[OSList] Open Space and Authority

Tue Apr 1 14:45:48 PDT 2014

Rosa – You said: “my own experience echoes Peggy's and others: three
consecutive days at an Open Space event, certainly affected my own sense of
creative freedom/agency/self-authority)!”  I think that experience is pretty
much universal, so I’ve heard. And the question arises... Why just three
days? What stands in the way of us being in that “space” 24X7? Not much, I
strongly suspect, save for our unwillingness, inability, fearfulness of
Doing it. All big obstacles for sure, but not insurmountable. Jump in – the
water is FINE. You have nothing to lose but your delusions... or something.
Then again....

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 Rosa
Zubizarreta
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2014 9:36 PM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] Open Space and Authority

Ok, plunging in here
 deep waters!

One thing I'm noticing, is how words "sound" different, within different
communities

some of the posts above, seem to assume that "authorization" is about the
"standard" world view

and sometimes, some parts of me resonate with that
 it's a word that
initially felt very strange and "foreign" to me,

 not at all "organic"

and then, after some Tavi experiences, I've come to hear it in a much more
creative vein

as in, who is the "author" of this story that I am experiencing?  Who is it,
who is really giving power to those, who I see as "powerful"? 

and so I've come to experience the whole notion of "authorship", within that
particular community, in a very creative way

yet still, the word at times has older echoes of "authoritarian", and
"authority", 

which don't resonate so well with these other, newer-to-me, usages

So, here is what I am hearing Dan say, and Harold clarifying further:

Within an Open Space event , we are all equally invited to play (er, work

same thing, in my book!)

What I am hearing a few others say (I see no contradiction here): Just by
virtue of stepping into an OS event, this does not alter the internalized
external authority structure that people are bringing in with them (at least
not immediately! ;-) 

my own experience echoes Peggy's and others: three consecutive days at an
Open Space event, certainly affected my own sense of creative
freedom/agency/self-authorit)!  

thanks for the conversation, all

best wishes,

Rosa

Rosa Zubizarreta

Diapraxis: Facilitating Creative Collaboration
http://www.diapraxis.com <http://www.diapraxis.com/> 

Celebrating my new book,
<http://www.amazon.com/Conflict-Creative-Collaboration-Dynamic-Facilitation/
dp/1626526117/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394491921&sr=1-1&keywords=from
+conflict+to+creative+collaboration> "From Conflict to Creative
Collaboration: A user's guide to Dynamic Facilitation"

On Mon, Mar 31, 2014 at 5:39 PM, Harold Shinsato <harold at shinsato.com>
wrote:

Dan, Peggy, Michael, David, Kári, Paul,

Such a rich topic.

I don't think Dan is "barking up the wrong tree at all".

Perhaps this is just my own experience, sensitivity, and upbringing - but I
deeply resonate with the changing sense of authorization that happens in a
good Open Space conference, and actually in most circle based processes,
compared to the other more hierarchy based ones. And the spatial setup is
critical here.

This was almost ridiculously confirmed in my experience of a Group Relations
(GR) conference. We started in a theater style - the hosts and
administration of our temporary institution - sitting like the judges and
jury of our assembly. They claimed we the assembly had no rules, but when
the group tried to rearrange the chairs in a circle, the leader
de-authorized the conversation. No one dared again challenge the chair
settings again. Also in my GR experience, there was another large group
process - where we sat in a double spiral. It was fascinating to see the
dynamic nature of authorization happening as people moved in and out of
greater and lesser levels of authority (as granted by the assembly). My own
experience of the OSList is we're more in a Spiral dynamic than in a circle.
Just my experience. Since we're not in visual contact, it's a little harder
to tell who is closer to the center as we speak/write on the OSList. But
it's not that hard to tell.

A circle is inherently equalizing. Think of the Knights of the Round Table
here. Maybe it doesn't make everyone equally authorized - but it does give a
sense that we're all in it together, and that everyone matters, everyone
counts. It's certainly harder to hide in a circle - but where does a circle
start? Where does it end?

Obviously, OST is a lot more subtle than just the circle, the bulletin board
that everyone is authorized to write on, the law of two feet, and the five
principles. There's so much more to say. I hope the group doesn't
deauthorize the importance of this topic.

A couple more points.

1) Using GR vocabulary- I join with Paul Levy. I think Open Space is more
about "moral authority". To me that is about enabling self-authorization.
Maybe another possible term - intrinsic authorization. I love some of the
thinking of the Rights described in the American Declaration of
Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [people]
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights." Authority comes from the Creator - or you could say -
it's already built in :-)

2) I love the safety theme around authority, and I also join with David and
Kári on that theme. This is all about the container. A good facilitator
helps establish and hold a strong container. It's hard for the container to
hold without a blessing from the kings and queens of the community - the
Sponsor. This container needs rules of play that equalize the authority to
"do work", which in an Open Space is to host and attend sessions, be a
bumble bee or a butterfly. It doesn't matter how great the title someone has
- once the container is set - it should be safe and without repercussions
for someone to take hold of the center of the circle and announce their
topic, not announce a topic, attend or not attend sessions. Those rules are
not usually in play for most meetings. For example, at a Board meeting most
people in an organization aren't even allowed to be there, let alone speak.

    Cheers,
    Harold

On 3/31/14 9:00 AM, Peggy Holman wrote:

Dan, 

You ask great questions! 

My take: like most of life, authorization is more nuanced than your
statement below.

Like you, I believe everyone has 100% equivalent authorization AND they also
carry the imprinting of habits, context, self-talk, existing relationships,
and more that influence how they show up. Some will experience themselves as
having 100% authorization, some will test that assumption, others will
observe and reserve judgment, and every other flavor in between. 

I have observed that with repeated use, people seem to experience an
increasing sense of self-authorization. More take responsibility for what
they love not just in Open Space but in life.

I know of no practice that lays the groundwork better for increasing
self-authorization in social systems.

from sunny (at last) Seattle,

Peggy

-- 
Harold Shinsato
harold at shinsato.com
http://shinsato.com
twitter: @hajush <http://twitter.com/hajush> 

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