[OSList] OST encourages avoidance of conflict

[Chris Corrigan]

The well known management guru is David Snowden and his principle criticism against OST is the same as it is for every other method. It is not a panacea for every problem. 

More specifically, Dave’s issue as I understand it, is that groups operate within constraints. There are times when those constraints need to be tightly bound in order for things to happen and other times when they need to be relaxed. 

In situations in which you are developing new things conflict and diversity are helpful. Sometimes it helps to have a process in which people of differing perspectives are engaged in a tight container together to make something better. Open Space does not always do this, so if you need a required level of diversity (and conflict doesn’t always mean a fight) then OST might not be the best way to do it. 

I agree with this. Sometimes you need a formal negotiation structure to reach a decision. Sometimes you need expert opinions engaged in a deliberated and structured and way to do due diligence. 

Dave has other concerns with Open Space that I think he’s wrong about (that it is a convergence process for example) and I’ve talked with him extensively about that. But anyone who think that Dave believes Open Space doesn’t have utility is also wrong. He believes that it’s useful for certain things in certain contexts and not in others. On that we all agree, I would think. 

Chris. 

_____________
CHRIS CORRIGAN
www.chriscorrigan.com

> On Jan 30, 2018, at 2:24 PM, Harold Shinsato via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
> 
> Daniel,
> 
> Interesting concern. I think I remember hearing this from a well     respected management guru as a critique of Open Space. I can't help but wonder the following:
> 
> - How well do individual adults resolve conflicts when an authority figure forces them?
> - How well do conflicting peoples or tribal communities resolve conflicts when they are forcibly held together by an imperial force (think Rome, USSR, pre-partition India, etc etc etc)
> 
> If you are dealing with children or developmentally challenged individuals - especially those who have violated others rights are are in prison - I can imagine there being some value to some level of compulsion or coercion here. But even there, it may temporarily resolve the fighting and damage, but not the children's growth.
> 
> If you are dealing with severe human rights being violated in tribal scenarios, I can see how that might justify gunboat diplomacy. But I can't imagine the tribal system will evolve to respect human rights without a huge additional investment from the gunboat diplomats. And it is all too likely that such interference may not only cause even bigger problems later on, but can also encourage exploitation of the less developed tribe/community.
> 
> Thanks for asking this question!
> 
>     Harold
> 
> 
>> On 1/30/18 2:07 PM, Daniel Mezick via OSList wrote:
>> I am hearing this pointed criticism from some quarters: That OST actually encourages conflict-avoidance via the Law of 2 Feet. In other words, people who need to be resolving conflict (or at least discussing it) can just avoid the touchy topic... and each other. 
>> 
>> Could this actually be true? If not why not? 
>> 
>> -- 
>> Daniel Mezick
>> Culture Strategist. Author. Keynoter.
>> (203) 915 7248. Bio. Blog. Twitter. 
>> Book: The Culture Game. 
>> Book: The OpenSpace Agility Handbook. 
>> 
>> 
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> -- 
> Harold Shinsato
> harold at shinsato.com
> http://shinsato.com
> twitter: @hajush
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