[OSList] The Tyranny of Structurelessness
Daniel Mezick via OSList
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
Mon Oct 5 13:52:16 PDT 2015
Paul,
Do you agree then, with this statement by the author?
/"Contrary to what we would like to believe, there is no such thing as a
structureless group."
/
On 10/5/15 1:11 PM, paul levy via OSList 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
> <mailto: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 20^th 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
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','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
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','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
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','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 Leadership
> Author of *From Conflict to Creative Collaboration*
> <http://www.conflict2creativity.com>/
>
> /For more resources and learning opportunities, visit
> *www.DiaPraxis.com <http://www.DiaPraxis.com>*/
>
> On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 9:26 AM, Daniel Mezick via OSList
> <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','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 <tel:203%20915%207248>
>
>
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