<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">John and others - <div>Thank you so much for opening us to this important conversation.</div><div><br></div><div>Something I think we all share - as facilitators experienced in working with groups (comprised of individuals) - is that we cannot know what another's personal life experience is.</div><div><br></div><div>We can be well intentioned, and kind, and loving, and appreciative, and welcoming.</div><div>But we cannot know what someone's life experience has been with the complex dynamics of race and power, class and access, 'isms' and '___phobias', survivorship and identity...</div><div><br></div><div>Even if we are the same (seemingly) as another person (such as both women, or both looking like the same color) we cannot know or assume that other person's experience - we can only listen well, stay humble, and learn from what we hear, see and bump into (when we make mistakes). </div><div><br></div><div>And especially in terms of being able to know or expect or assume ... when one is of a majority culture and that other person is not of majority culture.</div><div><br></div><div>So many hidden complexities and histories that inform one's sense of inclusion or exclusion.</div><div><br></div><div>To add to that, for anyone who feels they have been marginalized (dis-included in many ways over time) - it seems quite natural that they would yearn for visible leadership from someone who looks and sounds like them.</div><div><br></div><div>The amazing thing about Open Space is that the facilitator soon becomes invisible as the group jumps off into space. </div><div>So if one cannot find a facilitator that looks like / is of the culture of the group being facilitated, this is one of those tools for which the participants can claim their own space rather immediately after the opening.</div><div><br></div><div>However I think it behooves us to honor a group's interest and request for someone of their culture as a facilitator, in any culture, if we can find someone of that culture who is also capable and skilled. I would hate to put someone in the facilitator role who was not able to do the job, so sometimes this either means taking extra time and resources to train someone(s) or a candid discussion with the client about this process and how it upends the usual power dynamics as the participants self-organize.</div><div><br></div><div>My two any-color cents, dear colleagues,</div><div><br></div><div>Lisa </div><div><br><div apple-content-edited="true"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; "><b><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#0000FF">Lisa Heft</font></b></span></font></div><div>Consultant, Facilitator, Educator</div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><b><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#0000FF">Opening Space</font></b></span></font></div><div><a href="mailto:lisaheft@openingspace.net">lisaheft@openingspace.net</a></div><div><a href="http://www.openingspace.net">www.openingspace.net</a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></span></div></span></div> </div></body></html>*
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