Self-Organization???? OS just one of 18?

Toni Petrinovich sacred at anacortes.net
Wed Dec 12 12:05:54 PST 2001


And wishing to throw my two cents in:  And when we realize that it may not be about understanding how it all works as much as allowing it to be what works and to be what we are/are doing, we may find that the Void supports All That Is and, also, all that is - that is what we find in Open Space - an opening to the time/space continuum that allows for all.

Toni Petrinovich
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Harrison Owen 
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU 
  Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2001 8:51 AM
  Subject: Re: Self-Organization???? OS just one of 18?


  At 11:56 PM 12/11/2001 +0100, Michael Molenaar - Tilburg Holland wrote:

    I would like to make a point about my opinion of the essence of Open Space:
    Some might think it's self organization that invokes some human processes
    like motivation and community. I think that's not really true, it's the
    experience of Spirit.

          Why does this have to be an either/or -- why not both/and? The whole point about Open Space as Self-Organization for me is that we (humanoids) like (apparently) all the rest of the cosmos are rooted in fundamental processes which (to some extent) determine our behaviors and range of responses. That is not all there is -- but is a start. Our growing understanding of the phenomenon of self-organization allows for a rational explanation of what otherwise might be inexplicable -- Why does open Space work??? Is this true -- in some absolute and abstract fashion? Who knows, but it seems to work (logically) and more importantly for those who use Open Space, it provides a deeper awareness of the realm we are operating in, and simultaneously explains some seemingly anomalous  happenings -- such as -- the more we seek to control what goes on, the less successful we are. 
          But not to stop here. For a deeper understanding of Open Space and our experience in Open Space, I find it useful to consider the realm of Spirit. The phenomenon of self-organization is only a partial explanation. Before  all that is Spirit, or what classically would be called Consciousness.  To deeply understand Open Space and our experience therein -- we in fact have to go deeper. Actually (to let the cat out of the bag) I started with Spirit and only later, and quite by accident, ran into Open Space. My first book, which was written in 1982-3, and published in 1987 -- was all about Spirit. The words "Open Space" do appear, but have nothing to do with what we now call Open Space Technology. The reference is to what the Buddhists might call The Abyss, or The Void. How I got from Open Space as "void" to an approach to meetings, may seem a little strained, but my reason was that much of what I experienced in The Void I also found whenever space was opened. 
          All of which poses an interesting question -- Does everybody have to go into The Void in order to experience/understand Open Space? I guess the answer is Yes and No -- it is all about levels. It is quite possible to just "do" Open Space. No explanation needed or wanted. Or you could dig a little deeper into the question -- Why the Hell does the damn stuff work -- when everything (well almost) in our training and experience says that it couldn't and shouldn't? And I think some sort of an answer starts to emerge when we open up the discussion to include Self-Organizing systems.  But is that all there is? to which I must answer, No we are just getting started -- and it is off to The Void. Is there anything else? Probably. It might just be pure nothingness... Now try that for a sales pitch in the The Corporate Board Room!


    There are two sides of Open Space, as I see it:
    The first side is the easy understandable and funny part, which makes it so
    attractive and, YES!, invites almost everyone to go for it. In this it is
    not really special and Open Space has to compete with the other 17 methods
    of the Change Handbook. But if you started to talk about the Shamanistic
    principles on which Open Space is based there would be a problem. So of
    course you usually don't start with this part of the story (at least I don't
    when I talk to someone who might be interested).
    On the second side is the essence (like Birgitt calls this) in which Open
    Space can have a very deep effect on how people work together: they make
    their Action Planning to a success, because they have discovered that they
    are connected on a deeper level in the organization and that the essence is
    not about hierarchy, but about Spirit and that it is really easy to open
    this special communication canal to do so.
    Is it that easy?? Yes and no.
    No if you do the first side Open Space, but the excitement of the experience
    will fade out...

  Absolutely! Which is why it has always seemed to me that anybody with a good head and a good heart can"do" Open Space, but it probably takes a life time to get to the bottom of things. 


    Now I'm stopping, because this is getting to far for the moment, I'm writing
    an article on comparing Open Space and Organization Constellation but it's
    not ready yet.

  I will look forward to seeing it.



  Harrison



  Harrison Owen
  7808 River Falls Drive
  Potomac, MD 20854 USA
  phone 301-469-9269
  Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com 
  Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
  Personal website www.mindspring.com/~owenhh

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