Self-Organization is What Consciousness (Spirit) Does

[Harrison Owen]

At 07:57 AM 1/2/2002 -0900, Julie wrote:
  I can see how in these kinds of situations, opening up the space and
invoking the law of two feet could lead to dramatic and positive change
within an organization.  I can also see how upper management might resist
large-scale opening space and change, and might desire and ask for
mediation as a way to resolve the most obvious and pressing conflicts
within the organization without requiring THEM to significantly engage or
change.

Doubtless there are innumerable situations such as you describe,
particularly ones where upper management refuses engagement or change. One
side of all of us says -- well if we can't do everything, let's do what we
can. And above everything else let's try and help the people caught in the
middle. I know the syndrome, but I question it's wisdom. Organizations with
such short sighted management hopefully will not survive too long, and in
any event I am not sure that I want to be party to their sustenance. My
reasons are two.  First life is very short and sweet, and given the fact
that there are endless opportunities to help folks who really do want to
get on with the business of meaningful life, why should we waste it helping
those who refuse to help themselves? Secondly, and this becomes an ethical
consideration for me, let's suppose that we are wildly successful -- the
conflict has been mediated AND the folks at the top never got their hands
dirty, nor did they have take responsibility for a miserable situation they
created. Who wins? Harsh, I suppose, but we only have so much life to give
-- and how we choose to give it makes a difference, I think.

>I think mediation also has a place in situations that OS doesn t approach
>(or hasn t yet approached, to my knowledge).  I m thinking of situations
>where people perceive it is not in their best interest to invoke the law
>of two feet.

Maybe I just hit the hot-spots, but I don't think my experience is unique.
Case in point was a nasty situation in Latin America. Two weeks before I
arrived to open some space the Plant Manager and The Shop Steward (Labor)
were at machete points -- literally. We closed the whole plant and 500
people sat in a circle. They all spoke Spanish. I don't. I did what I could
-- Hold Space, and they talked -- about everything. 18 hours later, I found
the Plant manager and The Shop Steward embraced and in tears. Those who had
trouble with their feet learned to use them -- or at the very least they
learned that they had a choice, and were responsible either way. And when
the whole thing was done, everybody knew that THEY had done it. Even if I
had been able to speak Spanish, the likelihood that I could have been
present at every instance of need was small -- and more to the point, I
wasn't needed. I guess part of the problem here is that there seems to be a
general presumption that just because you as the facilitator are not saying
something, or doing something (overt) you have no impact or contribution.
There are in fact subtle realms to be explored and worked with, and maybe
another strand of our conversation might take a look at all of this?

>  Sometimes the conflict really does need to be dealt with openly and
> directly between the people who are in it.  In those situations,
> mediation can be a very simple, elegant, and powerful process.  In many
> ways, like OS.  Also a little different.  I think people who are in
> intense conflict who come to mediation experience considerable stress and
> anxiety about the conflict and the mediation.  From what I know so far,
> they need more support than the typical OS participant.  As a result,
> most mediators openly engage at a deeper level with participants than
> does an OS facilitator (as I understand it).  Mediators don t engage in
> an effort to control or to solve the problem, but to provide enough
> understanding and emotional safety that each person can tolerate the
> stress of sustained interaction with the person they are in conflict with.

There is no question that good mediators can and do achieve marvelous
results. But as I observe such folks at work, it seems to me that the less
they do, the more they achieve, and under optimal circumstances, they
apparently do nothing at all. In my experience, you can tell the "newbies"
by their attention to the detail of the process, making sure that the right
words are said, and the appropriate steps taken. Watch an old pro and you
never see their hands move or their lips. So how about this as an idea --
All Open Space is Mediation, and all Mediation is Open Space?


>Sometimes I think of mediation as creating circles of two: me and A, and
>then me and B, and then back again, talking about what has happened, how
>it felt, and how it feels.  As those circles become comfortable and A and
>B relax within their individual circles with me, learning to trust that
>they will be listened to and understood, they gradually reach out to each
>other.  For a time, they hang onto their relationship with me as support,
>and we create a circle of three.  As they become more comfortable, they
>leave me behind, and create their own circle of two.  (This is my favorite
>part.  I think of myself as blending into the wallpaper of the room&..
>present but unnoticed.)   Often something difficult will be said, fear
>will rise, and one or both will reach back to me for support, and we re
>back to a circle of three.  I will help summarize or clarify or validate,
>working toward deeper understanding, the fear will diminish, and they go
>back to their circle of two.  Eventually, if they choose to, they will
>reach a new understanding, and perhaps a formal or informal agreement.

Julie -- I think there is an enormous amount that we can all learn from
each other. And for sure I am not advocating the elimination of Mediation
as a thing to do. There is definitely a time and a place for the intense,
face-to-face, supportive environment that a good mediator provides. I guess
what concerns me is that I see a lot of folks in organizational life who
assume that every time conflict shows its ugly head a call goes out for the
mediators. At worst this creates mountains of learned helplessness and
needless co-dependency. I would say essentially the same thing about those
involved in Community Building and Stress Reduction. We have learned a
great deal from both groups -- but from where I sit the real issue is to
find effective ways in which to enhance the self-healing process in our
communities (whether that be businesses or whatever) -- with the absolute
minimum of intervention. I think what we have learned from 15 years of Open
Space is how much can be accomplished with less. And I don't think we are
at the end of that learning. My mantra over the years has been -- Think of
one more thing NOT to do. You keep striping away and striping away. Perhaps
there is an irreducible minimum, but I haven't seen it yet. All of which I
take to be extraordinarily good news, if only for reasons of economics.
Given the levels and complexity of the stress and conflict in our world, we
simply do not have enough stress reducers, community builders and mediators
to go around, and it is doubtful that we could pay for them all, even if we
did have the numbers. I consider Open Space not so much a tool as an
on-going natural experiment in enabling the process of self-healing, which
is but one of the many gifts of self-organization -- otherwise known as
Spirit at Work.

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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