[OSList] Open Space – 2013 and Beyond

[paul levy]

Skye,

The first line is ironic, not literal. Forgive my English soul.

Paul

On 01/02/2013, Skye Hirst <skyeh at autognomics.org> wrote:
> How fascinating!  You say it's a "thing" then continue to reflect that is
> it a "process."  You might want to explore the different metaphysics of
> each.  Quite different i think.  Heraclitus spoke of "becoming"  as more
> alive than things which Plato wanted us to focus on,  the fixed ness of
> that which we could touch, see over and over the same way so we could
> examine it closely to know that it was "real"
>
> Yes,  it is a "self" process; self knowing, self referencing and
> self-correcting.  This is not a thing in the old metaphysics.  Thanks for
> your thoughtful comments. This is what they used to call "doing philosophy"
> Skye
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 8:13 AM, paul levy <paul at cats3000.net> wrote:
>
>> Well, here's the whole thing...
>>
>> Open Space – 2013 and Beyond
>>
>>
>> Be in no doubt, Open Space Technology is a thing. Harrison Owen
>> specifically called (and continues to call) it a “technology”. It was a
>> new
>> technology designed to replace a tired old one. It was also called a
>> technology at a time when, in management and organisational circles,
>> facilitation methods and approaches were being called “technologies”;
>> also
>> “tools” and “”techniques” – more so in the United States than in the
>> counties and cities of the United Kingdom. This particular technology was
>> a
>> way of conferencing and getting things done that was way better than
>> over-fussy and over- formalised older “technologies”.
>>
>> It was a neat cultural reaction to a future being painted as robotic,
>> with
>> society’s problems being solved by things of steel, microchip and
>> plastic.
>> By embodying “softer” processes as “technologies” we had a viable
>> alternative to plugging things into our nerve endings and veins. We could
>> deploy alternative ways of doing things, ways of seeing the world, ways
>> of
>> behaving. If these could be presented simply, and if they could have a
>> kind
>> of enduring repeatability in different situations, then they would be
>> viable alternatives to machines and “stuff”-based innovation. A potent
>> and
>> softer technology to allow us to ride the waves of change. Oh, and of
>> course, it was a wonderful and simple alternative to over-structured,
>> facilitator-heavy meeting process to boot!
>>
>> Open Space Technology is, therefore, presented as a fairly simple,
>> resilient, and, most importantly, transferable and repeatable THING. It
>> is
>> something you sort of “switch on” and, to quote Harrison, it just about
>> “always works”.
>>
>> This particular thing is a “technology” so applicable, timeless and
>> repeatable, because it operates according to natural law. It is an
>> expression, in process, of self-organisation.
>>
>> Open Space Technology isn’t self-organisation as much as
>> self-organisation
>> is Open Space.
>>
>> Now, there’s been a fair amount of discussion in recent years as to what
>> self-organisation is, and Harrison Owen himself has dived into that
>> exciting pool of thinking and dialogue-ing. I think we are very much at
>> the
>> beginning of understanding what self-organisation is. It certainly begs
>> the
>> question “what is the self in self-organisation?”. There are a range of
>> different answers to this and, not surprisingly, they sit on that old
>> cherry of a line that runs from material science to religion and faith.
>> Open Space as a field has always attracted people who see it as an
>> embodiment of natural science in social action through a practical proof
>> and expression of the truth of self-organisation as an underlying natural
>> law. It has also attracted its fair share of spiritual faithfuls who see
>> it
>> as a magical process for making spiritual potential real in the physical
>> world. It has given birth to articles about biological self-organisation
>> in
>> human social systems, alongside articles about the power of “holding the
>> space”, walking anticlockwise, and the gonging of Tibetan Bells. And also
>> a
>> fair number of people who see Open Space as uniting science and
>> spirituality in a meeting process that proves both can sit alongside each
>> other without too much conflict.
>>
>> Harrison Owen himself, when it suits him, expounds thousands of words on
>> Open Space, how to do it, on self-organization, on wave-riding and so on.
>> When others do the same, especially where attempts are made to elaborate
>> the field, explore it, innovative or develop it, he often suggests that
>> such thinking is a bit of a pointless exercise, and suggests we just go
>> and
>> “open some space”. It’s a charming, grandfatherly way to be, and I don’t
>> mind it at all.
>>
>> As 2013 dawns, I’m convinced that Self-Organisation is Open Space. But I
>> don’t buy the definition that seems to be emerging that the “self” in
>> self-organisation doesn’t refer to individual human selves. It most
>> certainly does. When we contemplate the world (or even universal)
>> process,
>> it is too easy to forget that we are contemplating ourselves as part of
>> that world process. We don’t sit outside of the universe we are a part
>> of.
>> When I derive universal laws of nature, I am also deriving those as laws
>> that flow through me. And yet there is also a process of observation by
>> my
>> self of my self that is then taking place. If I say, “this is true for
>> the
>> universe”, then I am also saying “this is true for me in the universe”.
>> But
>> I am also saying “My self is observing that this is true for me in the
>> universe”. It’s the classic observer part of ourselves that observes our
>> observing!
>>
>> There’s me (“I”), there’s the universe – and there’s also me in the
>> universe and the universe in me.
>>
>> When we self-organise, we both organise as a collective self through
>> community action (the collective circle) but we also observe into the
>> circle from a standpoint that no one else in that circle can occupy. No
>> one
>> can be me. No one can refer to me as ‘I’ except for me! Of course there’s
>> a
>> danger that such an ego or self-focused view can turn into egotism, where
>> the self is self-viewed as more important than any other self-views. But
>> there’s also an opportunity to live what Rudolf Steiner described as a
>> community life where, in the mirror of each human, the community finds
>> its
>> reflection and where, in the community, the virtues of each one is
>> living.
>>
>> Self-organisation occurs when the self organises. In community it is a
>> dual process of the self (the individual) observing into the circle from
>> their unique standpoint and where, he or she, also imagines and reaches
>> beyond that singular point, into the circle, a collective space, a
>> community endeavour, where individual selves are also cells connecting
>> into
>> a large self-organising being.
>>
>> This happens sometimes so brilliantly in an improvisation troupe. We see
>> moments of individual genius but also a contribution of each self to a
>> bigger self – the group, and when this joins up and there is flowing
>> collaboration, a synergy arises and the group performance is even
>> greater,
>> never quite explainable in terms of any individual performances.
>>
>> Yes, yes! The whole can be greater than the sum of the parts when the
>> individual offers their self-part to become part of the community,
>> allowing
>> it to self-organise, beyond their own individual ego. We freely flow into
>> the community, and no one knows or cares who, at that moment is blowing
>> the
>> wind. Equally, we step out of that circle and sing our own tune – the
>> community self-organises, and sometimes we individually self-organise.
>>
>> Situations change, needs in communities and organisations change.
>> Sometimes the lone voice is the only voice that needs to be heard.
>> Sometimes the lone voice needs to quieten and listen to the circle.
>> Sometimes a wonderful mess needs to ensue, a chaos for a while, sometimes
>> it all needs to be neat.
>>
>> Open Space Technology brings lots of individual selves together and – in
>> a
>> way born of natural genius – creates a market place for selves to address
>> themselves to a community need, and also for a community need to manifest
>> in individual, group and even whole circle endeavour. Open Space is a
>> wonderful bridge between individual and collective self. When it is truly
>> flowing self-organisation is both individual and whole. The dynamic is
>> musical, and often akin to dance – as dance that can been seen both on
>> the
>> stage and under a microscope, or even out in the starry heavens.
>>
>> But sometimes the technology needs adapting. For a very good and
>> important
>> reason that, ironically, lies deep at the heart of self-organisation
>> itself. This is because, although nature itself reveals its laws as
>> timeless, one little experiment in nature appears to elude that repeating
>> consistency. To quote Steiner again, we will only really begin to
>> understand the human self when we realise that each human being is a
>> unique
>> species of one. Each of us is a new universe, a new emergent day, every
>> single second. There is no technology that can fully hold the space for
>> our
>> emerging selves. Self-organisation then needs to flex, flow and emerge
>> with
>> our own emerging mystery. For Open Space to embody a warm, loving truth,
>> it
>> has to expose itself to … open space. Open Space cannot sit outside of
>> the
>> emergent mystery of uniqueness. It may prove itself for a while as fairly
>> resilient. But then it becomes dogmatic, rusty, nostalgic and even a bit
>> sad. Self-organising open space technology has to be able include
>> re-organising its-self!
>>
>> What are you scared of?
>>
>> Happy New Year,
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>>
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>