Tova Averbuch, Israel - My story of finding Open Space T

[Mickey or Tova Averbuch]

My dear OSList friends!

It is about two months now that I am a silent part of this beautiful community. Since I do not have the habit of invading other people’s space without contributing to it this type of deficit equations cause me unease. 

Here are the fruit of my trail to break through unanimity in this forum. Please read it with care since Hebrew is my mother tongue my English expressions may be very ‘creative’ and somewhat lengthy for a start.



            I’ll join today by presenting myself and sharing my OS story:

My name is Tova Averbuch and I m am OD consultant and group facilitator since 1978.

On 1989, as I started training mangers in a program at the Tel-Aviv university in Israel, I got the notion that decision making processes in schools acts very much  like ‘ a dress in the wind ‘ : after you have reached an agreement with one or two stakeholders and you hold it on one side the wind will push the dress up in the other end and your ‘underwear’ will be for disposition anyway you look at it. 

  I realized that if I what to stop this crazy dance I will have to find a way to put everybody, concerned about an issue, together. Hold a meeting in utter transparency, and then let the Wind/Spirit  (in Hebrew “wind’ and ‘spirit’ are the same word: ’roach”) carry us up instead of tear us apart …

 I have been looking for 7 years (not very effectively…) for a methodology that will enable putting together everybody concerned to dialogue and make decisions around issues they have deep concern about. Leaving in the Middle east I realized that when there are a lot of emotions concerned a methodology is desperately needed if we want to be able to see clearly . When it is so emotionally lauded it is hard to notice even rhe things that we agree upon...and not waste our best energies on drops of nothing (this of corse can be true of organizations and individuals in any setting).

1997-1999 I have lived in Maryland with my family. On August 1998 someone forwarded me an invitation she got of an Organizational gatheringof Russian and American Psychlogists, OST facilitated by the blessed Carolyn Kinsman,and that was it. I knew I have found what I have been looking for and I knew I have to return to Israel with adequate training.  In the next year I participated in another OST gathering in Santa Fe, read and eventually took training with Harrison Owen and Robbins Hopkins a month before I went back to Israel!

Meeting the OST and the people who facilitate it was very powerful for me. It was like meeting the known, the internal. Facing, with longing, lost/torn parts from my self and having them meet and make friends. At the same time I was horrified because I knew I was going to try to open and hold some space in the crowded/lauded/layered Holy land.

Since July 1999 I am living and working in Israel again. Very happy to tell you that within a year 10 OST gathering (for Tel Aviv municipality, the IDF, “Besod Shiach”-a NPO for promoting dialogue, and others) took place in Israel with length of half day to 2 days meetings.

 I am well aware and thankful OST started way back in the 80"s but I must admit I work from a pioneer stand. I have great joy in that there is some more knowledge and interest in OST in Israel and by Harrioson Owens gentile but steady encouragement that he and I will start training for facilitators in Israel later this year and hope to make this space wider and more sustainable.

 

Thank you for being here and thank you all for giving room for my voice

With much live

Tova Averbuch



Shalom for Now

Email : averbuch at post.tau.ac.il            

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20010120/f42dd86e/attachment-0016.htm>