[OSList] Open Space Economics? Be Prepared to be Surprised!

Thu Oct 3 13:43:48 PDT 2013

Bui - I would disagree. We are all and most certainly equally gifted when it
come to Opening Space... if only because no special gifts are required
except a good head and a good heart. And I am sure you have both. I think
Michael P's lengthy note says it all, so far as I am concerned. Opening
Space is a natural act, indeed space opens of its own accord unless it has
been firmly closed by someone who thinks they are in charge. Even that
doesn't really change the situation, they just think it does, but their
efforts do make our efforts more difficult. At such times, I find the Law of
Two feet particularly useful, and my two questions (conditions) - self
selection and all issues on the table - make it clear for me when I should
take a hike.

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)

Camden, Maine 04843

Phone 301-365-2093

(summer)  207-763-3261

www.openspaceworld.com 

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Bui Petersen
Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2013 1:59 PM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] Open Space Economics? Be Prepared to be Surprised!

Thanks Harrison,

I think that perhaps we are not equally gifted as OS facilitators. That
said, for us more "mortal" facilitators, not noticing some dynamic does not
necessarily mean that it isn't there. I think it for most of us, it is
important to know it is (or can be) there, whether we call it power or
something else. If  I end up doing research on group processes, OST will
likely be just be one of several to be compared.

Yes, there is an interested common belief that the world can be managed.
Much of the literature in my field (Organizational Behaviour) is about
"managing" people and finding the best way to control them (I'm generalizing
and simplifying here). I find it fascinating that in this capitalist world,
where the world supposedly is benefiting from an "efficient market",
management is still dominated by a belief based on Taylorist and Fordist
views of organization and production, something that Stalin was an early
adopter of. Why is it that when we don't want to overly control society that
we still want to overly control organizations?

I said a few years because it will take me a while before I get past
mandatory course work and comprehensive exams. :)

Bui

On 02/10/2013 3:57 PM, Harrison Owen wrote:

Bui - I surely hope that we will be seeing you sooner than a few years from
now! And I have to say that nothing in my experience of multiple Open
Spaces, including many with lots of CEOs, matches what you seem to be
saying. To begin  with I have never seen an Open Space that didn't work at
all three levels of "work" that I would consider relevant. A) It works at a
formal level - Folks sit in a circle, create bulletin board, open a market
place and go to work. B) It works at a practical level - they actually get
something done which they deem to be significant. C) It works at a
continuing level - which for me means that at the minimum, even if they
never do an Open Space again, and even if they immediately revert to their
hierarchical, bureaucratic ways they always know that it could be better and
different. I have had CEOs (and other execs) ask me if they should
participate, fearing that their presence might be intimidating - To which my
standard response is that they should do whatever they feel comfortable
doing, but not to worry. I sometimes add that, presuming they have some
value to add, their participation would be a plus. That usually causes a
smile, and almost inevitably, active participation.

I confess I have heard tales of CEO's who became so threatened that they
stood in the middle and essentially told everybody what to do. In a word,
they just shut off the lights. Perhaps my prejudices have gotten the better
of me, but that doesn't sound like a failure of Open Space, but rather a
case of exceptionally bad manners and probably a severe personality
disorder.

Perhaps one of the reasons I have never encountered a situation such as you
describe is that I always insist on a conversation with the Senior Folks as
a condition of contract. My friend Lisa might call this "pre-work," but to
me it has always been a relatively short simple conversation in which we go
over a few essentials. First, the gathering will be voluntary (voluntary
self selection).  Second, all issues of concern to anybody in the gathering
will be on the table should they chose to put them there. If I detect any
problem, that would be pretty much the end of the conversation, and my
participation in their endeavor. Truth to tell in all my years I can only
remember a single occasion where we ran into a deal breaker. And for
whatever it is worth, that organization and those execs are now out of
business. I wonder why?

The whole question of Executive control is a fascinating one, and should you
pursue all this in your studies, you will have a rich field. >From where I
sit,  the notion that any executive could exercise the sorts of control that
many think they have, or perhaps hope they do (after all somebody must be in
charge!) is flawed to say the least. They don't have it, never did, and
never will. The reason is simple. Any organization, large or small, is so
enmeshed with an environment which is so fast moving, interconnected, random
and chaotic that we can't even think at that level. And what we can't think,
we surely can't control. Mission Impossible.  Yes I know that there is this
hope and expectation, fostered by the multiple business schools of the world
that change can be managed, that the future can be predicted, indeed
created, that the Plan will triumph. Lots of luck.

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)

Camden, Maine 04843

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 Bui Petersen
Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2013 11:23 AM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] Open Space Economics? Be Prepared to be Surprised!

Maybe "circumventing" is the wrong word. But for me the issue of power is
central. In order for OST to work, the "CEO" has to temporarily give up some
of her/his power (both procedural and positional).

I'm quite serious about this, and OST (and other group processes) may become
part of my academic research (I just started on an PhD in Management). Maybe
my contribution will be to help make the field of Management become more
open to self-organization. :)

Maybe you'll all hear back from me in a few years. :)

Bui

On 02/10/2013 1:04 AM, Michael Herman wrote:

I can't ever remember "attempting to circumvent power dynamics," Bui.  While
it's quite common when people talk about sitting in a circle they say things
like, "...the circle makes everyone equal."  I always disagree.  The circle
gives everyone equal access to all the others in the circle, the markers and
paper and microphone at the center, and the bulletin board gives everyone
the same access to all of the info that is generated.  It doesn't make them
equal, the ceo has an entirely different set of skills, resources,
experiences, concerns than the new intern.  But as a facilitator, I give
everyone the same job:  learn and contribute as much as you can, from
wherever you are, with whatever you have at your disposal.  serve the common
purpose.   

none of this attempts or requires any circumventing.  i think ost works in
spite of whatever the power structure might be, once people show up.  maybe
the invitation tweaks the power structure -- but if the invite comes from
the top, then it's the top giving power away -- hardly a circumvention, and
certainly not the facilitator attempting.  if the invite bubbles up from
somewhere below, then it's the lower ranks claiming power for themselves.
so i think any shifting of power arises because invitation exists as an
option, not because anything we do in the process of 'opening space.'  i
think ost is just one way of pointing out that invitation is possible and
the ost story is pretty much the same in all kinds of different "power"
distributions.  

or maybe i just don't understand.  what do you do to notice and recognize
power imbalances?  and how have you seen this improve the ost experience for
people?   

m

--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
312-280-7838 (mobile)

http://MichaelHerman.com
http://OpenSpaceWorld.org

On Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 5:06 PM, Bui Petersen <bui.petersen at gmail.com> wrote:

Michael, I guess we'll have to disagree. I see OST's temporal attempt at
circumventing power dynamics (e.g through the the empowered of the the law
of two feet) as one of the beauties of the process. 

One of the reasons that the liberal view of market economics is problematic
is that it doesn't account for power imbalances. While you can't take away
all structural power, I think the OST experience can be enhanced by at least
some awareness and recognition of such powers.

Bui 

On 30/09/2013 10:56 PM, Michael Herman wrote:

i don't think ost is trying to "take away structural power," bui -- not even
temporarily.  i think it's more about acknowledging the distribution of
knowledge and choice (power) that already exists.  the law of two feet isn't
something special we enact at the start of an event, it's something we just
notice and point out, for instance.   

m 

--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
312-280-7838 (mobile)

http://MichaelHerman.com
http://OpenSpaceWorld.org

On Mon, Sep 30, 2013 at 10:21 AM, Bui Petersen <bui.petersen at gmail.com>
wrote:

Interesting discussion. When I have described OST, some people have been
skeptical as it to them has has sounded to "neo-liberal" and not taking
power balances enough into consideration. Obviously what the "structure" of
OST is trying to do is to take away structural power temporarily. But some
people are still skeptical about OST's potential to do this. My own take is
that OST does not always fully succeed in this regard. 

Still it is very interesting theoretically. Both there is a lot of other
(than economics) theoretical perspectives that better deal with power.

Bui 

On 26/09/2013 5:33 PM, Michael Herman wrote:

I share your concerns, Jeff, but found this piece to be mostly not about
politics.  And where he comments on current views and policy, I was less
bothered by what he was saying than by my tendency to agree in many cases.
But mostly this is interesting and useful totally separate from his
politics, I think. 

On Thursday, September 26, 2013, Jeff Aitken wrote:

thanks Michael! 

It's unfortunate that I have a lingering dislike for Mr. Gilder, who was
famous for awhile around 1981 when the Reagan administration rolled out its
economic agenda, and his work was considered one of its intellectual
pillars.

Twas a long time ago, and no doubt the man remains a hard thinker and clear
writer, perhaps with more heart than I experienced back then.

With that caveat, I'll dig into this when I have a chance. Thanks for
sharing.

Jeff

San Francisco

On Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 12:25 PM, Michael Herman <michael at michaelherman.com>
wrote:

Here's a long one, friends. But maybe an important one.

What follows is an excerpt from a markets newsletter I've read for maybe 10
years by a financial expert and best-selling author Named John Mauldin.  He
describes and then shares an article by a guy named George Gilder, Who seems
to have been writing "important" books for at least a few decades.  

-- 
Michael Herman
MichaelHerman.com
(312) 280-7838 <tel:%28312%29%20280-7838>  

Sent from my iPhone

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