It
is interesting to see how different situations and conditions influence what we
are able to understand (or, even more clearly, what we are "able to see"...)
I
think that today it is obvious to make a distinction between what were the
"demonstrations of the 60's" in a (so called) democracy (I am
referring to the USA) and what is happening today across many Middle East
countries.
But
my point is a different one. Many of the older people in this list have been in
demonstrations in Western Countries in the 60's (USA, France or Germany are
examples).
Me
too, I have been in demonstrations in the late 60's in Portugal and then
created 2 different organizations (one in Portugal and the other in
Angola) that had the same spirit. The difference was that Portugal was (with
Spain) one of the last fascist governments in Europe and the last to have
colonies, so, from 1968 to the 25/April/1974 those organizations had to be
clandestine (like in the French resistance during the II World War) and the
risks were high - one could be arrested, tortured, disappear, or be killed by a
lost bullet during those "demonstrations" or other much less open
events or distributions of propaganda. Due to the difficulties in communicating
openly, those anti-fascist and/or anti-colonialist organizations were closed
and not known from the others, but have surely contributed to the
re-establishment of democracy in 74.
But
the interesting point is not that one. After the democracy was re-established
many of us returned to their professions. But others have decided to become
political
professionals, and have entered to the political parties that were created
after the Revolution. Many of those have completely changed their values as
they become used to the perks of High Government responsibilities or public
owned
companies or other organizations (including NGO's) and the corruption that they
(and their friends) practiced after that. Indeed many of them are now rich -
with accounts in fiscal paradises because of the way they have make a living of
exploring others and are the major responsible for our current financial crisis.
So,
in my country (and I am not saying that this applies to others - each one must
think about one's situation), I am able to identify very clearly which are the
people that were once "good guys" but are now "bad guys".
And yes, I can be sure that, in my country, they still exist, even if they now
use different methods...
Regards
Artur
________________________________
From: Harrison Owen <hho...@verizon.net>
To: 'World wide Open Space Technology email list'
<oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 10:37 PM
Subject: Re: [OSList] Control, Perceived Control, and the Loss Thereof
Good stuff, Birgitt! But I am not quite sure where you are going. Which is
fine. And as an old time activist (on the streets in the early ‘60’s) I surely
recognize the “Good Guys – Bad Guys” scenario. It wasn’t very accurate, but it
certainly was thrilling. Power to the People, Baby! Maybe we have progressed a
little? A nuance, here or there?
ho
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Dr.
Potomac, MD 20854
USA
189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)
Camden, Maine 20854
Phone 301-365-2093
(summer) 207-763-3261
www.openspaceworld.com
www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST Go
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From:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Birgitt Williams
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 4:07 PM
To: 'World wide Open Space Technology email list'; 'Artur Silva'
Subject: Re: [OSList] Control, Perceived Control, and the Loss Thereof
Dear friends and colleagues,
A story that comes to mind as I read this thread is one of a granddaughter at
age 3 running around the house, shouting in sheer delight “I am a human being”.
It was a discovery for her that day and she was very excited. I continue to
share in the excitement of being human…a human being and not a human doing.
Along the way, I have made some discoveries. One is that reality as we perceive
it is only an illusion, and that if there are twelve people in a room, there
are twelve perspectives of reality. Once upon a time in my activist years, I
thought of reality as having good guys and bad guys, a light shirt team and a
dark shirt team, and I bought into the illusion of this polarized duality,
believing that I could ‘liberate’ others. I acted accordingly and led marches
on City Hall, and so on. It is no longer how I perceive reality. In my current
reality, there is no ‘us’ and ‘them’, only ‘us’. And the ‘us’ is doing our best
to figure out life on planet earth.
Another story that I like is one in which God and Goddess created the Universe,
identified some laws or givens for it all to work well, and then asked those
souls who wanted to be born into human form to remember to take along their
instruction manuals so that life on earth could be easy and to live with our
birthright which is ‘JOY’. A lot of us were excited to come to Planet Earth. I
suspect those of us who love participatory methods like Open Space Technology,
Whole Person Process Facilitation, Appreciative Inquiry, World Café and so on
knew each other before incarnating in this incarnation and we agreed that there
was important work to do together. We were so sure that we knew how to navigate
life on Planet Earth that we threw the instruction manuals away, ignored the
meta-givens that we were presented with that would bring about the conditions
for us to live in continual joy, and now we are left realizing that those
instruction manuals would be
handy indeed. There are the givens of creation…I wish I understood them
better, although some are now clear to me.
I am of the belief that if something is presented and you find it useful, then
use it. If you find that you are not in harmony with it, then don’t use it. You
are your own guru and you will know best. One great test to determine if
something is useful is to ask questions that come from NLP about something
presented as fact by asking, if this were true, what would I see, what would I
hear, what would I feel….and one that I think is useful is ‘what would I know?”
. and then conduct life and work from what you conclude is useful.
I find it useful to have adopted beliefs in ‘us’, in a unified field, in a
recognition of emergence and expanded consciousness. What have you found it
useful to have adopted beliefs in? And how do these beliefs affect your work
with OST?
Blessings to all,
Birgitt
From:Harrison Owen [mailto:hho...@verizon.net]
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 11:06 AM
To: 'Artur Silva'; 'World wide Open Space Technology email list'
Subject: Re: [OSList] Control, Perceived Control, and the Loss Thereof
Herewith Artur…
Space closes,innovation withers, agility get clunky – and organizational health
shows critical signs of decline in terms of loss of productivity, efficiency,
effectiveness – to say nothing of employee morale and self-respect. Not a
pretty picture.
Would you agree then that those organizations, at that point in time, can be
considered "closed"?
HO -- I suspect it may be a totally natural reaction – but my observation is
that fear (from whatever cause) closes space. In the US we speak of “circling
the wagons” to describe what happens when danger (real or perceived) lurks – it
is the classical defensive posture. When the danger is real, the response can
be effective, but as a long term solution it is limiting to say the least. With
the wagons circled, it is very hard to move to new places JSo the organizations
alluded to above are either closed or closing. But in any case they can hardly
be considered vital, alive, and growing. The tragedy is that, when the fear is
a self inflicted wound – the response (closing space) is literally suicidal.
Artur -- Would you agree that all the past discussions about the "givens" were
precisely about that - one way to try to shield the executives that some
"givens" will be out of discussion at the OST event?
HO – Sure – but definitely not the only way. Variants include, “Doing a little
bit of Open Space” – just to make sure that things don’t “get out of control.”
Truthfully we have multiple ways of avoiding reality and preserving illusion.
Think of all the stories about The Emperor’s Clothes.
Artur -- And what do you think about an almost opposite strategy for the
Pre-work of trying to "prepare" the prospective client that he/she will lose
control but that is ok...? (I say "almost opposite" as your way seems to
recommend that the facilitator gets out of the way and let the client think and
decide, and the other is almost trying to "educate the client"...)
HO – Educating the client is an essential undertaking, for sure. Which
immediately raises the question – what is the most effective means (of
education)? In cases where the problem arises because of ignorance or
misunderstanding of the “facts” – the way forward is pretty straight forward.
Present the facts and make the argument. Case closed. But I think the situation
relative to “fear of loss of control” places us in very different waters. From
the point of view of our Executive, all of the facts of his experience, to say
nothing of the practice of (many of) his peers and the burden of the literature
say that the preservation of control is the sine qua non of professional
competence. To be out of control is to be out of a job! And furthermore, what
happens in Open Space (or is purported to happen) simply couldn’t happen. So
why would you want to go there?
I think that what we are dealing with here may better be understood as a
discontinuous leap or paradigm shift. By definition, rational argument won’t
get you there. But genuine experience can. Not always, and sometimes with
degrees of pain and discomfort – depending on the level of resistance.
Participating in Open Space is one way of gaining that experience. Can you
prepare people for that experience? Maybe, but I think it is equally possible
that your efforts at preparation could well convince the hesitant Executive
never to take the trip. If you clearly and honestly describe what will happen,
telling folks that they will find themselves in a complex, swirling environment
with ideas and issues catalyzing unknown results over which you, Mr/Ms
Executive will not have a shred of control -- that could produce a convinced
stay at home! It is not unlike swimming I think. You can do all the dry land
exercises you like, and have ever so many people
calling – come on in the water is fine! But at the end of the day you just
have to get in the water. And for sure it is no help to have somebody assure
you that you need not worry because you will only get a “little bit wet.”
Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Dr.
Potomac, MD 20854
USA
189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)
Camden, Maine 20854
Phone 301-365-2093
(summer) 207-763-3261
www.openspaceworld.com
www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of OSLIST Go
to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
From:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of Artur Silva
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 8:58 AM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: Re: [OSList] Control, Perceived Control, and the Loss Thereof
Thanks for your tough provoking post, Harrison. Some thoughts and questions
inline.
________________________________
From:Harrison Owen <hho...@verizon.net>
To: 'World wide Open Space Technology email list'
<oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2011 11:07 PM
Subject: [OSList] Control, Perceived Control, and the Loss Thereof
Keith wrote: “Loss (or perceived loss?) of control is also something that some
senior leaders struggle with.”
True – and not only in Open Space. It may be my own perversity, but I find this
to be a very useful struggle which may bring these folks to a deeper
understanding of themselves, the organizations they serve, and the world in
which we live. The actual truth of the matter (and for sure my personal
experience) is that control of the sort they are afraid of losing never was
theirs to begin with. Agonizing over something the doesn’t exist is not only a
little silly, it also bespeaks of something approaching delusion, if not
delusion itself. The pain of their agonizing is to be regretted, but it is a
self inflicted wound, and unfortunately its impact is not limited to the
nervous executive(s). It can (and often does) effect the entire organization in
adverse and sometimes lethal ways.Space closes, innovation withers, agility get
clunky – and organizational health shows critical signs of decline in terms of
loss of productivity, efficiency,
effectiveness – to say nothing of employee morale and self-respect. Not a
pretty picture.
Would you agree then that those organizations, at that point in time, can be
considered "closed"?
(...)
There is no question in my mind that there are massive good works to be done
coaching executives through their addiction to control. And it really is an
addiction, I think, and should be treated as such. Those in the “Addiction
Business” will tell you that, of the many barriers and difficulties to be faced
and overcome –The Enabler is a major obstacle to health. Enablers are typically
good hearted souls who in the name of sympathy, empathy and compassion do
little things, and large, to effectively shield the addict from a direct
confrontation with his/her addiction. I more than suspect that when we seek to
shield an executive from the possibility of losing control in Open Space, we
are doing something of the same sort, and for sure we are not doing anybody a
favor. Should our efforts take the form of assuring people that “certain”
items/issues will be kept carefully under protective cover (read “control”),
that constitutes promises we
can’t keep. If the items/issues are truly important to somebody (other than
the nervous executive) – they will be present, one way or another. If not in a
“session” then for sure in some back hall conversations where it is most likely
that they will fester and grow.
Would you agree that all the past discussions about the "givens" were precisely
about that - one way to try to shield the executives that some "givens" will be
out of discussion at the OST event?
Pre-work, as Lisa Heft is wont to tell us, is important. But I find that (at
least in the case of executive fears) it can be pretty straight forward. I
simply describe what Open Space is and the kinds of results I have witnessed,
making little reference to how it works – unless asked. In most cases we
proceed directly to operational concerns: Theme, location, dates, etc. But in
the event that the conversation moves to issues of control and the perceived
lack of same, I tend to call for a time out, suggesting that maybe they need
some more time to think about their needs and the appropriateness of Open
Space. If I don’t think they have heard me, I put it a little stronger. I
suggest that they think about any other way to achieve their ends. And should
they run out of options, call me back. I run about 50/50 on the call backs. But
when they call they are ready to go. So am I.
And what do you think about an almost opposite strategy for the Pre-work of
trying to "prepare" the prospective client that he/she will lose control but
that is ok...? (I say "almost opposite" as your way seems to recommend that the
facilitator gets out of the way and let the client think and decide, and the
other is almost trying to "educate the client"...)
Thanks for any clarifications.
Regards
Artur
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