Prof. Ilya Prigogine

[Joelle Lyons Everett]

Artur--

Thanks, Artur, for raising this interesting question.  I have read some of
Prigogine's work, and heard him lecture about 15 years ago (he was clear and
very interesting to listen to--my ten-year-old son was able to grasp the
concepts).  But I don't believe I've read the book you mentioned and, like
Harrison, would find it hard to summarize.

If I look at the biological system I'm closest to, my body, I observe that it
tries to maintain a state of equilibrium.  If I reduce my food intake, in an
effort to lose a pound or two, my appetite soars (and researchers say my
metabolism slows down).  So it takes more than a little effort to disrupt the
equilibrium, it takes consciousness and maybe some added exercise--more
energy into the system.

In groups or organizations, Kurt Lewin postulated a "force field" which
maintained the status quo, and suggested that for change to happen, the
forces needed to be altered.  He observed that most of our efforts for change
involved adding energy in the direction we wished the group to move, which
usually resulted in mobilizing forces of resistance.  He counseled instead
reducing or removing resisting forces.  This may be part of what we do in
Open Space--instead of pushing an agenda, we attend to removing barriers to
self-organization.

Thanks, Harrison for your observations about the true state of organizations
and thanks, Christoph for your clarifications.  I am not well-enough versed
in the hard sciences to understand all the implications and limitations of
dissipative structures and chaos theory, but I find them rich metaphors for
helping me understand what I see.  And, like Artur, I do best by reading the
scientific concepts themselves rather than interpretations in other fields.

Joelle

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