new

Sun Oct 14 17:33:19 PDT 2007

Hi Tree,

Thanks for thinking of Susan's story.  For those who have the second edition of The Change Handbook, it is in chapter 3.  BTW, Ralph Copleman was part of it, so may have something to add.  I've copied the story, as Susan tell it below.

Peggy

________________________________
Peggy Holman
The Open Circle Company
15347 SE 49th Place
Bellevue, WA  98006
(425) 746-6274 

www.opencirclecompany.com

For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to: 
www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook 

"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt, is to become 
the fire".
  -- Drew Dellinger

*****************

A Story: Work with Violent Inter-group Conflict
In early 2000, we provided collaborative negotiation and mediation skills training to political representatives from Iraqi Kurdistan as part of a larger capacity-building initiative funded by the State Department and run through the International Conflict Resolution Program at SIPA, Columbia University. The participants were representatives of the PUK and the KDP, the two main political factions, whose competing attempts for political control had resulted in armed conflict.  Our job was to design and deliver a five-day skills training in negotiation and mediation, and in the process build an atmosphere of collaboration between the two sides.  None of the participants spoke English, and we did not speak either Kurdish or Arabic.

The initial part of the design was straightforward.  We had delivered negotiation and mediation training programs for thousands of people around the world, set up a conflict resolution program at the United Nations and at Columbia University, and had run many programs using direct translation.  We knew the training could move us towards the program objective, but to create a climate of engagement, with people talking directly to each other in a safe way without a translator required something else. That brought us to Open Space.

When the participants arrived in Ankara, Turkey, the atmosphere was more than chilly.  People sat on opposite sides of the room, avoiding eye contact and all conversation. Group members had lost family in the war between these two sides.  For these representatives, this was a paid trip to New York, an opportunity to go to Columbia University, but a passion for reconciliation was not in the air.

Days 1-3 of the program was collaborative negotiation skills training[i]. According to participant accounts and our observations, it was a full, rich and transformational experience that had some of the following affects:

·         The training mixed the two sides in seemingly arbitrary and face-saving ways to resolve simple conflict issues that de-escalated the polarizing tone. People laughed and got playful. We gradually increased the complexity and heat of the issues, ending by role-playing PUK/KDP real-life issues.

·         Participants' experience in Kurdistan was normalized. Through presentation of theory and re-enactment of conflicts mediated in other parts of the world (such as Mozambique), participants began to see the predictable phenomenon of adversarial conflict that they were a part of.  They also were introduced to the alternative of a collaborative approach - a real eureka to them that such an option even existed.

·         Participants learned models and skills for negotiating collaboratively that they immediately put into practice in the Open Space laboratory that followed.

On Day 4, we "opened the space" focusing on the theme "Exploring and Expanding Areas of Cooperation Among Us."  To our surprise and definite concern, most of the participants took us literally when we said "we have break-out spaces, but you are free to go anywhere you like."  Indeed they left, and rode the subway from 125th to Macy's at 34th to shop. That was the most anxiety-provoking moment in the design!  A senior representative confronted us - "What's this about?"  We calmed him.  Holding space sometimes takes nerve.

Why did participants do that?  Who knows?  Perhaps after three days of intense training, they needed to breathe before they could really talk to each other.  Perhaps they just wanted to go shopping.  My hunch based on years of cross-cultural work is that the shift from a training run by "professors", however interactive and empowering, to an open space where the responsibility was squarely on their shoulders, was too much in the beginning.   

The good news is that everyone also took us at our word when we said "wherever you are, whatever you are doing, be here at 4:30 for 'evening news'." That's when things started cooking.  One by one, participants summoned up the courage to hold our talking "stone", heavy in their hands, and talk to each other about the Kurdistan issues weighing on everyone.  The stone, they said, often a weapon of war in Kurdistan, now might be a symbol of peace.

            The momentum continued through "morning announcements" on Day 5, to various topic discussions, to an exciting action planning session on the collaborations. Day 5 ended emotionally with hugging, tears and singing Kurdish songs. In the program aftermath, through ongoing support from ICRP, the parties created a bilateral conflict resolution center that supports on the ground collaboration in many ways including the use of Open Space as a process for high-conflict problem-solving. 

            Did our design work?  We could have just done a conflict resolution training. We could have just done an Open Space. It's our view, that the combination added real value.  Participants gathered for a "training" without committing to work the issues.  They had a shared experience with low-stress exercises and topics.  Important ideas and skills were imparted that could not have been conveyed in Open Space. In Open Space, participants found the passion and responsibility to talk directly to each other about what mattered most. With newly learned skills, and momentum behind them, the space was opened, and held by a neutral third side, as they worked the core conflict issues of their time. 

            A final note about "knowing yourself."  When we first presented the funders of the project with a design that simply said "open space" for days 4-5 instead of the detailed mediation training they expected, they balked. It took a lot of knowing the situation, the processes and ourselves to have the courage to re-assure them that mixing these processes was the way to go.

Susan Coleman (www.colemanraider.com)

(Others vital to this intervention were Andrea Bartoli, Tanya Walters and Zach Metz from ICRP, and my co-facilitators, James Williams and Ralph Copleman.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[i] See The Handbook of Conflict Resolution, "Teaching Conflict Resolution Skills in a Workshop", by Raider, Coleman, & Gerson, 2000, 2006) for a workshop description.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Tree Fitzpatrick 
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU 
  Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2007 11:24 AM
  Subject: Re: [OSLIST] new

  Hi Niko.  Welcome to the list!

  I want to share a story in response to what you wrote about how two of the main participants from your OS left before you did the closing circle.  Yes, you are right, the law of two feet invites folks to leave when they want to but it can be unsettling as the spaceholder, can't it? 

  I heard this story from Susan Coleman, an international conflict resolution expert who uses large group processes with communities and systems in conflict.  She works at Columbia University. She uses OS sometimes when she convenes peace-building events for groups from high conflict zones. 

  The first time she ever used OS was for an event that brought together participants from both sides of a major conflict.  I am sorry that I am not remembering all the details of her story.  The event where she first used OS brought together people very deeply divided, like Shiites and Sunnis or Palestinians and Israelis. . . but I forget which conflicting cultures she had in the room.  People had traveled from abroad to New York City to attend Susan's event.  Most of us know what it takes to organize an international event.  It takes lots of planning, with countless logistical snafus. 

  Finally, the day had arrived.  Susan kicked off the multi-day event by opening space.

  And then everyone left and went shopping.  All of those participants were chomping at the bit to shop in New York City or, perhaps, just to see exciting New York City.  Who knows what they wanted to do? But they trusted Susan when she said 'follow what has heart and meaning', follow the 'law of two feet'.  They all got up and left. 

  She sat around the rest of that first day thinking that she had blown it.  This was a major event.  Had she failed by using OS?  She experienced a lot of self doubt.

  But the next day, everyone came back, created an awesome agenda and they had a fantastic meeting.  Maybe all those participants were better able to focus on the work after they used the law of two feet, sated their curiosity about New York City.  If Susan had used a different model for her meeting and required everyone to stay in the room, people might have been bored and/or distracted with thoughts of the exciting city just outside.  But by leaving that first day and checking out NYC, well, folks, maybe, were better able to focus on the agenda, right? 

  I have heard other stories of people opening space and then the participants leaving to check out the tourist spots, etc.  And then folks come back and get to work.

  People need to  show up, with their passions.  If people are just in the room because they have to be in the room, well, they can be physically present but not really 'in'. 

  Good on you, Niko, for your first OS. 

  On 10/13/07, niko lebel <futurewhispers at hotmail.com > wrote:
    Hi Christine,

    thankyou for your email.

    The focus for the meeting was on an old mill which is where my family and I are currently living and working.

    the Theme was "making le moulin de petit pre the best it can be.... heres how"

    Which I though was a really good start and theme for the meeting.

    I was in the room whilst the meeting durated but not part of the meeting.
    I did not understand a large amount of the meeting as it was in french which I still do not know enough of to understand.

    Then a funny thing happened, at 7 pm when I was going to come back to close the space two of the main partisipants got up and left to go home...
    I was shocked at first but then reminded my self of the law or mobility.

    I found it a little rude and strange though.

    Which reminded me of Open space meetings i attended in New Zealand by a friend for his buisness.
    The facilitator (not me) took part in the meeting and made the opening of the space the most dull miserable experiance possible.

    i stopped attending.

    I always make a point of making the opening circle a light interesting affair.

    Thank you all for the warm welcome.

    I hope i can Learn as much as possible from who ever I can.

    Niko Lebel.

    P.S It is raining and cold in Québec city

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
      Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:03:44 -0700
      From: milagro27 at cox.net
      Subject: Re: new

      To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU

      Welcome, Niko!

      Congratulations on your Open Space.  What was the focus and who were the people?  Was this the first time you opened space?

      I am especially interested in your experience because of my work with the Girl Scouts.

      Warm wishes from a brilliant day in Phoenix,

      Christine

      Christine Whitney Sanchez
      CWS - Collaborative Wisdom & Strategy
      2717 E. Mountain Sky Avenue
      Phoenix, AZ  85048-8990
      480.759.0262
      www.christinewhitneysanchez.com 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
      From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of niko lebel
      Sent: Friday, October 12, 2007 2:32 PM
      To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU 
      Subject: new

      Hi all,

      I am a 16 year old student in the Québec City  I have just recently moved here from New Zealand.

      I am very very interested in open space technology and I am reading every email which comes though. 

      My father has done extencive training and knows Chris Corrigan.

      On Wednesday I opened space for about 10 people.
      so i am reading a lot about Open Space and would be interested in any comments or advise. 

      thankyou.

      Niko Lebel

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  -- 
  Love rays,
  Tree Fitzpatrick

  http://thecultureoflove.blogspot.com/

  . . . the great and incalculable grace of love, which says, with Augustine, "I want you to be," without being able to give any particular reason for such supreme and unsurpassable affirmation.  -- Hannah Arendt 

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