Open Space and training with youth (long)

Chris Corrigan corcom at interchange.ubc.ca
Tue May 30 14:39:28 PDT 2000


Colleagues:

Last weekend I held a two day Open Space meeting and training with 30
First Nations youth from Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.  Thanks to all
those who sent me words of wisdom regarding his endeavour.  This posting
is long, because several people asked for a detailed account of my
experience.

The Open Space was held around the theme of "What are the issues and
opportunities for us to be leaders in our communities."  There were 34
people in attendance, the majority of who were 15-27 years old and 22
issues came forward.  My opening was standard although it followed an
ill advised invitation from one of the sponsors to have everyone
introduce themselves.  This set the meeting back by about 45 minutes,
but I wasn't worried as I knew that the group would bring it back on
time by the end of the day.  The eneregy definitely flagged however, but
I noticed that it picked up again once I began walking the circle.

I made no special efforts to create an inclusive environment.  My
opening was no different than if it had been a group of adults.  This
was the right move as one of the sponsors, who was acting more like a
chaperone than a colleague came across as quite patronizing and
controlling, and in light of the kind of empowerment that the youth felt
in OS, they really lost patience with her.

At any rate, 22 good topics came forward including one which was simply
a blank piece of paper.  The convenor of the group advised me that he
knew he wanted something to happen, but he couldn't think of what he
wanted to say.  So he posted a blank sheet, put a time and place on it
and took his seat.   I chuckled at this embodiment of the second
principle.  The item later came to be known as the "Zen group" as people
waited to see what would happen there.

As it turned out, two people later meeting near the agenda wall were
discussing the fact that no one had raised recreation activities as a
topic.  One of them then looked up at the wall, noticed that there was a
blank item and filled it in with her topic.  A group of five then
convened around it.

I was really struck with this opening of space within the open space.
It was actually a nice gift that the convenor made, and he didn't even
attend the group.

Right near the end of the OS as I was preparing for the closing circle,
the controlling sponsor, who was clearly uncomfortable with my role in
the whole process ran me up and down about one youth who was not happy
with the way his group had gone and was very frustrated.  She demanded
that I speak to him.  While I thought about this she came to me again
and complained about one young woman who had run out in tears.  This was
serious trust the process time, and I made the decision that these youth
had found their power in the Law of Two Feet and were dealing with their
issues.  I later found out that they were fine; the young man got over
it, and the young woman was dealing with private grief and when she had
taken a break and had a good cry she came back to the meeting.  It was
clear to me that she didn't want to embarrass herself or others by
weeping in front of them, so she went for a walk.

There is a powerful learning in this about the filters we see the world
through.  The sponsor saw the youth one way, as misguided people who
were incapable of taking care of themselves, and I chose to see it the
other way, that these youth had power and that they accessed it to deal
with their issues.

As the day went along, I noticed that the room felt bigger and the work
seemed less productive.  i had an uneasy feeling that people were
skipping out on the meeting or not reporting on all the groups.  To my
amazement, as I counted people in the room, it never really dropped
below 28 people and of the 22 groups that were convened, 20 posted
reports.  There was a deepening of quality and initmacy over the day
that was very inspiring to see.

The next morning was a convergence exercise where people were very
uneasy with being conservative.  I must admit that this left a bad taste
in my mouth about the dot voting aspect of convergence, and my feelings
echo others, like Peg, who have been trying to explore other means.  At
any rate, convergence was mostly effective, although more discussion
than action planning took place.

I posted a blank sheet for evaluations and other graffitti and below are
the comments that people wrote:

· I give it the big BOW-WOW
· Intense
· Very flexible
· Allowed for brainstorming
· Sessions too long or 3 sessions without a break too much
· A bit overwhelming at times because there is so much to cover
· Appreciated the “open” communication and freedom to move.
· Open-minded, open-herated and great for the soul
· Participation is the key – one gets out of it what they put in.  Great
job Chris!
· Encourages one to take to responsibility, commit to our issues by
being here to raise them.  Focus made on solutions to these issues.  I
think we might do without talking about the issues.  I think we might do
without talking about the issues and just focus on the solutions.
· Great concept, this “open space” thing.  Really productive.
Unfortunately I feel everyone is not participating fully.  Participation
is the key.

Some interesting stuff in there.  Someone drew a butterfly on the sheet
before going around the room decorating the letters I used to designate
meeting places.

The training afternoon was amazing, and once we started to uncover stuff
about learning and empowerment, people really took to the process.  I
presented the nuts and bolts, talked about how energy moves around,
spent some time on the opening and did some things on preparing as a
facilitator.  Again, i treated the group as i would any other.  These
guys took to it like ducks to water, and immediately recogized the
indigenous nature of the process.   There are at least a half dozen who
have told me that they will use the process.

As some of you told me I would be, i was very moved by this experience.
These youth taught me a great deal and gave me a real gift in allowing
me to work with them.  They know all about energy and comitment and
responsibility and so the training was almost self-running.  And to see
this group of 30 young First Nations leaders emerging was breathtaking.
I am very proud of this work and extremely gratified to see it taking in
our communities here in the West.

The following day, I scrawled the following in my journal:

"This training has left me very emotional -- very moved and welling with
tears.  30 young people in a circle learning about Open Space, teaching
ME about energy.  At one point I said "I'll share this with you, but I
have to say that I don't know much about how energy works" and Skeena
whispers audibly : "Yes you do."  Others draw connections to yoga, to
their sweat lodge and sundance practices, to postures and power and
feeling energy move around the circle.   I am just very struck with the
beauty and smarts of these folks.  It makes me want to weep at the
generosity of Creation that would admit this truth into the universe."

Thanks for all who helped me to prepare.  Again, I give thanks for the
wisdom and generosity of spirit on this list.

Chris

--
CHRIS CORRIGAN
108-1035 Pacific Street
Vancouver BC
V6E 4G7

Phone: 604.683.3080
Fax: 604.683.3036



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