<html>
At 08:53 PM 3/13/2002 -0500, <font face="arial" color="#000080">Rich
Norris</font> wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font face="arial" color="#000080">HMMMM...........Open
Space sounds like the natural hatchery for chaordic
embryos.</font></blockquote><br>
HMMM.... yourself. Rich -- this is infinitely more than an incidental
point, an idle reflection. If we are correct in understanding that one of
the central mechanisms "behind" Open Space is the phenomenon of
self-organization, then I think you have hit the nail precisely on the
head, and the implications are quite profound. From where I sit our
growing understanding of self-organization provides a useful basis from
which to answer a number of bothersome questions arising from our
experience and practice of Open Space. Such as Why does it work? Why does
it work so quickly? Why does it apparently work everywhere, regardless of
geography, ethnicity, economics, education, culture....? Why do we have
to explain so little in order to achieve so much?<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>The common
experience of bringing 100's of diverse, conflicted folks together to
deal with complex issues productively -- all without prior agenda,
designated leadership, and pre-designed structure -- can only be viewed
as a mental aberration when looked at through the eyes of what I might
call "Standard" organizational theory. OST cannot happen.
Indeed it should not happen. But it does, and when viewed through the
eyes of self-organization theory -- our experience is totally
predictable. <br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>The
rapidity of organization in OS is another problem for the standard view,
because we all know that organization happens only by dint of major
effort and usually takes a long time. Self Organization Theory tells us
that what we experience is what we should expect. <br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>With
regard to the apparent universality of Open Space (see our growing list
of Countries) a standard view would suggest that given the divisions,
complexities, and peculiarities (uniqueness) of cultures and peoples no
procedure or process could work equally all across the globe. Yet
it appears that Open Space is somehow "culture free." Which
would suggest that the fundamental mechanism of Open Space is
"behind" or "beneath" culture. That would be the case
if the operative mechanism were indeed self-organization. Just as all
peoples are subject to Gravity, so also Self-Organization -- regardless
of culture, time and place. <br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>And why do
we have to say so little in order to achieve so much? No training of
participants, no endless meetings and conferences of the agenda, no
extended procedural steps to bring the group to the point of action ....
just 20 minutes of conversation about 4 principles and a law ... and we
are off. For all of us who over the years have labored in the Meeting
Management world or the world of Training, this is quite a shock. And it
can be very expensive, because we used to bill clients for all that
activity. Obviously something is wrong, and yet when seen through the
eyes of self-organization this experience is also predictable. After all,
why would you have to explain something as deeply rooted as
DNA?<br><br>
So is it really all about Self-Organization? Well it is certainly a
testable hypothesis, and it works for me. But time will tell. In the
meantime, I find it a very useful starting point for not only
understanding the function of Open Space, but also its potential
applications as well. Which brings me back to Rich's HMMMM....
<font face="arial" color="#FF0000">Open Space sounds like the natural
hatchery for chaordic embryos.</font><font face="arial"> Chaordic
Organization is of course Dee Hock's happy appellation for a
self-organizing system. And if you want to get there, as a number of
people seemingly do, the way forward is probably not through an intensive
design process combined with clear executive decision (We will now become
a Chaordic Organization!) and extensive training for all concerned. Just
open some space and you will discover that you are already there. But
that is just the start of the story -- embryos, after all are always a
beginning. You will have to decide if you want to continue and how to
grow up. <br><br>
</font>Thanks Rich!<br><br>
<br>
Harrison<br>
<br><br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<div align="center">Harrison Owen<br>
7808 River Falls Drive<br>
Potomac, MD 20854 USA<br>
phone 301-365-2093<br>
Open Space Training
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.com</a>
<br>
Open Space Institute <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.org</a><br>
Personal website <a href="http://www.mindspring.com/~owenhh" eudora="autourl">www.mindspring.com/~owenhh</a><br><br>
<font color="#0000FF"><u>OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<br>
</u></font>To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,<br>
view the archives of <font color="#0000FF"><u>oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu<br>
</u></font>Visit: <a href="http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html" eudora="autourl"><font color="#0000FF"><u>http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html</a><br><br>
<br><br>
</font></u></div>
</html>