meeting with a Russian colleague and more (thoughts on OS's limitations; getting into consulting work)

[Raffi Aftandelian]

 [OS'rs! I don't think this made it's way to the digest; my apologies if you've already seen it]

Dear OpenSpacers,
I had the fortune the other day of meeting up briefly with Lena Marchuk in Moscow. This is a real treat because the distance between Moscow and Novosibirsk (where she is from) is essentially the same distance as between Moscow and London. Far away. She had just come from the FS Learning Exchange.

It was a chance to reconnect and also to share experiences and to be mentored by her in Future Search (FS), which I hope to conduct some day and also. And it was a chance to be mentored in Open Space. 

Lena spoke of her preference for using FS (she has conducted minimum 10 such conferences) over OS (of course she uses OS during the action planning at an FS) -as a large group intervention tool - in the Russian context. She frames the global givens, so to speak, that Russians (speaking generally) haven't had an experience of democracy yet. And an FS provides this experience. And curiously, she sees that FS's in Russia for the most part don't necessarily lead to action planning and the like. The whole notion of goal-setting, she noted, virtually leads to people drawing a blank look. It is too bad Lena and I didn't have more time so that she could elaborate on this thought because I suspect there's much more behind it. Now this may be less true when doing an FS/OS in a large town. Much of her work, as I understand, is conducted in provincial centers in Siberia where maybe that kind of linear thinking -- goal setting, making action plans-- hasn't filtered to. 

She sees the value of FS in Russia in, first of all, creating dialog, community, building connections. As I understood her, before even thinking about creating action plans for the future, people need to learn a whole new way of being together. They have a true experience of democracy. They see that totally different people can be together in a constructive way. In one sense of the metaphor, an FS  is not about planting the seeds for change, but rather working the soil so that seeds can be planted at a later point. And, to extrapolate, this is a very important result. That Maybe this is true of OS here, too.

I liked a Yakutian (in Siberia) joke that Lena told me (as I recall it). "The difference between the East and West: "The Westerner says: "Ok, so what are the results?" The Easterner says, "Notice the process." The Russian says, "I'd like to say a toast to the process we are using so that we may achieve results."

It is too bad we didn't have time to hear more about why OS doesn't necessarily provide that in her opinion. FS's plus is that it provides a structure to develop a picture of the past, present, future. 

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A few days ago I had the fortune of speaking to a mentor in social change work (since I haven't checked out with him-- in contrast to the message with Lena, where I did check out with her before posting-- somebody I'd been trying to arrange a phone conversation with for 1 1/2 years (!). I am thinking more about my life/work plans, and want to consult with him. I am getting my start in consulting work, yet don't have that clear vision of where I am going. I was very interested in seeing his read on OS and FS. OS, in his opinion, is a tool. And it's oversold. Yes, it can be valuable, but it's one of many tools. But, if I am going to be an OD consultant (and I am not sure I would want to describe myself that way), for one thing I would need to have a more varied toolbag. He would never want to hire an OD (organizational development) consultant with only one tool: OS. And, in his book, anyone who is an OD consultant does need to get management experience, to have acquired the body of experience/knowledge of a manager. This way a potential client is likely to understand what the client is going through, and is less apt to be in the clouds. Your thoughts?

In other words, if the only tool (OD) I have is a hammer, I'm apt to see every problem as a nail. 

And yet curiously, he saw as a potential life/work path to totally get into OS and achieve excellence in it. I think the contradiction here is a surface one. Because OS's potential is not just in OD work, to beat a dead horse. It has a myriad of applications. I am fascinated, for example, by its potential as a career/life planning tool. I am curious if there are folks who use it in this way as paid/unpaid work (as a career counselor/personal coach). 

I also asked him about OS being a tool for social change. Again, yes, it is one of many tools. And I shouldn't expect to get rich off of OS on this score.

This talk put me in my "discomfort zone." I realized how much more thinking I need to do before going on. 

I would be curious as to how people got in to consulting work. Maybe this is something people may be uncomfortable sharing so openly, even offlist. 

With lotsa questions and sitting with them,
(trying to) trust that my background/subconscious inner-OS program will find the answers,
raffi

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