Seeds of self-organisation

Thu May 21 01:38:48 PDT 2009

Beautifully articulated Wendy - and great question John...

John your proposition:  ..."They affect a lot, now."
That is so - and will remain so...
As a violent man trying to become more nonviolent, I am faced with 
the demons within myself as much as those I see out there in others.
Wendy has given me a great conceptual and concrete illustration of 
how I might tap into the 'vectors of my own intention' when engaging 
with those who may have a different view. I value my own capacity to 
chose - and I suffer somewhat within myself when I see others using 
violence, abuse, intimidation or other forms of coercion to impose 
their way on the world.

Opening space for people to self-organize is an awesome way to 
express a vector of intention - an invitation, an offering to those 
who show up to engage nonviolently with others AND with the issues 
that are important...an embodied experience of a different 'vector of 
intention' might just create sufficient contradictions within an 
established worldview to crack that outer shell of protective, 
controlling behaviour - as Leonard Cohen sings (or croons), 'There is 
a crack in everything - that's how the light gets in'!

I'll just keep on cracking (nonviolently of course)

Cheers
Brendan

At 02:17 PM 21/05/2009, Wendy Farmer-O'Neil wrote:
>Hi John,
>
>It is still all self-organization--which is the point.  We are all in
>the ever-emergent flow of all that is.  End of story.  Whether you are
>engaged in nurturing the flowers, smelling the flowers, or paving them
>over, you are part of a self-organizing system.  Self-organization
>isn't a panacea for all that ails us, it IS the way things work. Good,
>bad, ugly. Period. The degree to which you understand this and can
>consciously capitalize on it--determines your personal experience of
>freedom (responsibility).  The deeper your understanding of self- 
>organization, the more choices you have at your disposal for how you
>want to respond to influences in your environment--coercion being one
>of them.
>
>This is where having a bit of Aikido under your belt (sorry) can
>help.  Coercion is simply a vector of intention that is attempting to
>either pull or push me off my center.  If i am dedicated to non- 
>violence and peace, i want to get out of the way of that vector at the
>same time as protecting the other person from their own bad
>intention.  So, if i check in with my own center and discover that
>this vector is a pull, i don't resist the pull, i enter firmly
>(keeping my own center).  The person doing the pulling is now off
>balance; i have taken their center.  They have to now respond with a
>new intention.  If the vector is a push, again i don't resist it, i
>turn.  I see what they want me to see and in the process, take their
>center while keeping mine.  Again, they now must respond to me with a
>new intention.  This takes very little effort on my part, but a lot of
>effort on theirs.  Which of us will tire first?
>
>So how does that look in interpersonal interactions?  Here is a very
>basic example: I am standing around smelling the roses.  Mmmm.
>Someone comes up and says, "Don't you have something more productive
>to do?"  I can say, "Thank you.  I hear you value hard work and
>effectiveness."  I have taken an aggressive, angry, blaming vector and
>stepped to the side of it, avoiding the blow.  I have offered my own
>vector of generative and appreciative reflection and kept connection
>to the other.  The conversations we can have from here are endless.  I
>have avoided solidifying into conflict.  I am still flowing, still
>have my full repertoire of possibilities.  And i have opened space for
>the other person to have many more possibilities also.
>
>All we can do, John, is take responsibility for what we care about and
>open space with a smile inviting others to do likewise.
>Does that help at all?
>Cheers,
>Wendy
>
>On 20-May-09, at 11:26 AM, John Rapp wrote:
>
>>Harrison,
>>
>>How do you view coercion?  "Force is not the way at all," enjoins Lao
>>Tzu.  But my own experience is that those of us who smell & allow the
>>flowers to bloom are subject to others who prefer to push the river.
>>They may/often fail, eventually.  They affect a lot, now.
>>
>>Best,
>>John
>>
>>Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>On May 20, 2009, at 5:19 AM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>>>Christy -- I hate to seem like piling on -- but from where I sit self
>>>organization is well beyond the seeding stage. It is in full bloom
>>>and has
>>>been for 13.7 billion years. It is just that some people won't stop
>>>to smell
>>>the flowers. Their loss.
>>>
>>>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
>>>OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options
>>>http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
>>>Michael M
>>>Pannwitz
>>>Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 4:43 AM
>>>To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>>>Subject: Seeds of self-organisation
>>>
>>>Dear Christine,
>>>I intrigued myself with your images:
>>>unleashing self-organisation, stuffing the genie back into the
>>>bottle,
>>>seeds taking root...
>>>Even though I assume to understand what you mean, it struck me that I
>>>want to be more clear on the following:
>>>- there is no way to "leash" self organisation
>>>- its never been in a bottle
>>>- its already deeply rooted, regardless of how much control or
>>>ignoring
>>>is employed.
>>>I know that an OST event can be shut down hard and quick when control
>>>takes hold but, of course, self-organisation will not be shut down.
>>>To me, these "subtleties" are important, because I humble myself with
>>>them and liberate myself from wanting to figure out the system or
>>>being
>>>attached to outcome...helping me to focus ("simply")on attempting to
>>>hold time and space.
>>>Greetings from Berlin where the first radishes of the year found
>>>their
>>>way from our garden to the kitchen table today...
>>>mmp
>>>
>>>Christine Whitney Sanchez wrote:
>>>>John & Rory,
>>>......
>>>>
>>>>John, what is also of interest to me is when the sponsors seem to be
>>>>ready to unleash self-organization and once the genie is out of the
>>>>bottle, want to try to stuff it back in.  In those cases, I watch
>>>>for
>>>>where the self-organization seeds have taken root, even if the
>>>>formal
>>>>system seems to be ignoring them.
>>>>
>>>>Thanks for the great discussion.
>>>>
>>>>Warm wishes from toasty Phoenix,
>>>>
>>>>Christine
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>*
>>>>*
>>>>==========================================================
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>>>>
>>>>Christine Whitney Sanchez
>>>>Collaborative Wisdom & Strategy
>>>>480.759.0262
>>>>www.christinewhitneysanchez.com
>>>>Skype: christinewhitneysanchez
>>>>P Please consider the environment before printing this email
>>>>
>>>>On May 14, 2009, at 8:26 AM, Rory O'Connor wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Hi John & Christine,
>>>>
>>>>I'm probably more practised in Spiral Dynamics that OST - which is
>>>>not
>>>>saying a whole lot. What I thought Spiral Dynamics could bring to
>>>>OST
>>>>was insight into how we might engage with people at all stages of
>>>>the
>>>>process - from forming the theme i.e. someone living in CO/Red Life
>>>>conditions is not going to want to sit around and reach consensus
>>>>on a
>>>>theme. Likewise, DP/Blue and ER/Orange are probably going to have
>>>>different questions that need to be answered in order to feel
>>>>comfortable with the process. I do find that people living in FS/
>>>>Green
>>>>are probably most open to Open Space because of the emphasis on
>>>>valuing
>>>>other human beings. GT/Yellow might use it if/when it is
>>>>appropriate to
>>>>the Life Conditions of the people they are working with. They may
>>>>opt
>>>>for something else if THAT is what is required.
>>>>
>>>>It's not to say that OST would not work, it's just that how it's
>>>>introduced may need to be tweaked. And again, my caveat on all this
>>>>is
>>>>that I have only facilitated a handful of OST events
>>>>
>>>>I'd love to explore more about how both OST and Spiral Dynamics
>>>>might
>>>>inform each other, and look forward to your response.
>>>>
>>>>Regards,
>>>>
>>>>Rory
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>On 14 May 2009, at 15:52, Christine Whitney Sanchez wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Hi John,
>>>>>
>>>>>I suspect many of us on the list have "dabbled in Spiral Dynamics".
>>>>>I've seen OST as a second tier methodology that works all the way
>>>>>down
>>>>>the spiral.  How about you?
>>>>>
>>>>>Warm wishes on this beautiful Phoenix morning,
>>>>>
>>>>>Christine
>>>>>* * ==========================================================
>>>>>OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU ------------------------------ To
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>>>>>
>>>>>Christine Whitney Sanchez
>>>>>Collaborative Wisdom & Strategy
>>>>>480.759.0262
>>>>>www.christinewhitneysanchez.com
>>>>>Skype: christinewhitneysanchez
>>>>>P Please consider the environment before printing this email
>>>>>
>>>>>On May 13, 2009, at 12:33 PM, John Rapp wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>Michael/Peggy & fellow OSTers -- I've used OS/WR principles for
>>>>>many
>>>>>years in my work, which is mainly in & around law firms.  I did 2
>>>>>major open spaces, both for 100 so people, in Jakarta (1999) and
>>>>>Taipei (2002).  Both were very successful on the day, and sources
>>>>>of
>>>>>sadness after, as the "powers" chose to ignore 99% of what came up.
>>>>>
>>>>>I want to try again, as one of my personal missions is improve the
>>>>>world by changing the practice of law/yers.  I'd love to help, and
>>>>>hear others' experiences with law.  And anyone who has dabbled in
>>>>>Spiral Dynamics in this context would pique interest too.
>>>>>
>>>>>Best
>>>>>John
>>>>>
>>>>>On May 9, 2009, at 10:55 PM, Peggy Holman
>>>>><peggy at opencirclecompany.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>Michael,
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I did an OS with a law firm a few years ago.  It included all of
>>>>>>the
>>>>>>support staff and none of the attorneys.  It was a productive,
>>>>>>successful meeting for them.  The main thing I'd say is that we
>>>>>>were
>>>>>>a strange cultural mix.  They never really felt that comfortable
>>>>>>with
>>>>>>me, but they sure liked the experience.  As an example of the
>>>>>>cultural challenge, I often suggest a few minutes of silence
>>>>>>when a
>>>>>>group gets together at the end of the day or on the second
>>>>>>morning.
>>>>>>This is one of the few groups that made it clear that this didn't
>>>>>>work for them.  It just made them uncomfortable.  So, after
>>>>>>trying it
>>>>>>once, we simply got on to talking about the day.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Peggy
>>>>>>
>>>>>>______________________________
>>>>>>Peggy Holman
>>>>>>The Open Circle Company
>>>>>>15347 SE 49th Place
>>>>>>Bellevue, WA  98006
>>>>>>425-746-6274
>>>>>>www.opencirclecompany.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>>For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to:
>>>>>>www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook
>>>>>>
>>>>>>"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not
>>>>>>get
>>>>>>burnt, is to become
>>>>>>the fire".
>>>>>>-- Drew Dellinger
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>On Apr 30, 2009, at 7:10 PM, Michael Wood wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I am talking with a bunch of lawyers in a couple of weeks about
>>>>>>>"sustainability" in the legal profession. i.e. sustainability of
>>>>>>>the
>>>>>>>lawyers themselves since they often seem to work under such
>>>>>>>punishing conditions - depression on the increase etc.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Any stories out there about use of Open Space in law firms?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Michael Wood
>>>>>>>* * ==========================================================
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>>>>>* * ==========================================================
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>>>>>* * ==========================================================
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>>>
>>>--
>>>Michael M Pannwitz, boscop eg
>>>Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
>>>++49-30-772 8000
>>>mmpanne at boscop.org
>>>www.boscop.org
>>>
>>>
>>>Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 468 resident
>>>Open
>>>Space Workers in 73 countries working in a total of 139 countries
>>>worldwide
>>>Have a look:
>>>www.openspaceworldmap.org
>>>
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>
>Wendy Farmer-O'Neil
>CEO Prospera Consulting
>wendy at xe.net
>1-800-713-2351
>
>The moment of change is the only poem. -- Adrienne Rich
>
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