| The personal
development of the facilitator plays a big role in the
application of the Worldwork paradigm. What does it
mean to be developed, and how does a developed person
compare to an undeveloped person? No one can answer
that question, in my view. For a social activist, personal
development has to do with a sense of awareness about
rank and privilege, and compassion for those on the
margin. For someone who is leading a large mainstream
organization, personal development might be associated
with the ability to make hard decisions that help an
organization to stay competitive and survive. What is
personal development for one is regression for another.
I have been privileged to participate
in and co-facilitate a gathering of Aboriginal Communities
in Australia. I remember during one of these occasions
some years ago, we were getting ready to start a gathering
which was meant to last for about three to four days.
I and two Australian friends were the only white folks
in the group. It took place in Brisbane, and we were
expecting Aboriginals who lived within the Brisbane
aboriginal urban community, as well as people who lived
up North in more rural areas, or more tribal situations.
Some of the men that were elders in their respective
communities agreed that they should make an opening
ceremony before we began the meeting, which included
the burning of some eucalyptus leaves. A group consisting
of urban and tribal Aboriginals set out to look for
a suitable tree, and took me along for the ride. While
we were driving through Musgrave Park, a green area
in Brisbane where the Aboriginal center was located,
and where we held the meetings, we saw a group of Aboriginal
men sitting on the park ground, drinking beer. “You
see this”, said one of the elders of the Brisbane
community to me, “this is what oppression has
done to us. There they sit, our brothers, drinking beer
at 9 in the morning. It’s a serious problem. They
need help.” Continuing with a general discussion
about oppression, we went on with our search.
We did find the tree, cut some branches,
and drove back. As we got out of the car, an elder from
one of the tribal communities up North who had remained
mostly quiet throughout the discussion, turned to me
and said confidentially, obviously not wanting to openly
disrespect his urban peer: “Don’t take this
statement at face value. I thought these guys in the
park where fine. Although they drank beer, they were
sitting on the earth, and were therefore connected to
the biggest power source in life – they are well
taken care of. Our friend here, however, sits on a chair
all day. Now that is a real problem, that far exceeds
the consumption of alcohol. It’s him and his attitudes
that need help.”
This incident stayed with me for a long time. Although
I had had many close contacts and friendships with Australian
Aboriginals since my first visit in Australia nearly
20 years ago, this incident drove me to make more connections,
and to travel up North to find out more about the attitude
that was behind this words. For us Europeans, European
Americans, and European Australians, personal development
is frequently associated with a Christian principle
of purity, being a “good” person. David,
the Aboriginal tribal man who made that significant
statement to me, taught me that personal development
can be measured by our connection to nature and the
earth, a non-judgmental source of nourishment and support.
I have learned a lot from this viewpoint, including
many valuable lessons for a more harmonious life-work
balance. I learned over the years the lesson within
that principle: if a sense of joy is not present in
what we do, it’s not worth doing it. Interestingly
enough, that attitude itself works as a prevention against
addictions. Although they are on opposite poles in terms
of their moral teachings, both models of personal development
are united in their wish for more happiness for the
individual. Both views, the one that sees personal development
as an effort to overcome addictions in the face of racial
oppression, and the one that sees development as the
conscious or unconscious attempt to hold onto traditional
values, make sense from this larger perspective. During
that meeting, this theme kept us busy as a community
for the four days that we worked together. Personal
development and the various conflicts around it are
expressions of the overall tendencies that exist in
groups, and the unique emerging dialogues about what
it means to lead a happy life. From this viewpoint,
how can we frame personal development for the Worldworker?
I like to think that one of the important aspects is
the very fact that we have a concept of personal development,
and are able to understand our own problems and learnings
within a framework that allows us to see ourselves as
emerging spirits or developing people. When we work
with groups and organizations, the collective invariably
becomes our teacher. Our best moral intentions clash
with the best moral intentions of another group. What
we consider development, another group considers a standstill.
Within this context, personal development means opening
up to this diversity, and understanding all of our problems
with other people or subgroups as areas in which we
need to grow and learn about others. How we do this
is up to each one of us. We each have our own way of
learning and growing, and need to be respected and supported
in that way. Please look under exercises to see some
examples of how we can use our own problems as leaders,
participants and facilitators of organizations to grow
as individuals.
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