Visit the new website

[Michelle Cooper]

Congratulations Peg, Koos, Barry and Michael.  You have done a fantastic job on the website.  I have not read through everything that is on line, but stopped in at all the pages.  It is easy to navigate in.

I share Birgitt's query that there is no mention of spirit emerging in the definition of open space technology on the site.  Without the inclusion of the notion of spirit, the definition is incomplete for me.  While the structure of the meeting supports self-organization, the essence to me is the emergence of spirit.  I just referred someone to come to Harrison's training in November who has completed her PhD work on the soul of organizations. She is seeking facilitation processes that are congruent with her work.  I told her without reservation that Open Space was what she was looking for.  

The notion of soul work has been getting stronger for me the more I work with open space. My thoughts are not entirely coherent yet.  My musings were punctuated by a recent encounter.  On the way home from OT, Virginia, Jacqui and I had amazing conversations with a First Nations artist and his brothers-in-law at the Vancouver Airport.  While there were many rich discussions, one of the comments that hit home for me was that "the soul is the container through which spirit can emerge".  Having just spent time in open space, it reinforced for me that much of what we are doing is soul work with organizations. 

I need to think more on the notion of self-organizing systems and how I would define them before I can contribute significantly.  What my experience tells me is that people at this point in evolution do need a framework around which to organize.  It starts with purpose, leadership and vision and is bounded by the  givens or rules within which people organize.  Open space gives people the appropriate structure and minimal rules that enable them to achieve amazing things with minimal intervention by others.  Leadership is present in everyone in the meeting, but leadership gets the ball rolling too.  Is this a