It's good to find common ground over the "common grounds" in a mug and to take some refreshing sips of common sense along the way. Do you sometimes wonder, as I do, if there are voices not being heard because they're not at the table, or even in the shop? One book I published this summer may open up more of the conversation to hand out more mugs as we practice a wider Weltanschauung. My Address is a River: A Place to Belong, Closer to Home, is a collection of 70 stories about those who probably never come to the Cafe because they are not invited, or would not feel they belong; people who have very little, who walk along the roads and paths and wireless connections just out of view. They may not have a computer, or even know how to use one. Could it be that the ones who cannot afford a mug or liquid to fill their cup may have a very valuable contribution to make here? These are questions that have troubled me for many years. Who is excluded (accidentally or intentionally); who sits in the shadows in the corner; who is just outside our field of vision; who is invisibly nearby with just the wisdom we all need? Maybe we don't wish to talk about it, or even think about it. Maybe we do? Maybe we need to?
I just love this conversation! The World Cafe is meant to be "inclusive" but sometimes the verbal language and the body language of those already sitting at the Cafe table can exclude. It's important to keep in mind that not everyone wants to join in but perhaps a couple of very simple and open questions could entice them! KISS: Keep it simple and sweet! Look for the positive seed and welcome them with deep heartfelt listening and encouraging words.
Thank you for all that you are doing to encourage and include. Your book sounds delightful!
I really appreciate the larger questions around inclusion and exclusion that you're bringing up in this thread (which is fast becoming more of a conversation than a Cybrary post :-), Chris, and ...
Just practically speaking, one quick point to make that you might not realize since you are just joining us and haven't yet experienced a World Cafe for yourself - World Cafe doesn't require a computer. In fact, 99% of World Cafes are face to face - and they are being held in all sorts of environments, including places where people have very little material wealth.
What we have or don't have is not really pertinent, but learning how to go beyond what we know, and an invitation to conversation that speaks to and reached everyone really is. I love Ria's example of the grassroots leader from Leeds having people over for pizza... it reminds me of Juanita's stories about the real business of the United Farm Workers being held at kitchen tables all over the country... :-)
I really am enjoying this conversation, and these are very important questions for us no matter where we are when we are engaging conversations.
Two short examples of why this line of questioning is important from my work in community transformation with communities in poverty worldwide:
1) my first lesson in choosing the right question: I asked a group of women in El Salvador in the mid 80's to name their dreams for the future, what were their hopes? Lesson: when people are concerned about what they will feed their children today, or IF they will eat today...there is no thinking of "tomorrow" much LESS hope for some undefined future...future? who has time for that. I think that speaks to Amy's reminder of context.
2) In Niger, working with communities (again) to define their future, it took a colleague 4 months to find the RIGHT word in the local language to communicate the concept of community engagement. So, yes, the importance of context AND the nuances of language (I think someone here had a post related to this in a mental health setting).
Then lastly, just a plug for a fascinating is somewhat provocative book: The Tyranny of Participation (I think I have that title right) which also speaks to Chris's concern: just because you have people together doesn't mean that others have been left out, and thus asks the question, what does participation really mean?
What I really appreciate about Chris's concern is just that: his attention and concern that all of us be careful to ask ourselves, who's missing from our tables?
Barbara Krohn
I just love this conversation! The World Cafe is meant to be "inclusive" but sometimes the verbal language and the body language of those already sitting at the Cafe table can exclude. It's important to keep in mind that not everyone wants to join in but perhaps a couple of very simple and open questions could entice them! KISS: Keep it simple and sweet! Look for the positive seed and welcome them with deep heartfelt listening and encouraging words.
Thank you for all that you are doing to encourage and include. Your book sounds delightful!
Glad you are here! Barbara
Nov 19, 2010
Amy Lenzo
Just practically speaking, one quick point to make that you might not realize since you are just joining us and haven't yet experienced a World Cafe for yourself - World Cafe doesn't require a computer. In fact, 99% of World Cafes are face to face - and they are being held in all sorts of environments, including places where people have very little material wealth.
What we have or don't have is not really pertinent, but learning how to go beyond what we know, and an invitation to conversation that speaks to and reached everyone really is. I love Ria's example of the grassroots leader from Leeds having people over for pizza... it reminds me of Juanita's stories about the real business of the United Farm Workers being held at kitchen tables all over the country... :-)
Thanks for starting this thread, Chris.
Dec 6, 2010
Susan Weaver Van Lopik
I really am enjoying this conversation, and these are very important questions for us no matter where we are when we are engaging conversations.
Two short examples of why this line of questioning is important from my work in community transformation with communities in poverty worldwide:
1) my first lesson in choosing the right question: I asked a group of women in El Salvador in the mid 80's to name their dreams for the future, what were their hopes? Lesson: when people are concerned about what they will feed their children today, or IF they will eat today...there is no thinking of "tomorrow" much LESS hope for some undefined future...future? who has time for that. I think that speaks to Amy's reminder of context.
2) In Niger, working with communities (again) to define their future, it took a colleague 4 months to find the RIGHT word in the local language to communicate the concept of community engagement. So, yes, the importance of context AND the nuances of language (I think someone here had a post related to this in a mental health setting).
Then lastly, just a plug for a fascinating is somewhat provocative book: The Tyranny of Participation (I think I have that title right) which also speaks to Chris's concern: just because you have people together doesn't mean that others have been left out, and thus asks the question, what does participation really mean?
What I really appreciate about Chris's concern is just that: his attention and concern that all of us be careful to ask ourselves, who's missing from our tables?
Dec 22, 2010