Larry-- Thank you. I hope the next "intervention" opens the best spaces in you, Larry! <grin>
Thanks for helping us noodle our way through. :- Doug. On Thu, 2008-11-06 at 09:24 -0500, Larry Peterson wrote: > Michael, Doug and all: > > I believe that there are lots of roles played by people in the ever > "becoming" field of relationships in a self-organizing system. Over time, > some formal roles usually get established (and they certainly have in church > systems or in governments). In order for the system to be vital and to > shift in new directions in relation to changes in its environment, emergent > leadership is required throughout and formal leadership must change. > > Obama has emerged as a leader and his team has used his community organizing > perspective and the internet to enable emergent leadership throughout the US > to get engaged. He has also engaged and inspired others through his > "rhetoric" and his "presence". Sustaining that movement without becoming > entranced by the power and thus shutting down the emergence of others is > extremely difficult and also critical. > > I think "Wave Rider" is one way Harrison has helped all of us to become more > conscious of the nature of self-organizing human systems so we can go more > with the flow and not just our ego. > > Larry > > P.S. I'm feeling much better with a successful surgery, although there will > be at least one more health intervention to come. Thanks for asking. > > > Larry Peterson & Associates in Transformation > Toronto, Ontario, Canada > mailto:la...@spiritedorg.com 416.653.4829 http//:www.spiritedorg.com > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Michael > Wood > Sent: November-05-08 10:09 PM > To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > Subject: Leadership in self organising systems > > The way I was using the word "Mission" was equivalent to "Purpose", that > is, I was definining mission as "the purpose/reason for which the > organisation exists". > > The question I floated was, "HOW the formal leadership (say, the > potential Sponsors of Open Space) go about the process of articulating > direction [by which I meant mission/purpose]? How does this direction > get arrived at in the first place, who decides and on what basis?". > > I guess I am starting to understand Harrison's proposition that the > direction gets arrived at via someone caring (who could be any person, > not just one of the "formal" leaders of an organisation) and then seeing > how many others share that care (thereby forming a nexas of caring). We > seem to be seeing a large scale of nexus of caring forming up in recent > months in the USA. Barack Obama "posts a vision" and lots of people show > up and increasingly "buy into" that vision....and a huge internet/mobile > phone facilitated system self organises over a few months to network the > campaign. Often that caring has not arrived out of a vacuum, but has > emerged out of existing stories - we stand on the shoulders of our > ancestors. > > My own context is the church where I (as clergy) wrestle, within myself > and with others, with some very inherrited "command and control" ways of > doing leadership. I am thinking that the role for formal leadership > (i.e. clergy and lay leaders in my context) would be to a) talk about > what we really care about deeply (because we are still part of the whole > system) and b) provide a safe, nutrient rich environment for others to > float what they care about (taking an Open Space approach). One of the > "boundaries" (thankyou Larry) which exists for the clergy is that we are > still are charged, in a formal sense, with passing on certain stories > and conducting certain rituals which carry a tradition. But in the more > Open Space environment, the tradition is more explicitly a > "living/evolving" tradition. Rather than the formal leadership saying, > "this is the way we do it and it's not up for any conversation", the > leadership approach becomes far more conversational - hence the > mission/purpose of the organisation, while retaining some kind of > central core of narrative, becomes more open to a contextually specific > outworking which is far more open to the wisdom of the whole > system/environment. > > I am reading Parker Palmer's book (he is an American Educationalist, > with a Quaker background), "A Hidden Wholeness" where he says, "Truth is > an eternal conversation about things that matter, conducted with passion > and discipline"(page 127). Sounds rather like Open Space doesn't it. In > one of this lectures, Pope Benedict also pointed out that the word > "University" comes from "Universitas", meaning, "Conversations of > humanity". This theme of conversation just keeps emerging. > > Leadership as a facilitation of conversation, conducted with passion and > discipline??? How does that sound? > > > Michael Wood > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of > douglas germann > Sent: Thursday, 6 November 2008 11:04 AM > To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > Subject: Re: Wave Rider: Who is the self organizing? > > Larry-- > > Really glad to "see" you back on the list! Did the surgery go well for > you? > > It seems to me that both the members and the leaders of a group are part > of the system, and I am beginning to grasp what Harrison says about them > being a very small part of the system. But small jets (I am told) can > direct large streams of water and other fluids, so I suspect that might > also be true of human systems, such as communities. So I see the leaders > (that is all of the members, ideally, or at least many of them in open > space) as part of the self-organizing system. > > At least at this hour of the night! > > Michael-- > > It seems to me that the leaders are a larger group than just those with > titles, yes? So do they not have the responsibility for setting their > own boundaries? Even in the midst of your friend's democratic swamp and > my friend's "Group grope?" Is not the grope and the swamp just part of > the stew we all go through everyday, every project, every meeting? And > is it possible that that is a good thing, part of the softening up of > the meat and vegetables so we have a savory meal? > > Jack-- > > I like your notion that mission keeps us from working on what our > purpose is. > > Beyond your question for me is a more sticky one--what is the purpose of > a community or possibly even a country? Sure a country might have a > constitution of some sort, but I seem to recall that Great Britain got > along for many centuries without one, until some upstarts forced one on > the Crown. But a community, say a neighborhood in a city or a town, > might be just a collection of whoever happens to live there, without any > written charter. What then? Who decides what it's purpose is? Does it > have a purpose at all? Does it make a difference that no one knows what > its purpose is? > > Can a case be made that the purpose might just be emergent? For > instance, in the community someone thinks something needs to be done for > the environment, so they organize a recycling drive. That drive has a > purpose--recycling wherever, whenever, etc. But the community lives on > without (written) purpose. Yes? > > :- Doug. > > > > On Thu, 2008-10-30 at 10:35 -0400, Larry Peterson wrote: > > Doug: > > > > I can't reply for Harrison, but I have some thoughts on the importance > > > of "leaders" in self-organizing processes. I think it is about > > articulating the direction and the "boundaries" within which > self-organization happens. > > > > I've recently been reading "Reinventing the Sacred" by Stuart Kauffman > > > -- it is a tough scientific read so I'll read it again. He does make > > a strong scientific case for "self-organization" from molecules up -- > > including biological and human systems (like economies). He provides > > some "proof" that systems are not reducible to quantum/physics > > phenomena. He states that cells (for example) self-organize the next > > level of boundaries within which self-organizing processes happen and > > without the boundaries it wouldn't happen. Boundaries are clearly > > semi-permeable with their environment, but real enough to give some > definition to the reality. > > > > "Leaders", maybe, in human systems are those people who articulate > > both the frame and the direction well enough to help create the > > conditions for more effective self-organization in that direction. > > Formal leadership can also help by committing resources in a certain > > direction. Certainly the role of formal leaders in organizations where > > > I have opened the space have been key to both event success and longer > term engagement of others. > > > > The other book I've read is "Hot, Flat and Crowded" by Friedman. He > > clearly believes that to more intentionally address the climate change > > > crisis upon us, a new regulation frame has to be created by formal > > leadership -- governments. (He has some understanding that this > > creates the conditions for > > innovation.) Otherwise, it will continue to be too easy and cheap to > > use fossil fuels that we will not make the switch and the next 20 > > years are critical to reduce the carbon and the number of climate > > change calamities that will befall us (and keep us alive as a > > species). Certainly the crises won't be eliminated. > > > > Now that my surgery is over and healing is on my agenda, I'm hoping to > > > read and think and contribute more. > > > > Larry > > > > > > Larry Peterson & Associates in Transformation Toronto, Ontario, Canada > > mailto:la...@spiritedorg.com 416.653.4829 > http//:www.spiritedorg.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of > > douglas germann > > Sent: October-28-08 10:29 AM > > To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > > Subject: Wave Rider: Who is the self organizing? > > > > Harrison-- > > > > If we self organize our work, why do you make such a point that we did > > > not do it ourselves? (eg, Wave Rider, p 133) > > > > I suspect the answer has to do with debunking the notion that someone > > did it for us: The Leader. However, in point of fact, the people > > organized it, organically and largely unconsciously. That's what I am > > seeing. In other words, you seem to be saying, in the realm of humans > > working together, it was not done by just a few of us, but by all of > us. > > Yes? > > > > But if just a few of "The Leaders" did it for us, is it not because we > > > abdicated our role in the process to them? So even that is self > > organizing? > > > > When we are speaking of human enterprise, who is the self who > organized? > > > > :- Doug. > > > > * > > * > > ========================================================== > > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > > ------------------------------ > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > > > * > > * > > ========================================================== > > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > > ------------------------------ > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > * > * > ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > * > * > ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist > > * > * > ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > ------------------------------ > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, > view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html > > To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist