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On 5/19/12 11:46 AM, Harrison Owen wrote:
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<p class="MsoNormal">Several days ago I had the unique pleasure
of joining our friends and colleagues (by Skype) in the
Ukraine for their OSONOS. Given the state of the Ukraine, to
say nothing of the state of the world, the conversation
eventually got around to the subject of Leadership and
Governance – and how could all that work. That conversation
seemed to meld seamlessly with one I had had with a new friend
here in the USA… Leadership and Governance. And mixed in was a
new thought (for me) all about Emergent Governance. As I said
to my US friend…<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You started me thinking – which ordinarily
is a dangerous thing. I can’t quite pin down the logical
trail, but that is not surprising because I usually find
myself thinking in circles. But one point along the way was a
conversation I was engaged in yesterday. There is an interest
group which has monthly luncheons at my club with the vaporous
name of “The Human Values Group.” In truth we talk about
whatever pleases and may or may not have value. Anyhow the
conversation yesterday drifted to a consideration of various
political forms. It seems that some of our members had just
returned from Cuba, so that was the start. Then we got on to
dictatorships of various sorts ranging from China to
Singapore… and shortly we were arguing about the “goods and
the bads” – which quickly morphed into ideologies/political
systems, and you know where that one could go.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the folks headed into the stratosphere
of abstraction – I found myself thinking, wondering might be
better – Has anybody ever done a natural history of
governance? Rousseau pops to mind, but he always seemed to me
pretty idealistic, and just as doctrinaire as anybody. For
sure we have certainly done histories of governance, tracing
our way back from the present to whenever. But how about the
reverse? Two folks get together, Adam and Eve for example.
Relationships form and certain modes of behavior seem to work,
others don’t. It is not a function of laws, and certainly not
legislation or “idealized models.” Just very practical – and
more to the point a natural expression of that fundamental
relationship which to the extent that it is ever verbalized
might be something like --- the way we do things around here.
Well that might be the beginning of a story, but before I got
too far with that one, my mind jumped.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To Open Space. Funny thing. We have opened
space 100,000’s of times in multiple cultures, and the
behaviors are almost identical (except for superficials like
language, dress, etc). And nobody ever specified the rules.
The Principles don’t count, and yes we do announce the Law of
Two Feet – but all of that is simply to acknowledge what will
happen anyhow. So could we be looking at emergent governance?
We are definitely looking at the process of self organization
(I think). Could that be the root of governance?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Big jump – here’s a thought. Rather than
thinking about (working on, creating) models of governance
(autocratic, democratic, plutocratic, sociocratic…whatever)
which are then promulgated (you wrote a book, so did Karl M.),
and if implemented are almost inevitably laid on from the top
(wherever the top is<span style="font-family:Wingdings">J</span>)…
how about starting at the bottom/beginning and see what grows
naturally? Emergent Governance!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It would perhaps become necessary to clean
things up a bit, regularize it, so to speak – but that should
be done, I suggest, all under the rubric of finding the
minimal level of structure necessary to sustain life. But all
that could only be done after the fact…of emergence.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just Thinking… <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Harrison<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Harrison Owen<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">7808 River Falls Dr.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Potomac, MD 20854<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">USA<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Camden, Maine 20854<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Phone 301-365-2093<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(summer) 207-763-3261<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.openspaceworld.com">www.openspaceworld.com</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.ho-image.com">www.ho-image.com</a> (Personal Website)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Consolas">To subscribe,
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My oh my I love it Emergence Governance - Funny I just wrote a short
piece on that very thought. I'd just like to add that what we attend
and what we allow to fall away from lack of attention may be
something of how it emerges without force or efforts to control.l
Skye<br>
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