[OSList] The Tyranny of Structurelessness

Mon Oct 5 10:42:31 PDT 2015

> "There can be no river unless the mountain spring makes a sacred promise
to the sea."

wow!

years ago, when i wrote about the "inviting organization," based on my own
translation of ken wilber into org terms, i suggested the strategic
question that currently mattered was "how inviting is your organization?"
 this went one step beyond what fast company magazine had just hailed in a
cover story as the next great strategic question.  i also offered a guess
that the NEXT next question would be "how light is your organization."

you took me first to electrons, paul, with velocity and position.  then i
remembered "how light is..."  particle and wave.  and as i've mentioned
before, it's not that either structure or flow is more important than the
other -- it's the going back and forth that strengthens organization.

--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
http://MichaelHerman.com
http://OpenSpaceWorld.org

On Mon, Oct 5, 2015 at 12:11 PM, paul levy <paul at cats3000.net> wrote:

> I rather like the saying "Trying to understand yourself is like trying to
> bite your own teeth."
>
> The statement "Structure is s figment of our imagination" is simply a
> structured statement.
>
> Indeed all advocacy is at least temporary structure.
>
> And no less beautiful for that.
>
> Saying it's all flow is another structure statement. By advocating it is
> true it becomes a truth structure.
>
> Ho hum. So it goes.
>
> "There can be no river unless the mountain spring makes a sacred promise
> to the sea."
>
> Warm wishes
>
> Paul Levy
>
>
> On Sunday, 4 October 2015, Harrison Owen via OSList <
> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>
>> “Everything is moving.”  .... Michael -- I remember that moment very
>> well. And Dan, I’m not sure the context, etc, would help very much. But
>> just for the record the odd phrase popped out at one of the International
>> Symposia on Organization Transformation which happened to be taking place
>> at a small college south of Seattle. I have no idea why Ralph said what he
>> did, and I’m not sure Ralph did either. But then again a lot of marvelous
>> stuff seems to burst out with no obvious logic train. Indeed it may be that
>> the lack of logic train enables the thought?
>>
>>
>>
>> Whatever the genesis, the phrase wandered about my head for some time,
>> quite unattached, and it also happened that I was working my way slowly
>> through one of the masterpieces of 20th century western philosophy when
>> a fuzzy connection began to form. The work was that of Alfred North
>> Whitehead, and the title: “Process and Reality.” I’ve been through the book
>> probably 4-5 times, and I am frank to confess that I don’t think I really
>> understand it. But then again I’ve heard  a number of people with much
>> greater credentials, tenure, etc – say the same thing. But I did get that
>> it had something to do with, “Everything is moving.” And the more I thought
>> and read, the more I felt that the good philosopher had made a small
>> mistake on his title. It shouldn’t be “Process *and* Reality,” but
>> rather “Process *is* Reality.”
>>
>>
>>
>> Now, Anna Caroline we come to “structure,” or perhaps I should say the
>> fallacy of Structure? Yes I know – we’ve all been taught that structure is
>> the precursor, the “determinator” of everything. My face looks as it does
>> because of my bone structure. My life proceeds the way it does because of
>> my social structure. My business works as it does because of the
>> organizational structure. And of course, meetings happen the way they do
>> because of meeting structure, which apparently is the prime domain of
>> “facilitators.” And even if we hadn’t been “taught” all this, the primacy
>> of structure would appear to be blatantly obvious – as plain as the nose on
>> your face.
>>
>>
>>
>> Unfortunately, it does seem to turn out that sometimes the blatantly
>> obvious is not necessarily so. For example just looking at things it is
>> pretty clear that the world is flat, or at the least bumpy flat. And any
>> fool can see that we are the center of it all – Sun, moon, and stars whiz
>> around us.  But when we think about it, as we have been doing for the last
>> 500-600 years, the obvious isn’t so obvious.
>>
>>
>>
>> It is reasonable to ask what would start to make us think differently –
>> to the point that we begin to question the obvious, and even come to see
>> things in a different way? Taking a leap, I will suggest that it all begins
>> with the perception of anomaly. Things just don’t make sense. Our eyes tell
>> us one thing... but???? And then we start making up stories to explain the
>> apparently unexplainable. We imagine different ways of looking at things so
>> that the nonsensical makes sense. Some of those stories get pretty strange,
>> but if they actually work – that is to say, help us to see in new and
>> useful ways – that’s great!
>>
>>
>>
>> There is, of course, a proper term for the activity I have been
>> describing. It is called Theory Building. And for whatever it is worth,
>> “theory” comes from the Greek “*theorein”* – to see. In a word, theories
>> are ways of looking at things – likely stories you might say.
>>
>>
>>
>> Now, at long last (too long?) we come to the odd story I was starting to
>> tell, to the effect that Structure is only a figment of our imagination, a
>> flash frame of a moment gone by. Interesting, and helpful under some
>> circumstances... but always partial and in a sense illusory. What’s
>> “really” happening is all flow. Everything is moving – That’s Ralph’s
>> story, and I guess it is mine too.
>>
>>
>>
>> So how did I get to such a weird condition? It was all about anomaly –
>> more particularly, the anomaly of Open Space. Everything that I had ever
>> learned told me that it could not work. Unfortunately it did (work) – and
>> not just once, but every time, hundreds of thousands of times. Something
>> was definitely weird. It seemed to me that I had to re-consider all those
>> things I thought I had learned, beginning with the basics... such things as
>> Structure.
>>
>>
>>
>> Common sense would say that Open Space works because we somehow created a
>> structure that enabled it to work. That’s the way things get done, or so I
>> had been taught. But that’s not the way things happened in Open Space.
>> Structure emerged along the way and only momentarily. Worse yet it
>> (structure) seemed to have little to do with the obvious power,
>> connections, creativity.... all of which created structures, and passed
>> them by. And actually it always seemed to me that the “structures” I “saw”
>> existed only because I wanted to see them – or perhaps that I “should” see
>> them. But they were only momentary wisps, figments – never to be mistaken
>> for what was really going on. Or so I’ve been thinking.
>>
>>
>>
>> Harrison
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *On
>> Behalf Of *Michael Herman via OSList
>> *Sent:* Saturday, October 03, 2015 6:31 PM
>> *To:* JL Walker; World wide Open Space Technology email list
>> *Subject:* Re: [OSList] The Tyranny of Structurelessness
>>
>>
>>
>> you remind me, harrison, of one morning news session years ago,
>> somewhere, probably OT... where ralph copleman walked to the center of the
>> circle and announced, all serious and mischievous at the same time, "it's
>> all moving!"
>>
>>
>>
>> then put the stick down and went back to his seat.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Michael Herman
>> Michael Herman Associates
>> http://MichaelHerman.com
>> http://OpenSpaceWorld.org
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 1:47 PM, JL Walker via OSList <
>> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>>
>> I was thinking that maybe the antidote to the eventual tyranny of
>> structurelessness is to open space, again and again, until true democracy
>> can emerge.
>>
>>
>>
>> Juan Luis
>>
>>
>>
>> *De:* OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] *En nombre
>> de *Rosa Zubizarreta via OSList
>> *Enviado el:* sábado, 03 de octubre de 2015 12:19
>> *Para:* Daniel Mezick; World wide Open Space Technology email list
>> *Asunto:* Re: [OSList] The Tyranny of Structurelessness
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi Daniel,
>>
>> Yes, this is a key piece... I see it as very similar in some ways to what
>> Ken Wilber wrote later,
>>
>> about the "shadow side of the green meme". (Each meme has its own shadow,
>> as well as its own gift...)
>>
>> So, I love "green". I love circles, I love non-hierarchy, etc.
>> And, part of the "shadow side of the green meme" is how ideologically
>> anti-structure it can become...
>>
>> to the point where some people may not even agree that OST does, in fact,
>> offer a very simple and effective structure.
>>
>> By way contrast, think of a situation where group of people (who don't
>> know about OST, and/or, who are having a power struggle around "which
>> process to use", and/or....  ) might easily spending a whole weekend
>> arguing *about *"how to self-organize ourselves"... with a great deal
>> more pain and frustration and a great deal less value.
>>
>> whereas, instead, IF someone knows about OST, and, a clear invitation has
>> been extended, and, there is enough trust/suspension of disbelief so that
>> participants are willing to enter into that format,
>>
>> then, we end up with a very simple and elegant structure that allows
>> people to self-organize beautifully....
>>
>> at least that's how i see it! :-)
>>
>> with all best wishes,
>>
>> Rosa
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Rosa Zubizarreta*
>>
>>
>> *Developing Participatory and Co-intelligent LeadershipAuthor of From
>> Conflict to Creative Collaboration <http://www.conflict2creativity.com>*
>>
>>
>> *For more resources and learning opportunities, visitwww.DiaPraxis.com
>> <http://www.DiaPraxis.com>*
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 9:26 AM, Daniel Mezick via OSList <
>> oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
>>
>> THE TYRANNY of STRUCTURELESSNESS
>> by Jo Freeman aka Joreen
>>
>> I find this essay extremely interesting. I hope you do, too.
>>
>>
>>
>> Here is a pertinent quote, from the essay:
>> "...
>>
>> *the idea of "structurelessness" does not prevent the formation of
>> informal structures, only formal ones."*
>> Circa 1970. Context: the women's movement. Quick summary of the main
>> points: from the essay...
>>
>>    - *During the years in which the women's liberation movement has been
>>    taking shape, a great emphasis has been placed on what are called
>>    leaderless, structureless groups as the main -- if not sole --
>>    organizational form of the movement. *
>>
>>
>>    - *The idea of "structurelessness," however, has moved from a healthy
>>    counter to those tendencies, to becoming a goddess in its own right.*
>>
>>
>>    - *Contrary to what we would like to believe, there is no such thing
>>    as a structureless group. *
>>
>>
>>    - *This means that to strive for a structureless group is as useful,
>>    and as deceptive, as to aim at an "objective" news story, "value-free"
>>    social science, or a "free" economy. A "laissez faire" group is about as
>>    realistic as a "laissez faire" society; the idea becomes a smokescreen for
>>    the strong or the lucky to establish unquestioned hegemony over others. *
>>
>>
>>    - *This hegemony can be so easily established because the idea of
>>    "structurelessness" does not prevent the formation of informal structures,
>>    only formal ones. *
>>
>>
>>    - *For everyone to have the opportunity to be involved in a given
>>    group and to participate in its activities, the structure must be explicit,
>>    not implicit. *
>>
>>
>>    - *It is this informal structure, particularly in Unstructured
>>    groups, which forms the basis for elites.*
>>
>>
>>
>> Just in case you have not yet encountered the full text of this essay,
>> here it is:
>>
>> THE TYRANNY of STRUCTURELESSNESS
>> by Jo Freeman aka Joreen
>> http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>> Daniel
>> http://www.OpenSpaceAgility.com/about
>> http://www.DanielMezick.com
>> 203 915 7248
>>
>>
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