"empowerment" is a disempowering concept

GraceAnn graceann at worldnet.att.net
Thu May 16 05:13:42 PDT 2002


Thanks,  Koos, for your thoughts................I guess my take on it is
that OS is a process that allows people to empower themselves. Paulo Freire
had the idea in the 60's too......It is a major paridigm
shift!..............Grace T.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Koos de Heer" <koosdhr at auryn.nl>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, May 12, 2002 4:28 PM
Subject: "empowerment" is a disempowering concept


> 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
>
>
> Koos de Heer
> Auryn management advies BV
> Utrecht, the Netherlands
> mailto:koosdhr at auryn.nl
> http://www.auryn.nl/
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ------------------------------
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
> view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu,
> Visit:
>
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu,
Visit:

http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html



More information about the OSList mailing list