<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">This is pretty funny, clever and tender hearted.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Much like its subject. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Chris</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Dec 8, 2015, at 9:47 AM, Jeff Aitken via OSList <<a href="mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org" class="">oslist@lists.openspacetech.org</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><p dir="ltr" class="">This fun and touching poem for Harrison was just put on Facebook by Rodney B. Plimpton. Enjoy.</p><p dir="ltr" class="">"A few old time friends gathered in DC to celebrate Harrison's 80th last week, and toasted him with this:</p><p dir="ltr" class="">To Harrison H. Owen on his 80th Birthday</p><p dir="ltr" class="">On December Second, Nineteen Thirty Five,<br class="">
Harrison Owen did arrive.<br class="">
No way that his parents could have known,<br class="">
The fruits of the seeds that they had sown.<br class="">
Early on he seemed a normal boy,<br class="">
Though he preferred catching skunks to playing with toys.<br class="">
But then Seminary, a stint as a biblical scholar?<br class="">
Clearly not chasing the Almighty Dollar!<br class="">
Community Organizer, way down in Dixie;<br class="">
Peace Corps in Liberia, where things were quite tricxy.<br class="">
Then back to DC, NIH, and VA;<br class="">
A strange game indeed,that he chose to play.<br class="">
Biblical Studies and Bureaucracy in the heart of the Nation<br class="">
Combined in his head as Organizational Transformation!<br class="">
After hosting some conferences that were way too much work,<br class="">
He woke up one day, and said “I’m such a jerk!;<br class="">
While agendas and details all keep me awake<br class="">
The things people come for are good coffee breaks!”<br class="">
From that realization, however belated,<br class="">
His famed Open Space soon was created<br class="">
From a simple experiment, thirty years ago,<br class="">
The phenomenon has continued to grow<br class="">
Now, thirty years, and nine books later,<br class="">
It’s world-wide success could not be greater.<br class="">
Self-Organization is at its’ core,<br class="">
But Harrison’s message says so much more:<br class="">
We’ve all been taught that Management’s Role<br class="">
Is to Plan, Organize, Direct, and Control –<br class="">
That’s all wrong, said this radical boy<br class="">
Envision, Engage, Empower, Enjoy!<br class="">
The paradox is -- by controlling the least<br class="">
You get both High Performance and a true sense of Peace.<br class="">
Results speak for themselves, and by any measure,<br class="">
Harrison’s thinking has become a World Treasure.<br class="">
But what of the man whom we know as our neighbor;<br class="">
Modest, laid back, full of stories to savor?<br class="">
On high seas he commands the Ethelyn Rose,<br class="">
But on land who commands nobody knows!<br class="">
One thing is for certain, we love and adore<br class="">
This world-famous guru -- our good friend next door.</p><p dir="ltr" class="">Congratulations, Harrison, on your 80th; you done good."</p>
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