Would another time of the year have been best? > > There is also the question of - was it full, complete form of Open Space - > or was it compressed into a very short time, was it not the complete form, > and so on - because if not, that can change the dynamics, productivity and > results. > > A million questions. A million things for you to share and explore. > > What does all of our sharing of ideas and questions bring up for you? Upon > reflection, what would you yourself say? What are your theories about why it > may not have worked, or worked in the way you thought it would? > > You teach us so much, in your discovery and learning, > > Lisa > > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > -- Adriana Díaz-Berrio Ph.D. CRHA (514) 739 2268 www.diazberrio.com _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
