Pondering Open Space and Spiral Dynamics

Ethelyn & Harrison Owen owenhh at mindspring.com
Thu Aug 29 05:38:06 PDT 2002


At 09:13 PM 8/28/2002 -0400, Meg Salter wrote:
>Hello all
>Yes, I too am a Wilber fan, quite familiar with Spiral dynamics and have
>done a fair bit of OST facilitation.
>OST works in all 4 quadrants in that it gives a minimal structure for group
>process (lower right) that affects how groups interact and inter-think
>(lower left - the "group mind"), individual behaviours (upper right) and
>individual consciousness (upper left). Whew!  While different individuals in
>a group will be at different places, there will be a center of gravity to
>whatever group is using OST.  OST is attractive to greens, because of it's
>high group inter-activity and "level playing field" message, but I have also
>used it with groups who are largely orange or even blue. My sense, is that
>OST can serve as a gateway for movement "up the Spiral" by stimulating
>growth and expansion in both individual and collective consciousness. So for
>example, a government hide-bound beauracracy may become more entrepeneurial
>and accountable - orange. Or a $- result only  orange corporation may soften
>and expand the group of stakeholders with whom they feel accountable
>(green).
>
>And this, I feel, is because (and I'm only building off Harrison here) is
>because OST operates at that self-organizing, creative edge of chaos place,
>where transformational growth can occur. This growth can occur when a
>critical mass of individuals shift there own awareness, and this is often
>made easier in a group context. And the centre of consciousness moves to the
>only place it can - next level on the spiral.

As many of you know, I feel a great debt of gratitude to Ken Wilber, and I
have known Don Beck for some years. I find Wilber's work to be a marvel of
conceptual genius, although probably more complex than is needed for my
work in human systems and particularly in Open Space. In short it is great
for understanding, but rather overwhelming in practice, but that is
doubtless the finding of a pragmatic character -- namely me. As for Spiral
Dynamics, I personally find that it falls short at both ends. It lacks the
glorious conceptual and academic perceptions of Wilber and also is too
complex to be useful. In my own work, I have found The Original Version of
both -- which usually travels under the name of The Great Chain of Being --
to be good enough for road work, as in everyday work on the road of life.
If you also have Ken Wilber in your background (mind) simple applications
have an incredible depth. For anybody interested in at least my take on the
situation, you might take a look at my last book, The Power of Spirit.

A key point that Beck (SD) does make, and which Wilber acknowledges is what
I have called, Conflicts in Consciousness. Whether you are using the model
of Wilber, Beck, or my own simplified version (old traditional version) I
am very clear that a major stumbling block in the affairs of human beings
is conflict that arises between groups and individuals separated by one or
more levels of consciousness. They simply exist in different worlds, and
therefore see the same thing in radically different ways -- which almost
inevitably leads to argument, conflict and worse. All of which is
definitely detrimental to the tranquility of our world.

Where I would fault both Wilber and Beck is when you come to action -- what
do you DO about this conflict. Their resolution as I understand it looks a
lot like massive amounts of time on the couch or in the ashram. Or it
becomes some sort of rational program to knit the pieces together. Frankly,
I don't think we have the time or the couches/ashrams to get the job done.
Further, I find the level of complexity (in real life) so overwhelming that
it is impossible even to think it. And just when you seem to have a handle
on it all, the world changes again, and you are back to square one. It is
precisely at this point that I think the power of self-organization becomes
absolutely critical -- for self-organizing systems have chaos, complexity
and conflict for lunch and cry for more. That is what they do on an
everyday basis. And to the extent that Open Space is the conscious
application of the Powers of self- organization (which I think it is) OS
can be (is) a very central tool for the resolution of these conflicts -- or
put in positive terms -- making Peace.

Peacemaking has become (or maybe it always was) the central concern of my
life. Since 911 (now almost a year to the day) I have found myself on a
journey internally and through such places as Serbia and The Middle East --
and it is all about peace. When something like this happens to me, I write
-- mostly for therapy. And I have been doing a lot of that. Those jottings
have now taken form in a book (I think), which is essentially done. My plan
is to ask everybody (who cares) to assist me in deciding is it really a
book, and if so, how to make it better. My Title is The Practice of Peace.
So when I get myself together (soon) I will let you know.

Harrison




>Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854 USA
phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.mindspring.com\~owenhh

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