Multiple Facilitator Roles in Open Space

Wed May 4 06:52:57 PDT 2005

Shawn Wrote: I'm not too sure that all self-organising systems have
beginnings, middles and ends because what you see depends, in part, on your
observation point and scale of observation. When dealing with say, trust,
which might be conceptualised as a self-organising emergent property of
people interacting, it is difficult to pinpoint the start and end points.  

Regarding health and unhealthy self-organisation perhaps an indication of
health of the system is the length of time order is sustained. I remember
Charles Handy saying that the basic objective of an organisation is to
exists because while it exists it can do things individuals cannot.

No problem - one can certainly understand individuals and organizations as
pre-existing (potentially) and lasting through all eternity - as memories,
electronic wave forms, or whatever. But at a practical level it would be
fair to say that I was not around in 1934. On a miraculous day, December 2,
1935, Harrison burst on the scene. I began. Since then I have been causing
no small amount of trouble (in the middle of my life). And sometime,
probably not too far in the future, that Troubler will cease. I die, end,
take the big trip. Perhaps I will linger on as a memory. Maybe some idle
thought I had will contribute to some future event. But as an active
participant on this level of existence, I ain't.  I don't really see any
essential difference between me and organizations in general. We all come,
hang about for a bit, and go. To be sure, some folks are hopeful that
"their" organization (nation, Church, business) will somehow beat the odds,
but to date I have not seen much evidence to support that hope. During the
almost 70 years that I have been privileged to be present here on Planet
Earth I have witnessed more than a few "eternal institutions" pass on by.
Eastern Airlines, Pan American, The British Empire, The Third Reich (which
was supposed to be good for 1000 years) - to name a few. From where I sit,
Beginning, Middle, and End pretty well sums it up.

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Drive

Potomac, Maryland   20845

Phone 301-365-2093

Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>

Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org

Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Shawn
Callahan
Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 5:03 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Multiple Facilitator Roles in Open Space

Hi Harrison, I'm new to the list and have been enjoying the posts. By way of
introduction I live in Melbourne and work as a consultant who helps
organisations grapple with intractable issues. My two main tools are
narrative and complexity. You can probably see why I'm very interested in
open space. This interest was amplified after meeting Brian Bainbridge a
couple of weeks ago and bumping into Chris Corrigan through blog links.

I'm not too sure that all self-organising systems have beginnings, middles
and ends because what you see depends, in part, on your observation point
and scale of observation. When dealing with say, trust, which might be
conceptualised as a self-organising emergent property of people interacting,
it is difficult to pinpoint the start and end points.  

Regarding health and unhealthy self-organisation perhaps an indication of
health of the system is the length of time order is sustained. I remember
Charles Handy saying that the basic objective of an organisation is to
exists because while it exists it can do things individuals cannot.

Regards

Shawn Callahan

  _____  

From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Harrison
Owen
Sent: Wednesday, 4 May 2005 1:22 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: FW: Multiple Facilitator Roles in Open Space

Michael: clue me in on what a "healthy self-organizing system" is.
Seems that there might be "unhealthy self-organizing systems"?
Got examples?

I think - all self-organizing systems, as also all organisms -- have
beginnings, middles, and ends. When it is over, its is over, and quite often
at the end things become a little less than healthy.

Harrison 

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Drive

Potomac, Maryland   20845

Phone 301-365-2093

Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/>

Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org

Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU 

To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Pannwitz,
Michael M
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2005 9:33 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Multiple Facilitator Roles in Open Space

Dear Jack and you others,
clue me in on what a "healthy self-organizing system" is.
Seems that there might be "unhealthy self-organizing systems"?
Got examples?
Greetings from Berlin
mmp

--Original Message Text---
From: Jack Ricchiuto
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 07:47:04 -0400

There may be then in all dozens of "facilitators" who participate in the
unfolding of space. In that sense, the power and passion and responsibility
of facilitation is distributed/decentralized, as power and passion and
responsibility is in any healthy self-organizing system.

Jack

~~~~~~~~~~
jack ricchiuto
two.one.six/three.seven.three/seven.four.seven.five
www.designinglife.com / www.appreciativeleadership.org 

Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg i.G.
Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
++49-30-772 8000
www.boscop.de   www.michaelmpannwitz.de

Check out the new Open Space World Map now with 233 Open Space Workers in 45
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