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

Mon Nov 30 06:24:54 PST 2015

Hi Daniel, congratulations on an amazing piece!

As you mention, "authority" is a very loaded subject...

My understanding is that the group relations perspective, holds (along with
Koos!) that as adults, the ultimate authority for anything ultimately comes
from ourselves. WE are the ones who "authorize" formal authorities --
without our own willingness to continue to authorize them, their authority
would disappear. Is that your understanding, as well?

AND...  as you point out, things are a bit more complex than that!

For one thing... as children... we were all helpless to one degree or
another, and so I would hesitate to say that we were 'authorizing' our
parents or whatever crazyness was happening in our families of origin...

then, as adults... our feelings of helplessness often get triggered by our
dysfunctional economic systems... for example, in a situation where jobs
are few and far between, someone might well feel quite insulted at being
told that they are "authorizing" their boss who happens to be a bully. The
person who is being bullied, may not be in a position where they have an
easy option of changing jobs...

(A side note... one fascinating piece of work in this regard, is Michael
Lerner's book "Surplus Powerlessness"... in it, he lays out the perspective
that by promoting the "American dream" ideology of "everyone can achieve
anything they want", and concurrently systematically ignoring all of the
many real constraints to our freedom, we contribute to creating a culture
where people end up blaming themselves for not achieving their dreams --
and thus, end up feeling MORE powerless, than if we were to acknowledge the
real constraints and focused on the small-yet-ever-present "windows of
possibility"...)

Anyway, I would say that yes, as adults, we are the ones who authorize any
authorities, including both the informal authorities as well as the formal
authorities. To whatever degree that we are uncomfortable with our own
authority, we are participating in the creation of a leaderless world, to
our own and others' detriment -- since too many people in positions of
formal authority are not, in fact, leaders; and to whatever degree they
*are* leading, they are NOT leading us toward a world that works for all.

Conversely, to the degree that we become more comfortable with our own
authority, we are contributing to a more leaderful world....
and of course, OST is a wonderful way to bring out the leader in each
person, as it encourages each of us, to be the author of our own experience.

with all best wishes,

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 Mon, Nov 30, 2015 at 7:05 AM, Daniel Mezick via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

> Hi Michael,
>
> Thank you for your reply. Regarding "unauthorized" or not
> formally-authorized OST in organizations, remember, I am framing the
> discussion inside the wider context of a typical business corporation, one
> trying to improve by considering some changes. I am not talking about any
> other context. OST is often used for Agile retrospectives for example. I am
> not talking about that.
>
> So the context for discussion I am suggesting is the context of a typical
> business corporation, one trying to improve by considering some
> enterprise-wide (or division-wide) changes. A wide-scope change.
>
> Typically, these changes are a "push from authority" without respect to
> what the people who do the work want, think or feel. Many Agile frameworks
> (most notably "SAFe") are implemented in this way. As push.
>
> Open Space offers a refreshing alternative to mandates, "push", and
> formally authorized coercion. Or so it seems. Since most formally
> authorized leaders cannot commit to the so-called "risk of Open Space," the
> wide-scope OST usually (almost) never happens. Meanwhile, everybody knows
> the issues and that they might never see the light of day in any kind of
> formally authorized way.
>
> Now, getting back your comment, yes: anyone can hold an Open Space event
> at any time, about any thing, for any reason. At issue is what happens
> next. Perhaps a group can meet to discuss HOW to get some attention to key
> issues from formally authorized leaders. Etc. As you yourself say, "folks
> knew full well that formal authorization was needed and had figured out
> ways addressing that need."
>
> What I'm really, really interested in is deconstructing OST in authority
> terms, and advancing that know-how, so that it can be reduced to explicit
> knowledge that others can access quickly in service to...progress. That
> essay is my naive attempt to actually begin the process.
>
>
> Daniel
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 11/30/15 6:26 AM, Michael M Pannwitz wrote:
>
> Dear Daniel,
>
> somehow, I dont see what has happened in almost all os gatherings I have
> facilitated: people deciding to act and actually going ahead with it after
> the gathering not being formally authorized.
> As this happened regularly I wondered how those self-authorized activities
> fared or got along with formal authorization. Eventually, I found out that
> folks knew full well that formal authorization was needed and had figured
> out ways addressing that need.
>
> I wondered about Beth. Did she and her group simply suggested something
> formal authority should do or was she and others involved in implementing
> the stuff they were interested in?
>
> Invariably, I as facilitator would intervene with some off-handed remark
> about "suggestions" or "recommendations" or what xyz should do pointing out
> that there is nothing wrong with that but ....
>
> cheers
> mmp
>
> On 30.11.2015 12:15, Daniel Mezick via OSList wrote:
>
> Hi Koos,
>
> Thanks for your comment on personal passion. There's this very
> interesting paper on the various authority types (informal, formal,
> personal) which is pretty good, I am including it here if you want to
> check it out.
>
> I hear you when you say "I can initiate that process of authorizing
> myself by taking responsibility for my passion." This is exactly what we
> hope will happen inside company-sponsored OST events.
>
> Within the context of Open Space held in an organization that wants to
> explore an enterprise-wide change, we can expect the following to be
> true, if the event is to work well:
>
> 1. Formally Authorized Leader. A person formally and highly authorized
> by the organization sends an invite with a theme. This "formally
> authorizes" the time and space for the gathering.
>
> 2. Proceedings and Intent to Act- with Inclusion. That same person
> welcomes everyone on event-day, and at the opening, encourages the
> generation of proceedings, and signals that those proceedings will be
> inspected and acted upon, not just by the formally authorized leaders
> (the so-called "higher ups") but also with the new and emerging leaders
> who have identified themselves during the event ("be prepared to be
> surprised.") In other words, the people present are being invited to
> have their say, document it, and expect that these issues are going be
> input into a formally authorized and inclusive process of deciding,
> acting, and improving things.
>
>
> Now, absent these two facts, how "important" is the OST event? How much
> "action" can ensue?
>
> 1. Formally Authorized Leader. No formally authorized leader issuing the
> invite? Or someone /without enough authorization to matter?/ The signal
> is clear: this theme (and this event) is /not important/ to the people
> who make the decisions.
>
> 2. Proceedings and Intent to Act- with Inclusion. Since no one in the
> room has enough formal authority to implement plans suggested in the
> proceedings, we can reasonably expect nothing whatsoever to ensue in
> formal terms after the meeting. This, because people who /could/ do
> something about it (those formally authorized by the organization) "do
> not care."
>
> So- the highly authorized Sponsor (or Host) is essential. Otherwise, in
> authority terms, the OST event and what happens there just doesn't
> matter from an organizational point of view. It cannot have much of an
> impact.
>
> Much ado about nothing?
>
>
>
> Here's that paper I mentioned earlier:
>
> https://www.it.uu.se/edu/course/homepage/projektDV/ht09/BART_Green_Molenkamp.pdf
>
>
>
> I notice that most people prefer to avoid discussing authority. Since
> our families are the first place where we encounter this concept and
> develop our relationship with it, perhaps it is true that discussing
> authority can be very triggering. Thanks for sticking your neck out and
> I certainly hope to hear back from you and others on this thread.
>
> Daniel
>
> On 11/30/15 12:57 AM, Koos de Heer wrote:
>
>
> Hi Daniel,
>
>
> Thank you for an interesting line of thought. What I am thinking is
> that there is also the aspect of a person standing up and speaking for
> a passion that they have (be it in the form of raising a topic or just
> speaking in a break out session) and in that way claiming authority.
> In your essay, authority seems to always come from someone else. And
> of course authority only is there when others believe it to be there.
> But the initiative to bestow authority on me does not always come from
> others. I can also initiate that process of authorizing myself by
> taking responsibility for my passion.
>
> Koos
>
> *Van:*OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
> <oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>] *Namens
> *Daniel Mezick via OSList
> *V**erzonden:*maandag 30 november 2015 0:13
> *Aan:* oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
> *Onderwerp:* [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/>
> <http://www.DanielMezick.com/> Blog.
> <http://www.NewTechUSA.net/blog/> <http://www.NewTechUSA.net/blog/>
> Twitter.
> <https://twitter.com/DanielMezick> <https://twitter.com/DanielMezick>
> Book: The Culture Game. <http://theculturegame.com/>
> <http://theculturegame.com/>
> Book: The OpenSpace Agility Handbook.
>
> <http://www.amazon.com/OpenSpace-Agility-Handbook-Daniel-Mezick/dp/0984875336>
> <http://www.amazon.com/OpenSpace-Agility-Handbook-Daniel-Mezick/dp/0984875336>
>
>
>
> --
> Daniel Mezick
> Culture Strategist. Author. Keynoter.
> (203) 915 7248. Bio. <http://www.DanielMezick.com/>
> <http://www.DanielMezick.com/> Blog.
> <http://www.NewTechUSA.net/blog/> <http://www.NewTechUSA.net/blog/>
> Twitter.
> <https://twitter.com/DanielMezick> <https://twitter.com/DanielMezick>
> Book: The Culture Game. <http://theculturegame.com/>
> <http://theculturegame.com/>
> Book: The OpenSpace Agility Handbook.
>
> <http://www.amazon.com/OpenSpace-Agility-Handbook-Daniel-Mezick/dp/0984875336>
> <http://www.amazon.com/OpenSpace-Agility-Handbook-Daniel-Mezick/dp/0984875336>
>
>
>
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>
>
> --
> 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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