[OSList] trainings on Democracy

[Harrison Owen]

Claudia - Your note will doubtless elicit multiple suggested approaches and
techniques - as indeed it has. And if you are looking for still more, you
might check out Peggy Holman's, "The Change Handbook" (Berrett-Koehler,
2007). There you will find, all laid out in 709 large pages some 69
different methods and approaches. Not all of them exactly fit your stated
needs and requirements, but I suspect most come pretty close, and if asked,
I would bet that the supporters of each approach could suggest some tweaks
and twists that would bring them in line.  So scarcity of options and
choices is not an issue, I think.

 

Faced with such abundance, it strikes me that the critical issue is actually
a question: What do you REALLY want to accomplish? And a closely related
question: What is the most efficient and effective approach to getting
there?

 

The answers clearly must be your own, but if I were to presume to put some
words in your mouth, they might come out as follows.

 

What we really want is the deep experience of Democracy anchored in the
concerns of everyday life. Not theories about, preparation for, ideals to be
achieved - but serious Democracy right there in the ongoing messiness of
life. You might call it an existential awareness of all the joys and burdens
of real freedom combined with responsibility. 

 

Ideals, theories, institutional forms are all nice, maybe even necessary,
but in my book, they all come AFTER the experience as the ways of
interpreting, supporting and sustaining that experience. But the experience
comes first. And to reverse the relationship is to abolish the reality. 

 

It is often said that "people" (usually referred to as "Those People") are
not ready for Democracy. Therefore they must be prepared, warmed up, and
trained. Personally, I seriously doubt that any of that does much real good,
although it obviously provides multiple billable hours for many trainers and
consultants. This is obviously contrary to the conventional wisdom, but so
is the American experience. 

 

At the birth of the nation there was not a consultant in sight. No trainers
offered that motley crew of revolutionaries an "Introduction to Democracy."
And they hardly needed "Warm-up" activities. To be sure there were Theories
in abundance, but mostly there was the raw experience of claiming their
passion (Freedom) and accepting the responsibilities that went with it - all
eloquently summed up in The Declaration of Independence. They didn't talk
about Democracy - they did it. Not well, perhaps. Hadn't been done before in
living memory. For sure they were learning as they went along, and
eventually they had to figure out how to responsibly sustain and protect
their new found freedom. That is what Philadelphia and the Constitutional
Conventions were all about. But note well the order of appearance. First the
Declaration of Independence, then The Constitution. They started with the
experience - just jumped right in. Doing Democracy while they were figuring
out what it might mean, and how to do it better.

 

Of course, you could say - That is just America, and you Harrison, are
obviously American. Guilty as charged. But you don't have to be American or
live in America to see (experience) the point. Every single person on this
OSLIST, from wherever in the world, who has had the privilege of sitting in
an Open Space Circle, along with the millions of friends, peers, and
colleagues from 'round about who sat with you, KNOW what I am talking about.
It is the experience of exercising your freedom to claim your passion with
responsibility. No warm up, no training, no advance planning, no management
committee, no supreme Leader - Just Do it! Call it what you will, but I
think the fellow in Bruce Lundeen's video had it right.
http://vimeo.com/34776321  -- "This is Democracy!" 

 

And is that the end? Of course not - but given that experience one can move
on to explore ways to do it more, better, and deeper. For the early
Americans that was the Constitutional Convention, and all that has come
afterwards. Sometimes it has gone well, sometimes rather poorly. Other
people will find different ways - but I think all ways have a common
starting point - that incredible instant when a passion for freedom is
claimed and the responsibility to sustain it is assumed. 

 

Good Luck Claudia!

 

Harrison

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

 

189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)

Camden, Maine 20854

 

Phone 301-365-2093

(summer)  207-763-3261

 

www.openspaceworld.com

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST
Go to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org

 

From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Dr. Claudia
Gross
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 4:19 PM
To: oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Subject: [OSList] trainings on NON-VIOLENCE

 

Dear OS friends all over the world!

In Egypt, we are going to celebrate the 1st Anniversary of last year's
revolution on 25th of January.
I hope the whole world will join us in these celebrations :-)

With regard to this occasion, I am posting three different questions that
are not directly related to Open Space...
Just thought that all of you might have a big pool of training methods,
exercises, energizers, etc.
which when brought together could be a giant source for all of us.

Very much looking forward to hearing more about your ideas!

Claudia

No 1:
Which training methods, exercises, energizers, etc. do you recommend
for trainings and events on NON-VIOLENCE?

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20120117/80609e5f/attachment-0008.htm>