At 11:35 AM 9/27/2002 +1000, Rob wrote:
Then we go back into the world around us. The facilitator, well we did it ourselves so why bother, it is so simple anyone can do it. So we see the organisation reform about their old norms and get on with the job. The participants filled with the experience bounce back into the world, only to slam headlong into brick walls of the REAL world. Confused, bruised and wiser they may choose to keep going but many are not prepared for the hard yards required to be successful.
The distinction between the Real World, and the world of Open Space is one that is often made. I definitely know what people are saying and why -- but I am very uncomfortable with it for several reasons. First of all, I think it is wrong, or at the very least, it has the cart before the horse. From where I sit, I must consider the world in all of its multiple manifestations (galaxies, people, countries, neutron stars etc) to be fundamentally self organizing. What we do on top of that (creating departments, divisions etc) is a secondary addition which works when in accord with the basic principles of self organizations, and falters when they are not aligned. For me, Open Space is not about doing something new, but rather recognizing what we truly are. So if we are to accord "reality" to anything, it is what we (everybody) experiences in Open Space. All the rest of it is an add on, and very often delusional. I know there are some folks who actually think they are "in charge" -- and I know of many others who co-conspire with that notion, if only so that they do not have to take responsibility for what happens, including their own actions. But given the massive complexity, added to the chaotic changeableness of this thing we call life, being "in charge" is a non thought so far as I am concerned. My second reason for discomfort is that when we make such a distinction (real world vs Open Space) our job becomes infinitely harder. As I see it, all we are trying to do is to help folks understand and practice what they already are. If they choose to be miserable with miseries of their own making, there is not a great deal that we can do to help. But we can bring them to the point where they recognize the choice.
For me Open Space is a form of traumatic experience, and an experience that needs to carefully processed so that I use the goodness in the most effective way when I leave the space for other parts. This is for both facilitator and participant. It also means that it takes a special environment in organisations to support the cultural change required to apply Open Space. I believe that these organisations will be successful but most likely not the most visible or profitable at least until the world changes to champion sustainable, simple, life of interdependence .
There is no doubt the Open Space can be shocking. I used to call it Freedom Shock. At some level it is very nice to believe that your life is controlled and that your options are limited at best. You are then free to bitch to your heart's content and blame "them" for whatever is going wrong. Obviously there are limitations, but typically we don't even approach them -- and at least in terms of my life, the areas of freedom so vastly out weigh the areas of constraint that there is truly no comparison. Of course, I live a privileged life, and reside in a privileged land... but I have known many others who live under vastly different circumstances who's range of freedom I find awesome -- terrifying, and of course shocking. Frankly, I don't think we have to wait, or in fact can afford to wait, "until the world changes to champion sustainable, simple, life of interdependence," given the issues of the moment and the stakes we face. We can of course continue to do what we've done, and we will get what we've gotten. But there is the option of unleashing the kind of creative power and energy that bubbles up in every Open Space -- which, I would argue, is nothing but the innate power of a well functioning self-organizing system. Of course, if we don't do it, others will. Some have suggested that Ben Laden and Co. constitute a good example of an Open Space Organization. Doubtless he never heard the words, and would object to them if he had -- but I think the point is tenable. And if it is -- it would become clear that Open Space is not just about warm fuzzies, love, and light. I guess that would take us into a whole new discussion. 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