[OSList] Open Space and Authority

Wed Apr 2 11:37:07 PDT 2014

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

Ah Kári -- So glad you asked the question! It just so happens that I have
written a book about just that. Actually two of them, but one is probably
more than you want or need at the moment. It's called "Wave Rider." But
before jumping in, you really should make sure that you want to take the
trip. To help in that regard you could start at the end of the book with the
chapter called, "A Day in the life..." which is my best effort to describe
what it might be like. I tell it as a story, but it is a story taken from
real life in the sense that all of it happened, but not necessarily in the
order given. 

If you want to go further, the next stop might be Part II -- which I call
"The Wave Rider's Guide to the future." I think you will find that it sounds
very familiar -- and it is also a step by step guide to developing what you
are asking for. I know it works because that is what I have been doing
pretty much all my professional life. Will it work for you? Only you can
tell, and I am sure that should you give it a try you will also discover
more, better, and different ways to go. Then you can write the next book!

Oh yes, there is also the first half of the book which describes some of the
theory and experience behind it all. I understand that reading a book back
to front is not the standard way to go, but then again in Open Space (self
organization) not too much is the "Standard Way."

Have fun!

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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-----Original Message-----
From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Kári Gunnarsson
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2014 12:47 PM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] Open Space and Authority

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
>
>
>
> 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.or
> g
>
>
>
> 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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