OS for "bad" purposes

[Chris Corrigan]

Good question.  I think the answer to your question is "yes."

I think that given the process of OST people will make the best
decisions they can and that the best part of their spirits will emerge.

I think too that whether or not Open Space is being used for a "bad"
purpose very much depends on where you stand.  For example, I have used
Open Space with the Canadian Federal Government to figure out how to
implement a treaty negotiation process.  That same treaty process is
despised in a community that used Open Space to figure out how to
implement their Aboriginal title.  Both sides are very much "the bad
guys" to the other.  One is the colonial power, harnessing the spirit of
it's people to assert a racist and colonial agenda on First Nations, and
the other are radicals who operate outside the law and who used Open
Space to brainstorm possibly unlawful  resistance to the colonial
agenda.  Who is the bad guy?

Your gang example seemed extreme to me until I recalled the discomfort i
remember feeling when I heard that Open Space Technology was used by
Boeing.  I was not, and still am not, especially enamoured with Boeing's
role as an arms manufacturer, but did it comdemn the process?  Nope.
The process worked to harness the best of the spirit of the people to do
the things that they needed to do.  Did it make for better weapons?  Is
that even a fair question to ask?

Chris

--
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

http://www.geocities.com/chris_corrigan

108-1035 Pacific Street
Vancouver BC
V6E 4G7

Phone: 604.683.3080
Fax: 604.683.3036
corcom at interchange.ubc.ca

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