Self-organizing systems

Peg Holman pholman at email.msn.com
Thu Sep 2 07:28:30 PDT 1999


<snip>
> BUT what i really want to know is
>what is the NEXT strategic question that the next round of best orgs are
>working on NOW?


I'm heading out of town in 5 minutes, but couldn't resist a thought about
Michael's comments about the next question...

I personally think the question is "How appreciative is your organization?"
I keep thinking about the idea of "appreciative space" -- the natural
blending that I experience between Open Space and Appreciative Inquiry.

Back on Sept. 15....

Peg Holman

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Herman <mherman at GLOBALCHICAGO.NET>
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, September 01, 1999 6:46 PM
Subject: Re: Self-organizing systems


>okay, i'm back... whoa!
>
>should add, too, that i'm back from 10 days with his holiness the dalai
lama...
>so i do got Spirit!
>
>been reading mostly quietly, savoring this whole unfolding, and still have
much
>more to read, but i did want to jump into the lobbying game...
>
>for me, calling what is emerging the open space org seems destined to push
>practitioners, in some cases devotees, of other processes away.  let me
explain
>my alternative...
>
>last february fast company printed a cover story "how digital is your
>company".  they said that every time you change the strategic question, you
>have to rethink the four basics of business:  finance, talent, customers
and
>speed.  they said that THE strategic question once was 'what business are
you
>in?' then 'what's your business model?' and today, TA-DA... 'how digital is
>your org?'  BUT they said that the best companies today were doing the
digital
>question fifteen years ago.
>
>so i go back to my little harrison/ken wilber/angeles arrien-inspired
model.  i
>map the four basics pretty easily onto the four conditions for open space,
the
>fourfold way and wilbers four quadrants -- BUT what i really want to know
is
>what is the NEXT strategic question that the next round of best orgs are
>working on NOW?
>
>'how inviting is your org?' is what i come up with.  what i'm suggesting in
my
>own writings these days is that the successor to the 'learning
organization' is
>the 'inviting organization'  which operates in open space, but doesn't need
the
>name 'open space' any more.  what's more, the coolest thing to me is that
while
>we must DO things at work, but we want to BE inspirited there, too...
>'inviting' is something we can do AND be, as people, managers,
organizations,
>whatever, anytime... and the result looks like open space everytime, with
or
>without the technology part.  i'm now describing my work as a practice in
>invitation and have started to post some things about this in the forums at
>global chicago.
><http://www.globalchicago.net/forums> (in the 'inviting orgs' forum)
>
>so, one vote for 'the inviting organization'...and now back to my reading!
>
>michael
>
>
>
>Birgitt Bolton wrote:
>
>> Harrison,
>> Having just cautioned that people might have a struggle if we mention
Spirit
>> on the website, and I don't disagree with that, I am sure your usual
sense
>> of humour has kicked in here when you say that the new title of your
coming
>> book has shifted from "Organization for a New Millennium:
Self-Organization
>> at
>> Work." to -- "Spirit in Organizations --
>> Opening Space for Inspired Performance." I am still lobbying you to
simply
>> call it the Open Space Organization. This is simpler. Then people who
really
>> are passionate about the current concepts of self organization can get
>> excited when they get to that part, and others who get excited about
Spirit
>> can get excited about that part, and those who know that the two are
really
>> about the same thing can also get fulfilled. You have tackled a hard
subject
>> and done an excellent job, final edit not withstanding. I just think your
>> book is really about the Open Space Organization and none of us really
knows
>> why it works. I think we can say that we observe self organizing within
the
>> context of the Open Space event. I think we can say that there are
moments
>> of self organizing within the Open Space Organization. I think too that
we
>> have seen inspired performance. I am not sure that inspired performance
and
>> the self organizing system are one and the same. Although both and are
>> elements of some bigger unknown mystery. Of life.  How's that for
lobbying
>> :-)?
>>
>> Warmest regards,
>> Birgitt
>>
>
>--
>
>Michael Herman
>...inviting results in evolving organizations
>
>Michael Herman Associates
>300 West North Avenue #1105
>Chicago IL 60610
>312-280-7838 voice
>312-280-7837 fax
>mherman at globalchicago.net
>
>The Global Chicago Network
>http://www.globalchicago.net
>
>Michael Herman Associates
>http://www.globalchicago.net/mha



More information about the OSList mailing list