Conversation 3: Dissent

‘Dissent’ conversations are designed to surface all the doubts and reservations we have about Fibreshed Scotland. Dissent can be seen as the flip side of possibility and there’s a real risk that if we don’t feel able to share our doubts, we may finish up just paying lip service to whatever ‘those in charge’ think Fibreshed Scotland could or should be, or quietly drop out altogether. The essence of this approach is that all dissent is valued as a gift to the group, it doesn’t detract.

I have to confess one of my doubts this week was how useful these conversations are going to be, and whether people would show up. It’s been obvious in previous weeks that some of us are very action oriented and wanting to get on with ‘doing things’.

I need not have worried - we had deep and rich conversations, fully reinforcing the idea that ‘whoever turns up are the right people’ and that counting numbers is only a very limited measure of value.

Things I heard this week included:

• Having 99% doubt but hanging in there with a seed of hope
• Relief that we are making space for doubt and dissent; having been hurt in the past where there was no space for raising concerns; organisations without such a space generate self-distrust; appreciation of the value of reflection before moving forwards - as opposed to rushing enthusiastically forward and only seeing the challenges later
• Will I be valued in this group? Is there a space for me here? How do we value each other? Can I make a contribution here?
• What kind of organisation are we? Are we an organisation at all? A charity? A movement? How activist are we? Some organisations have a vision that is very bottom-up oriented, but actually behave in quite a hierarchical way
• How would decisions be made - especially decisions over resources? How would we hold ourselves to account? Will we have a Code of Practice?
• What resources count? Easy just to think in terms of money, but our time and energy is also a resource.
• We are so diverse - can we actually all come together?
  • Orientation to different fibres and their different processing
  • Mid-large size businesses and small scale artisan and craft work
  • Whole of Scotland as opposed to some of its more localised regions
• Discomfort in starting out not really knowing where we’re heading

I came away from these conversations with renewed confidence about the value of these Conversations. All of us bring value - those who can already press ahead with confidence and immediate answers, and those of us who like the opportunity to reflect and move forward more cautiously.

Next week we move on to talking about the Commitments to Fibreshed Scotland that we feel able to make at the present time. As in previous weeks the conversations are at 7pm on Wednesdays and 1pm on Thursdays and you’re warmly welcome whether or not you’ve participated in previous Conversations or have missed one along the way.

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