Empowerment, Self-Organization an d Open Space

Wed Jun 29 13:49:25 PDT 2005

Harrison - great thoughts on OS and Education -- and definite interest in
empowerment.  As many here know it has been a passion of mine -- and I
really believe and have evidence that the time is here for the system
opening up.  Michael H, Chris C., Julie and I had great fun playing in OST
in a state-wide conference in Alaska, followed by giving a workshop in using
it for teachers, administrators, etc.

I've been having the same fun with Professors at the Siberian Academy for
Public Administration (University age), Ministry of Ed. in Jamaica (public
and University of the West Indies) and other North American groups.

An Educators magazine just published an article about OS in the Classroom --
as I was working with Bachelor of Education students -- if anyone is
interested http://www.nstu.ca/pklot/AvisoSpring05.pdf

And I was asked to present OST to the Canadian Association of Principles.
And in August -- while still in the glow of OSonOS <grin> have been asked to
give a keynote and take the Atlantic Cdn Regional Administrators (Principals
and Vice-Principals) through a full day of OST!!  And a colleague is
pursuing a Ph.D. -- around using collaborative processes -- explicitly
OST -- in education.

Harrison - I love what you wrote about taking a look at where we are.  In
playing at higher consciousness, so often I realized that in watching groups
trying to connect to the system they are in -- to truly explore what
matters -- they were already there.  In watching individuals trying to
figure out connecting to their inner being, in a BFO (blinding flash of the
obvious) I recognized the merger was already there.  When we learn to laugh,
we are laughing within the cosmic humor, we can be loving within love
itself, creative within Spirit's infinite potential, curious within
limitless intelligence unfolding, growing within infinite evolution......
adorable, unfinished, wondering, reverent, irreverent -- awed!'

Thanks, as ever, for stirring the pot, Harrison!

Judi

PS -- EVERYONE -- Halifax is hot and sunny -- the glistening Halifax Harbour
is calling you and waiting for the arrival of OSonOS participants early
August!  We have the most amazing church group of women who are having a
great time creating a "Taste of Nova Scotia" menu for the gathering!  So
register now!  Keep those cards and letters coming in <grin>

__________________________________________________________
Judith Richardson, MA
Pono Consultants International
Consulting and Executive Coaching
Optimizing Performance, Potential and Profitability
Winner -- International Coach of the Year!
www.ponoconsultants.com
www.emergentfeminine.com

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Nova Scotia, Canada
Phone: (902) 434-6695 Facsimile: (902) 435-1085 E-mail: judir at accesswave.ca

If you live your life as gracefully as you know how, as playfully as you
know how, as kindly as you know how, as joyfully as you know how, you are
bound to influence, inspire and uplift others by your example.
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  -----Original Message-----
  From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Harrison
Owen
  Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 5:24 PM
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
  Subject: Empowerment, Self-Organization an d Open Space

  Somehow or anotherI allowed myself to become involved in an electronic
forum on Empowerment. Having followed it for several days I have become
convinced the the organizer already knows what he thinks empowerment might
be and is not terribly interested in alternate visions or versions. But
before I threw in the towel having concluded that it was all pretty much
same old, same old. . . I did post several responses concerning
self-organization and empowerment  -- all of which took me to some
interesting new places, I thought. If anybody here finds it interesting that
would go a long way towards redeeming what otherwise would be wasted effort.
And of course, if there is no interest. . .

  Oh Well :-(

  Harrison

  ****************************************************************

  Bob wrote: "Why not treat them ((Students in schools)) (within some
limits) as equals and as
  responsible adults?  It would be school managed jointly by teachers
  and pupils, in the style of Harrison's "Open Space"."

  There have actually been a number of situations where Open Space has been
used in schools. (If you are unfamiliar with Open Space check
http://www.openspaceworld.com/emergent_order.htm ) And the interesting thing
is that it always seemed to produce useful results. For one thing, so called
behavioral problems virtually disappeared. Learning, even in very specific
areas, appeared to be at an all time high -- and perhaps most remarkable,
most everybody said that it was fun. Imagine that Learning (school) was fun!
I might take a small issue with Bob -- it was not that the children were
treated as "responsible adults" -- but rather that everybody was treated as
responsible (human) beings. I think it would be a mistake, however, to
attribute these "results" to "Harrison's Open Space." After a number of
years' contemplation of the conundrum that something so simple could produce
such results it has become clear to me that it really has nothing to do with
the power of Open Space Technology -- which as my friends know was the
product of two martinis.  The operative power is that which underlies Open
Space, and indeed virtually everything else in the creative cosmos -- the
power of self-organization. This thought has led me to the outrageous
proposition that there is no such thing as a non-self-organizing system,
albeit there are some mildly deluded people who think they did the
organizing.

  With such monstrous (although I think defensible) jumps of logic, I find
myself at a place where I think a truly profitable discussion of Empowerment
might begin. In the first place it is not about designing "Empowerment
Systems." Rather is about fully appreciating (or maybe just more fully
appreciating) the nature of the "system" of which we are all a part. I
suspect that much of the pathology we currently experience in organizations
of all sorts and sizes (families, companies, countries) derives from the
"fact" that we spend a great deal of time doing what doesn't need to be done
(organizing/designing/controlling), while neglecting the essential task,
which I might call the Care and Feeding of a Self-Organizing system. And
instead of attempting the creation of new systems, we could take a good hard
look at what we already are. From this might come an ability to "leverage"
the power of self-organization, as opposed to attempting to eliminate it --
as in Taking Charge (control).

  Open Space has become for me a marvelous natural experiment which to date
has been "run" perhaps 60,000 times in 108 countries that we know about. In
short the Beta Tests are in -- and the results have been remarkably
consistent across countries, cultures, and continents. One of these results
has been a virtually universal experience and expression of personal
empowerment -- even (or perhaps most particularly) amongst populations that
one might considered radically disempowered. Could be food for thought.

  **************************************************************************
********

  Dee Hock, whom I know and respect, did a wonderful thing with Visa
International -- and his experience there became the basis of his book and
further work with the chaordic organization. Interestingly, however when he
and others set out to replicate the Chaordic Organization is other
situations, their success rate has been just about zero. The key, I think,
is that they attempted the "creation" of the Chaordic Organization as if it
were just another organization -- they started with Mission, Goals etc.
Miles said, "Leadership and or some sort of facilitation is needed if "self"
organizing is to work." I think that is partially right. The fact of the
matter is that self-organizing systems (by definition) work, or don't work,
all by themselves. No help needed. However WE may need some help (leadership
and facilitation) to work effectively with a self organizing system. In the
Open Space Experiment, Leadership is required to set, or better, to intuit
the direction (purpose of the Open Space) -- and a facilitator can be
helpful with the preparations and to get things started.  But once under
way, the people (participants) do it all by theselves -- no help needed.

  I think this may be significant. Understanding the essential preconditions
for self organization is very useful. Perhaps we could also call these
conditions "The Essential Preconditions of Empowerment?" But once started,
the level of overt intervention drops to basically zero. It would seem that
the critical mechanisms are so fundamental to our existence that they do not
need to be explained (we already "know" at a very deep level), nor to they
have to be tampered with (no management committee). But they (the
mechanisms) do have to have sufficient space/time in which to function. We
have found that the ongoing role of the Facilitator in Open Space is all
about "Holding Space" which is much more about Being than Doing. And when
things get a little bumpy (lots of chaos, confusion and conflict) the
appropriate response is actually to open more space. To an outsider this
often appears to be counter-intuitive at best and probably irresponsible,
immoral, and wrong. After all, we have all been trained that our "job" is to
fix things up.

  Harrison

  Harrison Owen
  7808 River Falls Dr.
  Potomac, MD  20854
  USA
  301-365-2093
  207-763-3261 (summer)
  website www.openspaceworld.com

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