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<DIV>Dear Peggy and All</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>To your very illuminating concept and list of roles played by
people who contribute to the emergings in social
systems I add my thoughts on another role for your
consideration:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Leader</STRONG> - without authority. Comes from a sense of
commitment (an internal sense) to the betterment of humanity. Does things that
increase the likelihood of humanity doing well. Starts with 'I am here to use
the particular gifts given to me to turn around and give them back.'</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>This thinking was triggered a few months ago from my
listening to a teleconference out of New York City on the life and
work of Buckminster (known affectionately as 'Bucky') Fuller <A
href="http://www.flighttogenius.com/call1.pdf"><FONT
color=#551a8b>http://www.flighttogenius.com/call1.pdf</FONT></A> and his ideas
on 'Leadership <SPAN class=hl>without</SPAN> <SPAN class=hl>authority</SPAN>.'
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>(You may find this of interest too <A
href="http://www.worldtrans.org/whole/bucky.html">http://www.worldtrans.org/whole/bucky.html</A> which
touches on ideas about providing 'more and more life support for everybody, with
less and less resources'). <BR><BR>My addition is a compilation of ideas
outlined by one of the presenters, Amy Edmonson, who had spent a year
working with Bucky when she was in her early twenties. She is now Novartis
Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School. (I sat in for
two days of classes there when travelling around the world in 1967). <BR><BR>Amy
also noted (as I recorded) that a leader without authority: <BR><BR>.
knows that s/he has been given a life and living it means responding to a higher
calling and sense of purpose to help solve important problems.<BR><BR>. speaks
the truth as s/he sees it. <BR><BR>. simply be who s/he is. <BR><BR>. identifies
and clarifies a sense of purpose and vision about something that matters - and
gets people excited about this. <BR><BR>. creates an environment which is
conducive to learning in which people feel secure in asking questions and making
mistakes. <BR><BR>Amy concluded: "Leaders have this important role." </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>OST is a process <EM>par excellence</EM> which sets the context and
permission for such roles to emerge, quite naturally - and
unpredictably. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A query: Can an Open Space gathering flourish if the sponsor/attractor
is not one of them?<BR><BR>Going well</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>With love</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=3>Alan</FONT> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>PS Bucky Fuller
commented (this may not be the precise quote) 'We are all geniuses. Society
takes this away'. </FONT>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=peggy@opencirclecompany.com
href="mailto:peggy@opencirclecompany.com">Peggy Holman</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, August 20, 2007 1:12
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> A Relational View of the
Dynamics in Emergent Systems</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV>During a recent gathering, I found myself looking at the dynamics of
emergence from an entirely new angle: the roles that are present.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Harrison provided us a great gift when he named the four principles and
law of being in Open Space. I wonder if it might be useful to know
something about the roles that seem to be present when emergence happens.
</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Below is my sense of those roles. Some are no doubt more critical
than others; the list hasn't yet benefitted from the "one less thing
to do" treatment. I have missed some that are critical? Which
are truly vital and which are just interesting?</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>I'd love to know your thoughts.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>appreciatively,</DIV>
<DIV>Peggy</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>***********************</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">A Relational View of the
Dynamics in Emergent Systems</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">When emergence in social
systems occurs, it results from a variety of roles.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Should any of them be missing, the
chance of coherence converging into novelty – of finding the simplicity on the
other side of complexity – is unlikely.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The roles may be played by one
or a variety of people.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Sometimes
they are even aspects of the environment.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The ones we already know:</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Attractor</B> – Someone(s) who ask a
calling question, inviting the system to come present.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We typically call this person the
sponsor.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Guide</B> – Someone(s) provide hospitable
space for the work.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Sometimes
this includes a process that channels energy, other times, it is simply
ensuring the gentle structures for a nutrient environment are present.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In group process work, this is the
person identified as the facilitator.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">The People of the System</B> – these are
the people who bring the varied voices of the system.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The broader the definition of the
system, the more variety in the room.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Disturber</B> – This is something from
outside the system (a person on act of nature) that interrupts existing
assumptions or patterns.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It can
also be someone/something from inside the system that is differentiating
itself in a way that interrupts the given assumptions and patterns.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Bridge/translator</B> – someone who can
provide a sufficient hook for others in the system to connect with the
disturbance/disturber.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Without
this role, rather than creative use of the disturbance, it will likely be
resisted or rejected by the system’s immune system.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>These folks are active in the
conversation, helping the rest of the group connect with what the disturber is
attempting to express.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Edge worker </B>– a easy to overlook and
critical role!<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Edge workers are
generally butterflies who hang at the margins.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>When someone uses their two feet to
move because they’re disturbed, an edge worker listens, sees, and honors that
participant.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Edge workers are
gifted at staying present to what is happening for the other person, artfully
reflecting back what they experience and in so doing, support that participant
to discover the nugget hidden in their dissonance.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">Organizer</B> – once new insights start
to emerge, someone(s) grasps the threads and starts to weave them into a new
story, one from which action flows.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p> </o:p></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">“Artists” bringing multiple modes of
interaction</B> – bringing different forms of expression – words, music, art,
movement – matters.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It helps move
beyond stuck places, engaging people on different channels, which seems to
amplify the effectiveness of the interactions.</P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>________________________________<BR>Peggy Holman<BR>The Open Circle
Company<BR>15347 SE 49th Place<BR>Bellevue, WA 98006<BR>(425) 746-6274
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.opencirclecompany.com">www.opencirclecompany.com</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to: <BR><A
href="http://www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook">www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook</A>
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get
burnt, is to become <BR>the fire".<BR> -- Drew Dellinger</DIV>* *
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