OST and decolonization

[Chris Corrigan]

This is obviously a big topic, but here is a short cut into it.

At an OST meeting facilitated by myself and my colleague Chris Robertson
this week, we had a great comment in the closing circle. The meeting was
a gathering of First Nations Health Directors, who came together to talk
about building on their successes.  Very positive, and very spirited,
and also very direct about attacking big issues with how their
government program is run.

In the closing circle one man, and older man who was also from a remote
community and very traditional, said that when he arrived he was very
skeptical of Open Space.  He wanted an agenda.

He said that at the end of the day he realized that this kind of
expectation is what cultural assimilation is all about; that we expect
others to set the agenda and tell us what our work is supposed to be.
He concluded that Open Space works well because it invites us to do our
own work.  In that fundamental and simple act, OST begins to unlock a
lot of years of conditioned thinking, and reveals the possibility of
truly decolonized communities: communities where we do our own work.

Cool comment.  I thought I'd just share it here.

Chris


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CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

Bowen Island, BC, Canada
http://www.chriscorrigan.com
chris at chriscorrigan.com

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