Central Asia

[william becker]

Eiwor

Gosh, it's always great to find someone who speaks my mind.....so to speak.

Peter Block has been saying for 20 years (along with his colleagues Marvin
Weisbord and Tony Petrella) that the members in the organization already
have the answers.

As facilitators of getting the individual and group "answers" linked
together so that action by open consensus can take place is our job.....we
are, in effect, mediums through which  such connectedness takes place.

Being new to the OS List, my first impression is that there is a lot of
celebration around the spirit or Spirit of OS.  I find the same thing in the
Future Search work.  I find I have this feeling myself, to me it is a windo
into the  presence of our potential.

However, I try to not get myself to caught up like a puppy rolling around in
fall leaves in that feeling.  As the  implementation is the taste of the
pudding.  Most often, despite great events (OS and Future Search, et al) the
process looses credibility when actions are not take by leadership.
Therefore, I make every effort to acknowledge the Spirit, yet serve as a
strong enabler of implementation.  I try to not let the leaders fall back
into what Edgar Schein calls cultural tacit agreements.  It ain't easy.

Thus we turn to one of Peter Block's favorite subjects, Empowerment (re his
book The Empowered Manager, etc.).  Despite all kinds of empowerment
processes from the outside, empowerment, to me is an internal event.  And,
the punishing effects of being empowered, due to the anti culture high risk,
is not a first choice for most of us.

Therefore, and I think I'm closing the circle here back to the starting
point (as usual)  perhaps the results of OS-like processes enables a
collective surfacing of empowerment that is strong enough to overwhelm the
status quo.  Not a mathematician in the least, but I seem to recall
something about physics and the results of equal and unequal force meeting.

Not unlike the disciples of any belief, there are strength in  numbers, and
seldom due the deciples, as with the artist, live long enough to see their
masterpices appreciated.

Anyway, I like your insightful comment.


Message -----
From: "Eiwor Backelund" <eiwor.backelund at CENTERPARTIET.SE>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2001 3:44 PM
Subject: Re: Central Asia


> Hallo Kenoli,
> I have not been working with such large international groupings as you do
> but there is one thing in your question that reminds me of the first steps
> in OS facilitation, to believe in the people. When you ask them to look
> around and see that all people have the competence and knowledge needed,
> why don´t do that now as well. Tell them the truth, what they can expect
> from the sponsors and ask them how they can solve the problems, how they
> think they can go on without any help from outside. I think they have the
> answers. And if they, like many people in many countries are used to being
> turned down and left after what has been a nice conference but with no
> intention from the leaders to go further with it, then they must have the
> truth so they can move on by their own power.
> If this is really important to them then nothing can stop them from going
> on with what they need to do.
> Eiwor  Backelund
>
> Project Manager
> the Swedish National Federation of Study Associations
>
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