Bui – I guess
I must have misspoke, or
something, but the truth of the matter is that no small amount of
thought has
been devoted to the interesting question of why and how OS works. My
personal favorite
is the theoretical basis offered by the Chaos/Complexity folks as they
deal
with self-organizing systems. (For a quick look at that you might check
out http://openspaceworld.com/emergent_order.htm
) And I am sure that the conversation could be much deeper and more
meaningful when
other theoretical perspectives (points of view) are brought in.
Brendan’s
Psychology Professor would be a good one, and your background in
Conflict
resolution, the same. By the way, did you ever wander through my book,
“The
Practice of Peace”?
Harrison
-----Original
Message-----
From: OSLIST
[mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On
Behalf Of Bui K. Petersen
Sent: Tuesday,
February 13, 2007
4:13 PM
To:
osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu
Subject: Re: Open
Space -- A Quiet
Revolution
I have
heard it mentioned
many times (and Harrison mentioned this again recently) that we don't
exactly
why OST works. I believe that there are several theories that can
explain why
it works so well. Suzanna offers one explanation (a theory that I did
not know
before), but I am sure there are many others.
Coming from a conflict resolution background, I can think of at least a
couple
of possible explanations myself. I am not a theorist so I am not going
into
detail. One of the most popular conflict theories is based on Maslow's
Hierarchy of Needs. The Hierarchy consists of (the lower ones being
more
basic):
-Self Actualization Needs (full potential)
-Ego Needs (self respect, personal worth, autonomy)
-Social Needs (love, friendship, comradeship)
-Security Needs (protection from danger)
-Physiological Needs (warmth, shelter, food)
(Wikipedia has some more information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs
)
I am myself not convinced that this order applies to everyone, and at
all
times, but nevertheless OST is a great vehicle for people to satisfy
many of
the "higher" needs.
Another factor that mediators (and facilitators etc.) always have to
play close
attention to, is the dynamics of power, and many (if not most) group
decision-making processes have to deal with the challenge of some
people trying
to dominate with their power and others trying to compensate for their
lack of
power (often through disruptive means).
The amazing thing with OST is that the Law of Two Feet takes care of
all this.
You don't have to be dominated by someone else because you can always
leave.
You can join whatever group you want. You can also propose your own
topic and
take responsibility for it too. Very empowering.
I say all this without having experienced an OS event yet myself, but
it all
makes complete sense to me. I am sure there are others that know theory
a lot
better than I do, I would imagine that if someone so desired, it would
be very
possible to make a detailed theoretical explanation of OST.
I hope this makes sense.
Búi
Suzanna Stephan wrote:
Hello
all,
I guess I feel initiated enough to jump in after attending my first os
event -
the New England SOS hosted by Frank Deitle and facilitated by Blake
Mills
(confirming my suspicions after being an oslist voyeur for quite some
time that
you are a wonderful and unique group of people - it was a lovely
experience) so
I'm going to jump in and add to the concept of os as therapeutic...
As a student of The Human Design System I've become quite keen on the
dynamics
at play when we are not living in accordance with our design. (The
Human Design
System has scientifically documented the authenticity of not only the
impact of
the time of birth on human behavior but as importantly confirmed that
we each
have a genetic blueprint that impacts our system energetically,
manifesting
itself as personality preferences, traits, challenges and purpose.)
Hopefully I
haven't lost you yet, please stay with me...
So much of our experiences in life conditions us away from our nature,
our
natural rhythms. We get lost in the have to's, shoulds, etc., that we
lose the
sense of these natural tendencies. Our current social indoctrination
and
subsequent organizations that we work for/with just reinforce the
enslavement.
So an os event may sometimes be the first time in a very long time that
adults
get permission to reaccess their inner authority. When I came across
ost and ai
last summer, it immediately clicked that these were opportunities to
provide
the environment to reaccess our nature without necessarily having to
get into
the details of the esoterics which can scare a lot of mainstream folks.
The law
of 2 feet to me is people acting on that inner authority (which may
accurately
be called the Law of Self Responsibility) and will not only keep you
healthy
but at the right place at the right time...which some might describe as
fulfilling your purpose. Who doesn't feel better when you get to follow
your
own natural rhythms vs the dictates of others.
Challenge is, like a caged animal that never leaves once the door is
opened, we
have to relearn what we shut down. I saw this in action when people are
first
given the opportunity to operate in open space, many looking for
permission
that what they want to do is ok. Over time you could see the loosening
of the
constraints. So from my view the os process is like training wheels
back to our
true self. Quite theraputic indeed.
Thanks for the opportunity to share and for the richness that you all
bring
both here and to the world.
Please keep me posted on any events happening or facilitation needed in
the Mid
Atlantic Area.
Warmly,
Suzanna Stephan
Virginia Beach, VA
757.621.3560
I know that there are many such stories in the OS chronicles - such
'liberation' is a joy to see and costs nothing in therapeutic fees -
a quiet (and inexpensive) revolution indeed!
Cheers
Brendan
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--
Búi K. Petersen, Cert. ConRes.
mediator and facilitator
--------------------------------
c.solutions
Vancouver, B.C. Canada
Phone:
604.724.4954
Web: www.buildconsensus.ca
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