[OSList] Village Care notes! Chats 3 &4
Tricia Chirumbole
tricia at investorswithoutborders.net
Sat Apr 6 08:53:20 PDT 2013
Kari!
I like that thought so much that I might steal it! thanks :)
On Sat, Apr 6, 2013 at 9:50 AM, Kári Gunnarsson
<kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is>wrote:
> This is beautiful.
>
> I am now thinking to invite people around here to a open space workshop
> series with the theme: "beyond your wildest dreams" It sounds like
> something that could work for people.
>
> I will put this invitation as an advertisement in the local paper.
>
> I wonder if you people have any pointers for a good invitation letter for
> this theme.
>
> with love
> Kári
>
> On 5 April 2013 19:10, David Glenwinkel <david at villagecare.com> wrote:
>
>> Great job, thanks!****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *From:* oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:
>> oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf Of *Tricia Chirumbole
>> *Sent:* Friday, April 05, 2013 10:02 AM
>> *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
>> *Subject:* [OSList] Village Care notes! Chats 3 &4****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> hi all! ****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> Following is a rather lengthy set of notes detailing the past 2 Village
>> Care conversations...whew! ****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> As before, the notes were processed very little and are likely to include
>> mistakes and omissions :)****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *Village Care chat 3*****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> Participants: Skye, David, Suzanne, Pernilla, Tricia, Marie Ann, Linda
>> Stevenson, Paul Levy****
>>
>> · Skye has talked with David 1:1 and asked him, “What does he
>> want out of this?” [skype discussions, interactions]****
>>
>> o David’s response: He likes metaphysical discussions, but he loves
>> action. *What’s next? How do we go global? *****
>>
>> · David will connect Tricia with the Village Care leader in
>> Nigeria for connecting her Ghanaian friends – he covers Ghana, Togo, Benin,
>> Cameroon….****
>>
>> · Suzanne: Introduces how she is passionate about *unleashing
>> leadership* at any level and that our North American model formed in the
>> *Industrial Age, hierarchies, *etc., is *not working!*****
>>
>> · She has been *working with Millennials* in the realm of
>> unleashing leadership. She feels we are at a *crossroads*, not just for
>> poor communities, but for the “wasteland” of the young generation. They
>> have *vast potential, but also vast college debt*. She wants to unleash
>> their leadership so that they can unleash that of others!****
>>
>> o She wants us all to *come to Florida* [for the WOSONOS in case you
>> weren’t sure!], so we can respond to the prompt: The world is
>> waiting!!There is much ready to emerge, are we ready? ****
>>
>> · Paul: He is inspired by the discussion David gave of the
>> respect for elders in the decision making of African villages. ****
>>
>> o What can we learn about the elder system in business and corporate
>> settings? ****
>>
>> o He sees commonalities among healthy communities. ****
>>
>> · Either Paul or David suggests, “that no company is healthy for
>> more than 1 or 2 years at a time” [then they need to reassess, refresh,
>> regroup]****
>>
>> · David shares that in his experience leaders tend to be buried
>> in companies and are not necessarily the nominal leaders – he can usually “
>> *feel the rhythm” in a business* and identify the true leaders, as well
>> as feel if there “spirit” is “right” or “wrong”. ****
>>
>> · David mentions how *Village Care* is supported by him and 3
>> friends with *no outside support.*****
>>
>> o He was close to spreading the work further, but ran out of money,
>> time, and energy. ****
>>
>> · Paul: *applying the Village care principles to the corporate
>> world: *In regards to the importance of using only African facilitators
>> for the village care work, why don’t we find people in organizations ,
>> homegrown people, to run the circle?****
>>
>> o David replies that he doesn’t even do the intro in his programs****
>>
>> o Skye asks if he can *identify characteristics of a good facilitator*?
>> ****
>>
>> o David says he is not sure how he does it, he just knows****
>>
>> § Trying to make all of the program “Dumb ass simple” J so anyone can
>> use it. ****
>>
>> o Pernilla suggests that it may depend on the question. In a conflict
>> situation, it may help to have an external person, whereas for a “building”
>> focused initiative, internal may make sense.****
>>
>> o Paul shares that one time on a project in Eastern Europe, he did not
>> feel right opening the circle, so he asked someone else to do it, [someone
>> internal or local I am guessing] and it worked!...Another time, they
>> requested the “Englishman”, so he did the opening. ****
>>
>> · Pernilla opens discussion about the difficult of applying
>> things at a *global level. *In relation to the complexity and varying *relationships
>> between governments and people*.****
>>
>> o She adds that in Denmark, the citizens have a “graceful view of
>> government”****
>>
>> § Some Americans on the call are confounded by this concept :o****
>>
>> § The Denmark States’ relationship with the individual is to protect
>> them from the family/clan [demands I guess] – this is also intriguing to a
>> few of the Americans! ****
>>
>> · Skye proposes that the* key to a revolution is 1) Hope; 2)
>> Seeing Progress*****
>>
>> · Discussion about whether or not to *use social media and the
>> web* for sharing ideas or how to. ****
>>
>> o Paul offers that there are comparable web services “behind the
>> firewall” that do not have the commercial distractions and ties of those
>> such as twitter. ****
>>
>> § More on this Paul? ****
>>
>> · Discussion on how/if to open up the discussion to everyone
>> interested in the spirit of OS or not.****
>>
>> o Concern presented that the discussion/group may get too large to
>> manage effectively. ****
>>
>> o Suzanne suggests some tools she was introduced to by Ben Roberts of
>> Dialogue and Deliberation that can be used to break groups into smaller
>> groups [I think this applies to skype discussions, but not sure!]****
>>
>> o Seems to be consensus that this approach sounds reasonable****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> *Village Care chat 4*****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> Participants: Skye, David Gwenlinkel, Tricia, Linda Stevenson, Denyse
>> (David’s colleague/acquaintance)****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> · Skye: Interested in the intersection among OS, Village Care
>> model, and her work with autognomics –****
>>
>> o possibility of identifying *Universal Principles*?****
>>
>> § Seems to include the existence of “self agency” or *personal agency***
>> **
>>
>> § *Coherence *seems to be another****
>>
>> o Looking at the “why” behind processes that work****
>>
>> o Applying these concepts to *breaking cycles of poverty*****
>>
>> o Notes that the rate of change is happening at a pace in recent
>> history that allows us to *observe processes*, not just outcomes, as
>> well as the *evolution of process*. ****
>>
>> § Inspecting the phenomena consistent across living systems can aid in
>> a revolutionary change in the way we think [about our world and place in it]
>> ****
>>
>> § This way of thinking is in contrast to the predominant modern Western
>> mode of *thinking that is focused on things, fixed objects,* and the
>> manipulation of these things. ****
>>
>> · We think we can control and predict based on our understanding
>> of this, but even these seemingly discrete and “fixed” objects have a
>> history and even a personal agency that makes our ability to control and
>> predict their behavior impossible. ****
>>
>> · David: requests Skye’s *definition of self agency*. He is
>> currently pondering the concept of language to use and how to agree on this
>> in respect to his work and in respect to his second book, which is almost
>> finished. ****
>>
>> o His language is defined around his OS work in Africa ****
>>
>> o Notes that funders still like the terms, “capacity building” and
>> “sustainability”, but these approaches are not working and he wants to *define
>> what his network does* as something different. ****
>>
>> o Skye offers that personal agency can be defined in a number of ways.
>> Provides the links:****
>>
>> § Definition of Personal Agency:
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_agency ****
>>
>> § Common definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycle_of_****
>>
>> § Notes that personal agency needs to begin very early on and that we
>> tend to interrupt this process from the start by interrupting the natural
>> process of birth [not sure what birthing practices are meant here…anyone
>> know about lotus births? Pretty cool J))****
>>
>> · David: Reintroduces his self-query, *“what is the appropriate
>> level of follow-up?” *to provide to the villages that he works with. ****
>>
>> o He has repeatedly seen communities fall back into their hierarchical
>> tendencies of putting chairs in rows, etc, but that does not necessarily
>> stop the process – he wonders if they would do even better if they
>> maintained the more open practices. ****
>>
>> · David also wonders *how you can let go* [I believe in terms of
>> opening up his Village Care process for use by a broader group or
>> completely public use] *while still* *maintaining the claims* that they
>> currently make [assuming this means that the outcomes and success observed
>> can still be presented as results that can be expected by users of the
>> process]****
>>
>> o Tricia’s thoughts on this are that you cannot have both in full
>> expression/pure form – both the opening and the assurance of “success”;
>> adaptations will be made – some better and some worse – but you can
>> mitigate the bastardization and/or improve chances of “quality/accurate”
>> transmission. ****
>>
>> § Harkening back to the question about follow up: The successes and
>> attrition will vary –all ideas and methods introduced to the world get
>> absorbed and applied incrementally and in patterns that are not easy to
>> observe and perhaps impossible to predict. ****
>>
>> § Any idea, practice, behavioral tendency, or cultural norm is more
>> likely to grow to a critical mass if allowed the ability for it to be fully
>> open and spread virally with a likely incidence that at some points it will
>> be considered “bastardized” or completely separate from the original intent
>> or core philosophical underpinnings by some.****
>>
>> § That is not to say it is still not a worthy endeavor to provide
>> education, support, and advocacy for the principles and practices that you
>> find to be valuable. ****
>>
>> § In my own experience, people and groups absorb and incorporate ideas
>> into their world in their own time, when it is ripe for them. It is
>> challenging to observe when something is having an impression, and likely
>> impossible and not worth the effort to attempt to predict or manage what is
>> having an impression and if/when/how it will be incorporated ….That can
>> probably all be said in a nice one-liner…like, “just let go” J))****
>>
>> · Skye: Back to Universal Principles and *coherence and
>> effective action. *Queries, how do we figure out what you do each day?
>> Something has been effective in your past and then get to choose what you
>> do with it. The development of values and valuing occurs in this manner.
>> ****
>>
>> o References a *“Breaking the Cycle of Poverty” Program in Mexico *that
>> is redefining personal agency and empowerment and has been very effective.
>> ****
>>
>> o I believe it is this project – book on Amazon, but couldn’t locate
>> link for program: ****
>>
>> o “Many international development efforts have been limited because
>> they are elaborated as exclusively economic projects. Nobel Laureate
>> Amartya Sen argues, however, that combating poverty requires expanding
>> individual freedoms and capabilities, in place of bolstering only
>> macroeconomic growth. Based on the work of IMIFAP (The Mexican Institute of
>> Family and Population Research) in Mexico and Latin America, this book
>> seeks to transform Sen’s philosophical approach into an operative model for
>> sustainable development through its Framework for Enabling Empowerment
>> (FrEE).”****
>>
>> · Linda: States that she can hear Harrison’s voice (creepy!): *Don’t
>> work too hard* [this discussion is not listed in perfect chronological
>> order, so not sure what this input is inspired by, sorry!].****
>>
>> o The power of OS is the power of self-organization. Reminded about
>> the concept of a *“nexus of caring” *Opening the space for the personal
>> caring to flourish. What do you care about genuinely? It starts to reveal
>> itself. It is because this is who we are – *we already know how to do
>> this – we just need the invitation. *We don’t want to fall back into a
>> piecemeal approach.****
>>
>> o She repeatedly runs into challenges with people she works with in
>> corporations who want results and have no experience that this can work –
>> they are tied into hierarchies. ****
>>
>> o Recounts the message from [I think a group of *young people*] at the
>> World Economic Forum in Davos in 2010 or 2011. Paraphrased: *They are
>> connected so effectively that they do not need hierarchies and do not
>> need to fail. They need everyone’s support and are willing to learn from
>> others.”*****
>>
>> o Notes that it is *the* *aggregate that self organizes. *****
>>
>> o *Innovation gathering proposal: *Linda and Suzanne are interested in
>> bringing together 100 people in a room – both young and old – for
>> collaboration and innovation “beyond your wildest dreams” ****
>>
>> · Skye poses the question: What can we do next? What does
>> everybody want to do? – she would like to explore how her work fits in, but
>> is not sure how it is useful. ****
>>
>> o David responds that he is not sure that “we need to be in a big
>> hurry…village care is closer to a place where it can be used
>> anytime/anywhere”. Adds that while information is copyrighted, it is the
>> kind of copyright that he wants to be used****
>>
>> o Tricia is interested in discussing mechanisms for expanding/opening
>> up village care; exploring the combination of village care with other
>> approaches/philosophies such as Skye’s work – even making it open source;
>> and experimenting herself with applying the model to communities. ****
>>
>> o Initial thoughts on explore the concept of opening up/scaling:****
>>
>> § ID existing networks with aligned missions or audiences for spreading
>> the word or adoption****
>>
>> § Explore value, feasibility, and alignment of various methods for
>> knowledge and expertise sharing – forums, trainings, books, online
>> resources, face-to-face training, etc. ****
>>
>> § Structures for sustainability - community fundraising, paying
>> clients, all volunteer, multiple methods, etc. ****
>>
>> ****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> --
>> Tricia Chirumbole
>> US: +1-571-232-0942
>> Skype: tricia.chirumbole****
>>
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>
>
> --
> Kári Gunnarsson
> kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is
> gsm: +354 8645189
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
--
Tricia Chirumbole
US: +1-571-232-0942
Skype: tricia.chirumbole
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