At 09:38 AM 12/28/2001 +1000, Robert.Chaffe wrote:
Harrison, Thanks for the copy of your long proposal. It does seem rather complex and I wonder if we need to follow this path to win the job? A self organising system, learning organisations, etc. are all constructs that we use to describe the reality in an organisation that works and is sustainable. Somehow we need to find a way of allowing the client to discover their own words to describe their organisation and keep the Jargon for our own use.
Absolutely correct, in my view. Simple is best. And when dealing with a client it is essential to start with the language, thought forms, mythology and ideology of the client. Further, it has been my experience that all clients (read all people that I have met) are "already there." Some while back, there was a lot of conversation about bringing Spirit to Business. My response what that was sort of Carrying Coals to Newcastle. A waste of time. What was not a waste of time, however, was enabling the client (person, people) to recognize and enhance what they already had/were. Call it Helping them to grow their Now. Every time we open space with a client, I think we make a start at that process, but I don't think that is the end of the process. To the extent that people perceive their Open Space experiences as "only" a better, more productive meeting (which it certainly is) they are only skimming the surface to their disadvantage. However, at the end of the day, they must see their own depths in their own terms. To help them do this -- if they want the help -- I find it useful to have critically considered what those depths might look like -- which means for me going to my own depths and engaging in a process of critical thought and reflection, which almost inevitably generates some language (aka "jargon"). Insisting that they use my jargon, however, is not helpful.
Every time I start to give long responses to what Open Space is or can do I am reminded of the words from South Pacific "Fools give you reasons, wise men never try!" For the business we could ask. "Do you want to make the best of the current opportunities to grow your business?" " Do you want to make the best use of the resources of your business?" "Do you want your staff totally committed new business plans and actions?" "Are you prepared to work with your staff to create a new business that is better than what any of you thought possible?"
My experience exactly. I suppose if I have a mantra it is Don't sell (explain) Open Space -- Do it! Don't talk about the method, theory, esoterica of Open Space, talk about results. All true. And then there is more... Leadership appears in new ways. Acknowledge that and go deeper. Community appears in new ways. Recognize that and go deeper. Compensation (pay checks) must come in some new packages. Think about that and go deeper. Accounting systems serve a closed system way of being in organization. A self organizing system, which manifests in Open Space, has a different metric. What is that???? To be sure, things get a little complicated, and we certainly could get buried in arcane esoterica, to say nothing of mind-boggling jargon, but we have a secret weapon. Just open some more space, and let the fresh air in. But I don't think we can do our job and also avoid the complexities. Sort of comes with the territory. Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, MD 20854 USA phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website www.mindspring.com/~owenhh osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html