are we there yet?

[Audrey Coward]

Welcome back, Artur, I've missed you.
Audrey

----- Original Message -----
From: "Artur Ferreira da Silva" <artsilva at mail.eunet.pt>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 11:18 PM
Subject: Re: are we there yet?


> Hello John (and all the other colleagues that are contributing to these
> marvelous interconnected threads):
>
> Due to professional reasons (that I will explain some day, as they relate
> to opening the space for transformation, but not mainly through OST) I
have
> been out of the list for some months. Not that I have unsubscribed, but
> only rarelly had the time to read one message or two. I am still with too
> much work, but the subject was so compeling... And I have to reconect back
> as I have no excuses for missing the next OSonOS in Europe...
>
> I agree completelly with Jonh and Bernd, and in a good measure with
> Harrison and Chris. Let me begin with this mail from John.
>
>
> At 11:02 16-02-2003 -0500, john engle wrote:
>
> >while i believe that day is years away, if ever, i believe it was an
> >important question. we already observe that with port au prince-based
limye
> >lavi (light of life) foundation, their is no talk of principles or any
> >propts during the quarterly open space meetings. the 8 or 9 people
present
> >just get to the office or wherever the meeting is being held and start
> >posting subjects. the foundation has been using open space for 8 years.
not
> >all staff members have been there for 8 years but it doesn't take more
than
> >one meeting (three consequetive days from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm) to see how
it
> >works and integrate oneself.
> >
> >the power of cultural norms is that they are not spoken. they are
assumed.
>
>
> That's exactly the point. There are a lot of cultural norms (or mental
> models) in (ocidental) society and in our organizations, and whenever a
> meeting is called those norms tend to be used, including the unspoken
> "logic" Bernd referred. The magic of OST, in my opinion, is that, at least
> for the duration of the meeting, it "suspends" the traditional rules and
> replaces them by some soft guidelines, that are often called
> counter-intuitive, in the sense that they counter the "culturallly
accepted
> intuitions" (the cultural norms John referred)
>
> Now, if "less is more", one can ask what is the absolute minimum. I can
> very weel believe that if a community or organization uses OST often and
> for a long time, this will also became a "cultural norm", and after some
> time one can begin the sessions without repeating the principles, etc. [I
> wonder if the "beginning ritual", for a methodology that is based in
> "letting go", is not our last attempt to "be in control" at least for a
> short while and "make our number"... But that is a different question...]
>
> The organization/community that John refered, after 8 years of using OST,
> seams to be able to not use the standard OST opening anymore, and I
believe
> that Open Organizations/Communities of the future will do that quite
> naturally - and not having even the need to spell OST, as OST will then be
> for them "business as usual". And as the OST community is also using it
for
> same years, I wonder if we couldn't give a try to the "minimum
> introduction" in one of the next OSONOS...
>
> And yes this is "anarchism" with the meaning John gave to the word. And it
> is also "self-organization" (Harrison/Kauffman), unschooling (Chris) and
> decolonization (Jonh and Chris). And in the sense clarified by Jonh, me
> too, I am na anarchist ;-)
>
> My small doubts about some of the formulations from Harrison and Chris
will
> need a diferent post, tomorrow, probably.
>
> Best regards to all the familly in my caming back home
>
> Artur
>
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