[OSList] Control, Perceived Control, and the Loss Thereof

Sun Sep 11 14:15:33 PDT 2011

We all get "hooked" And with a little luck something breaks through. Slow
process for heads like mine (hard) - but eventually..

ho 

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)

Camden, Maine 20854

Phone 301-365-2093

(summer)  207-763-3261

www.openspaceworld.com

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST
Go to:
<http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org>
http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org

From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Christine
Whitney Sanchez
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 4:08 PM
To: Artur Silva; World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] Control, Perceived Control, and the Loss Thereof

Perhaps the other side of "control" is "expectations".

This is one of the reasons I always post the "Be prepared to be surprised"
sign.  

Artur and Harrison, your thinking has me thinking.  I realized that part of
what I can get "hooked" on are the client's expectations, which, if I'm not
staying awake will make their way in to my own expectations.

Life is always more interesting than my own expectations.

Warm wishes from cooler (under 100 degrees) Phoenix,

Christine

Christine Whitney Sanchez, Partner

Innovation Partners International

480.759.0262

www.innovationpartners.com 

On Sep 11, 2011, at 5:58 AM, Artur Silva wrote:

Thanks for your tough provoking post, Harrison. Some thoughts and questions
inline.

  _____  

From: Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net>
To: 'World wide Open Space Technology email list'
<oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2011 11:07 PM
Subject: [OSList] Control, Perceived Control, and the Loss Thereof

Keith wrote: "Loss (or perceived loss?) of control is also something that
some senior leaders struggle with."

True - and not only in Open Space. It may be my own perversity, but I find
this to be a very useful struggle which may bring these folks to a deeper
understanding of themselves, the organizations they serve, and the world in
which we live. The actual truth of the matter (and for sure my personal
experience) is that control of the sort they are afraid of losing never was
theirs to begin with. Agonizing over  something the doesn't exist is not
only a little silly, it also bespeaks of something approaching delusion, if
not delusion itself. The pain of their agonizing is to be regretted, but it
is a self inflicted wound, and unfortunately its impact is not limited to
the nervous executive(s). It can (and often does) effect the entire
organization in adverse and sometimes lethal ways. Space closes, innovation
withers, agility get clunky - and organizational health shows critical signs
of decline in terms of loss of productivity, efficiency, effectiveness - to
say nothing of employee morale and self-respect. Not a pretty picture.

Would you agree then that those organizations, at that point in time, can be
considered "closed"? 

(...) 

There is no question in my mind that there are massive good works to be done
coaching executives through their addiction to control. And it really is an
addiction, I think, and should be treated as such. Those in the "Addiction
Business" will tell you that, of the many barriers and difficulties to be
faced and overcome - The Enabler is a major obstacle to health. Enablers are
typically good hearted souls who in the name of sympathy, empathy and
compassion do little things, and large, to effectively shield the addict
from a direct confrontation with his/her addiction. I more than suspect that
when we seek to shield an executive from the possibility of losing control
in Open Space, we are doing something of the same sort, and for sure we are
not doing anybody a favor. Should our efforts take the form of assuring
people that "certain" items/issues will be kept carefully under protective
cover (read "control"), that constitutes promises we can't keep. If the
items/issues are truly important to somebody (other than the nervous
executive) - they will be present, one way or another. If not in a "session"
then for sure in some back hall conversations where it is most likely that
they will fester and grow. 

Would you agree that all the past discussions about the "givens" were
precisely about that - one way to try to shield the executives that some
"givens" will be out of discussion at the OST event?

Pre-work, as Lisa Heft is wont to tell us, is important. But I find that (at
least in the case of executive fears) it can be pretty straight forward. I
simply describe what Open Space is and the kinds of results I have
witnessed, making little reference to how it works - unless asked. In most
cases we proceed directly to operational concerns: Theme, location, dates,
etc. But in the event that the conversation moves to issues of control and
the perceived lack of same, I tend to call for a time out, suggesting that
maybe they need some more time to think about their needs and the
appropriateness of Open Space. If I don't think they have heard me, I put it
a little stronger. I suggest that they think about any other way to achieve
their ends. And should they run out of options, call me back. I run about
50/50 on the call backs. But when they call they are ready to go. So am I.

And what do you think about an almost opposite strategy for the Pre-work of
trying to "prepare" the prospective client that he/she will lose control but
that is ok...? (I say "almost opposite" as your way seems to recommend that
the facilitator gets out of the way and let the client think and decide, and
the other is almost trying to "educate the client"...)

Thanks for any clarifications.

Regards

Artur

_______________________________________________
OSList mailing list
To post send emails to OSList at lists.openspacetech.org
To unsubscribe send an email to OSList-leave at lists.openspacetech.org
To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20110911/a01b716a/attachment-0008.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 12179 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20110911/a01b716a/attachment-0016.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 9699 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20110911/a01b716a/attachment-0017.png>