The SPIRIT book covers grief and grief-work in some depth. I find this
theme of death and dying ("passing") to be a major part of what is
typically unspoken and typically going on in an Open Space... when and
where the stakes are /high/.
There is a death/"annihilation" going on there, that seems to be part of
what it takes to actually get from here to there.
Harrison uses these terms and words in the post below:
* "terminal"
* "last rites"
* "damaged org"
* "survival stuff"
Ouch. That smarts! "Birth" seems an obvious aspect of
healthy-and-well-functioning Open Space...does this go for "death" as well?
On 3/21/15 4:18 PM, Harrison wrote:
Dan --- Our organizations are definitely stodgy. Even the best of them
seem to clunk along when compared to what they might be doing. God
knows how you could ever produce any numbers to prove this assertion,
but I have yet to met anybody (even the wildest enthusiast) who would
affirm that their organization was running in top form. Good yes...
but with lots of room for improvement. But I suspect that the critical
issue is NOT a matter of “low level of development,” rather it is a
case of self inflicted wounds causing radical sub-optimization. The
“cure” would then be to stop the wounding, at least until we could see
how things might go. Of course, *if the situation really is terminal*,
then by all means, Bring it on! That could be SCRUM, Facilitation,
*Last Rites*, whatever...
So what would an organization look like if it stopped being shot? How
would it perform?
Sounds pretty abstract and difficult to visualize... but I do believe
we get the picture in wild living color, every time we have the
privilege of *opening the space for a damaged organization*, where the
trouble is real and palpable. I’m not talking about the two hour Open
Space on some frilly, safe topic. I mean the real deal where the
stakes are seriously high. *Survival stuff*.
My experience is shared by many, and the stories are often told. My
most recent encounter was with a very large US federal agency, which
according to its director was so dysfunctional that “most of the
people could not find their rear ends with both hands” (That’s a
direct quote). They were in trouble by any standard, and the Chief was
so out of options that Open Space sounded like a safe way to go – even
though he had never seen one.
Well we did it... and the organization I saw bore no relationship to
the one that had been described to me. The people were all the same,
the issues were familiar... but the behavior was brilliant. Total
flowing conversation with real engagement and workable solutions. Mind
Bending! And the chief was blown away – walking around with a silly
grin on his face.
I invited him to lunch because I wanted to feed him several drinks and
ask a question. We had the lunch, and after the drinks, came the
question: “What are you doing, Sir, as a matter of everyday business
that converts 177 bright, engaged, competent people into blundering
fools?” He looked a little surprised and I said, “I think you might
want to stop doing it.”
Dan – That’s my point. Before we do anything more, different, or
otherwise – I sincerely believe we need to stop and appreciate what
apparently happens very naturally, all by itself, with minimal or no
assistance. And after that appreciative moment, we might think of a
few things to do, but only a very few.
Harrison
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