Stunning, Harrison. I will play with you and Ethelyn Rose (perhaps on
the Ethelyn Rose) any time!
Love,
Christine
Christine Whitney Sanchez
CWS - Collaborative Wisdom & Strategy
2717 E. Mountain Sky Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85048, USA
+1.480.759.0262
www.christinewhitneysanchez.com
www.innovationpartners.com
www.collaborativespark.com
On Aug 22, 2010, at 2:49 PM, Harrison Owen wrote:
Our friend Suzanne Daigle sent me a note saying that it seemed I had
been very quiet on OSLIST. It is true that I appreciate silence, but
the real truth is, I was just thinking. Dangerous I know, but what
follows is the result – and you can blame it all on Suzanne (Joke!).
So what do you think?
**************************************************************
A long time ago a good friend, Ralph Copleman, was to be found in
the middle of a large circle of peers dressed in a flowing cape and
repeating the words, “Everything is moving, Everything is moving.”
Odd to say the least and some doubted Ralph’s sanity. Some still do,
but that image has stuck in my febrile brain ever since – and as
time has passed it occurs to me that Ralph had it precisely right:
This is an energetic cosmos. The problem arises when we (and that
includes all of us some of the time) desperately want everything to
stop and stand still. So desperately in fact that we have created a
mental image of our environment exclusively populated by static
things which include everything from mountains to super nova along
with the oddments of our life like professions, chairs,
relationships, organizational structures, corporations, countries
and empires. Unfortunately this mental image is a radical illusion,
one might say delusion. Ralph is right. Everything is moving and
what we perceive as stable structures are but the momentary, slice
in time, freeze-frame constructs of our imagination.
Heresy? Psychobabble? Advanced esoteric insight? – None of the
above, I think. As a matter of fact, Ralph’s observation is nothing
but a short (poetic?) version of the (now) standard scientific
understanding of the nature of the cosmos. Starting with the Big
Bang it is all flowing energy, albeit now clumped in momentary
configurations – but still flowing energy for all of that. Scratch
any rock hard enough and its essential nature comes through – a
whirring bunch of quarks and neutrons doing the cosmic dance.
Doubtless my physicist friends would take issue with my phrasing –
but not, I think, with the core message. Everything is moving.
So what does all this have to do with the price of eggs? Or for that
matter – Open Space and our role as facilitators and consultants? A
lot, I believe.
Starting with Open Space which is many things to different people.
For some it is a Large Group Intervention. Others might see it as an
aberrant phenomenon peculiar to a cultish few. For myself Open Space
is a trial ride in the flow of life which has a lot of similarities
to my boat.
My boat is smallish in size (32 feet) but definitely larger than the
average punt. She is very seaworthy and shares a common heritage
with the local Lobster Boats here in Maine. We have many visitors,
most of whom have never been on a boat such as the Ethelyn Rose.
When you walk on board, things look sort of familiar. Chairs for
sitting, a comfortable nook for dining, and even an oriental rug on
the floor – excuse me, sole. If you look further there are the
standard amenities such as a shower and commode, all sequestered in
their separate quarters. Even a complete landlubber will feel more
or less at home.
But the moment we leave the dock the world changes – apparent
stability yields to constant motion. Everything is moving even if it
seems to be staying in the same place! In the harbor motion is
minimal, but the moment we clear the breakwater marking the harbor
entrance the experience can be radically different. Sea swells from
the open Atlantic Ocean take us up and down in distances measured in
yards, and should we have a good cross wind the surface chop adds an
interesting side to side motion. The Ethelyn Rose is right at home,
but some of our visitors have a different impression. And navigating
in these conditions is a definite learning experience. Even a simple
walk through the main cabin can be a challenge. Hand holds that you
had carefully plotted at the start of your journey suddenly changed
position relative to you as you made your way. What was up is now
down and who knows what is happening in between. Interesting, and as
they say, It ain’t Kansas.
Most people meet the challenge and after a few educational bumps to
various parts of their anatomy they learn not to fight reality. No
matter what you may have thought you were going to do, the only
useful option is to go with the flow. And the next level of learning
is that when you do that well (flow) you can actually arrive where
you need to be. Wonderful! Sounds a lot like Open Space.
We start in the static stability of a circle. This may seem strange
to some, but there is a place for everybody and everybody finds a
place. A familiar and enduring structure for sure. Then it happens.
The circle crumbles in bits and pieces as people come to center,
announcing their passions – only to be briefly restored as they
return to their seats. However the restoration is but momentary.
Shortly everybody leaves their seats to join a chaotic gaggle at the
wall. So much for static structure, and it goes downhill from there.
Ebbing and flowing, groups form and reform all without benefit of
the standard constraints essential for orderly organizational life—
or so we might have thought. Pre-arranged agenda (sometimes called
Mission, Goals, Objectives) is nonexistent. The Schedule might be
posted but never followed – things start when they start. Assigned
participation is nowhere to be found, and yet the right people show
up. And to make things even worse, the air is filled with buzzing
and flutters as Bees and Butterflies do their thing. Madness! To be
sure there may be a few people who are utterly flummoxed as the hand
holds they may have expected (see above under “Ethelyn Rose at Sea”)
disappear . . . or reappear in unexpected places. Their condition is
not helped, for should they ask what to do the answer is likely to
come back as a question – What would they care to do?
A trifling few will lose heart and head for the shore – perceived
stability. But the vast majority, as we have seen over the years and
around the globe, will be totally captivated by the moment, and a
smaller group will experience that moment as total exhilaration.
They are doing what their prior life experience taught them could
not be done – seriously and intentionally going with the flow. And
rather than being rank hedonism, the experience proves to be
massively productive and fulfilling. Doing well and good – and
feeling great. A hard to beat combination.
And then we come to Monday Morning. Back to reality, as they say.
But is it? The truth, I believe is rather different. They have
experienced reality and come to the edge of shedding illusion/
delusion. In the words of friend Ralph, “Everything is moving” – and
this is now a fact of life to be savored and enjoyed. No longer a
terrifying unknown, it is to be affirmed and embraced. Not without a
few “white knuckle” moments to be sure – but infinitely better than
hanging onto the (illusory) rock of stability.
So what about us – those privileged folks who have accepted the
honor of opening space in people’s lives? Short answer: Invite our
guests over the edge. Please note I did not say, Push them over the
edge.
Crafting this invitation is always a matter of personal style and
must come from the heart. The invitation I have in mind never
appears on a piece of paper (or the electronic equivalent). It
arrives in our personhood – who we are and how we present ourselves,
which is to say, from the heart. Not to be confused with a gushy
valentine or formulaic presentation, the invitation manifests in our
simple presence, revealing our own acceptance and joy in the moving
flow of life. Without words we express the swimmer’s call: Come on
in, the water is fine! Of course you have to be in the water for
that call to have any credibility.
It is perhaps easier to say how NOT to create this invitation. First
off, it is not a matter of rational argument and presentation of
facts. Most people already know the facts at some level, and I think
the case could be made that it was “rational argument” that has
gotten us into the bind we experience. Given the “fact” of a moving,
changing world which can be very uncomfortable, it is quite
“rational” to define that world in terms of controllable static
chunks that may be contained, or better, bent to our
specifications. This has led us to such wonderful things as “Flood
Control” which works until such time as Mother Nature and Old Man
River decide to take a different course. It turns out that The River
is not a static, definable thing but part of a vast ever changing
system. Effective Flood Control would require close management of
the Planet’s atmosphere to say nothing of the cosmos beyond. Good
luck!
Also under the heading of “NOT to be included” are well intentioned
efforts to sugar coat the pill, as it were. Which is to say that we
might propose certain limitations that will restrict the
possibility of change in Open Space. Some of us have called these
“givens” but so far as I can tell the only given is change itself.
And to suggest otherwise is not so much to violate the “Spirit of
Open Space” but rather the essence of the cosmos itself. Ralph had
it right: Everything is moving. In this context, Open Space
Technology is a minimal consideration.
I am by no means suggesting that our invitation look like the back
panel of some medication listing every possible adverce reaction, if
in fact unexpected change is such an adverce reaction. And truth to
tell I find the appearance of unexpected change in the midst of an
Open Space to be one of its (OS’s) most delightful consequences. I
also think that it is important to note the OS is not the engine of
change. It simply provides the space for change to show up and the
cosmos (or whatever) takes care of all the heavy lifting.
For me an invitation to Open Space is an opportunity to include
friends and strangers in the deepest experience of (my) life. It has
little to do with selling a product, doing a process, excersizing
some sort of professional competence – although there are doubtless
elements of all of that. Fundamentally it is my invitation to
experience life at its fullest in which chanagability is not the
enemy to be suppressed but rather the rich tapestry of an evolving
future. I don’t make it, I can’t predict it – but I can participate
both as a sojourner and a co-creator. Stuart Kauffman speaks of
being “At Home in the Universe.” That is my elemental experience,
and I am always looking for playmates.
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Dr.
Potomac, MD 20854
USA
Phone 301-365-2093
www.openspaceworld.com
www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
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