[OSList] Beginnings, Middles and Ends... Where are we?
John Watkins
johnw536 at mac.com
Tue Nov 27 09:10:07 PST 2012
The point I was trying to make is that it is an illusion to think we will be more free without structure, since we are both individually and collectively embodied beings and embedded [woven] in structures all the time, and it is a mistake to think we will be more spiritual with less structure, when we are already spiritual as embodied. Our freedom comes from understanding the structures we have woven and are embedded in, and from realizing we have a choice of structures to bind ourselves to, and from choosing carefully those that align with the meanings we make and the purposes we enact. We are more spiritual by realizing that we are always anyway, and aligning our choices of structure and action with our fundamental nature.
John
On Nov 27, 2012, at 6:53 AM, Harrison Owen wrote:
> John – Nice. Paradox is cool, even if quite uncomfortable to those who prefer this or that. Unfortunately, given the limitations of language, I think we are stuck with paradox (dialectic) when talking about (making sense of) the deeper elements of our life.
>
> 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
>
> From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of John Watkins
> Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 10:13 PM
> To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
> Subject: Re: [OSList] Beginnings, Middles and Ends... Where are we?
>
> I have been watching and pondering this conversation for some time now, with curiosity and some skepticism. Paraphrasing Clifford Geertz, "...believing, with [Clifford Geertz], that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take..." this conversation to be about, not a dichotomy between structure, on the one hand, and freedom, spirit, and open space, on the other, but a web of meaning making that enfolds one into the other. It is a chicken and egg phenomenon. And the answer is, neither came first.
>
> Consider: awhile ago, Meg Wheatley described the emergent process of the interaction of identity, information, and relationship as the central process of organizing, negating the need for structure, as it was conceived by the old structuralists, such as Mintzberg. I take the intersection of those three as the place where meaning is made. But I am with Geertz: there can be no meaning making outside of the existing structures, patterns, and processes of culture; hence, even in open space, we already have culture providing a holding structure, a prioriany opening of space(s). Giving Meg her due, it is in the dynamic interweaving of identity (construed within culture, hence structure), information (passed through organizational structural lines of communication), and relationship (allowed or thwarted by organizational structures) where we make meaning. Yet meaning making leads to patterns, processes, and structures (open space being one kind) that then feed back in webs of signification to surround and encode what is possible in the interaction of identity, information, and relationship. It is all interwoven, a dynamic and overdetermined yet indeterminate causal web. There is no dichotomy.
>
> I am a student of traditional tantric philosophy as enacted in modern yoga practice (this is not American neo-tantra!). This is a non-dual view of life, spirit, and the universe. That is, we do not define freedom, or spirit, or transcendence, as the escaping from the bindings of physical reality, of embodiment, but as living fully into what it means to choose our particular binding and celebrate that choice as divine, as spirit, as freedom. Freedom, in a non-dual sense, is about fully inhabiting the structures we live in (e.g., our body), and choosing how best to manifest those, choosing what to bind ourselves too (yoga = to yoke, to bind). Spirit is about fully acknowledging the structures we exist in and help recreate, and seeing spirit as enacted in and as those structures. Transcendence is recognizing that there is infinite abundance in the diversity of ways we might choose to bind ourselves, worthy of the most rigorous inquiry and curiosity. Paradoxical? Maybe. But isn't what we think of as open space also paradoxical? In paradox I see the most powerful signifiers of what is real.
>
> So, I do not think we can really commit ourselves to a dichotomous view that sets structure against freedom, spirit, and open space. But we can celebrate the ways that each enfolds the other to reveal more about the true nature of what it means to be human and live in a human and emergent community! I choose to bind myself to that possibility.
>
> John
>
>
> On Nov 26, 2012, at 4:20 PM, Suzanne Daigle wrote:
>
>
> I am savoring all of this, reading and re-reading, reflecting on it all. The elusive quality of spirit and structure so eloquently described by many here and then this description of life and organizations...of beginnings, middles and ends and the magic of "one less thing to do" and it makes me wonder to my own journey of heightened consciousness these past few years -- stuff that I was oblivious to in the rush of living life. It makes me wonder about the journey of so many others, a journey that feels blissful and painful in the way of birth and death. It is a journey that adds a whole new dimension to life, that makes me feel so very grateful that Open Space came into my life as a trigger awakening me a bit more every day. And with this feeling of gratitude and being more present, moment by moment (also elusive and magical), I then reflect with much love and gratitude wondering about all those in our current organizations, in our families, in our communities who are on the cusp of being awakened to this experience of life as it is, moment by moment.
>
> This pulls me into "invitation" -- an invitation to the "spirit of Open Space" with a purposeful "non doing" which opens up wide open spaces by the mere act of " just being".
>
> I am discovering that the invitation is in the "being", this sweet spot that radiates calm, peace, quiet joy, buckets of gratitude and lots of love knowing that life with others in a self-organized way is pretty darn amazing. In that sense, it feels like there's a lot of action and invitation in the "one more thing NOT to do!" And the funniest thing of all is that the traditional and esteemed leadership qualities of being highly analytical and strategic, able to describe, justify, perfect, deliver and and prove don't seem as important anymore. High performance happens naturally when we do less, leaving room for us and others to do what we, individually and collectively, are truly passionate about and want to take responsibility for.
>
> Suzanne, living my own new beginning thankful for the sustained 27 years of Open Space and the billions of years before that which led me to this path and this community not that long ago
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 20, 2012 at 3:05 PM, Lourdes Adriana Diaz-Berrio Doring <adriana at diazberrio.com> wrote:
> Michael Pannwitz: I received the cards you send me thank you! I Haven't use them I need to learn more how to use them.
> Adriana ( In Montreal)
>
> 2012/11/20 Michael M Pannwitz <mmpannwitz at gmail.com>
> Dear Harrison,
> two things popped into my mind reading your thoughts:
> ---OST as a structure has been developing all the time I have been associated with it (1996 till now at a stage where I do connect to the idea of "an old soldier fading away")... in a small practical way I can see that in the development of "Task Cards - Setting up an Open Space event" which has seen five revised editions in 2005,2006,2008,2009 and 2010... we produced 150 sets in each of those years, tossing out some, adding others, changing some... that appears to be part of OST living in an "adaptive complex system" which I perceive the worldwide os-system to be.
> ---The impact of working with OST in a socalled "mature" organisation over time: manifestations of spirit arising and in its wake transforming the "mature" structures mostly in the direction of a "no-structures" structure. Here the real life example is the national agency youth administering European youth projects in Germany that has worked with ost constantly internally and within its broader system for 12 years (some 35 ost events of the 16 hours os over three days variety)... the "CEO" of that org has written it up, one day it will be translated into English... (anyone interested in the German version on this LIST, let me know).
>
> My reading on this is that OST is alive and kicking, adapting itself as we proceed
> and the other thing which I call
> selforganisation
> could care less about any of the structures we might come up with the moment they become unproductive, no fun, without learning or high play or whatever else selforganisation has up its sleeves.
>
> Have a great day
> mmp
>
>
> On 20.11.2012 01:26, Harrison Owen wrote:
> 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
>
> (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
>
>
>
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>
> --
> Michael M Pannwitz
> Draisweg 1, 12209 Berlin, Germany
> ++49 - 30-772 8000
>
>
>
> Check out the Open Space World Map presently showing 389 resident Open Space Workers in 68 countries working in a total of 142 countries worldwide: www.openspaceworldmap.org
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> --
>
> Adriana Díaz-Berrio Ph.D. CRHA
> (514) 739 2268
> www.diazberrio.com
>
>
>
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>
> --
> Suzanne Daigle
> NuFocus Strategic Group
> 7159 Victoria Circle
> University Park, FL 34201
> FL 941-359-8877;
> CT 203-722-2009
> www.nufocusgroup.com
> s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com
> twitter @suzannedaigle
>
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