Fw: OST application for conflict resolution

[owen]

>From: Minhhanh at aol.com <Minhhanh at aol.com>
>Subject: OST application for conflict resolution

>>I recently participated in a meeting of a religious organization to develop a
>>national mentoring program.  For this purpose, it was successful.  I just
>>finish reading the User's Guide for OST.  I'm just wondering how it would
>work for conflict resolution in a Christian church congregation setting.    Do
>you have any material or case study on this application?  Thank you.
>>
>>Minh-Hanh Nguyen
********************************************
I have found little if any difference between churches and other organizations,
except possibly that churches are sure they are different, which is an opinion
that they share with all other organizations -- and so we are back where we
started. But on the subject of conflict, and its resolution -- I have never
found any organization (church or whatever) that could not handle conflict in
Open Space and benefit from the experience. The whole  situation can become
quite interesting, not to say nervous making -- especially for the facilitator
and the sponsoring group... but all the folks (participants) do very well, and
learn an incredible amount. More importantly, it appears that all the energy
(Spirit) previously locked up in the conflict is now free to go to work in new,
and useful ways. but this new situation creates its own problems. Personally I
think the problems are good ones to have, but not everybody would agree.

Essentially, Spirit gets loose and starts working in new ways -- which means
almost inevitably that old structures, ways of doing things, institutional
hierarchies, bureaucracies, those who thought they were in charge -- are all in
trouble. As a consequence I always find it useful to have a pointed
conversation with folks before we start to the effect that if their intent and
desire is to rid the institution of conflict AND return everything the nice
orderly way it used to be --- Please, please, don't use Open Space.   The
conflict can be exorcized -- but the old way of doing things will go as well.

Conflict for me is not a bad thing -- indeed it is a positive sign that
something is still alive, somebody still cares, passion is present. The problem
is that different people's passions collide and conflict with each other, or
with the structure everybody is operating in -- or all of the above. In short
something has to give, and in the interim people spend more time and energy
fighting each other and the "system" than doing what they really want to do.

Helping the people is no great thing. Just give them some more space (Open
Space) and they will typically find a useful way to go. At least they always
have in my experience. The poor system is a different thing. Faced with
passion/feeling/caring on the loose -- lots of old structure/systems will just
be blown away. So if the concern is to preserve the institution as it has
always been the use of Open Space is absolutely contra-indicated. And since
many churches seem more concerned with the preservation of institutional forms
(particularly old ones) than just about anything else -- Open Space can
definitely be problematical.

Churches, of course are not alone when it comes to a certain rigor mortis in
their organizational life. Indeed, they may be better than most if only because
the words Spirit, passion, renewal, resurrection -- to name a few -- are still
part of the organizational vocabulary even if the full implications of these
words are not fully attended to.

Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854   USA
301-469-9269 (phone)
301-983-9314 (fax)
email owen at tmn.com
Website http://www.tmn.com/~owen
Open Space Institute website
http://www.tmn.com/openspace
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