Harrison just spoke to something I've been mulling quite a bit as
systems are becoming more erratic. Throughout the months of the US
presidential campaign, I must have heard the news media say, "this is
unprecedented" more times than I ever have. And now it is being said
about the financial mess.
This is a very important time.
I'm seeing some shifts in the types of requests I'm getting. The work
with the National Institute of Corrections is an example. They came
to me because they knew they wanted something "emergent". They were
incredibly nervous about it all but stuck with it. During the last
morning, as we prepared for the convergence work I described in an
earlier e-mail (10/10/08 Three action planning approaches in Open
Space - plus one more), the project director said something that
continues to ring in my ears. People were trying to get clear about
what was being asked of them in identifying where the project should
focus its attention.
The client told the group that his board was asking him questions
like, "what are you doing?" and "what do you expect to achieve?" It
was clear they had him on the hot seat trying to get answers to
questions they were used to having clarity on before launching a major
project. And he gave them an answer that made me cheer. He said, "we
don't know. We're making it up as we go along. If we had the
answers, why would we go to all this trouble?"
And just to put this even more in perspective, the head of the agency,
who launched this project to "transform the system of corrections",
was appointed by Bush's Attorney General. (I wonder if he'll be there
after the transition to Obama? I hope so.)
As systems are breaking down or not serving their purpose well, people
in unexpected places are looking for original answers. And because we
are associated with self-organization and emergence, the OS community
could well be where they turn. As Harrison says, we know a lot about
self-organizing systems.
What does this mean for us as a community of practice? For us as
individual practitioners?
It is a good time to reflect on how we can best equip ourselves to be
of service during this fertile and likely rocky time of change.
appreciatively,
Peggy
______________________________
Peggy Holman
The Open Circle Company
15347 SE 49th Place
Bellevue, WA 98006
425-746-6274
www.opencirclecompany.com
For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to:
www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get
burnt, is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger
On Nov 25, 2008, at 10:36 AM, Michael M Pannwitz wrote:
Could it be that it wasn't Obama that won the election but the way
space was opened for unfolding millions of selforganized initiatives
with all the benefits of broadened leadership and high performance?
If it does not let itself be controlled or shut down it might have
the capacity to perhaps keep things going towards a more peaceful
and productive ride...Obama and Congress will not be able to provide
the transformation needed, selforganization will...
So, where does that leave us grand facilitators?
Greetings from Berlin
mmp
Harrison Owen wrote:
I could be very wrong, but it seems to me that recently there have
been a
number of indications that people are finally taking self
organization
seriously. The latest comes from a Washington Post Story dealing
with the
Obama campaign - which they note was massively self organizing. To
see for
yourself, go to:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/24/AR2008112402
119.html I think this uptick in interest and awareness could be
very important to
this community. We know a lot about self organizing systems and
living
creatively with them because that is what OST is all about. This
knowledge
and experience is something we can and should share. If nothing
else this
sharing will enable us to break out of the "better meetings box,"
and join
what I take to be the infinitely more important conversation about
high
level organizational function - which translates into efficiency,
effectiveness, profitability - to say nothing of surviving and
thriving in a
crazy (self-organizing) world. Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20854
Phone 301-365-2093
Skype hhowen
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/
>
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.ho-image.com OSLIST: To subscribe,
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