cross cultural sensitivity

[Lisa Heft]

Dear OSFolks:

I'm new to the list, so a warm Berkeley, California hello to
all of my OS colleagues.  I want to say how wonderful the
OSonOS in Berlin was for me, and to thank everyone for their
long and hard work preparing a welcoming, flexible,
comfortable setting and then turning it over to us to make
whatever would happen...happen.

And it did, and I loved some of it and was irritated during
some of it.  And sometimes I used my two feet and some other
times I stayed (I was the one often lying on the floor) to
explore my own irritation.  At points (especially Monday's
post-conference gathering) it reminded me of the reason I am
not involved in community activism (other than Open Space,
of course) but instead in community building.  At the same
time as I was honored and opened up by many of your open and
honest sharings of deep feeling and insights, I was also
shocked to see a talking stick used for debate and I was
irritated to hear people say 'we should' instead of 'I
will'.  Open Space being about passion, yes, and personal
responsibility.

And this is cross cultural learning, too (I like to use
'learning' instead of 'sensitivity' -- just my own personal
description of the process of learning between cultures
versus the state of being open to learning).

I know that it is a great challenge to speak about emotion
and clarity with the poetic selection of just the right
jewel-words when you are not speaking in your home
language.  I worry when I am speaking in Spanish whether I
should speak up and potentially mess it up or shut up and
therefore not participate in the process.  My instinct says
to speak up and trust that others will absorb both the
errors and the message in a way that will contribute to
communication.  I am honored by your trust that we will do
the same in Open Space when you who do not originally speak
English contribute to the circle.

--

[excerpt from Birgitt's message: ...Open Space on Open Space
as vehicles through which there is communication across
cultures. ...we have chosen to use English as our common
language. Did we choose it? Or did some people comply with
the norm somehow? Anyway, we have English and we find
ourselves in difficult spots sometimes and I think some of
this is because we are not sensitive enough to each other's
interpretations of similar words in English. I think there
are many different interpretations of Spirit. Based on
country of origin. Yet we handle it as though there is a
similar interpretation. Likewise, I think there are many
different interpretations of other words. I think this was a
culprit at OSONOS and we did our best with it (and thank you
to our hosts for having the conference in English). Do any
of you have any thoughts on this? Any suggestions for how we
can do well with our international conversations?]

--

Thanks, Birgitt, for bringing these questions to the group.
I am proud to be part of a community that struggles to look
outside themselves often to check in on their own
assumptions.  I would like to contribute to the conversation
what I have bumped into as I bring my dominant-culture self
(at least that describes my geographic culture plus my skin
color) to join other individuals and communities for work
and play.

I have not done a lot of travel in Europe until this year
with my OS work.  I have experience working in the South
(which is the term the international AIDS world gives to
continents below the equator -- much of my background is in
AIDS education + interactive learning methodology).  I was
shocked and warmed by how many people throughout my Denmark
and Germany visit switched to English to include or assist
me.  I feel it is my job to learn your language, not your
job to learn mine. I offer my warm thanks and my true
respect, and I am still feeling surprised and touched.  In
my travels I have talked a lot with people about this in
regards to international gatherings.  Is
English-language-during-conferences a colonialization /
dominant world culture issue that I should be saddened by?
That was my first impression.  But many people of cultures
other than mine tell me that, historical-political impact
even so, and in the absence of a true world language, it
nowadays can make for easier information and thought
exchange in an internationally mixed community or gathering.
As a person of English-speaking culture, I bow to whatever
is best for the collective group.  I also do not feel that
that replaces the necessity for communicating in culturally
sensitive ways, and I find that the circle setting allows
for much deeper communication, no matter what the culture,
than the chairs-facing-expert setting.  I also find that I
for one am more open to intercultural learning when I listen
more and talk less.  And it is my experience that individual
culture is even stronger than geographic culture, and that
each person filters or communicates information in a unique
way.  Open Space honors all of that.

I facilitate interactive learning methodology workshops with
a combination of sort of a road map of topics and an Open
Space approach mixed in as the whole group teaches the whole
group from each person's experience and wisdom.  I have
often been involved in gatherings where someone announces a
sub-group for those who speak a specific language.  In one
case this meant that for a two-day process the entire group
split into English, French and Spanish language sub-groups
with just opening and closing circles together in the
language of the conference, English.  In another case a
smaller group broke out to continue in Spanish while the
greater group continued in English.  In either case it was
not a question of will-they-both-get-the-same-learning
because each group learns what it needs to learn.  Plus, it
always seems that there are enough people of all cultures
who speak "x" language to pollinate all groups with the
insight of people of many cultures.  That was one of my
earliest you-are-so-naive-Lisa learnings, that our Spanish
language sub-group could include people from Brazil, Poland,
Japan and (me) the US and a great many challenges and
solutions were shared between geographic cultures.

What I am saying is that in Open Space, people will do what
they need to do to get what they want to have done, done.  I
would not be surprised to see someone hold up a Spanish
speakers session sign or an
understanding-our-interpretation-of-spirit sign at a future
OSonOS.  Open Space to me is about honoring each person's
ability to create change through personal responsibility.
So I have a feeling that whatever happens...will happen.

Lisa Heft

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