Novosibirsk reflections continued

[Birgitt Williams]

Dear friends and colleagues in Open Space,

My last e-mail to the list regarding the Working With Open Space Technology
training in Novosibirsk was an e-mail regarding my experiences during the
training and my admiration for the people who attended, their leadership and
their vision. Thank you for your notes regarding this.

Today I choose to write more about the conditions within which these people
are planning to do this work. From my perspective. Please keep in mind that
I only spent five days in Russia.

Today, I am in Holland, leading another Working With Open Space Technology
session, this time with Koos de Heer. Koos met me at the airport June 7th, a
welcome face. I was in deep gratitude to him for taking over the care of my
cases (suitcase, computer case, and book bag) and whisking me away in his
car along well ordered streets to a quiet apartment, green salad for lunch,
a chance to use his computer. I was exhausted and needed some tender care.
The trip from my place of stay in Novosibirsk was 11 hours. Elena with her
husband, had picked me up at 4:45am. Some of my exhaustion came from the
trip itself, which included carrying my bags onto and off of buses, up
stairs and down stairs, and always trying to hurry so I wouldn’t miss my
connections. There are no ramps etc. to wheel suitcases. I thought a lot
about handicapped people. There are no visible signs of assistance for them.

I look down at the bruises on my legs, arms, hips. From being bumped by
people and suitcases. I would have had many more bruises, if it were not for
Elena. I had a great deal of difficulty coping with the mob scenes of
people, particularly during the trip there and the one back. Elena
accompanied me back as far as Moscow so that she could get me transferred
from one airport to the other one. She became aware that I did not know how
to navigate the mobs of people and that I kept getting pushed back, by
elbows and by suitcases. Hence the bruises. Elena explained to me that
people did not line up, did not queue but knew that the art of getting what
they needed/wanted was to push others aside, to use their elbows to get to
the front of the line. She explained that for a long time, people were used
to not having enough, so to be sure to get their share the pushing became
required behavior. She said the same applied to getting onto a bus or a
plane. Even with a boarding pass in hand, she said that people had too much
experience of being turned away, not being able to get on their flight
because someone had used money to get a spot on the plane without a ticket.
Losing a spot on the plane might require days to get another. So, how our
trip went was that Elena would negotiate our next steps for us, and she
would wedge herself into a spot and then make space for me to get right in
front of her. Like a body guard. I was so thankful to her. She knew the art
of navigating and knew it well. I was not so lucky on my journey to
Novosibirsk and had a number of very difficult moments.

As Elena’s friend, Natalia, said, the transformation that is needed in
Russia is for people to do a total shift in perspective to believing in
abundance rather than in scarcity. She said that until this shift took place
with a critical mass of the people, that the entrenched scarcity behaviors
would not likely shift.

The scarcity mentality affects organizations, communities. People compete
rather than cooperate. I used the word "collaboration". Elena explained that
the word was not understood. "Collaboration" did not mean something positive
but rather something negative like collaborating with the enemy.

There are also very strong attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to do with
"customers". I think someone like Elena knows how to get through all of this
too, to get something to happen. However, here is my experience. In the
hotel, as I walked in, the lobby is dark, unappealing and two men sit at a
desk in front of me. I struggle with my cases. They are not there to help,
or even to take registrations. They are there to ensure security, whatever
that means. To the left is the reception area where two women sit behind
glass, with windows. They clearly control the situation. And deal with the
registration at a slow pace, also needing to keep my passport to get me
registered. Upstairs, on my floor, was another desk with an attendant. She
was there to be in control of keys. And who knows what else. I do know that
everytime I opened my door , if the attendant was not at her desk, she poked
her head around the corner, not to see if I wanted anything but to see what
I was doing. Elena explained that maybe I misunderstood some things. And she
explained that many of the people I was witnessing were barely making a
living, and they did not see a way out of their situation. She said it was
all part of the Russian way of life.

Most people in Novosibirsk live in large housing complexes, built in the 50’
s by the government when they were establishing the town for both military
and sciences. The housing was provided. Private residences are not allowed.
It is obvious that there has been little money for upkeep. I can only
imagine what it is like to live in these congested conditions now, despite
abundant forest and land around, with a rule against ownership of personal
land. Sometimes a decision is made about no water, or no hot water, or heat
in that cold winter. The summer is hot and there is very little evidence of
air conditioning. No screens for the windows and many mosquitos get in. The
mosquitos are carriers of encephalitis. At least, that is what some of the
people told me. Elena was telling me that last winter, some people had to
create fires outside and huddle around them, just to get warm during a
period when there was no heat. There is not money to pay the fuel.

There is a lot of disillusionment amongst people. The government had been
supporting their work. They are no longer supported except for subsistence
wage of $70 per month. They continue to work, not knowing the value of their
work, what it will do. I picked up that this is some of what is causing an
attitude that I felt, of needing to exert a sense of control in other ways.

Disillusionment, combined with generations of living with scarcity is not a
good mix.

There is a lot more to Novosibirsk that is positive. I know that Elena loves
her city and is proud of it.

I may be wrong in aspects of what is so and not so in Novosibirsk. The above
are my perceptions. Raffi, who has joined this list, can give incredible
insights. Welcome Raffi! Raffi is an amazing man who is working to be of
influence for positive development of people. And as he says in his e-mail,
two days by train to get from Moscow to Novosobirsk for the training, and
that isn’t an easy trip.

I write this background, to share with you as best as I can, what Elena with
her colleagues and friends are working with. They provide leadership, they
are networked with others. They are collaborating and cooperating with each
other. They have a common vision of improved development of people for a
better community. A solution focused community.

But as Natasha says, the critical required transformation that will lead to
all of the other transformations is the one in attitude from a scarcity
mentality to an fear to one of love.

This is the backdrop that Elena and her friends so courageously work in, to
bring about hopeabundance mentality. And a shift from pervasive d for
change. I hope I have been able to convey it fairly.

Respectfully submitted,

Birgitt Williams

June 10, 2001


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