[OSList] Beginnings, Middles, and Ends -- Where are we?

Harrison Owen hhowen at verizon.net
Mon Nov 19 14:29:38 PST 2012


I've been thinking about us, or should I say OS..

 

It seems to be a truth of life that everything (us included) has a
beginning, middle and an end. The separation between beginning and end can
be quite various (longer or shorter), but one thing is for certain. For
every beginning, there is an end. Along the way it is inevitable that people
ask, how are they doing, and what next?

 

What is true for life in general seems to be true for organizations of all
sorts, including ours, by which I mean the Good Old OS Community. Perhaps
you never thought of the OS Community as an organization, and certainly if
you understand organization to be what might be called The Standard Model
(The Leader, Board of Directors, and all the Rest) the OS Community doesn't
qualify. On the other hand, were you to look at what OS Inc. has done, that
assessment changes, I think. As a matter of fact there are loads of Standard
Model organizations that don't even come close to our accomplishments. First
of all we have been around for 27 years with thousands of "members" all over
the world. Each year "we" produce global gatherings in multiple places,
along with training programs and consultations. And when it comes to the end
product, Opening Space, the numbers get a little mind boggling. Not bad at
all - just don't look too closely at how it all gets done. J So how are we
doing? Well past the Beginning for sure, but what now, and where next? 

 

Quite a while ago, I found myself thinking and writing a lot about the
natural life cycle of organizations ("Spirit: Transformation and Development
in Organizations" and "The Power of Spirit"). Beginnings, middles and ends
were pretty central to this - but there was more. All about what seemed to
be happening along the way, and what, if anything, we might do about that. 

 

To represent my understanding of the natural history of organizations, I
came up with a simple graph which, for lack of a better term, became known
as The Spirit Chart. Unfortunately we cannot do graphics here on OSLIST, but
the graph is simplicity itself, and so I am sure that you can quickly draw
it, or imagine it in your mind's eye. The vertical axis is titled "level"
and the horizontal axis is "time." On the chart, there are two lines, one
called "Spirit" and the other "Structure." At Time 1 (the beginning) Spirit
is high and Structure is low. Over time (moving from left to right) the
lines cross in the middle, and at the end -- Spirit is low, and Structure is
high. And there you have it: Beginning, Middle, and End.

 

As you might suspect, I did not gather masses of data in order to construct
my chart. Indeed I really can't imagine precisely what that data might be or
how to gather it. All that said, common sense and experience supports the
story that the graph seeks to tell. All organizations start out with High
Spirit(s) - and virtually no Structure. At the moment of creation it is all
potential, a wonderful idea, a gigantic WOW! The good news is that something
is moving and shaking. Excitement and optimism rule the day. But there is a
price. Orderly procedures simply do not exist, massive amounts of energy is
burned for minimal results, the Wheel is constantly re-invented. 

 

But then things change. Rules and Structures are created to focus and direct
all that wonderful Spirit. Initially there is resistance from some Free
Spirited Folks, but the net result is positive and beneficial.  Work gets
done, schedules are kept, product goes out the door. And best of all there
is plenty of Free Spirit around to creatively explore new opportunities, new
ways of doing business.

 

But over time, the lines cross. The Spirit Line and the Structure Line
intersect and then separate, with Structure rising and Spirit falling, being
constrained in smaller and smaller spaces by the overburden of Structure.
For a while nobody notices, for the organization is doing the business in
productive and orderly ways, and who could complain about that? But there
comes a time when the organization is defined and imprisoned by its
structure and rules. Spirit is in evidence mostly by its absence - except in
the stories and memories of how it "used to be." When you are out of Spirit,
you are out of business. At least that is the story.

 

But there could be a different ending. Were it somehow possible to release
the Spirit from its prison,  renewal might happen. But for that to occur,
the prison walls must break. Or to put it in slightly different terms, the
confining structure must shatter so that the Spirit may reform in new ways.
This, I think, is an accurate, albeit metaphorical picture of
Transformation: Spirit breaking loose to take on new form (trans-form).

 

So where are we? Clearly we have had our initial WOW! And although it is
certainly true that each time some new person joins our happy Tribe, having
just experienced the opening of space for some group of people - that WOW is
heard once more. It is also true that for a large (and increasing) number of
our band the experience is no longer a strange one. We've been there before,
and while it is always a delight, it really becomes quite predictable. I
would never say boring, but predictable for sure. Sit in a circle, create a
bulletin board, open a market place, and the folks will go to work. Every
time.

 

The curious thing is that 27 years into our adventure, our organization is
still as lively and spirit filled as it is - a status that just about
everybody recognizes in all of our common gatherings, as for example the
recent WOSONOS in London. In my own experience of organizational life, this
record is pretty remarkable. In every other organization I have known, or
been a part of, by the time it reached its 27th year, an awful lot of the
original Spirit, enthusiasm, to say nothing of agility and flexibility had
disappeared.  People talk about "mature organizations" -- when they finally
got beyond the "wild days in the garage" (computer start-ups, for example)
and settled down into a more orderly mode of being. Think of Amazon, Apple,
Microsoft, et al. Somehow we seem to have escaped some of that, and how
could that be?

 

I think part of the answer comes from the nature of our "product" and what
we do. The truth of the matter is that every time we think we have it all
figured out, and have "finally" arrived at the "right" way of doing things -
we are in for some surprises. It turns out that we really didn't know what
we were talking about. Somehow, Open Space was/is so much more than we ever
thought, and what we do/did, so much less. What starts out looking like just
another approach to better meetings or group technique subtly morphs into
the story of the cosmos (self organization). And we really don't DO anything
at all. We simply offer an invitation, and then get out of the way. 

 

To be sure, there has been a developmental process in our approach as we
have gone along, but it apparently moves in the diametrically opposite
direction from similar processes found with other approaches. Put it all
under the heading of "Thinking of one more thing NOT to do" and pretty soon
(well maybe someday) - we'll end up with nothing. No approach at all!

 

Of course, there have been a few signs of approaching Middle Age. You might
call it hardening of the organizational arteries - conversations about the
"right" way to conduct an Open Space, usually accompanied by an expanding
list of critical details with attendant Do's and Don'ts. Fortunately we then
receive a marvelous report (Sandy Gee, being the latest) how just about
everything was "wrong" - but surprisingly - it all worked just perfectly. 

 

To be sure I have heard some chatter about "guidelines" (Thomas H. J) - but
no proposal that we "get ourselves organized" - and certainly nothing as
forbidding as a governmental structure with appropriate Boards and Bylaws!
So we seem to be dodging the bullet, at least for the moment. And it may be
that we have some distance to go before the end. I doubt, however, that our
longevity will ever have anything to do with what might be called The
Standard Organizational Approach, usually characterized as
"institutionalization." Indeed I more  than suspect that once again we will
find success by going in the opposite direction. Rather than building
durable structures that might last for the ages (none do . so far) - it will
be a story of the constant shattering of structures and procedures to
release the Spirit in new and vital directions. Transformation, I believe it
is called. 

 

But there will come an end, of that I have no doubt. But I hope that the end
of OS Inc might occur with hardly a ripple or note. Not unlike old soldiers
who never seem to die - they just fade away. OS Inc will become quite
invisible when it is clear to all that everything is Open Space. Blending
into the woodwork, as it were. Nothing new, Nothing special. Just what is. 

 

 

Harrison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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)

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