[OSList] A Time for Questions...about Liminality, Ronin & Stigmergy

Mon Sep 2 06:45:16 PDT 2013

What a fascinating thread!

"..the forces of creativity soared to the joy and terror of all involved."

Two things are clear: the old rules no longer apply, and individuals are 
reacting WAY faster than institutions. We are liminal. We are no longer 
where we were, and not yet where we are going. We are in transition. The 
Individuals, the whole...the whole ball of wax is going liminal in a 
huge way...

Is everyone more liminal than ever before?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liminality

The primary way to make sense of a near-chaos situation (like the one we 
are in) is to inspect everything much more frequently. We know this from 
Agile software methods. When the situation gets really messy, the answer 
is empiricism...iteration...frequent inspection...and frequent 
adjustment. This last part is tricky because it requires a very open 
mind, and more than a little alacrity. In Japanese, the word 'ronin sums 
up this idea. It means 'wave man' or 'wave rider'.

Is everyone a ronin because of what feels like s state of constant 
change.....aka "permanent Liminality?" Are OST Facilitators actually 
playing a Ronin role, serving for a time and moving on?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C5%8Dnin
http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Way_of_the_Ronin.html?id=G2g5KsKEOfoC

One of the things that seems to be the new normal is 'stigmergy', the 
form of self-organization that depends on one-way announcements and 
unilateral broadcasts. The basic idea is a "send/receive" protocol where 
anyone can "send" a message, and the "receive" is 100% optional. It's a 
kind of invitation to listen. And optionally respond.

Sound familiar?

Is stigmergy the new normal?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigmergy

Everywhere, I see stigmergy, everywhere I see wave-people, everywhere I 
see liminality. Various groups in various places are hosting 
conversations and events, and making plans, and announcing them, and 
going from there. No one group is "in charge" in any sense of that term. 
It's futile to try. Any and all alignments by and between groups are 
based on shared values and relative urgency, in the now. The most 
effective people (both as individuals and in groups) are iterating and 
inspecting VERY frequently now.

I wonder if Open Space is about to emerge one of the most useful if not 
THE most useful piece of social technology for making sense of reality 
in groups when everything is changing. The rise of stigmergy as a way of 
organizing naturally favors the use of Open Space, for brewing new 
things... by and between groups that find each other.

Is everyone more liminal than ever before?
Are OST Facilitators actually ronin?
Is stigmergy the new normal?

On 9/1/13 6:59 PM, Harrison Owen wrote:
> David Osborne's statement and Chris's question precipitated something in my
> head. Needless to say David can and should speak for himself. However from
> my relatively isolated corner of the universe (Maine) I have noticed a few
> interesting suggestions that something of a shift might be in the wind.
> Whether it will be sufficient to save Homo sapiens from ossification, only
> time will tell.
>
> One such suggestion in the increase of questioning. As a child of the 50's
> (and yes there really were human beings walking the earth in that primal
> time), my world was firmly described by answers. Everybody knew precisely
> how life should be lived. There were rules to be followed, and if followed
> success was assured. Of course there were deviants who were largely
> marginalized and suppressed, but WE knew the Answers... the right way.
>
> And then a funny thing called the '60s blew all that certainty away. It was
> at once terrifying, refreshing, and exhilarating. And one thing was for
> sure: The primacy of answers gave way to an avalanche of questions. It is in
> the nature of questions to open space. Answers close it.
>
> With all the fresh air of openness, the forces of creativity soared to the
> joy and terror of all involved. Space in all dimensions exploded, and the
> tight societies of Philadelphia and New York, in which I grew up, shattered
> to merge with insular rural communities, and make contact with strange
> creatures on The Other Coast. Strange new world!
>
> The 70's and early 80's possessed a rich nutrient openness. New stories, and
> the answers they purported to provide, popped up like mushrooms. Some were
> weird, some substantive, some technological and all of them creating as many
> new questions as the answers they supposedly offered. Thrilling!
>
> But as the 80's ended and the 90's arrived it seemed that the age of answers
> were settling more than a few of the questions. Author's could write
> knowingly about "New Rules"... and while there was a breath of novelty it
> seemed the rules (answers) were known.
>
> The 90's slid by with almost dream like certainty. At least that's how it
> seemed to me. The Markets were up, America ruled. Some were even suggesting
> that the Age of Aquarius had actually begun! I guess there were still some
> questions, but none that we couldn't handle with the right Process or
> Procedure. And if not today, then tomorrow. So ended the Millennium.
>
> The New Millennium rolled in as predicted. Surprise! But in a funny way it
> seemed pretty anti-climactic. To be sure there were lots of parties,
> fireworks, speeches, the usual turn of the Millennia Fantasies. But at the
> end of the day it was pretty much more of the same... Until a bright clear
> day in September. September 11th to be exact. Maybe this was just a turning
> point for those of us in the USA. But I do believe, as I listen to my
> friends and colleagues from around the world -- we were all there. Doubtless
> with different feelings and interpretations. But for better, for worse, for
> richer, for poorer... it was a very different world!
>
> How different, we are only just beginning to understand. And for the first
> time in some long time -- the Questions vastly outnumber the available
> answers. This is a Turning Point. And a wonderful one, I do believe. When we
> as a species are compelled to sit in that really uncomfortable and juicy
> moment created by truly profound questions, the Space is truly OPENED. I
> think that is where we are at, and best of all I see lots of new faces
> rising to the bait. Call them "Millennials" or whatever... but it is every
> bit as exciting as the "60's" and we may or may not survive to tell the
> tale. But that has always been true.
>
> 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
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>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
> [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Chris Kloth
> Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 8:15 PM
> To: World wide Open Space Technology email list; David Osborne
> Subject: Re: [OSList] Federal Reserve Employees Survey
>
> David,
>
> I wonder if you could share a little more about what is going on already. I
> have had conversations with Fed officials in San Francisco and Cleveland
> and, while they are doing some things I am very interested in and impressed
> by, I have yet to see evidence of OST.
>
> --
> Shalom,
>
> Chris Kloth
> ChangeWorks of the Heartland
> 254 South Merkle Road
> Bexley, OH 43209-1801
> ph 614-239-1336
> fax 614-237-2347
> www.got2change.com
>
>
> Quoting David Osborne <dosborne at change-fusion.com>:
>
>> Yes Brett. Being Done.
>>
>> Consider looking beyond the reporting....to the fact that space has
>> been opened for this to be shared and talked about. What is in the
>> news is not always the best reflection of what is actually happening.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> David Osborne
>>
>>
>>
>> www.change-fusion.com | dosborne at change-fusion.com | 703.939.1777 On
>> Sat, Aug 31, 2013 at 12:35 PM, Brett Barndt <barndtbrett at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Can the OST community perhaps help here? It is a sad state of affairs
>>> in which we all have a stake. Even citizens of the world have a stake
>>> in this dysfunction owing to the interconnected nature of the global
>>> economies, our livelihoods, and well-being.
>>>
>>> The appointees, and congress by association, should not be permitted
>>> to let it go on this way any longer. People are dying out there with
>>> higher poverty, food insecurity, mortality, and suicide rates as a
>>> result of this situation.
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/federal-reserve-employees-su
>>> rvey_n_3826165.html
>>>
>>> Discourse and dialogue are the last thing that should be stifled by
>>> culture or any other dysfunction in an institution like this one.
>>>
>>> OST and an open process of multi-stakeholder engagement is of course
>>> part of the solution.
>>>
>>> This seems like it should be well within our rights to insist upon at
>>> this moment in time. We are stakeholders. Albeit. we are
>>> non-consulted, unrepresented stakeholders in the current practice.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>
>
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