My Most Difficult Open Space Ever [long]
Lisa Heft
lisaheft at openingspace.net
Sun Feb 5 19:12:44 PST 2006
Christine and Claudia's story reminds me of a large event I did which
was incredibly challenging for me. I have always wanted to write it up
to share with you, and their story was an inspiration to do so. I
wonder - do any of you, dear colleagues, have stories to share of your
most difficult Open Spaces ever? Here is mine.
___________________________
My Most Difficult Open Space Ever
I want to recount the story of my most difficult Open Space ever -- to
share with you how it always works, in spite of even many things going
on at once. It is a practice in keeping the faith - trusting the
process, and trusting the people.
This was a large international youth event, held in the USA a few years
ago. The event brought together over 850 young people from ages 14-19
for a week of experiencing teamwork and leadership. The young people
were recommended by their school teachers, counselors and
administrators, for their excellence in scholastic achievement,
extra-curricular activities (such as sports or art) and for their
dedication to community service. Their week together included several
days learning skills from teachers and coaches in their chosen area
(such as soccer, poetry, culinary arts or voice), a day serving the
local community, listening to inspirational speakers each morning, plus
two evenings in Open Space.
The Open Space focused on the theme of leadership - hence the actual
theme was "Be the change you want to see in the world", inspired by
Mahatma Gandhi's quote. Under that quote were the questions: "What is
my power to create and nourish positive change?" "How can I be the
change I want to see in the world?" "How can I make a difference?" "How
can I as one person change things?" and "What are my passions and how
can I use my passions to shape positive change?"
The first evening was for agenda co-creation. Picture 850 young people
sitting on the floor of a vast gymnasium. Picture a wide-open center
circle, with 4 volunteer space-holders kneeling at 4 points around the
circle, each holding a cordless microphone and also a large drawing of
the earth. Picture me opening space, sharing the guidelines, inviting
the posting of topics.
Now picture young people lining up at those 4 points, waiting for their
turn at the microphones to announce their topic. One at a time, the
volunteer space-holders would hold up a globe (so the huge audience
would know who was speaking in such a cavernous room) and hold a
microphone for that topic-announcer. Then the next volunteer at the
next point in the circle held up their globe and microphone for another
young topic announcer, and so it went clockwise around the circle.
Now imagine this: In just 20 minutes, 225 topics were announced.
Amazing, and exciting. Time for a good overnight sleep.
The next evening: 5 hours for the Open Space. Yes, I had tried to get
more time and I tried to get continuous time but there were so many
activities scheduled for these young people that the best I could get
was a 2-part OS (agenda-setting and then the next evening for 4
sessions). When we reconvened, I reviewed the principles and law,
indicated the huge gymnasium Agenda Wall filled with topics, and invited
them to enjoy their sessions and to gather again in full circle in 4
hours.
I had about 20 volunteer space-holders, whom I had briefed in a short
orientation the day before. We made signs and prepared materials for 2
days, creating 52 discussion areas (with materials boxes and notes-taker
forms) all over the gymnasium floor and into the highest levels of the
bleachers. Off those young people went.
The region was experiencing a heat wave, and guess what? The air
conditioning system broke. So the gym was swelteringly hot.
The noise was deafening - 850 young people talking all at once in a
gymnasium.
They were supposed to get food, and they had all had a long day of doing
their sport or activity, and they were incredibly tired. And the food
never came. No water, no food.
And still, they had a marvelous and productive time. They held sessions
all over the gym, on topics such as:
* Child Soldiers
* Guns in Homes
* Overcrowded High Schools
* Child Abuse
* Should Weapons of Mass Destruction be Destroyed?
* Abstinence Versus Teen Pregnancy
* America's Fall from a Belief in God
* US versus Europe Drinking Age
* Choosing the Right College
* Cultural Unawareness
* Death Penalty -- Right or Wrong?
* Genocide
* What's Important to Teenagers
* Prejudice Against Minorities and Multi-Racial Dating
* Abortion
* Did We Actually Land on the Moon?
* How Modern Language Can Lead to Dispute
* Why do Girls in Lacrosse and Hockey Have to Wear Skirts?
* Teen Drinking
* Sexual Orientation
* Can Soccer Survive in the US?
* Random Teenage Thoughts
* How Kids Don't Eat Healthy
* Skin Cancer and Teens
* Free-Style Poetry Session, Singing
* Gender Equity in High School Athletics
* Letter to President Bush
* Premarital Sex
* Who Will Pay for AIDS?
* Why Are Some Addictive, Habit Forming Drugs like Nicotine or
Caffeine Legal, But Other Addictive, Habit Forming Drugs Like Cocaine or
Marijuana Illegal?
* School Violence
* Eating Disorders
* US Intervention in Foreign Countries
* Stem Cell Research
* Solving Other Peoples' Problems
* US Immigration
* Race and Culture
* Can An Artist Change the World?
.and more. You could look across the room to see some engaged deep in
discussion, others teaching their peers how to play chess, inner-city
kids teaching little white suburban kids how to dance the "Chicago
Hustle", two shy boys looking over the whole crowd to ask each other,
"In this whole room, how many kids do you think feel really good about
themselves and how many struggle with peer pressure?", and an amazing
seething throbbing shifting session about race and culture taking place
in the center of the room.
To my eye, it looked incredibly successful and productive.
But to my client's supervisor, the head of the week-long event, it
looked like chaos - utter chaos. And he is a man of control. So after
the first 20 minutes, he came up to me and told me to stop the process.
I'm looking at 225 amazing sessions posted and conversations popping out
all over the room, with young people being truly engaged and learning as
leaders from one another, and he is saying stop the process.
And I breathed, and I breathed, and I was sorting my words to him when
the sound guy (who it turns out was also a space holder and truly
appreciated what the kids were doing), said "Gee, we are having problems
with the microphone - I cannot give you sound right now, so sorry". And
he hid the microphone, bless him. And the volunteer space-holders went
around the room reminding the kids know to write up their sessions, even
the dance sessions (so that the client's supervisor could eventually see
the measure of all those great discussions). And everyone held space
and held space, in spite of the heat, the unsettled supervisor, the lack
of water and food.and the kids kept going.
The young people were not allowed to leave the building. If they *did*
try to leave, they were met outside the front door by a phalanx of golf
carts driven by chaperones, all pointed towards the front doors with
their headlights on (it was night time). Chaperones would say 'go back
into the building!' even when a young person wanted to use the Law of
Two feet and go back to their dormitory to rest after such a full day.
The 5 hours was allotted and darn it, they were supposed to stay in the
building for 5 hours. Tired and hungry, the young participants who
tried to 'escape' came back into the gym. And still the kids stayed
engaged, and kept on going.
I breathed, and breathed, and breathed through it all, seeing each
'space invading' challenge is a fact but not as a threat to a rich open
space. I trusted the process, and the people, and I really have to say
I enjoyed that so many were holding space with me to ensure its success
(and that the client's supervisor had to do a little breathing of his
own), and let it happen.
And at one point I walked up to a volunteer space-holder and said "Walk
with me out of the room.now." And we walked outside the building into
the night air.and I started crying. I let her know that I wasn't crying
because anything was wrong - I just had to cry because one little body
cannot hold all that space with all those challenges and not feel full -
and that I just needed an airing. We walked, I cried, she held space
for me.and then she went to find water and Kleenex so I could get
rehydrated and pat my face down and walk back into the room with that
serene space-holding look. And that was exactly what I needed.
And so the evening continued, with amazing things happening in the room.
That one group on race and culture started with a black South African
young woman asking her African American urban peers, "You call
yourselves African American. You do not know my country, my culture, my
food, my people.and yet you call yourselves *African* American.and
respectfully I say..aren't you proud to be American?" At which the
other black kids got upset, engaged and thoughtful, all at the same time
-- and the conversation continued to ebb and thrive with passion and
expression as kids sorted out, bumped into and struggled forward in a
rich conversation about race, identity and culture. And the really
marvelous thing was that surrounding a circle of passionate black kids
were people of all races, including those people who would *never* be
privy to this sort of dialogue. If they had heard it in another setting
they would have either shied away because of being scared around these
issues of race and rage and passion -- or they would respectfully step
away because the topic was not about people of their ethnicity. And
here, in Open Space, all were welcome to witness this rich dialogue and
struggle about race and identity. This one discussion continued on
through all 4 session times.
This Open Space was an adults-may-not-participate-unless-invited zone,
and I saw a few discussions where the young people invited an adult to
share their experiences, such as one group interviewing an adult who had
been a Conscientious Objector during the Gulf War.
At another point, these two really skinny short brainy-type young men
ran up to me accompanied by these two really gorgeous, 'popular
girl'-type young women. And the young women shared excitedly, "They are
teaching us about the passion.of chess!"
"Carry on," I said, smiling, and channeling Harrison.
And so it continued.
Closing Circle consisted of those 850 young people reassembled on the
gym floor, sharing rich comments and insightful observations. The next
day my 20 volunteer space-holders transcribed hundreds of pages of notes
for the Book of Proceedings, which was made ready for all participants
by the last day of the conference (in this design, the young people were
so tightly scheduled in other things that we took this step so they
could still have a Book of Proceedings). We filtered through
handwriting and - knowing this client's supervisor - we sadly (for me)
replaced any swear words we found with symbols like "%*(&$*!#@!!" to
indicate those words. (Sadly because I appreciate full free speech and
wish to keep participants' words and forms of expressions intact). We
created 1500 CD's (for every young person and adult participating in
this event) and readied them for closing ceremonies.
Okay so the client's supervisor found 1 swear word we missed. So he did
not allow distribution of the Book of Proceedings to the young people.
And okay I was notably not asked back when they had this event again.
But I must say, I feel part of one of the most amazing Open Spaces ever,
even if it was the most difficult one I have ever done.
What an honor and a pleasure it was to work with such fabulous
co-space-holders and to serve those incredible young leaders.
I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Lisa
___________________________
L i s a H e f t
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
O p e n i n g S p a c e
2325 Oregon
Berkeley, California
94705-1106 USA
+01 510 548-8449
<mailto:lisaheft at openingspace.net> lisaheft at openingspace.net
<http://www.openingspace.net> www.openingspace.net
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