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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=EmailStyle18><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I add my
voice to the fact that we are already there. When we work with the conscious
Open Space Organization, we work with what is already there but from a more and
ever evolving conscious perspective. We discipline ourselves to be intentional
about removing the toxins (barriers) and to nourishing the organization. There
is no way to design for this and honor the inherent nature of the living
organism. Within every organism, and from my perspective this includes the
organization, there is the blueprint for perfect health for that organism. The
clutter that gets in the way needs to be removed so that this blueprint can be
worked with. <o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=EmailStyle18><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=EmailStyle18><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Birgitt<o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=EmailStyle18><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
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style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><![if !supportEmptyParas]> <![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 color=black
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:black'>-----Original
Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b> OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On
Behalf Of </span></b>Harrison Owen<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Thursday, March 14, 2002
8:28 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: OSO and chaordic
commons</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'>At 08:53 PM
3/13/2002 -0500, </span></font><font color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Rich Norris</span></font><font
color=black><span style='color:black'> wrote:<br style='mso-special-character:
line-break'>
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<![endif]></span></font><font color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:
windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:.5in;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;margin-left:1.0in'><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>HMMMM...........Open
Space sounds like the natural hatchery for chaordic embryos.</span></font><font
color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><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.... </span></font><font color=red face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial;color:red'>Open Space sounds like the natural hatchery
for chaordic embryos.</span></font><font color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial;color:black'> 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>
</span></font><font color=black><span style='color:black'>Thanks Rich!<br>
<br>
<br>
Harrison<br>
<br>
<br style='mso-special-character:line-break'>
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<![endif]></span></font><font color=black><span style='color:black;mso-color-alt:
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<x-sigsep>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:
0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-align:center'></x-sigsep><font
size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:black'>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>
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