Reprise: halfway measures

Douglas D. Germann, Sr. 76066.515 at compuserve.com
Tue Sep 14 08:11:44 PDT 2004


Hi--

A few conversations ago, Harrison raised the question of whether history
will eventually record that OST was a halfway measure on the road to
something more open, more inclusive, better for humanity.

Might the question be What do we do once we are in OST?

We need to evolve better ways to meet each other. How do we encourage
meeting cor ad cor, good heart and good mind to good heart and good mind?
How do we go about increasing contact and conflict, without causing a
severing? How do we grow together, even though we have rough edges? How do
we learn to deal with discord in a way that produces symphony? And do all
this consciously?

But how do we get there? I think we can learn some techniques to help us.
Nonviolent communication, Fran Peavey's techniques. The methods for
bringing people together are simply that. Once we are together, how do we
use that togetherness to foster togetherness? An understanding, such as
Michael Herman's is useful, too.

Throwing the people together, like we do in OST is good and useful, but it
does not tell us what to do once we are together.

That is, perhaps, the halfway place where OST stops. It leads people to the
cliff but does not show them how to get down or up from there. It leads
people to water, but does not tell them how to drink or which water is safe
to drink.

Some will do a check in around their little group, some will do a speech,
some will interview the people who came. Some will tell stories. All useful
strategies. But do we know when one works and another doesn't? Or are we
going on guess work? We need to be thinking some of these things through,
so that we can help grow us together.

What contributes, what does not contribute so much? How do we find out if
we fit together, and how do we know when to encourage each other to leave
when the fit here is not so good or not yet right? How do we know such
things so we can recognize it faster? What experiments of ways of throwing
people together (that is, choosing whom to invite) are apt to help the
evolution along faster, or better?

What are the ways out there that you have seen people use to bring the
breakout groups together? What brings the group together, what doesn't,
what has the best long-term effects?

                              :-Doug. Germann
                              Seeking people making community change.

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