[OSList] Open Space and Holacracy

David Osborne dosborne at change-fusion.com
Wed Mar 5 14:21:03 PST 2014


Christine,

Your comments about self-organization always being present ....yet open
space creating the conditions of high performance brought up some anologies
for me.  Static energy is energy that is stuck.....when electricity goes
through a burner in a stove it meets resistance and creates heat....and
when energy flows it creates and does lots of amazng things.......
Self-orgnization to me is kind of similar. Yes it is always present and the
human tendency toward control (as well as others) inhibits the energy of
self-organization from flowing freely. Open space creates the conditions
that let the energy of self-organization to flow freely resulting in high
performance.

I hope the analogy is helpful.

David


On Wed, Mar 5, 2014 at 3:47 PM, christine koehler <
chris.alice.koehler at gmail.com> wrote:

> Harrison,
> Maybe I am beginning to get it. Maybe not.
> You say self-organization is already there, no matter what we do or dont
> do. ok.
> Maybe the question is not about self-organisation but about high
> performance : Hsieh, Gore, Semler's visions only say something about how
> they see high performance flow from/in/thru the system. Might be an attempt
> to control it,  by naming it Holacracy, or even self organization ?
> However, from what they say, their way of controling it might end up with
> higher levels of performance than "command and control"systems. Using Open
> Space creates conditions for high performance. But then, should we just
> stop doing deciding and trying things because no matter what we do the
> system will self-organize ?
>  Are we "working too hard" when we try to work differently ?Do you
> believe that Zappos would have end up anyway with same performance withoug
> the hard work of implementing Holacracy ? Anyway, we will never know...
>
> My feeling is also that people tend to prefer when they understand how
> things work (otherwise they get anxious), and in this regard
> self-organization may make things  uneasy. Who can tell how it works ? If
> you take decision making for instance, and if I take Wosonos as an example,
> sometimes the decision making process for the location on the next one is
> so obvious to everybody who go through it that everything seems easy and
> clear. But sometimes , and for reasons that are quite unclear to me, it
> seems that the some people are not happy and the decision maling process is
> questioned. Of course this is true with any decision making process, maybe
> it's just that some processes are easier to describe. Our brain needs to be
> able to simplify complex processes in order to be comfortable with it.
>
> Right now I am experiencing something interesting : for a management
> seminar, a few groups emerged from what I could call a very simplistic "law
> of 2 feet" decision making process. ie  there was offered opportunity for 5
> groups to emerge, and so it went. (why 5 ? well, that was completely
> arbitrary. probably because timing was short and that there were only very
> short time to get feedbacks fro the groupn as feedback was required) .
> After the seminar where people are asked to work further on those topics.
> Management decided not to let leaders of those groups use the law of 2
> feets but members could. (I agree this is a strange rule). What is
> happening is that they are questioning the decision making process : how do
> we know those topics are the most important ones ? is this group the best
> to work on such particular topic ? How can I feel legitimate in being the
> leader of this group as it is not my dayjob ? etc.. Would you say that they
> are working too hard ? That the system will take care of itself and anyway
> self-organize, no matter what we do  ?
>
>
> Christine
>
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 11:27 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>> Christine ... "I find very interesting this tension between personal
>> vision (think about Gore for instance or Semler and Semco) and
>> self-organization. looks very complex and human to me ;)
>>
>> but still wondering how self-organization fits within this kind of
>> frame."
>>
>>
>>
>> It is really easy. Self Organization is already there, but the poor folks
>> at Zappo think they did it! Surprise - what they really did was complicate
>> something that could have happened very easily by itself. Ah! But we humans
>> have to feel we are in control. Even when we say we aren't and don't care
>> to be. The Trojan Horse rides again. Zappo'd as it were.
>>
>>
>>
>> ho
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 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 <http://www.openspaceworld.com%20>
>>
>> www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com%20> (Personal Website)
>>
>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
>> OSLIST Go to:
>> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:
>> oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf Of *christine koehler
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 04, 2014 2:35 PM
>>
>> *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
>> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Open Space and Holacracy
>>
>>
>>
>> This reminds me of a very short conversation I had with a participant of
>> the Practice of Peace seminar last January. He had left Zappos not so long
>> ago. We exchanged a few words about the ambiguity  of Tony Hsieh mandating
>> Zappos to become holacratic, because it was his own personal vision.
>>
>> I find very interesting this tension between personal vision (think about
>> Gore for instance or Semler and Semco) and self-organization.
>>
>> looks very complex and human to me ;)
>>
>> but stlll wondering how self-organization fits within this kind of frame.
>>
>> Christine
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 8:03 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>> Christine, Zappo Holarchs "rolled out" according to the following...
>> Sounds like sort of a mandate to me. ho
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> http://qz.com/161210/zappos-is-going-holacratic-no-job-titles-no-managers-no-hierarchy
>>
>>
>>
>> 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 <http://www.openspaceworld.com%20>
>>
>> www.ho-image.com <http://www.ho-image.com%20> (Personal Website)
>>
>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
>> OSLIST Go to:
>> http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:
>> oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf Of *Christine Whitney
>> Sanchez
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 04, 2014 12:46 PM
>>
>>
>> *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
>> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Open Space and Holacracy
>>
>>
>>
>> Great post, Daniel.  Our company worked with Tony Hseigh's Downtown Las
>> Vegas Project last year and found the whole thing to be very
>> self-organizing.
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm surprised that Zappos is imposing any kind of mandate - where did you
>> discover this?
>>
>>
>>
>> Namasté,
>>
>> Christine
>>
>> Christine Whitney Sanchez, Partner
>> Innovation Partners International
>> Phoenix, AZ, USA  +1.480.759.0262
>> www.innovationpartners.com
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mar 4, 2014, at 10:22 AM, Dan Mezick <dan at newtechusa.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> An invitation arouses curiousity, but a mandate dries up
>>
>> the bones... Ancient Proverb
>>
>>
>>
>> The Mandate of Holacracy at Zappos:
>>
>>
>>
>> http://newtechusa.net/agile/the-mandate-of-holacracy-at-zappos/
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>
>> On Mar 4, 2014, at 11:36 AM, "Harrison Owen" <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>> Wikipedia (as usual) has everything you wanted to know... go to --
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holacracy
>>
>> I can certainly imagine Open Space playing a role in Holacracies, and in
>> fact the "governance" in a Open Space could certainly be described as
>> "Holacratic" -- which is to say "ruling power" is totally distributed
>> amongst the participants. But there is a real difference. Holacracy in
>> Open
>> Space is totally an emergent phenomenon. Nobody designed it, nobody
>> implements it -- it just shows up all by itself. Holacracy in places like
>> Zappos is a designed phenomenon. Doubtless it works pretty well, but it
>> does
>> seem to me that they may be working a little too hard, creating something
>> that can and does happen all by itself. I think.
>>
>> 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
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
>> [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org<oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>]
>> On Behalf Of Kári Gunnarsson
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2014 11:20 AM
>> To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
>> Subject: Re: [OSList] Open Space and Holacracy
>>
>> I heard that Holacracy is somehow based upon the principles of Open Space
>> and uses Open space for its implementation.
>>
>> On 4 March 2014 08:53, Rob van der Eyden
>> <robvandereyden at veranderarchitect.nl> wrote:
>>
>> Hello Kári,
>>
>>
>>
>> Interesting question. How do you see the link between Open space and
>>
>> Holacracy?
>>
>>
>>
>> Kind regards, Rob van der Eyden
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
>>
>> Van: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
>>
>> [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org<oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>]
>> Namens Kári Gunnarsson
>>
>> Verzonden: maandag 3 maart 2014 21:52
>>
>> Aan: Open Space Forum
>>
>> Onderwerp: [OSList] Open Space and Holacracy
>>
>>
>>
>> There have been much talk about the relationship of the organizational
>>
>> chart and how Open Space operates. Recent compareson to me has been to
>>
>> link the new self-organizing authority and decision-making system
>>
>> called Holacracy
>>
>> see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holacracy
>>
>>
>>
>> I wonder if there are stories on the use of Open space to transform
>>
>> more traditional system to one of Open Space based Holacracy?  I would
>>
>> be happy to learn some of your experiences in this regard.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Kári Gunnarsson
>>
>> kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is
>>
>> gsm: +354 8645189
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Kári Gunnarsson
>> kari.gunnarsson at simnet.is
>> gsm: +354 8645189
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>> --
>>
>> [image: Christine Koehler, créatrice d'espace de Dialogue et de
>> Coopération]
>>  Executive Coach, Médiateur
>>  www.christine-koehler.fr
>>  Tel :  06 13 28 71 38
>>   Fax :    09  72  32 36  65
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
>
> [image: Christine Koehler, créatrice d'espace de Dialogue et de
> Coopération]
>  Executive Coach, Médiateur
>  www.christine-koehler.fr
>  Tel :  06 13 28 71 38
>   Fax :    09  72  32 36  65
>
> <http://christine-koehler.fr/2013/formation-de-levenement-au-processus-avril-2013/>
>
>
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--

David Osborne



www.change-fusion.com | dosborne at change-fusion.com | 703.939.1777
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