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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Plexus runs a series of conference calls,
to which you can subscribe by visiting their website. <span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span></font><st1:place><font size=2
 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
 color:navy'>Harrison</span></font></st1:place><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>, you
would make a great conference call speaker.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Somehow I became a member of Plexus last
year, and have been impressed with the work they are doing.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span>Conferences, newsletters on complexity,
conference calls with interesting people…in the Pacific Northwest of
America (and the Pacific Southwest of Canada) we have formed a Plexus fractal,
which is just a mini Plexus.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span>There
are plans in the works for a regional conference.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>So what would Plexus be interested in <span
class=GramE>vis</span> a vis Open Space?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I think perhaps they might find the
following of interest:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<ul style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in' type=disc>
 <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in'><font
     size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
     Arial'>How does OST work WITH the complexity inherent in organizations anc
     <span class=GramE>communities</span> vs.<span
     style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span><span class=GramE>process</span>
     which need a more simple ground on which to work?<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
 <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in'><font
     size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
     Arial'>Are organizations and communities holographic, that is, does each
     member of the group carry a reflection of the whole group within
     themselves? <span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>If so, even
     metaphorically, what does this say about how OST invites the character of
     groups and communities forward?<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
 <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in'><font
     size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
     Arial'>What does OST imply for the ongoing operation of organizations,
     especially regarding dynamics that provoke complexity like diversity,
     urgency, multiple goals and objectives, and conflict?<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
 <li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in'><font
     size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
     Arial'>What’s wrong with certainty?<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
</ul>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I think the Plexus folks (at least the
ones I know) would be open to discussions of Spirit, flow, and
self-organization for any number of perspectives. <span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>On our little regional fractal email list
we have had quotes and thinking shared from Wheatley, Csikszentmihalyi, Prigogine
and others.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span>For many people OST won’t
be unfamiliar terrain, and lots of Plexus folks come from more scientific
backgrounds than I do, or </span></font><st1:place><font size=2 color=navy
 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Harrison</span></font></st1:place><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> or most of us that got here from the OD side.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  </span><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I agree that Plexus will be a useful
intermediary. <span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>Perhaps one day they
will even hold a conference in Open Space </span></font><font size=2
color=navy face=Wingdings><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;
mso-ascii-font-family:Arial;mso-hansi-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:
Arial;color:navy;mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings'><span
style='mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings'>J</span></span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Let us know what turns up, </span></font><st1:place><font
 size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
 color:navy'>Harrison</span></font></st1:place><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Chris<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<div>

<p><font size=2 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
color:navy;mso-no-proof:yes'>---<br>
CHRIS CORRIGAN<br>
Bowen Island, BC, Canada<br>
<a href="http://www.chriscorrigan.com">http://www.chriscorrigan.com</a><br>
<a href="mailto:chris@chriscorrigan.com">chris@chriscorrigan.com</a></span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy;mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=2 color=navy face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:navy;mso-no-proof:yes'>(604) 947-9236<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

</div>

<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----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> Monday, May 26, 2003 6:45 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> Open Space
,Self-Organizing Systems, and The Plexus Institute</span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>When it come to dealing with the interesting question:
Why does Open Space  Work? -- I have found the emerging theory and
practice surrounding Self organization to be very helpful. Not the only help to
be sure, but definitely on the short list. I also confess to a degree of
frustration -- that to the moment, few in the larger scientific community have
taken any notice or interest in Open Space. I think this is a lose/lose
situation. We lose because their insights and questions might reveal aspects of
Open Space that we have failed to notice. And I think they lose because, from
where I sit, Open Space is a wonderful natural experiment over time and in the
present. Over time, we have probably some 20,000 iterations of the
"experiment" from which to learn. Since most of us were more
interested in the practical results than "doing science" detailed
accounts are hard to come by. but we do have a network, and it does have a
memory. And what we may have lost as a matter of historical record can be
replicated any time someone chooses to open space. <br>
<br>
Anyhow, it may happen that the Plexus Institute  becomes a useful
intermediary. Those of you who were in OZ for OSONOS will remember Henri
Lipmanowicz who is chairman of the Institute and came to OZ to find out about
Open Space. The mission of the Institute is to discover and foster the
application of principles of self-organization to the real world of human
systems, particularly health care systems. Since OZ, Henri and I have had a
number of conversations, and I attended a conference they sponsored in Austin
TX -- which was most interesting and definitely neither Open Space nor
self-organizing. But one thing is sure, Plexus did manage to attract
substantive folks from multiple disciplines and some useful conversations have
started.<br>
<br>
My conversations with Henri will continue, and hopefully move from talk to
action. Which brings me to the point (at long last) of this note. What sort of
actions, questions, explorations occur to you which might be pursued with
Plexus. Henri, Curt (The president) and I will be conversing next week, and I
will let you know the outcome -- but if any burning, passionate issues or
opportunities jump to your mind -- let me know.<br>
<br>
Harrison<br style='mso-special-character:line-break'>
<![if !supportLineBreakNewLine]><br style='mso-special-character:line-break'>
<![endif]><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<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 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>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://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm"
eudora=autourl>http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm</a><font
color=blue><span style='color:blue'><br>
<br>
<u>OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<br>
</u></span></font>To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,<br>
view the archives of <u><font color=blue><span style='color:blue'>oslist@listserv.boisestate.edu<br>
</span></font></u>Visit: <a
href="http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html" eudora=autourl>http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html</a><u><font
color=blue><span style='color:blue'><br>
<br style='mso-special-character:line-break'>
<![if !supportLineBreakNewLine]><br style='mso-special-character:line-break'>
<![endif]></span></font></u><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

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