[OSList] What's authority got to do with Open Space ?

Wed Dec 2 05:44:05 PST 2015

dear Harrison,

Happy Birthday!!!
and thank you for so much...

including, your ever-invigorating invitations to think further!

I have a very different read of Daniel's choice of words than you do...
If we realize that the key root of "authority" is "author",

then each of us, by nature and definition,
is the "author" of our own experience.

And so reconnecting with our own authority,
is what OST is all about...

as you put it,
"we are simply inviting people to be fully who they already are".

So in the Group Relations work,
we are *not *choosing to explore "authority" in order to appeal to business
people..

we are exploring it,  we are reclaiming it,
because at heart,

just like "myth" being deeper than truth,

*our own authority *is where it's at...

with much love,

Rosa

*Rosa Zubizarreta*

*meet me at my DiaPraxis website <http://diapraxis.com> and on my Listening
Arts blog <https://rosaz.wordpress.com/>*

* <http://www.DiaPraxis.com>*

On Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 9:48 AM, Harrison Owen via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

> Dan – Given the way you define authority (formal and informal) it does
> seems to give a view point from which to observe the function of folks in
> Open Space. It also has the advantage of “sounding like” normal corporate
> usage. “Authority:” who has it, who doesn’t, who is pretending... That is
> the corporate story as  lot of people might see it. And if you are trying
> to trick a Greeks, you probably need to speak Greek.
>
>
>
> But there is a danger. “Triggering,” as you say. When you use a loaded,
> heavy word in a new and different way, particularly a way that is
> essentially the opposite of general usage, there is the danger of being
> misunderstood. Sometimes you just have to run the risk if no other word
> really quite does it. Such was the case with “myth” in my work. In popular
> discourse, “myth” basically means “lie,” “untruth,” “fabrication,” etc. In
> my work, and I believe classically, myth is deeper than truth. It underlies
> truth. It creates the environment in which truth can be perceived as true.
> At least that is what I’ve always said, along with multiple others, Joseph
> Campbell, for example.
>
>
>
> So I guess my question is, Why do you feel you have to use “authority?”  I
> would judge that your answer might be somewhere here.... “The context is
> the use of Open Space in a large business enterprise, convened with intent
> to explore the potential for making a very big, very complex
> enterprise-wide change.”
>
>
>
> If this is right, there is implicit in your quest an assumption (I think)
> that you/we are somehow bringing Open Space to the corporate world and
> “scaling it up.” I have no question that the very idea of Open Space
> represents the worst nightmare of the majority of corporate execs. I
> equally have no question that if these same execs hope to maintain their
> current self image and job description (he/she who is in control), the use
> of Open Space is about as likely as an immediate, unassisted flight to the
> moon. Can’t happen.
>
>
>
> It might seem, therefore that if we are in the Open Space Business, we are
> pushing a product that has all the popularity of a putrefying skunk. Small
> market!
>
>
>
> Then again the situation changes rather radically if it actually turns out
> that the executives in question really don’t have any choice. Even worse,
> were it to turn out that the corporate world (indeed the world itself) is
> massively different from what they presume. In the world I experience, all
> systems, including all human systems are self organizing. Should that
> actually be the case, the notion of “bringing Open Space (self
> organization)” anywhere is a little ridiculous. One might say fraudulent –
> right on a par with selling the air we breathe. The idea of becoming self
> organizing just does not make any sense – we are, by nature and definition,
> self organizing. The fact that many people don’t know this, refuse to
> recognize it, or are just doing it badly – doesn’t change a thing. But it
> does change the nature of our job. Rather than selling, bringing,
> providing... anything, we are simply inviting people to be fully what they
> already are. And at least from where I sit, Authority, as we used to
> understand it (formal and informal), doesn’t really have a lot to do with
> things. It represents a problem up with which I shall not put (thank you
> Winnie). Rather have a nap.
>
>
>
> 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 <http://%20www.openspaceworld.com>
>
> www.ho-image.com
>
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>
> *From:* OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On Behalf
> Of *Daniel Mezick via OSList
> *Sent:* Sunday, November 29, 2015 6:13 PM
> *To:* oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
> *Subject:* [OSList] What's authority got to do with Open Space ?
>
>
>
> What's authority got to do with Open Space ? Apparently nothing at all, at
> least on the surface...
>
> Wait. Once we peek under the surface, what do we actually find?
>
> This completely heretical essay attempts to answer at least part of that
> question.
>
> The context is the use of Open Space in a large business enterprise,
> convened with intent to explore the potential for making a very big, very
> complex enterprise-wide change.
>
> {Please note, the word "authority" might trigger feelings of: *soul-sucking
> bureaucracy*, unfair and *illegitimate leadership hierarchy*, and the
> like. Some "triggered" readers may want to opt-out of continuing at this
> time...)
>
> Authority Distribution in Open Space:
> http://newtechusa.net/agile/authority-distribution-in-open-space/
> Open Space is a most interesting format for "gathering,", also known as
> "meeting."
>
> What exactly is going on in Open Space?
>
>
>
> --
> Daniel Mezick
> Culture Strategist. Author. Keynoter.
> (203) 915 7248. Bio. <http://www.DanielMezick.com/> Blog.
> <http://www.NewTechUSA.net/blog/> Twitter.
> <https://twitter.com/DanielMezick>
> Book: The Culture Game. <http://theculturegame.com/>
> Book: The OpenSpace Agility Handbook.
> <http://www.amazon.com/OpenSpace-Agility-Handbook-Daniel-Mezick/dp/0984875336>
>
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