MaD
Nils (left of the vertical banner)
Hosting a workshop in a foreign culture not only benefits participants, but also brings much reflection to those who facilitate. MaD is glad to bring over two facilitators all the way from Denmark for “MaD x KaosPilot: Creative Enterprising Workshop” in October. In the message below, Nils ENGVALL uses running as a metaphor to conclude his experience here in Hong Kong. Read it and be moved by his authentic sharing.
It’s like running through a forrest when evening turns to night and the battery in your light is running low this thing with working in a new culture. You don’t know what to expect, what to hope for and fear. What animals you might run in to, and when (if) you run in to them if you should be scared.
Holding a workshop in Hong kong is in many senses just the same as holding a workshop in Scandinavia:
Have fun.
Be over prepared.
Enjoy being under structured.
Challenge the participants.
It’s not enough to hear, you have to listen.
You never know what’s going to happen.
Participants will often play it safe.
Holding a workshop in Hong kong is also in many senses very unlike holding a workshop in Scandinavia:
You must encourage questions, they won’t come naturally.
Most of the participants have been told that they are not creative.
Challenges are always accepted as they are.
The bar is set really, really high.
I’m writing as I’m on the flight back to what I call home. Reflections pop up in my head – what could I’ve done better, should we’ve done more of this, was there anything that offended someone with that, is there a way to go around those?
It has been a challenge, a big one. I am happy that I had a great facilitator from my team by my side, because it would have been hard for me to do by my self.
It is a shock to meet a culture that is so similar but yet so different from ours when being in a leading work-situation. I am used to questions shot at me like gun fire, during the past week I’ve learned that, according to a women I spoke to, asking questions in the Hong kong school system is “punished” by sighs and reprimands since it’s seen as challenging the teacher (that’s apparently bad) and as taking time from the lecture. At several occasions we asked the workshop participants if they understood the assignment we had given them and were met by silence. The first time we assumed that this was a silent yes. We learned later that the assignment was not at all as clear as we had hoped. Many asked each other about what the assignment was, many did what they thought might be right.
We managed to get some few questions about the later assignments, but they were far fetched. I think that if I would do the same workshop again I would reward questions, welcome them and give every question a prize.
Oh, and one more thing. It’s a cliche, but what you focus on grows. Imagine a whole nation that have been told that they are not creative. How easy is it to be creative there?
It is like running in a forrest during night, holding a workshop in a foreign culture. You never know what to expect before your night vision clear out some silhouettes, but it’s a pleasant feeling when you’re stretching afterwards. There is something special when you’re waking up the day after. You’ve used muscles you didn’t know you had. They are sore and aching but they remind you of a nice workout that never will be the same again.
It’s like running in a dark forrest and hearing birds sing about the morning after.
————————————————————————————
Nil’s sharing came when he spent quiet moments and reflected deeply by himself. As Carl Gustav JUNG put it, “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” May we all look inside to awaken our slumbered soul.
|
