<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Well said, well said.<div>To continue with my bodyworker analogy - ours is not to 'fix'.</div><div>Ours is to support wellness. To help the organism / organization do its best work.</div><div><br></div><div>Underline 'its work', not our doing for them. </div><div><br></div><div>I notice how an acupuncturist's work reminds the body of system flow. </div><div>It is like a re-set mechanism for wellness. </div><div><br></div><div>Regular acupuncture (exercise, whatever) brings the body back home to itself, to its own abilities and learning.</div><div>Just like regular Open Space - or even one Open Space - brings the organization and individuals in it back home to themselves, recognizing and strengthening their own abilities and learning.</div><div><br></div><div>Ahhhhhh.....</div><div><br></div><div>Lisa</div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "> </div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span></div></span> </div><br><div><div>On Dec 20, 2012, at 12:33 PM, Harrison Owen wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div>Lisa The Body Worker! I like that!! And I have no question that you do what<br>you do with great enthusiasm, heart, skill -- and all to positive effect.<br>That said, my question (quest) really goes in another direction. It is not<br>so much about doing something wrong. And certainly not that YOU are doing<br>something wrong. But perhaps we are all doing the wrong thing. Or maybe<br>doing anything at all. Put somewhat differently, I find myself coming to the<br>conclusion that much (perhaps most) of what we do, even with the best of<br>intentions, produces results that are the very antithesis of what we hope<br>for. And there is an alternative. <br><br>In your earlier message you said, "Sometimes it is as simple as helping an<br>organization look at who does what tasks and re-arranging each role's tasks.<br>Or doing an assessment of what is reasonable pay. Or giving the organization<br>some sample structure for how to hold supervisor-staff individual meetings<br>or quarterly evaluation." Nothing problematical here, indeed I think most<br>people would see all of this as good, standard practice. The "right" thing<br>to do, as it were.<br><br>But I think there may be an implicit assumption that can lead us in the<br>wrong direction with the net result is that we "do the wrong thing." The<br>assumption is that when we confront a floundering organization, we are<br>engaging a structured entity that we (or somebody) created (organized),<br>which for whatever reason is malfunctioning. The "fix" is obvious: Adjust<br>the system so that it works better.<br><br>However, were the object of our attention (The Organization) something quite<br>different than we presumed -- our well intentioned "fix" is likely to be<br>irrelevant at best, and possibly destructive. It is a good idea in the wrong<br>situation (doing the wrong thing). I think that is our situation.<br><br>An alternative view would look something like this -- The organization we<br>confront is actually the product of Self Organization, and while we may have<br>some part in its initiation (our passion and responsibility created the<br>space in which the emergent organization appeared), the manner and<br>mechanisms of its growth come from a very different place--not us. It is an<br>organism, and like all organisms it emerges and evolves in response to<br>multiple, complex, interacting forces -- some of which are observable by us,<br>but the vast majority simply pass us by. Too much, too fast, too subtle.<br><br>When we, in spite of our obvious limitations, seek to impose our<br>understanding of design and function upon that organization, we are on very<br>thin ice, I think. Indeed, I would make the case that were we to set out to<br>create a powerful system that would limit creativity, eliminate emergent<br>leadership, destroy self respect, prevent communication and reduce morale to<br>zombie levels -- I really don't think we could do any better than the<br>current corporate/government/NGO model. It does one hell of a job, and when<br>we set out to strengthen that system with yet more organizational structures<br>and strategies, even with the best of intentions...<br><br>The truly amazing thing to me is that our organizations function as well as<br>they do in spite of our best efforts to constrain their space and force them<br>along paths of our choosing. However, I suppose this amazing fact is the<br>strongest testimony to the power of self organization. And one of our (or<br>certainly my) major learnings from the OST Experiment is that even brutally<br>conflicted and constrained organizations perform brilliantly when the space<br>is opened. It is not about doing anything new or different, it is quite<br>simply about STOP DOING all the things that inhibit superior performance. No<br>new structures, procedures, tweaks, trainings, programs -- just fully be<br>what you already are: Self Organizing! There is really no preparation needed<br>for Open Space if only because everybody is already there. It is just that a<br>lot of us are doing it badly, or trying desperately not to do it at all.<br>Weird! <br><br>Once in existence, we may surely observe the organization, learn about its<br>function, and perhaps most importantly, learn how we may effectively live<br>with it, and in it. And if we are careful and attentive, we may even learn<br>how to enhance its growth and nurture its development (Good Body Work!). But<br>our efforts will always be of secondary importance. The organization will<br>have its own structure, its own flow, its own unique way of being. That,<br>after all, is the nature and definition of self organization. It is said<br>that the body is its own best healer, and under most circumstances it needs<br>only the space and time to heal. Oh sure, a little help and encouragement<br>along the way is great, and a good massage is Nirvana!<br><br>Harrison <br><br><br>Harrison Owen<br>7808 River Falls Dr.<br>Potomac, MD 20854<br>USA<br><br>189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)<br>Camden, Maine 04843<br><br>Phone 301-365-2093<br>(summer) 207-763-3261<br><br><a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com">www.openspaceworld.com</a> <br><a href="http://www.ho-image.com">www.ho-image.com</a> (Personal Website)<br>To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST<br>Go to:<a href="http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org">http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org</a><br><br>-----Original Message-----<br>From: <a href="mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org">oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org</a><br>[<a href="mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org">mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org</a>] On Behalf Of Lisa Heft<br>Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 8:07 PM<br>To: World wide Open Space Technology email list<br>Subject: Re: [OSList] Is it true that Open Space does not really work when<br>there are many internal conflict?<br><br>Harrison my friend, that is the beauty of it.<br>We see things in different ways at times, at other times we see / feel / do<br>exactly what the other would do - always rich for co-learning.<br><br>I do not see it as 'nasty details' - I see it as wonderful stuff rich with<br>learning - as people telling the stories to inform what may help. Also the<br>stories help me know how to work with the client on clarifying the task /<br>focusing question / objective for the Open Space day. It also draws out who<br>else to invite perhaps, rather than the original small circle the client or<br>community may first have been thinking about. Or a way to adjust the form of<br>documentation to match how they might wish to use the information, ideas and<br>relationships post-event. Things like that.<br><br>And I do not see actions / systems / conversations / meetings that might be<br>useful to groups as 'interventions'. I see them more as nutrition. I see<br>myself more as a body worker, helping the system breathe and access its<br>greatest resources: its human resources. I like to ask about the whole<br>chain of things because there are some things the organism has capacity to<br>do for itself (exercise, nutrition, reflection) and some things I can help<br>with (acupuncture, massage, if you will). I feel there is value in telling<br>the story and being witness to the story, as well.<br><br>Just some thoughts playing off your thoughts...<br><br>Thanks for sparking my thinking,<br>Lisa<br></div></blockquote></div> </div></body></html>