[OSList] Open Space and Authority

Kári Gunnarsson kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is
Wed Apr 2 09:46:52 PDT 2014


dear Harrison Owen

I am founding a company. There are few other co-founders with me. I
had imagined to do an 3 day open space for the start-up, I was even
thinking to go for a 5 day open space, but you challenge me to think
deeper.

How can I base the company on the "Open Space - all the time" theme,
and help other companies transform also to such a model?

/ Kári


On 1 April 2014 21:45, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
> 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
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>
> 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)
>
> Camden, Maine 04843
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> Phone 301-365-2093
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> www.openspaceworld.com
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> www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
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> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST
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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
>
>
>
> Celebrating my new book, "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
>
>
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-- 
Kári Gunnarsson
kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is
gsm: +354 8645189



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