>Someone asked me yesterday why Open Space alwasy seems to work, and I >replied with the short answer: "I dunno." I sometimes feel that, in >learning and practicing OST, it's as if I have been given a gift from a >genie. ****************************** It may in fact be a genie -- and I am not at all sure that Open Space would work any better if we did know why it works. But I do think that we can work better with Open Space if, as, or when we know why it works. Or at least a reasonable approximation. My best guess is that it is all about self-organizing systems.
The importance of this "guess" (and I think it is more than a guess) is that should Open Space in fact be an example of the power and presence of self-organizing systems in the human domain it is not a strange phenomenon, albeit it may seem very counter-intuitive. But the problem lies with our intuition. We have assumed, (I think wrongly) that human systems are created by bright folks we call systems designers, otherwise known as managers and executives. In actual fact, I rather suspect they happen all by themselves. And the best we can do is to enhance their performance. Heresy I know, and if true, then it will turn out that an awful lot of us are wasting an awful lot of time doing something that will pretty much take care of itself. A bummer. But there is a lot of good news. Should complex human systems emerge as a function of self-organization -- all by themselves -- we might learn to leverage all that in order to realize enhanced productivity, greater pleasure at work, reduction of stress and Soul Pollution -- just for starters. Instead of just talking about self-organizing systems, or God forbid, "designing self-organizing systems" -- we could simply be what we already are. I mention "designing self-organizing systems" because there was actually a presentation at the most recent ODN gathering which purported to tell folks how to do just that. Something very wrong with that picture. As for Open Space -- it becomes a marvelous natural laboratory in which to experience and to experiment with life as a self-organizing system. Anyhow, if you want more on all this, you might want to check out my website (see below) in the section "Papers." Look for one called "Emergent Order" -- which appeared originally in the ODN Practitioner. And of course, if you are really interested, wander through my new book entitled "The Power of Spirit: How Organizations Transform" (Berrett-Koehler July 2000) Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, MD 20854 USA phone 301-469-9269 fax 301-983-9314 website www.mindspring.com/~owenhh Open Space Institute websites www.openspaceworld.org
