Open Space being badly defined

[Harrison Owen]

Holger -- After Open Space? ("Regularly, I have been asking the provocative
question: "OST - so, what's next?" Not that I want OST to disappear. But we
can't possibly assume that it will be around for the next 1300 years.") One
way of thinking about how to answer that question might be to consider how
we (or at least I) got to Open Space in the first place and see if there are
any clues. What were the design principles? First answer might be, Drink Two
Martinis -- but I am not sure how far that would take us. But when it comes
to serious design principles, there has been exactly one in all the 25 years
that I have been fussing with OST. That principle is: "Think of one more
thing NOT to do." At the first Open Space, we did some small amount of
"community building" and "warm up activities," all of which were quite
pleasant, but as near as I could see, they didn't add much. So the next
time, we didn't do them -- and everything seemed to work better. I could go
through a pretty lengthy list of things we peeled off here and there -- but
the bottom line is that Open Space as I would "do" it today happened by way
of elimination. Less and less turned out to be more and more. Following this
line of thought and general trend it could be that the "What next?" After
Open Space is nothing at all. Actually I rather like that. If we really get
it right we won't need extraneous processes to become fully what we are --
self-organizing critters. Or something.

Harrison

 
Harrison Owen
189 Beaucaire Ave
Camden, ME 04843
207-763-3261 (Summer)
301-365-2093 (Winter)
Website www.openspaceworld.com 
Personal Website www.ho-image.com 
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Holger
Nauheimer (Change Facilitation)
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 12:44 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Open Space being badly defined

Chris,

you said:

"In the world of self-organizing systems and evolutionary processes what
matters is variety and diversity.  Things only get better when millions of
experiments are underway.  From those experiments come the mutations and
modifications that help create the next level.  It's how Open Space emerged,
and it's how it will disappear in good time too."

I draw my hat in admiration - this was the most intelligent thing I heared
somebody saying about whether or not Open Space Technology must be used in
its original format (which we all love, and usually fight for) or not.
Regularly, I have been asking the provocative question: "OST - so, what's
next?" Not that I want OST to disappear. But we can't possibly assume that
it will be around for the next 1300 years. Maybe it will: Robert Jungk's
Zukunftswerkstatt still seems to be around, and that tells something about
stickyness of methodologies :) . 

It reminds me of the question, "After John Cage, can there be any other new
music?" John Cage produced the famous piece 4'33" in the early nineties -
four and a half minute of pure silence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJagb7hL0E. But of course, there is new
music, even if it will be difficult to beat the radicalism of John Cage.

OST might probably remain the purest "technology of participation", as John
Cage's 4'33". I wouldn't know how to simplify self-organized meetings. But
as much as we love OST, people need to experiment in order to find out which
borders to cross or to stretch. We (the OST aficionados) are in a way the
keepers of The Holy Grail of OST and we need to be. But then, we mustn't be
to change resistant. Sometimes, OST does not solve the issues of a client,
even if more participation and collaboration is at stake.

I repeat myself: if more and more groups who have different rituals and
cultures find a way to host meetings with a self-organization component, I
think we (and all the other Sandras, Marvins, Juanitas, Davids, etc.) can
proudly say, "we were part of a global paradigm shift in collaboration."

Some people will like OST better, and some not. I don't care. I love it as I
love John Cage.

Holger

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