On-Time
Harrison Owen
hhowen at verizon.net
Mon May 29 14:47:22 PDT 2006
Diane wrote: "Back to time and schedules. I heard a talk last year by John
McKnight, about Asset Based Community Development, and the thing that was
most useful to me, since I'd read a few of his books and had been to ABCD
training, was his comment about respecting the need for some organizations
to run like machines, like clockwork. The example was public transportation.
He didn't want the airline pilots or mechanics, or bus drivers, to meet in
open space each morning and create a new plan for the day.... at least not
on their work days!"
Diane - in my own experience, organizations that do the best in terms of
running on time, even machine like, are in fact fully cognizant that they
are running in open space, if not Open Space. Whether "they meet in Open
Space each morning to create a new plan" will depend on a lot of things but
it is certainly not a bad idea.
They key point is that every system has variable system constraints created
by the environment, external and internal. Translated that means, I don't
care how good a schedule you have, how fine your equipment, how well trained
the folks - things just work differently when it is snowing, raining,
sleeting, sun shining - or all of the above. And things also will work
differently depending: a) Everybody has the flu b) Only a few do c) The
"team Leader just filed for divorce d) The prime lady in Dispatch just had a
baby - prematurely. e) etc.
The key to superior performance (maintaining the schedule, or whatever) does
not lie in the rigid application of some pre-existing, abstract procedure or
system. Superior performance only appears when the capacity for rapid
adaptation is present in spades. And Open Space is one of the best ways (in
my experience) to speedily shift assets and resources to meet emergent
conditions and challenges. And it sure beats the hell out of holding an
executive committee meeting, or worse yet dumping the whole mess on some
poor, possibly hung over manager on a Monday morning.
I have a friend who, in a prior incarnation, was in charge of roads for
Pueblo, CO. Amongst other things that meant he had responsibility for
snowplowing in the winter - and that is a lot of snow and a lot of roads, to
say nothing of very big and steep mountains. Keeping those roads clear
involves split second timing under very hazardous conditions. Just think of
three plows in tandem (20 ton trucks) coming down a mountain pass at 40
miles an hour. One small mistake and that is 60 tons of steel and three
mangled drivers at the bottom of the canyon. So how did they do this?
Before every snow season they started out with an Open Space for all
drivers, maintenance folks, and support staff. Focal question was always
something like, "Moving Snow: Issues and Opportunities. That's how they made
their plan and got ready. And come snow time, when the folks gathered in the
yards to warm and load (salt/sand) the trucks - it may not have looked like
an Open Space (circle, bulletin board, market place), but when you have the
spirit you can by-pass some of the superficials and accomplish the same
thing. And these folks did. For mid-course corrections (new equipment,
budget constraints, new teams etc) - easy -- open more space.
So I guess I beg to differ. In mission critical situations where timing and
rapid adaptation are essential, if the folks aren't operating in open space,
I get really worried.
Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20854
Phone 301-365-2093
Skype hhowen
Open Space Training <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute <http://www.openspaceworld.org/>
www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website <http://www.ho-image.com/> www.ho-image.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Diane
Brandon
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2006 12:21 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: open space and synchronicity
Ruminating a bit about time.... I enjoy time, as in timing in a dance,
having lots of time, plenty of time, and planes/trains/buses being on time.
Time is over-important in our culture, but a useful tool. (Like money. My
favorite thing about not having much money, which is our current state, is
that I stay home more, and have more *time to spend with friends. Less *time
going places to buy things is a blessing.) money, time, spend, hmmmm... I
was a math major for a few years, and I like numbers, time and money and
measures, all numbers....
I do like the emphasis on "syn" = with. Being with, being connected, we are
all one. (Have you all enjoyed the dancing wombat? Maybe I've mentioned it
here before? If senility gets me (moreso than now!), maybe I'll just watch
it over and over again: http://www.globalcommunity.org/flash/wombat.shtml )
I agree that being with, living with, time with, are all natural, and the
"woowoo" and being surprised means that we are mostly out of "sync" - not
knowing we are all part of one, with an energy flow that is there to rest
upon (someone is watching over me). So we re-member, and notice that we are
in-sync, in flow. (Harrison, if everyone knew how simple and natural open
space is, you probably wouldn't have sold any books about it!)
Back to time and schedules. I heard a talk last year by John McKnight, about
Asset Based Community Development, and the thing that was most useful to me,
since I'd read a few of his books and had been to ABCD training, was his
comment about respecting the need for some organizations to run like
machines, like clockwork. The example was public transportation. He didn't
want the airline pilots or mechanics, or bus drivers, to meet in open space
each morning and create a new plan for the day.... at least not on their
work days!
MBTI, J-P, P's love open space?
Diane
On May 28, 2006, at 10:26 PM, Harrison Owen wrote:
I have to make a confession. The word "synchronicity" has always bugged me.
Comes from the Greek "syn" "chronos" (literally - with time, or same time).
It is time and the clocks that get me. As if clocks/time makes that much
difference. And in contemporary usage, synchronicity gets an over plus of
being something weird, magical, or psychic. Now -- who am I to question
things "magical, weird, and psychic?" I have had some people suggest that
all three of those things could be my middle name. But still they make me
very uncomfortable.
The reason is that most of the things that people talk about under the
heading of synchronicity (and then go WOOWOO!) seem to me to be very
natural, rather what you would expect - especially if you are in the real
flow of things, and acutely aware of that flow. So when Chris talks about
Seagulls sitting on the window sill, laughing at the Closing Circle, my
reaction is - What would you expect, Chris? And Tree, the fact that you felt
irresistibly called to let dinner in the door sounds pretty reasonable to
me. And Phelim, if you really insist in seeing Butterflies and Bumble Bees
spread across the Press, that's OK - but I wouldn't say it too loudly. :-)
There is another word which for me is much more comfortable - and takes me
to the same, or better, places than Synchronicity. It is "Symbiosis,"
"Symbiotic" - or I suppose "Symbiosity". Still Greek, but with a twist.
"Sym" (with)
"Bios" (life) - with life - or better yet, "Living Together." The thought is
that when life flows together, all the pieces fit - even the ones that seem
a little strange. For me, this is an everyday story, especially when our
awareness is turned up to HIGH (as in OS). And the story suffers when we try
to re-write it according to our notion of what we think SHOULD be happening.
It gets even worse when we try to operationalize our understanding of what
SHOULD be happening in order to bring it under control and make sure that it
happens the way we expect it to. That's when we really get in trouble!
So Chris - Of course Gulls will laugh at the Closing Circle. First of all
they are Gulls. Secondly, theClosing Circle can get pretty funny. And Tree -
What is so strange about letting Dinner in the door? And when it comes to
the "struggling author" - how could he NOT find support and assistance in
The Evolutionary Salon? I suspect that the only way he could avoid all such
help would be if it were not truly The Evolutionary Salon - or that he had
his blinders on and could only accept help in some pre-defined package.
So what else is new? Just another day in the Open Space of life here on
Planet Earth, just flowing together- Symbiotically.
Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20854
Phone 301-365-2093
Skype hhowen
Open Space Training <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute <http://www.openspaceworld.org/>
www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website <http://www.ho-image.com/> www.ho-image.com
OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Chris
Corrigan
Sent: Sunday, May 28, 2006 5:42 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: open space and synchronicity
Well...yes to all...and on the subject of synchronicity, the thing that
often seems to happen for me is that birds turn up.
Eagles in the middle of the city, sparrows finding their way into locked
meeting rooms. Gulls sitting on the window sill and laughing at every
comment in a closing circle.
I don't talk about them much, but I come to rely on my avian familiars in my
work....
:-)
Chris
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