[OSList] Open Space - Billabongs

Sun May 20 17:11:35 PDT 2018

Love this thread ...

❤️🌸❤️
~ luch

On Mon, May 21, 2018 at 6:01 AM R Chaffe via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

Brendon, we live and work in a land where water is precious.  Billabongs
> are often the life saving watering points when we travel much like an oasis
> in the desert.
>
> Billabongs are also parts of prior streams where the stream has taken a
> new track and the billabong is cut off from surface flows of water yet they
> are fed and nourished by underground water that seeps across the flood
> plane even when the surface stream is non existent.  Billabongs reminds me
> of the deep threads that are part of a community that sustain it in the
> hard times.  The billabong is the evidence that this deep nourishment
> exists.
>
>  Some of these concepts are very familiar with Australians in the
> subconscious.  It must be fun to see people discover the deeper meanings of
> billabong.
>
> For me I would use the the name as it will connect with peoples experience
> after that I would let the participants take billabong where they choose.
> As with the “message sticks” that are the indigenous passport and map every
> group/tribe had different ways of describing the features of the map so to
> can the group do the same.
>
> Just as in the song “click go the shears” the spirt of the “swagman”
> remains in the billabong to be heard now and then!
>
> Billabong, just another way to have fun and connect with the community of
> concern.
>
> Regards
> Rob
>
> On 21 May 2018, at 1:05 am, Brendan McKeague via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
> Ahhhh, the billabong….thanks of asking.
>
> The billabong in Australia is a water hole or pond where water is usually
> found when the surrounding riverbed or land becomes dry - the last place to
> dry up in an otherwise arid landscape - often will have a few trees or
> bushes around it.  I used to hear Aboriginal people speak of ‘knowing where
> the billabongs lay along certain routes or about meetings for initiation
> and other business held near certain billabongs. Also in the iconic
> Australian song, Waltzing Matilda, there is reference to the ‘swagman'
> (traveller/rover/hobo) who ‘camped by a billabong’.  The term is well known
> and recognised in both Aboriginal and ‘whitefella’ culture.
>
> In my early days of facilitating Open Space, I began to use the term
> billabong as a place of ‘refreshment, relaxation, restoration, reflection,
> renewal etc’ where, having introduced the terms butterflies and bees (in
> Australia, I prefer the term bee to distinguish from the European
> introduced ‘bumble bee’, regarded as a pest and destroying habitats of
> native species), I speak about billabong ‘spaces or places’ where you can
> go and rest up should you find that you need a break from the main
> meeting….maybe you’ve listened enough, talked enough, need some silence,
> need to think about an upcoming conversation that you’ve posted….find
> yourself a billabong space and refresh your energy. A billabong space is
> where you wish to create it…outside under a tree,  going for a stroll,
> lounging on a beanbag, in a corner of the room or in the bar, anywhere you
> feel comfortable to relax…varies according to where the OS meeting is held
> - I once had someone tell me they spent 20mins in the toilet as it was the
> only ‘billabong’ space they could find!
>
> I have also had people report that one or two others came and joined them
> in their billabong and, guess what, the most wonderful thing happened….!
>
> Billabongs are created, or not, in the very best of our self-organising
> tradition…just as the river meanders along its own course and leaves little
> pools of refreshment along the way for those who need it.
>
> Cheers
> Brendan
>
>
> On 20 May 2018, at 5:09 PM, Marai Kiele via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
> What a colourful and vivid story.
> Thank you Brendan for taking the time to describe it so richly!
>
> I got as curious as Jeff about the billabongs (first needed to look up the
> word).
> Maybe there are a space where special flowers and animals can flourish?
> Please fill us in :-)
>
> Marai
>
> Am 18.05.2018 um 09:54 schrieb Jeff Aitken via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>:
>
> Thank you. Very rich. Lots to appreciate here.
>
> One initial question stands out: how do billabongs act in open space?
>
> (We know about the butterflies and bees.) With thanks
>
> Jeff
> San Francisco
>
>
> On Fri, May 18, 2018, 12:38 AM Brendan McKeague via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
>>
>> Hi folks
>>
>> Here is a story (Irish style) of a recent Open Space meeting 'in
>> disguise'.  I hope it adds something to our ongoing learning and collective
>> wisdom.
>>
>> Cheers
>> Brendan
>>
>>
>> *Open Space as Yarning Space - an Australian story*
>>
>> *Context*
>> A group of five different ‘language/family groups’ wishing to pursue
>> their intention of working together to submit a claim for native title over
>> a certain area of land that their families had continuous connection with
>> for many years. There was a history of disagreement, division and
>> destructive conflict between some of the group during the past 10 years,
>> illustrated by separate, competing claims over parts of the area in
>> question.  They had arrived at a place where most of the elders had decided
>> it was time to work together otherwise their chances of achieving a
>> successful claim in the national Native Title Court would be unlikely.  In
>> order to prepare themselves for the next steps in submitting a formal legal
>> claim over the region, they suggested it would be appropriate to spend a
>> couple of days together so that ‘they could sit and yarn' about the issues
>> that divided them in the past, about how they might reconcile with each
>> other and how they might work together in the future.  The sponsor, a
>> representative of the regional Land Council that would be responsible for
>> resourcing the meeting, wondered if an Open Space style meeting would be
>> appropriate.
>>
>>
>> *Naming the Process*
>> Another part of the context was that the sponsoring body did not have a
>> favourable disposition towards Open Space. I’m not sure of the details,
>> although it sounded like someone in senior management had previously
>> experienced some sort of Open Space meeting and wasn’t impressed. My
>> contact within the system asked that we not call it an Open Space meeting.
>> I was happy to oblige and we came up with the loosely described notion of
>> creating Yarning Circles ('yarning circle' is frequently used in indigenous
>> vocabulary in Australia to describe a group, often referred to as 'a mob’,
>> sitting in a circle discussing/having a yarn about whatever mattered to
>> them. So the underlying concept was similar, without the structure of an
>> OST meeting).
>>
>> From an introductory meeting with the family leaders, we formulated an
>> invitation that asked the questions: ‘how will we work together AND respect
>> our individual differences and identities?’
>>
>> In describing the process, I simply renamed the main circle as the group
>> Yarning Circle, and the break-out spaces as Yarning Places…everything else
>> pretty much the usual set-up.  I shortened the principles on the posters to
>> read: Right People; Right Time; Right Place; Right Yarning…the Law of Two
>> Feet; Butterflies, Bees and Billabongs; Be Prepared to Be Surprised…and
>> linked my introduction to each of these.
>>
>>
>> *The Event*
>> There was a lot of anticipation about what might happen. The complexity
>> of longstanding inter-familial, inter-generational disputes is well known
>> in the world of native title in Australia. Security guards were hired for
>> the meeting so that only those who were entitled to be there (another
>> interpretation of 'the right people') were admitted. This was to do with
>> the requirement that only those who are directly descended from the
>> original ‘traditional owners’ of the particular areas are entitled to be
>> part of the discussions and eventual decision-making process. There are
>> strict protocols around anthropologist 'connection research’ to ensure that
>> this is the case and these reports often generate additional conflicts
>> among family groups.
>>
>> On the first morning of the two-day event, while people were beginning to
>> gather in the meeting space, there was a very animated and highly charged
>> interaction between two rather large men (I subsequently discovered these
>> were two brothers who had not spoken directly to each other for nearly ten
>> years) and this generated a burst of high tension energy.  A security guard
>> intervened, in a very professional, low-key way, creating a pause between
>> the men and providing an opportunity for some of their mutual relatives
>> (mostly the older women) to exert a calming influence on them…fortunately,
>> they seemed to be well practiced at such interventions!
>>
>> I was certainly wide awake now!  Too soon for a nap…and I wondered,
>> rather nervously, how the rest of the meeting might go
>>
>> The men calmed, the senior elder (one of the women) gave a ‘welcome to
>> country’ asking that everyone in the room (about 60 participants) respect
>> the ancestors, and each other, during this very important time together. I
>> was then invited into the circle…I did my usual intro, with slight
>> variations of language, verbal and body, to adapt to my environment. A the
>> end of my introduction, as I usually do, I wished them well for the work of
>> the day, handed the space over to them and exited the circle….
>>
>> As I was heading towards the edge of the meeting area, I noticed a couple
>> of people dive straight in the centre for their paper and pen…and to my
>> surprise, the first topic announced was from one of the family members of
>> the feuding brothers who invited the whole family to meet in the first
>> session to sort out the issues that had been dividing them for the past
>> decade. And it was an amazing ‘yarning place’…for much of an hour, there
>> were loud voices, quiet voices, shouting, tears, hugs, reconciliation,
>> laughter, resolve and agreement to disagree on what had caused their
>> disturbances and, beyond that, agreement to work together in the future so
>> that they could contribute constructively to the collective claim for
>> Native Title….amazing to witness.
>>
>> For the remainder of the first day, people wandered, sat, stood and
>> lounged around the room, energy and passion flitting and flowing in their
>> own time, with differing degrees of high intensity, laughter and lightness.
>>
>> And for good measure, we also had a ‘space invasion’ in the afternoon,
>> when another group that had been seeking to prevent this combined claim
>> going ahead, and had convened a separate meeting in another part of the
>> conference venue, entered the space uninvited. Some of the leaders in the
>> room stood up and started towards the exit saying they would not stay while
>> this new group was there. In the pause of surprise and wonder, I could only
>> think of asking a question: ‘I don’t really know what’s happening here,
>> would someone please explain?’  That led to the incoming group, some of
>> whom were related to the meeting group, requesting to read out a short
>> prepared statement to the meeting group and then to leave. The meeting
>> group agreed to listen. The statement was delivered, there was silence and
>> no return comments, the incoming group left the room and the existing group
>> spent the rest of the afternoon discussing how they would respond to the
>> information in the statement…a new agenda emerged for Day Two.
>>
>> The second day of the meeting saw the group working together in the
>> Yarning Circle, as an extension of ‘morning news’, for the first part of
>> the morning, then breaking out into yarning places in response to new
>> issues that were emerging. After a stretched-out lunch, the group converged
>> to feed back the Action Plans before a very emotional, enthusiastic and
>> energised closing circle (that included a short impromptu  dance of
>> celebration…)
>>
>>
>> *The Outcome*
>> On the next day, following the two day Yarning Circle, there was a formal
>> meeting with their legal representatives to ratify agreements made and
>> provide instructions to be taken forward into the due process for native
>> title claimants. Needless to say, this meeting was nothing like an Open
>> Space meeting. However, the group on the previous afternoon had decided how
>> they wanted the room to be set up for the formal meeting and, guess what,
>> they chose to have five different circles for each of the five family
>> groups and one centre circle for the elders from each group to enter when
>> it came to delivering decisions to the legal representatives…creating a
>> very different environment from the usual 'top table and rows'. That’s
>> another story!
>>
>>
>> *Concluding Reflections*
>> A few thoughts: the presenting context seemed suitable for Open Space;
>> the meeting methodology was renamed, the underlying structure was retained;
>> the conflictual energy that appeared prior to the meeting provided a
>> catalyst for release of built-up tension and the courage to address what
>> had caused it by those who lived within it; the stunning significance of
>> self organisation at work, developing resilience to cope with a potential
>> distracting/de-railing invasion; the use of the opportunity (the space
>> invasion) to generate new agenda, to strategise and commit for the
>> follow-up formal legal meeting (a complex adaptive system at work?); the
>> presenting signs of relationship building, collective commitment and deeper
>> levels of trust.
>>
>>
>> *Sponsor feedback *
>>
>> *1)       Why did you chose to use Open Space?*
>>
>> *We held a two day OS community consultation followed by a native title
>> authorisation meeting.   *
>> *For the community consultation we needed an approach that allowed for a
>> general theme, linked to progressing a native title claim, that allowed for
>> the native title group to work out for themselves the best way to work
>> together on a native title claim and beyond.  OS provided the environment
>> for this to occur.      *
>>
>>
>> *2)       What did you notice about the process, the engagement and the
>> outcomes in this particular context?*
>>
>> *The OS approach to the meeting allowed for the attendees to take
>> ownership of the direction of the two day meeting and, as a result, the
>> outcomes/undertakings that were generated.  In turn, the outcomes provided
>> a roadmap for how the different traditional factions within the larger
>> native title group could effectively cooperate while acknowledging and
>> respecting differences.  The outcomes will feed into the rule book and
>> policy manual for the corporation earmarked to be the PBC.    *
>> *We used some OS concepts to good effect in the authorisation meeting. *
>>
>>
>> *3)       What did you learn from this experience?*
>>
>> *That our clients can truly benefit from an OS meeting and that certain
>> elements of OS can be introduced even into meetings with an agenda
>> prescribed by legislation. *
>> *I am convinced that an OS meeting should be convened early in the
>> process of working with a native title group, particularly if there are
>> internal divisions. *
>> *If used properly, I consider OS could also be useful in some overlapping
>> claims.   *
>>
>>
>>
>> Who knows what will happen next…indeed, that's not ours to know in the
>> complex and mysterious world of emergence!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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