[OSList] A Time for Questions (Warning: Very Long)

Suzanne Daigle sdaigle4 at gmail.com
Tue Sep 3 19:14:13 PDT 2013


One more contribution on this topic...

*9-11 The Great Manhattan Boatlif*t...*9 hours, 500,000 people rescued*!

An 11 minute video you will never forget

...Open Space? Self-organizing?

http://www.youtube.com/embed/MDOrzF7B2Kg?rel=0


*

*


On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 8:36 PM, Suzanne Daigle <sdaigle4 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Brett, David, Harrison, Chris, and Chris, Skye, Dan and others that
> I'm missing,
>
> The original topic on the Federal Reserve (Brett) and all that transpired
> on the OS list afterwards ( A time for questions)  was so thought-provoking
> and conversation rich. It led to a great "in the moment" Skype exchange
> today -- one that was truly living in Open Space and not a doing Open
> Space. The theme emerged naturally around the value of Questions and so
> much more. It was enough to get us going. Real life experiences,client
> situations, real issues and problems were discussed. So very much in 1 hour
> or a bit more -- all from the comfort of our own home space.
>
> We truly reveled in our time together, able to see each other by Skype and
> conversing as if we were seated next to each other in a circle. In some
> ways it felt even more intense and connected than if we had been together
> in person. There was room for laughter, for confusion, for digging deeper,
> for perplexed frowns, for thumbs up aha moments, and just being with each
> other.
>
> I did not take notes, maybe someone else did -- I wonder if we could ever
> capture the deep learning and sharing that happened moment by moment. We
> were five from 2 continents. It felt special!
>
> Thank you Tricia for initiating this wonderful Skype meeting every week.
> I imagine that over time, it will grow and evolve in ways that we can't yet
> conceive-- in a self-organized easy way!
>
> It truly was sheer delight to pick up on an OS topic that touched us
> deeply and continue the conversation. I encourage you to check your
> calendars and if you're free at noon Eastern Standard Time on a Tuesday,
> next week or another week.
>
> *Sign up ahead of time at : OS Marketplace <http://tinyurl.com/nxbndq8>*
> *Include: *your Skype name if you have never attended an OS hotline Skype
> or send a note to Tricia Chirumbole to make it quick and easy to join
> whenever.
>
> Suzanne, an appreciative participant
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 11:58 AM, Skye Hirst <skyeh at autognomics.org> wrote:
>
>> I would love to meet you on Skype conversation.  This stream is soo
>> rich.  THanks for this long summary. Also what comes to mind is Claire
>> Graves work (Sprial Dynamics)  human history develops in spiraling
>> pattern.  Skye
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 2, 2013 at 11:11 PM, Chris Kloth <chris.kloth at got2change.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Harrison, et al...
>>>
>>> I have been reflecting on your history piece since it was posted. It has
>>> taken me down several paths that were both perplexing and energizing.
>>>
>>> First, being old enough to have experienced all those decades first
>>> hand, the storyline certainly resonates with me.
>>>
>>> Second, the value of questions. One reason I was attracted to OST and
>>> you some 20-ish years ago was that I had been struggling with finding
>>> methodologies or frameworks within which to apply what I had been exploring
>>> in David Bohm's work on dialogue and on "implicate order." Just as his
>>> Nobel prize winning work in physics revealed, it was clear that what was
>>> needed was a way to engage the paradox of complexity and simplicity in the
>>> same space. Questions were/are key, as were/are multiple perspectives. I
>>> quickly recognized the potential of OST to take me further down that path.
>>>
>>> Later, as I got to know you and others better, and began making OST an
>>> important part of my work, your thinking/writing about spirit that became
>>> more important to me than the methodology or process questions. One
>>> important element of that work is the power of the story... the cultural
>>> myths, the creation stories, etc.
>>>
>>> Which brings me back to the history piece. Something is in the wind, you
>>> say. You also suggest that the questions vastly outnumber the answers.
>>> Finally, you suggest we are at a turning point and that there is a sense
>>> reminiscent of the sixties. In the spirit of Bohm's both/and thinking, I
>>> couldn't agree more and have what may be another take.
>>>
>>> I think one aspect of the fifties story that helped create the
>>> possibility the sixties was the Cold War. Yes, on one level we had a sense
>>> of some of the answers and acted like we knew more. But on the other hand
>>> there was also a sense of fear that there were powers and forces that were
>>> beyond our control and comprehension...a real sense that the world could be
>>> blown to bits in no time flat.
>>>
>>> It was 1962 when Bob Dylan said, "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in
>>> the wind." In the context of Harrison's contrast of the 50s and 60s it now
>>> strikes me as creating an interesting sense of movement: "THE answer" feels
>>> very fifties and "blowin' in the wind" feels very sixties. The focus was
>>> still on the answer, an answer, but chasing the wind we began to consider
>>> the possibility of multiple answers. We started asking more questions, but
>>> they were initially more confrontive and judgmental and more oriented
>>> toward offering an alternative set of best answers...ours!
>>>
>>> Certainly there were some matters of justice that deserved confronting
>>> and there were people plumbing the deeper questions and possibilities. As
>>> you suggest, this energy propelled us into the 70s and 80s with all kinds
>>> of questions and answers and options ans tools and mental models blowing in
>>> the wind... some of it as hurricane force.
>>>
>>> The new rules you refer to were quite a relief for people after a
>>> hurricane. Let me tie my boat back onto a dock and take a breath. Your
>>> image of the dream of the 90s brings to my mind both a sense of breathing
>>> for reflection or aspirational dreaming, as well as a sense of dreaming as
>>> a way to avoid reality by creating illusions... Then, WHAM - Hello! Wake
>>> up. Yes, 9/11 had some unique American attributes, but like the Cuban
>>> Missile Crisis (also 1962), there were ripples throughout the world.
>>>
>>> I, too, recognize some similarities in the energy of the present moment
>>> and the present generation and that of the sixties. I believe we are at
>>> another turning point. The question that raises for me is whether this
>>> means that those who say history repeats itself in cycles (the pendulum
>>> story or the going in circles story) have it right. Or is it possible that
>>> what we are seeing has similarities with the sixties but, because we learn
>>> and advance in a direction, there are important differences worth noting.
>>>
>>> I say "Yes! Both are true." One of the most durable principles of early
>>> childhood development is Piaget's Developmental Spiral. A spiral is
>>> circular and also moves in a direction. Briefly, children go through cycles
>>> of growth that can be faster (hurricane force, everything changes over
>>> night) or slower (step by step) in the same person in different parts of
>>> her/his life. These periods of growth are followed by periods of
>>> integration and synthesis. During this period, as people make sense of the
>>> growth, it is harder to notice what is happening. In healthy children (and
>>> families and communities and institutions, and meeting methods and...) this
>>> period is followed by another period of growth and a period of
>>> integration... going around and around in an upward direction such that
>>> each time around we notice both similarities and differences...
>>>
>>> ...which is one way to read the story you shared with us.
>>>
>>>
>>> So where is all this going?
>>>
>>>
>>> Storylines...myths...space...**questions...Spirit...
>>>
>>>
>>> My question for David was intended to explore a question I think HO
>>> refers to being in the wind on occasion: is it the use of the method (OST)
>>> that leads to the change or is the change that is in the wind deeper and
>>> broader and rooted in how the spirit of OST has the potential to bring to
>>> life new possibilities? The question recurs on this list in various forms
>>> periodically, but this is the first time I have known enough about a
>>> situation being mentioned to ask a specific question.
>>>
>>> Brett asked about the Fed...David said something is being done...In
>>> other work I do I have been in contact with people at the Fed and know
>>> there is some cool stuff happening but have heard no mention of OST. One
>>> very real possibility is that I just plain haven't heard about it...another
>>> is that David knows about how the spirit of OST is influencing what's going
>>> on at the Fed without the/an event.
>>>
>>> I am especially interested in this question because I have been working
>>> with an early childhood collaborative for almost as long as I have known
>>> Harrison. (By the way HO, Diane Bennett recently retired and remarried.) At
>>> a particular point in time I introduced them to OST. It didn't take long
>>> for them to make it the basis for all their annual planning retreats. It
>>> crept into more and more of their meetings. Over time "it" morphed from OST
>>> as a method to working in the spirit of OS. They must be doing something
>>> right... people from all over the US and, recently from Russia, have come
>>> to see what they are up to. What visitors soon realize is that these folks
>>> don't know anything special about early childhood... what matters is how
>>> they work together... their spirit.
>>>
>>>
>>> These days we still use an explicit OST event for some purposes, but as
>>> people retire or move to other jobs and others join the collaborative there
>>> are people who work together there in the spirit OS without ever having
>>> heard of "It." Eventually they hear their "creation story" and it includes
>>> the principles and the law. It's in the culture. I suspect it is also "in
>>> the wind" because when those people who leave turn up somewhere else in
>>> early childhood they seem to take "it" with them.
>>>
>>> I have been looking for stories of sustained, long term change that goes
>>> beyond the method to the spirit of OS. My hope is that maybe David knows
>>> something about the Fed that might fit here. If others of you know similar
>>> stories I would love to learn more.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> 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 Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net>:
>>>
>>>  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
>>>> Go to:http://lists.openspacetech.**org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-**
>>>> openspacetech.org<http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: oslist-bounces at lists.**openspacetech.org<oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>
>>>> [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.**openspacetech.org<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<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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>>>>>> openspacetech.org<http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *Skye Hirst, PhD*
>> President - The Autognomics Institute
>> *Conversations in the Ways of Life-itself*
>>  www.autognomics.org
>> @autognomics
>>
>> New Phone Number:
>> 207-593-8074
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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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
>



-- 
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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