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

Thu Nov 22 09:55:09 PST 2012

Dear Arno,
when you consider that the "principles", sometimes also called "Facts of 
Life" are not "rules" (which could suggest that they are directed 
towards creating a certain structure), the facilitator provides little 
structure (some about when sessions start but not when they end, some on 
the spaces available... but then, as HO pointed out, participants will 
do all kinds of things to make "their" structure: meet at other than 
suggested times, go outside when there are spaces inside, meet at the 
bar instead the nicely set up "work"-space...).

Thinking of the principles (looking at them closely reveals that they 
are not event that) as rules would require rewording of the principles:
Whoever comes is the right people
would need to read
Before beginning the work in a breakout session make sure that the right 
people are there (have the convener and a small committe decide) and ask 
the others to leave the session
or
When its over its over
Make sure to determine when its over (take a vote every 10 minutes) and 
see to it that the group then stops its work and joins other groups that 
are still working (if you see people taking a break or attempting to 
leave the venue, tell them that now is working time)

Have a great day in Tallin
mmp

On 22.11.2012 15:33, Harrison Owen wrote:
> Arno – I suppose you could say that in Opening Space we create
> structure, but if so it is strange structure and totally minimal.
> Certainly nothing like the structure that is ordinarily found/created in
> the usual conference. But actually, I think our touch is even lighter.
> What we really do is invite the people (participants) to create their
> own structure appropriate to their needs, environment and who they are.
> As for the principles and Law of two feet, I don’t think they add
> anything and certainly not a structure. They simply acknowledge what
> will happen no matter what. They are descriptive and not PRE-scriptive.
> Being a little poetic, I like to think of Opening Space as inviting
> Spirit to show up in whatever form it chooses.
>
> 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.openspaceworld.com%20>
>
> www.ho-image.com <www.ho-image.com%20> (Personal Website)
>
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
> OSLIST Go
> to: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 *Arno Baltin
> *Sent:* Thursday, November 22, 2012 2:51 AM
> *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Beginnings, Middles and Ends... Where are we?
>
> Dear Harrisson!
>
> Could you please elaborate on the difference between creating a
> structure and opening space. When facilitating OS meeting I also create
> a structure by setting the space and introducing the rules and law
> (isn't it?). And at the end of OS I leave the space opened as inviting
> to take the structure (of mind - some attitudes based on the OS
> experience, ther rules and law) with.
>
> Be well,
>
> *      Arno *
>
> Narva mnt 25, 10120 Tallinn
>
> Eesti Vabariik
>
>
>
> 2012/11/21 Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net <mailto:hhowen at verizon.net>>
>
> Juan Luis – Always nice to hear from you! And my answer to your question
> is something like this: Only create structure when you have to, and then
> create as little as you possibly can. Structure is useful in
> organizations, but it certainly can get in the way. So don’t overdo it.
> Ask yourself, “What is the minimal amount of structure necessary to get
> the job done.” It is always easy to add if you need it, but once some
> structure is created (committee, procedure, etc) it seems to stay around
> forever, even when nobody can remember what it was for…
>
> Harrison
>
> Harrison Owen
>
> 7808 River Falls Dr.
>
> Potomac, MD 20854
>
> USA
>
> 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)
>
> Camden, Maine 20854
>
> Phone 301-365-2093 <tel:301-365-2093>
>
> (summer) 207-763-3261 <tel:207-763-3261>
>
> www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com%20>
>
> www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com%20> (Personal Website)
>
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
> OSLIST Go
> to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
>
> *From:*oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
> <mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>
> [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
> <mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>] *On Behalf Of *JL Walker
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 21, 2012 1:53 PM
> *To:* 'World wide Open Space Technology email list'
> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Beginnings, Middles and Ends... Where are we?
>
> Many thanks Harrison. Just now I could give me time to read everything
> about your email slowly.
>
> Makes me much sense for the moment that we are living here in Chile with
> our CDIC project (Centro de Desarrollo de la Inteligencia Colectiva),
> when we started to give us account that would be necessary some structure.
>
> The question is how we can move forward without that decays the Spirit
> and what could be the structure that would allow that purpose?
>
> Hugs,
>
> Juan Luis
>
> *De:*oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
> <mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>
> [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *En nombre de *Harrison Owen
> *Enviado el:* lunes, 19 de noviembre de 2012 21:27
> *Para:* 'World wide Open Space Technology email list'
> *Asunto:* [OSList] Beginnings, Middles and Ends... Where are we?
>
> 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 27^th 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 <tel:301-365-2093>
>
> (summer) 207-763-3261 <tel:207-763-3261>
>
> www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com%20>
>
> www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com%20> (Personal Website)
>
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
> OSLIST Go
> to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
>
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