"empowerment" is a disempowering concept

[Michael M Pannwitz]

Dear Koos,
if there is such a thing as empowerment in open space its me getting
empowered by that crowd I am accompanying through time and space.
At least thats the only explanation I have for getting so energized
while facilitating open space.
Love you coming on strong
michael

On Sun, 12 May 2002 22:28:09 +0200, Koos de Heer wrote:

>At 11:30 12-5-2002 -0800, Kenoli Oleari wrote:
>
>>>Why are givens particularly important in processes like open space?
>>
>>Because it is about empowerment.  This is a sensitive business.
>>People generally are disempowered by institutions.  When this is a
>>daily recurrence, built in assumptions hold and expectations are low.
>>When we invited people into a paradigm shift, it is important to be
>>true to the new foundation we are offering.  if there are to be
>>limitations place on this foundation, this is critical.  This is
>>especially true if the assumptions in the system are changed.  If the
>>new assumptions are not made clear, there will be a tendency to act
>>on old assumptions.
>
>Yes, and this is exactly why I have a problem with the concept of
>empowerment when used in relation to Open Space. I will try to explain why.
>
>There are two things that are important about the concept of empowerment.
>1. "Empowerment" is a movement from a state of non-power to a state of
>power, or if you prefer from a state of little power to a state of more power.
>2. "To empower" is a transitive verb, meaning it is something one person or
>entity does to another person or entity. "To hear" is a transitive verb (as
>in: I hear you) and "to sleep" is intransitive (as in I sleep; it is not
>possible to say I sleep you).
>
>So what I am saying is that the concept of empowerment has to do with one
>person or entity giving power to another person or entity. As in: the
>management of this company empowers the employees. This sounds nice, but it
>is awful. And it is not what we do when we Open Space for these people. At
>least not in my system. Giving power assumes that there is something to be
>given (which means it can also be withheld) and there is an entity that has
>the ability to do the giving (or the withholding). I question these
>assumptions.
>
>What we do when we Open Space is invite people into a paradigm shift. This
>paradigm shift also concerns power. Open Space means the end of power and
>control as we knew it. Open Space invites people to experience the power
>they already have. There is no such thing as control. There are just people
>who think they are in control and others who accept that thinking. This
>deadly embrace of wrong thinking (which, by the way, can be very
>comfortable) is what we invite people to throw out the window.
>
>Talking of empowerment is staying in the old power paradigm. If we want to
>honor the paradigm shift we are making, we do not talk about empowerment.
>We do not give the power to the people, because we know it is already there.
>
>OK, OK, I am sorry if I come on too strong. I would love any feedback on
>this, honestly :-)
>
>Best wishes,
>Koos




Michael M Pannwitz
boscop
Draisweg 1
12209 Berlin, Germany
FON: +49 - 30-772 8000   FAX: +49 - 30-773 92 464
www.michaelMpannwitz.de

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