hierarchy...was report from the field

Sun Jul 15 04:29:57 PDT 2007

Within the Art of Hosting community of practice, we have been looking at a
fifth organizational paradigm, which is something like a combination of
hierarchy, circle, network and bureaucracy.  Some of us have been looking at
what these four paradigms have to offer, for examples, hierarchy offers
order and clarity, circle offers an equal reflective space, network offers
an immediate ability to connect with whatever is needed, and bureaucracy
helps channel resources where they are needed, "irrigating" initiatives or
parts of an organization.

Certainly, each of these has a dark side, but if the benefits are
illuminated and then transcended, you get a fifth organizational paradigm in
which all four can be somehow present and somehow something new is born.  I
think we are increasingly seeing Open Space meetings as the embodiments of
this fifth form, which has gone by many other names among those of us here
on the list: InterActive Organization, Conscious Open Space Organization,
Inviting Organization, Radiant Networking and so on.  There is something in
the pattern of Open Space that, if it has not yet achieved transcendence of
these four forms, at least leads the eye to what might emerge.
Self-organization is clearly the key, or at least the gas in the engine.

I find it interesting that many of us who are devoted to these models of
dialogic practice can see the larger implications for organizing human
endeavours.  This connection between our practices and organizational forms
makes for incredibly inspired thinking.  Not all facilitators see what they
do as having broad implications for the way things are organized.  It
remains, I think, the crux of the next level of investigations into what all
of these methodologies mean.

Great thread.

Chris

On 7/15/07, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Raffi -- You will notice that I very carefully did not use the word
> "hierarchy," but a quite different word -- "elitism." I am not sure that
> is
> the right word either, but that is the problem with words. Indeed,
> hierarchy
> itself (as you point out) is not a bad thing. Quite natural in fact and
> very
> useful. Heirarchy is a problem, however, when it is frozen and stuck. At
> that point it becomes an "old" hierarchy reflective of a different time
> and/or situation, holding power and authority very much in the fashion of
> the Divine Right of Kings. That is what I would call elitism. The real
> problem is that it is non-functional because it limits the capacity of a
> system to adapt to a changing environment. This of course can go on for a
> long time, and indeed some environments stick around for a bit. But at the
> moment a stable environment seems to be more the exception than the rule.
> So
> Heirarchy, Yes. Elitism, No.
>
> In terms of our community of folks -- to be sure there is hierarchy, in
> fact
> there are multiple hierarchies constantly changing with time and tide, and
> many existing simultaneously in a wonderful dance of conflict and
> collaboration. I think that is fantastic, useful, and something to be
> honored. However, if we ever got to the point where there was one,
> unchanging hierarchy that would be the last moment you would be seeing me
> anywhere on the premises -- even if, and most especially if, I was the
> King
> of the heap!
>
> I think Kaliya is absolutely correct in pointing out the utility of a
> "repetitional meritocratic hierarchy" (WOW! -- the words sort of roll off
> the tongue!!). And if I understand the words at all, I think that is
> pretty
> much what "we" are. I would also agree that experience, training, maturity
> are critical -- in Open Space, as everywhere else. But I would take some
> issue with the notion that, "Open Space Technology is fundamentally
> different then these two community practices -- OST is not trying to build
> an operating system or have 100,000 all collaborate on the same thing - it
> doesn't 'need' the kind of hierarchy that technical communities do."
>
> From where I sit, the adventure we have embarked on is actually larger and
> more complex than the "simple business" of creating an operating system.
> Our
> task (or at least the one I choose for myself) is not so much about
> designing a system but rather the appreciation of the infinite complexity
> and elegance of the self-organizing Human System. And this is not just
> "music appreciation," performance is the name of the game. How do we
> effectively live in this system, and maybe even more importantly, what can
> we do to enable the system to live?
>
> I think of Open Space as a wonderful natural experiment in which thousands
> of people are participating. The power of the experiment emerges when we
> freely and openly share our experiences and understandings. And everybody
> has a vital part to play. Those of us who have been around for a bit may
> have a broader and possibly deeper view, but there is an almost inevitable
> tendency to take some things for granted and get stuck in our ways. The
> antidote for all of that is the arrival of fresh eyes with apparently
> "dumb
> questions." There are no dumb questions that are also real questions. Real
> questions have no answers, they only open more space and take you deeper.
> And when you have lots of space (up, down, sideways, wherever)-- then the
> fun begins.
>
> Harrison
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Raffi
> Aftandelian
> Sent: Saturday, July 14, 2007 2:08 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: hierarchy...was report from the field
>
> Greetings friends and colleagues--
>
> Harrison you wrote:
>
> "The other day I got a note which said in part, "I was surprised to
> find out that there was a hierarchy in the OST community and everyone
> having
> a specific place to hold, voices are not equal and politics prevails in
> certain circuits  Just the same old same old... I'm not sure this is what
> you envisioned with OST." I have no idea what the specific circumstances
> were, and less interest in finding out. But presuming that we have the
> creeping tentacles of elitism sneaking in - a good dose of the Law of Two
> Feet and a clear recognition of the Universal License of Open Space
> (everybody has one by birth) should do the trick. Or something."
>
> I would love to hear more from the person who wrote about hierarchy in the
> OST community. What is meant by "hierarchy" here?
>
> Isn't there hierarchy everywhere? Is it a bad thing? The question is what
> kind of hierarchy do we have in the OST community? Is it a hierarchy that
> feeds us, strengthens us? And how do we choose to engage with it as a
> community? Do we create the spaces to talk about the power differentials
> within our practitioner community in a way that, well, builds more
> capacity
> within us?
>
> Quakers, for example, acknowledge that voices are not equal within the
> life
> of a Monthly Meeting. They have the concept of "weightiness" or a "weighty
> Friend."  In other words, these are the elders within the Quaker world.
>
> And doesn't the OST world have its elders and sages?
>
> I, too, have heard (and thought) that the OST community is the "same
> old...," - heck, some of that "same oldness" shows up on the list from
> time
> to time- *and* I do not know of a more generous, welcoming, inspiring
> facilitation community. We either choose to engage with the OST community
> as
> it is, or...well exercise the law of two feet.
>
>
> Raffi
>
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-- 
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Facilitation - Training
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com

Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.
http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com

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