Peggy Holman reports on her work with the US government division
concerned with the huge problems in the prison system and what
opportunities may be opening up for self-organization in these times
when nobody has the answers and none of the old ways of working are
functional. Where is open space being called for in Taiwan?
Gail
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 (prisons)", 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
<http://www.opencirclecompany.com>www.opencirclecompany.com
For the new edition of The Change Handbook, go to:
<http://www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook>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>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 Owen
--
Gail West
ICA
3F, No. 12, Lane 5, Tien Mou West Road
Taipei, Taiwan 111
8862) 2871-3150
SKYPE gwestica
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