What color open space - and the middle man

[Robert Chaffe]

Colour is our interpretation of data (photons) from  a source.

So what colour is open space is based on the source and the  
interpretation of the data by the people it touches.

In life the way I interpret colour changes constantly and the only  
way I know how I am seeing the colour is to share with others and to  
also ask what their interpretation is.  The same source different  
interpretation - the collective interpretation may be used to  
describe the common view.  The challenge for me (as I  seek to  
understand how others perceive the current situation)  is am I just  
puddling the data to form a grey mess or am I seeking the highlights  
the contrasts and the life ( similar to a prism in a shaft of white  
light split into a rainbow)?

The middle "man" please don't eliminate me!

  In a living and vital group of people that is ready to work with  
change the process of self organisation will give each of us a chance  
to perform a range of roles, leader, follower, middle "man" etc at  
times that are appropriate to the fulfilment of the needs of the  
situation to achieve that deeper purpose HO spoke about.  Self  
organising implies change and to use the resources available to the  
best advantage.  The ebb and flow of life in a complex system means  
at any one time the components of the system need to know how best to  
relate to each other to deal with the current situation, in large  
groups this requires a large range of skills and abilities.

As we enjoyed our annual street party, the food was eaten and the  
gifts given the brooms appeared and the rubbish bins collected.  The  
community had gathered at the appointed time and for an hour or so  
the street was full with happy people of all ages then quite quickly  
the people left and the street as clear.  We have all seen this  
happen.  The magic part was that roles that people played to ensure  
it happened.  Yes it was the past mayor who was pushing the broom to  
clean the street, the local pastor and Rotary president collecting  
the rubbish and as the last people left the scene the street was  
clean and ready to greet Christmas day with a smile.   No  
organisational chart, very few defined roles yet it required everyone  
to do their bit to make the event  work.  For me this is a reflection  
of a sustainable community.

One question that we might ask is how do we reward people for the  
contribution they make?  The organisational chart would have us  
believe that reward is defined by position in the "organisational  
chart" and we hear the phrase climbing the ladder of success as if it  
was real.  The chart and ladder are constructs, and unfortunately  
often used to control and dominate enterprise and often is says  
nothing about the contribution, skills, energy etc  of the people.   
It would seem to me that while we reward position rater than  
contribution we will not move to the most sustainable and highest  
performing enterprise!  Possibly the even more debilitating thing in  
enterprise is to describe people by position in a redundant construct  
called the organisational chart.

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist

>From  Thu Jan  3 20:35:17 2008
Message-Id: <THU.3.JAN.2008.203517.0500.>
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 20:35:17 -0500
Reply-To: 76066.515 at compuserve.com
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: douglas germann <76066.515 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: New Year's Resolutions/eliminating the Middle Man
In-Reply-To: <000c01c84e21$479714b0$6401a8c0 at harrison>
Content-Type: text/plain
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Harrison--

What do I think? I think you're on to the obvious--but then again,
remember that my brain is inside out because it has been on open space
for so long!

I'm curious how others re-vision what you say in terms of communities?

			:- Doug.

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist

>From  Thu Jan  3 20:43:08 2008
Message-Id: <THU.3.JAN.2008.204308.0500.>
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 20:43:08 -0500
Reply-To: 76066.515 at compuserve.com
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: douglas germann <76066.515 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: What color open space - and the middle man
In-Reply-To: <FDC6B4A3-03F0-4FA1-BABF-0671EC20107C at eftel.net.au>
Content-Type: text/plain
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Robert--


On Fri, 2008-01-04 at 10:45 +1100, Robert Chaffe wrote:
> The chart and ladder are constructs,


Reminds me of a board game we had when I was growing up. It was called
"Chutes and Ladders." Maybe someone will make a board game (for
WOSonOS?) called "Charts and Ladders" where those going up sometimes get
stuck in the charts and lose a turn or two, or the chart
self-reorganizes and puts the person out at some other point.... Fun?

				:- Doug.

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist