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At 04:58 PM 2/14/2003 -0800, CHRIS CORRIGAN wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>He said that at the end of the day
he realized that this kind of<br>
expectation is what cultural assimilation is all about; that we
expect<br>
others to set the agenda and tell us what our work is supposed to
be.<br>
He concluded that Open Space works well because it invites us to do
our<br>
own work. In that fundamental and simple act, OST begins to unlock
a<br>
lot of years of conditioned thinking, and reveals the possibility
of<br>
truly decolonized communities: communities where we do our own
work.</blockquote><br>
Marvelous, Chris! The experience recounted matches that of groups with
which I have worked, and many more facilitated by the likes of Elwin
Guild, Mikk Sarv, and John Engle. In a word, the experience is not
unique, but the statement is -- at least in terms of its simplicity and
directness. I am not quite sure what we do with all this except --
more of the same. But I do think it is very worth while to closely
consider what is going on here and how we might better assist the
progress. This is a tricky one, for our role clearly must be both
supportive AND invisible. I find it to be true that every time I do
something for somebody, to some extent I dis-empower them. <br><br>
Harrison<br><br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<div align="center">Harrison Owen<br>
7808 River Falls Drive<br>
Potomac, MD 20854 USA<br>
phone 301-365-2093<br>
Open Space Training
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.com</a>
<br>
Open Space Institute <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.org</a><br>
Personal website <a href="http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm" eudora="autourl"><font color="#0000FF">http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm</a><br><br>
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