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<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>G'day Harrison and Chris</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I really get <SPAN
class=879370819-03122003>the sense of the myth being played out largely
unconsciously in our world now, especially in our organisational
culture.</SPAN> The Judean-Christian myth, which is what I grew up with
and is what I experience in my culture is not as dead and buried as a lot
of <SPAN class=879370819-03122003>deconstructionist </SPAN>post modernists
would have us believe. Perhaps the Dead Moose Ashely asks after?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2>The state, the omnipotent
being, will intervene on my behalf and create a safe place for me to live. I can
sue someone through law when "I" fall over and break "MY" leg. However, the
trade off is, and this is the shadow of the myth, I <SPAN
class=879370819-03122003>am worshipping at the alter of the state.</SPAN> I saw
this myth played out recently in "The Matrix (movie)" where the machines (the
state) take over and human bodies are "farmed" to provide power for the
machines.<SPAN class=879370819-03122003> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=879370819-03122003></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>In daily life I experience this time
and time again. Something is not allowed because of law, policy, regulation... .
Sometimes to an unbelievable degree where very obviously I am serving the state
and not the other way round. This has all been weaving together very rapidly as
OST opens my eyes (switches the lights ON) to the possibilities and potentiality
in myself, my community, my organisation and the place where I
live.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I think I am struggling to say that
OST has given me a mighty process to question, explore, design and try a new way
of being<SPAN class=879370819-03122003>;</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=879370819-03122003>tell </SPAN><SPAN class=879370819-03122003>a new
story!</SPAN> So often I've taken on a task that I was excited and
passionate about only to have the spirit completely wrung out of it by
the <SPAN class=879370819-03122003>organisational structure,</SPAN>law,
policy or regulation<SPAN
class=879370819-03122003>.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2>I now see that living
with the myth that pervades my culture at present is more often than not
hell<SPAN class=879370819-03122003>;</SPAN> death <SPAN
class=879370819-03122003>to</SPAN> passion and spirit. OST for me creates space
for spirit, and the difference is light years.</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT
size=2></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT><FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2>A<SPAN
class=879370819-03122003> few thoughts on a beautiful spring morning from
Kawatiri, New Zealand</SPAN><SPAN
class=879370819-03122003> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=879370819-03122003></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=879370819-03122003>Mike Copeland</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2> </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT
face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Harrison Owen
[mailto:hhowen@COMCAST.NET] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, 4 December 2003 2:33
a.m.<BR><B>To:</B> OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re:
outcomes and one-off OSTs and OSLIST<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Christ
Wrote:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">I think we are in a time when our stories about who we
are and where we<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">have come from are changing and paradigms are coming
to rub against each<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">other in deep ways.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>OST is a process predicated on the
fact that all of<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">us can have a hand in creating the new world.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is nearly the
very<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">extreme example of that, in the world of
organizational development.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Other methods rely on facilitators or experts
(sometimes called<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">"management gurus" which isn't far from being gods) to
come in and fix<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">things, banish the bad and tinker with the good.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It's easy to
see<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">results when evil is banished.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>That is a tangible step towards
the<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">"better world" demanded by cynics.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It's much harder to see
tangible<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">results from a process where the first step towards
making a safe place<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">for your babies is to smear the back of a turtle with
mud.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">At any rate, I hope what I am saying makes sense.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We operate out
of<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">deeply held stories about creation and renewal.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Where we come
into<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">conflict with one another it feels dissonant but we
can't put our finger<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">on why.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>I'm suggesting that some of the dissonance we feel
from<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">"results" people is at a fundamental level.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I mean, which story do
you<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">really resonate with?<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You know my
answer.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" color=red size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red">Chris - you have certainly moved the
discussion in what I would consider to be wonderful new territory. There is no
question in my mind that we are - to a very large extent - the stories we
tell. Not the trivial little tales that appear in the morning newspapers, but
the deep stories <SPAN class=GramE>that constitute</SPAN> our mythic
consciousness.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" color=red size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"></SPAN><BR>There used to be a day when the power of
these deep stories was appreciated, but in recent times they are dismissed
with the light thought that they are "just a story." And of course we all know
that only the "facts" will do. And when it comes to myths, these are not only
dismissed, but <SPAN class=SpellE>dissed</SPAN>. Worse than a story, myth now
means lie and falsehood. <SPAN class=GramE>How the world changes.</SPAN> And
of course, for enlightened people such as ourselves, we have long since thrown
off the bondage of myth. How sad. And we never really do - throw it off, that
is. We simply develop new ones, and they of course, are understood to be The
Truth, or better yet Scientific Truth. But it is still a story, now dressed up
in different clothes. We call them "Theories" - but at the end of the day,
these Theories are simply likely stories which help us interpret our world. So
our essential nature hasn't changed - we are still story tellers whose life
expectations are shaped by the stories we tell. <SPAN class=GramE>Myth by any
other name.</SPAN> What is different now is that the formative power of these
tales is somehow out of our awareness. And when the stories are warped,
distorted or partial - the world and our space in that world is distorted and
shrunk. Of course, we could tell a different story. .
.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" color=red size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" color=red size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red">And I think that new story creation is a
major part of what happens in Open Space. But it is not so much telling a
story as being a story. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" color=red size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" color=red size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red">I love where we are headed! Go for
it!!!<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" color=red size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><st1:place><FONT face="Courier New" color=red
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: red">Harrison</SPAN></FONT></st1:place><FONT
color=red><SPAN style="COLOR: red"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face="Courier New" color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV>*
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