[OSList] Authority Distribution in Open Space

Daniel Mezick via OSList oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Sun Sep 28 19:56:33 PDT 2014


Hi Harrison,

So interesting how the Law of 2 Feet authorizes me, and every other 
member of an OST event, to go anywhere we may want to go.

Without asking anyone else for any kind of "permission"...


Reminds me of this past June, being in Camden with you, and Ethelyn, and 
Harold, and friends... when we were standing on the porch of that Camden 
restaurant... waiting for everyone to arrive, and assemble for dinner...

And as we wait, I notice there is this convenient-looking, alternate 
entry-door... into the dining area.

And I say: "Hmm...I wonder if we are authorized to use that door."

And you say:

"We're authorized to go Anywhere we want to go."

...and I like that.

Daniel


Picture of that place:
https://twitter.com/DanielMezick/status/483054326265692161
See also:
https://twitter.com/danielgullo/status/483434622009999360


On 9/25/14 4:58 PM, Harrison Owen wrote:
>
> Daniel... You really did it! I think. Your language comes from a place 
> I don't know... which is to say that I probably wouldn't say what you 
> say in the way that you do (duh). BUT when I run my "translator" it 
> comes out sounding pretty good! So... I can't help with the questions 
> you have raised. Actually I think you are doing pretty well on your 
> own, and (hopefully) will incite others to a similarly riotous 
> performance. Thanks!
>
> Harrison
>
> Winter Address
>
> 7808 River Falls Drive
>
> Potomac, MD 20854
>
> 301-365-2093
>
> Summer Address
>
> 189 Beaucaire Ave.
>
> Camden, ME 04843
>
> 207-763-3261
>
> Websites
>
> www.openspaceworld.com <%20www.openspaceworld.com>
>
> www.ho-image.com
>
> OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the 
> archives of OSLIST Go 
> to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
>
> *From:*OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On 
> Behalf Of *Daniel Mezick via OSList
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 25, 2014 9:39 AM
> *To:* oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
> *Subject:* [OSList] Authority Distribution in Open Space
>
> Greetings to All,
>
> For the past several years I have attended conferences of the Group 
> Relations community, and encouraged others to do the same. I've 
> studied their literature, and harvested some important learning as a 
> result. One of the things I have come to understand a little bit 
> better is the role of "authority dynamics" in self-organizing social 
> systems.
>
> Link:
> www.akriceinstitute.org <http://www.akriceinstitute.org>
>
> Over the past several years I've been using Open Space with intent to 
> improve the results of my work in helping companies implement Agile 
> ideas in their organizations. We do an initial Open Space, then the 
> folks get about 3 months to play with Agile (we carefully use the word 
> "experimentation" with management,) then we do another Open Space 
> after that, to inspect what just happened across the enterprise. The 
> initial and subsequent Open Space events form a "safe" container or 
> field in which the members can /learn/... as they explore how to 
> /improve/ together by /experimenting/ with new practices, and see if 
> they actually work. I call the process Open Agile Adoption.
>
> Link:
> OpenAgileAdoption.com
>
> This seems to work pretty good. It seems to "take the air out of" most 
> of the fear, most of the anxiety and most of the worry that is 
> created. The key aspect is /consent/: absolutely no one is forced to 
> do anything they are unwilling to do. No one is /coerced/ to /comply/. 
> Everyone is instead respectfully /invited/ to help /write/ the story, 
> and be a /character/ in the story...of the contemplated process 
> change. Open Agile Adoption encourages a spirit of experimentation and 
> play.
>
> The spirit of Open Space is the spirit of freedom. Isn't it? In the 
> OST community, we discuss and talk a lot about self-organization, 
> self-management and self-governance. The Agile community also talks 
> about these ideas a lot.
>
> So I have some questions. What is really going on during 
> self-organization in a social system? What are the steps? What 
> information is being sent and received? >From whom, and by whom? Is 
> the information about /authority/ important? How important? Can a 
> social system self organize without regard to who has the right to do 
> what work? /How do decisions that affect others get made in a 
> self-organizing system?/
>
> Who decides about /who decides/? How important is the process of 
> /authorization/ in a self-organizing system? Is self-organization in 
> large part the process of dynamic authorization (and 
> /de-authorization/) in real time?
>
> What /is /authorization? Can self-organization occur without the 
> sending and receiving of authorization data by and between the members?
>
> Is Bruce Tuckman's forming/storming/performing/adjourning actually 
> decomposing the /dynamics of authorization/ inside a social system?
>
> The essay below attempts to answer some of these difficult questions. 
> I'd love your thoughts on it. Will you give it a look?
>
>
> Essay: Authority Distribution in Open Space
> http://newtechusa.net/agile/authority-distribution-in-open-space/
>
>
>
> Kind Regards,
> Daniel
>
> -- 
>
> Daniel Mezick, President
>
> New Technology Solutions Inc.
>
> (203) 915 7248 (cell)
>
> Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog 
> <http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter 
> <http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.
>
> Examine my new book:The Culture Game 
> <http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the 
> Agile Manager.
>
> Explore Agile Team Training 
> <http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and Coaching. 
> <http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>
>
> Explore the Agile Boston <http://newtechusa.net/user-groups/ma/>Community.
>

-- 

Daniel Mezick, President

New Technology Solutions Inc.

(203) 915 7248 (cell)

Bio <http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/>. Blog 
<http://newtechusa.net/blog/>. Twitter <http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/>.

Examine my new book:The Culture Game 
<http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/>: Tools for the 
Agile Manager.

Explore Agile Team Training 
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/> and Coaching. 
<http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/>

Explore the Agile Boston <http://newtechusa.net//user-groups/ma/>Community.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20140928/ed0c62f7/attachment-0003.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 110170 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20140928/ed0c62f7/attachment-0003.png>


More information about the OSList mailing list