[OSList] Beginnings, Middles and Ends... Where are we?
Koos de Heer
koos at auryn.nl
Fri Nov 23 00:26:18 PST 2012
Beautiful Mikk, Thank you!
Made my day.
Koos
At 17:57 22-11-2012, Mikk Sarv wrote:
>I think opening space is also creation of structure.
>The structure is like a body, where Spirit can live.
>When the body gets old, it dies and Spirit leaves the body.
>But Spirit needs the body or structure.
>
>Long moments of silence at the beginning are like pain of birth.
>After OS event everybody often feels like newborn.
>People, who like Structure, might feel Spirit as
>something evil, what destroys everything.
>People who like Spirit may feel the Structure as evil.
>But they both are just sides of the same dance.
>Opening Space is giving birth. It offers for
>Spirit a new body/structure to go on with dance.
>
>With greetings,
>
>Mikk Sarv
>
>
>On Nov 22, 2012, at 4:45 PM, JL Walker wrote:
>
>>Dear Arno,
>>Anticipating the response of HO, I can take the
>>risk to say that the structures of management
>>are always part of the map and the structure of
>>the principles and the law of OS is always part of the territory.
>>Make sense for you this?
>>Hugs,
>>Juan Luis
>>
>>De:
>><mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
>>[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] En nombre deArno Baltin
>>Enviado el: jueves, 22 de noviembre de 2012 4:51
>>Para: World wide Open Space Technology email list
>>Asunto: 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 <<mailto:hhowen at verizon.net>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 dont 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 <x-msg://1038/tel:301-365-2093>301-365-2093
>>(summer) <x-msg://1038/tel:207-763-3261>207-763-3261
>>
>><http://www.openspaceworld.com%20>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:
>><mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
>>[mailto:<mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org]
>>On Behalf OfJL 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:
>><mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
>>[<mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org]
>>En nombre deHarrison 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?
>>
>>Ive 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
>>doesnt 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
>>dont 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
>>dont 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 minds 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 cant 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. Weve
>>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 27thyear, 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 didnt 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 dont 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)
>>well 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 Dos and Donts. 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 <x-msg://1038/tel:301-365-2093>301-365-2093
>>(summer) <x-msg://1038/tel:207-763-3261>207-763-3261
>>
>><http://www.openspaceworld.com%20>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
>>
>>
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>>
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