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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Dan you are totally correct. The sentence structure is a mess. I knew that when I said it, and said it intentionally... to make a point: “Opening” an OST is a serious joke. It is serious because useful good stuff happens, and it is a joke because we don’t really open anything. It already is (open). What we do do is playfully remind people of what they already know, but may have forgotten. Emphasis: <u>play</u>fully. Law, Principles, and Final Admonition, all best done with a smile </span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;color:#1F497D'>J</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>ho<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Harrison Owen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>7808 River Falls Dr.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Potomac, MD 20854<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>USA<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Camden, Maine 04843<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Phone 301-365-2093<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>(summer) 207-763-3261<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><a href="www.openspaceworld.com%20"><span style='color:blue'>www.openspaceworld.com</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><a href="www.ho-image.com%20"><span style='color:blue'>www.ho-image.com</span></a> (Personal Website)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Consolas;color:#1F497D'>To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST Go to:<a href="http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org"><span style='color:blue'>http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'> oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org [mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Daniel Mezick<br><b>Sent:</b> Saturday, October 26, 2013 2:07 PM<br><b>To:</b> oslist@lists.openspacetech.org<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [OSList] : Speech acts<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>Howdy Harrison, <br>This background story on the "wonderful internal contradiction" does explain the curiously dissonant sentence structure of "Be prepared to be surprised."<br><br>"Be prepared to be surprised" is a directive, a structure that is dissonant and might even be in conflict with the concepts of self-management, self-governance, self-organization et al. <br><br>I have been studying, arranging and facilitating OST meetings for over 5 years, and I just noticed this curious fact for the 1st time. <br><br>Probably something to do with the books I'm reading lately. <br><br>And this guy: <br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Austin">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Austin</a><br>Austin pointed out that we use language to <i>do</i> things as well as to <i>assert</i> things, and that the utterance of a statement like "I promise to do so-and-so" is best understood as <i>doing</i> something — <i>making a promise</i> — rather than making an assertion about anything. Hence the name of one of his best-known works: "How to do Things with Words".<br><br>Kind Regards,<br>Dan<o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>On 10/26/13 11:38 AM, Michael M Pannwitz wrote:<o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style='margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt'><p class=MsoNormal>you couldnt, because you are already dead <br>mmp <br><br>On 26.10.2013 17:35, Harrison Owen wrote: <br><br><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'>Actually Dan – it is and always has been a serious joke, with (I think) <br>a wonderful internal contradiction. If you were really prepared to be <br>surprised, you couldn’t be surprised... or could you J <br><br>ho <br><br>Harrison Owen <br><br>7808 River Falls Dr. <br><br>Potomac, MD 20854 <br><br>USA <br><br>189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer) <br><br>Camden, Maine 04843 <br><br>Phone 301-365-2093 <br><br>(summer) 207-763-3261 <br><br><a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com">www.openspaceworld.com</a> <<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com%20">www.openspaceworld.com%20</a>> <br><br><a href="http://www.ho-image.com">www.ho-image.com</a> <<a href="http://www.ho-image.com%20">www.ho-image.com%20</a>> (Personal Website) <br><br>To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of <br>OSLIST Go <br>to:<a href="http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org">http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org</a> <br><br>*From:*oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org <br>[<a href="mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org">mailto:oslist-bounces@lists.openspacetech.org</a>] *On Behalf Of *Daniel Mezick <br>*Sent:* Saturday, October 26, 2013 9:18 AM <br>*To:* <a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a> <br>*Subject:* [OSList] : Speech acts <br><br>When responding to Jenifer's thoughts earlier, I realized: <br><br>The slogan "Be Prepared to Be Surprised" is a most interesting one in OST. <br><br>It is actually an illocutionary speech act.... of type "*/Directive/*". <br><br>So, located here in OST, baked into it, we have a specific slogan that <br>is attempting to *cause* the hearer to take a particular action, e.g. a <br>request, *commands* and advice. A directive! <br><br>I wonder if the undeniably directive structure of "Be Prepared to Be <br>Surprised" really aligned with the intention/spirit/philosophy of OST. <br><br>Dan <br><br><br>Background links: <br><br>What is a speech act? <br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_acts">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_acts</a> <br>A */speech act/* in linguistics <br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics"><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics></a> and the philosophy of <br>language <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_language"><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_language></a> is an <br>utterance that has performative function in language and communication. <br><br>What is an illocutionary act? <br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illocutionary_act">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illocutionary_act</a> <br>*Illocutionary act* is a term in linguistics <br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics"><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics></a> introduced by the philosopher <br>John L. Austin <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Austin"><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_L._Austin></a> in his <br>investigation of the various aspects of speech acts <br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_acts"><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_acts></a>. <br><br>What is a Directive illocutionary act? <br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illocutionary_act#Classes_of_illocutionary_acts">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illocutionary_act#Classes_of_illocutionary_acts</a> <br>*directives* = speech acts that are to *cause the hearer to take a <br>particular action*, e.g. requests, commands and advice <br><br>More than you asked for: <br>What is a Commissive speech act? <br>*commissives* = speech acts that commit a speaker to some future action, <br>e.g. promises and oaths <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>On 10/24/13 1:29 PM, Jenifer Toksvig wrote: <br><br> Dan wrote: >> Consider the man who loves a certain woman, and waits <br> for the current trend of her interest in him to change. He is goal <br> seeking without controlling. Likewise, trend-following market <br> traders do not attempt to create, control or make trends. They <br> simply identify & ride them, while seeking wealth. << <br><br> Waiting and seeking are still forms of controlling. Your loving man <br> has chosen to wait for his goal rather than (to coin a phrase) being <br> prepared to be surprised by another woman. He may not be trying to <br> control her, but he’s still trying to control the situation in a way <br> that he thinks will allow him to achieve his goal. <br><br> Those who seek wealth do likewise: they don’t randomly ride the <br> trends, they identify them and make choices about how to ride them, <br> in order to obtain wealth. That is control. <br><br> I don’t think it’s possible to be goal-oriented and try to exert <br> some kind of control over the process, unless your goal is… to have <br> no goal. Actually, even being prepared to be surprised is a goal. A <br> sort of wonderfully ridiculous one. <br><br> Jen x <br><br> *Jenifer Toksvig <br> *www.acompletelossforwords.com <a href="http://www.acompletelossforwords.com"><http://www.acompletelossforwords.com></a> <br><br> *The Copenhagen Interpretation <br> *www.thecopenhageninterpretation.co.uk <br> <a href="http://www.thecopenhageninterpretation.co.uk"><http://www.thecopenhageninterpretation.co.uk></a> <br><br><br><br><br> _______________________________________________ <br><br> OSList mailing list <br><br> To post send emails <a href="mailto:toOSList@lists.openspacetech.org">toOSList@lists.openspacetech.org</a> <a href="mailto:OSList@lists.openspacetech.org"><mailto:OSList@lists.openspacetech.org></a> <br><br> To unsubscribe send an email <a href="mailto:toOSList-leave@lists.openspacetech.org">toOSList-leave@lists.openspacetech.org</a> <a href="mailto:OSList-leave@lists.openspacetech.org"><mailto:OSList-leave@lists.openspacetech.org></a> <br><br> To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: <br><br> <a href="http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org">http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org</a> <br><br>-- <br><br>Daniel Mezick, President <br><br>New Technology Solutions Inc. <br><br>(203) 915 7248 (cell) <br><br>Bio <a href="http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/"><http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/></a>. Blog <br><a href="http://newtechusa.net/blog/"><http://newtechusa.net/blog/></a>. Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/"><http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/></a>. <br><br>Examine my new book:The Culture Game <br><a href="http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/"><http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/></a>: Tools for the <br>Agile Manager. <br><br>Explore Agile Team Training <br><a href="http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/"><http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/></a> and Coaching. <br><a href="http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/"><http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/></a> <br><br>Explore the Agile Boston <a href="http://newtechusa.net/user-groups/ma/"><http://newtechusa.net/user-groups/ma/></a>Community. <br><br><br><br>_______________________________________________ <br>OSList mailing list <br>To post send emails to <a href="mailto:OSList@lists.openspacetech.org">OSList@lists.openspacetech.org</a> <br>To unsubscribe send an email to <a href="mailto:OSList-leave@lists.openspacetech.org">OSList-leave@lists.openspacetech.org</a> <br>To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: <br><a href="http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org">http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org</a> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></blockquote><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal>-- <br><br><o:p></o:p></p><p class=p1>Daniel Mezick, President<o:p></o:p></p><p class=p1>New Technology Solutions Inc.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=p1>(203) 915 7248 (cell)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=p2><span class=s1><a href="http://newtechusa.net/dan-mezick/">Bio</a></span><span class=s2>. <a href="http://newtechusa.net/blog/"><span class=s1>Blog</span></a>. <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/danmezick/"><span class=s1>Twitter</span></a>.</span><span class=apple-converted-space><span style='color:black'> </span></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=p3><span class=s2>Examine my new book:</span><span class=apple-converted-space><span style='color:black'> </span></span><span class=s2><a href="http://newtechusa.net/about/the-culture-game-book/"><span class=s1>The Culture Game </span></a></span><span class=s1>: Tools for the Agile Manager</span><span class=s2>.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=p1>Explore Agile Team <a href="http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-training/"><span class=s3>Training</span></a> and <a href="http://newtechusa.net/services/agile-scrum-coaching/"><span class=s3>Coaching.</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=p1>Explore the <a href="http://newtechusa.net/user-groups/ma/"><span class=s3>Agile Boston </span></a>Community.<span class=apple-converted-space> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></body></html>