Um, it's kind of a natural law of the universe. It's why we are. 

Sent from John's iPhone

On Sep 19, 2011, at 8:52 AM, ANNE BENNETT <[email protected]> 
wrote:

> Anyone care to take on the dimension of the desirability of new orders...? 
> regimes that emerge in open spaces, then contain/exclude/set up perverse 
> dynamics with other systems and contexts... are a function of the desires of 
> the actors - their readiness to 'improve/progress/be benign/hold on to good 
> intentions and espoused values/be moral and ethical etc...' all up for grabs 
> - yours, avid systems thinker
>  
> A
> 
> 
> From: John Watkins <[email protected]>
> To: World wide Open Space Technology email list 
> <[email protected]>
> Sent: Monday, 19 September, 2011 16:17:05
> Subject: Re: [OSList] Designing an OS way
> 
> Florian,
> 
> HOWEVER... (and this may be how OST works...  Harrison?) Prigogine and 
> Stengers also say that...  "in open systems, in far from equilibrium states, 
> new orders emerge spontaneously."
> 
> John
> 
> On Sep 19, 2011, at 1:20 AM, fischer florian wrote:
> 
>> John, that´s wonderful. Finally a clear definition. That works.
>> Thank you a lot.
>> Florian
>> 
>> Florian Fischer
>> [email protected]
>> www.begleitung-im-wandel.com
>> Münchener Straße 6
>> 10779 Berlin
>> Fon (030) 2116752
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Am 19.09.2011 um 06:25 schrieb John Watkins:
>> 
>>> Artur,
>>> 
>>> The term "open systems" comes from thermodynamics, especially from 
>>> Prigogine and Stengers, who also refer to them as "dissipative" systems.  
>>> It does not mean open to change; it means open in the sense of importing 
>>> "energy" from outside itself and excreting "energy" back into the 
>>> surrounding system.  Such systems are most often self-organizing and 
>>> self-recreating (autopoiesis).  They "sort" energy into that which will 
>>> help them recreate themselves and that which will not, and they dissipate 
>>> the rest, creating, paradoxically, internally order and externally more 
>>> entropy.  Bureaucracies are actually great examples of open systems in this 
>>> regard.
>>> 
>>> John
>>> 
>>> On Sep 18, 2011, at 7:47 AM, Artur Silva wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I continue to have a disagreement with you on this point, Harrison.
>>>>  
>>>> I agree that "all systems are self organizing -- it is the preexisting 
>>>> condition here on planet earth"
>>>>  
>>>> But I do not conclude that they are all open ! 
>>>>  
>>>> Let's think of physical phenomena first - it is self organization that 
>>>> creates diamonds (see, for instance 
>>>> http://www.allaboutgemstones.com/diamond_chemistry_formation.html). 
>>>> But after they are created, they are not open anymore - they are quit 
>>>> closed, especially if we compare them with other forms of carbon (like 
>>>> graphite - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon), not to talk when 
>>>> carbon is combined with oxygen, to form a gas, like in CO2.
>>>>  
>>>> The same is true, IMHO, about organizations. Some are more open, but many 
>>>> are really closed, like Government burocraties or large companies. And 
>>>> some are more closed than others (let's take as an example IBM or 
>>>> Microsoft when compared with Google or Dell). 
>>>>  
>>>> This has other consequences, namely in what concerns the organizations' 
>>>> capacity to learn and adapt to the changing environment.
>>>>  
>>>> I don't believe that we can continue to say that we (or the sponsor) 
>>>> "opens the space", if it was always already open !
>>>>  
>>>> Indeed, what we do in OST is, IMO, to create a pattern that has been 
>>>> previously designed - what, many moons ago, I have called the "foundations 
>>>> of OST" are indeed a pattern - that is different from the patterns of the 
>>>> World Cafe and, even more different, from the pattern of "Future Search".
>>>>  
>>>> I thing that your remarks that we can't "design for self organization" 
>>>> applies to the "conventional engineering way of thinking about design": 
>>>> first we design and then we implement and control. 
>>>>  
>>>> But if we think about Chris Alexander's "Patterns" to create a "Timeless 
>>>> Way of Building", from regions, to cities, to neighborhoods, to buildings 
>>>> (see for instance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Alexander) we 
>>>> may create an analogue for organizations and try to imagine what are the 
>>>> patterns that allow for an organization or community to become more "open" 
>>>> and then more able to learn. 
>>>>  
>>>> This is, I believe, what many of us are doing in many different domains 
>>>> and situations. 
>>>>  
>>>> Regards
>>>>  
>>>> Artur
>>>> 
>>>> From: Harrison Owen <[email protected]>
>>>> To: [email protected]; 'World wide Open Space Technology email 
>>>> list' <[email protected]>
>>>> Sent: Friday, September 16, 2011 1:44 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [OSList] Designing an OS way
>>>> 
>>>> Doug -- You may be working too hard. If you start with the idea (I would 
>>>> say
>>>> fact) that the folks are already "in" open space, they are just not doing 
>>>> it
>>>> as well or intentionally as they might. After all, all systems are self
>>>> organizing -- it is the preexisting condition here on planet earth :-) 
>>>> Also,
>>>> you have a group of consenting adults (the so called "students.") who
>>>> probably have some idea of how they might like to spend time together in a
>>>> useful and supportive fashion. If it were me, I would convene a 1 day Open
>>>> Space for anybody who cared (presumably students and faculty) with the
>>>> theme, "Issues and opportunities for supporting each other as we build our
>>>> businesses." It might turn out, for example, that they would rather have a
>>>> weekend together once a quarter. Or something totally different.
>>>> 
>>>> At the very least you would avoid the awful oxymoron of "organizing a self
>>>> organizing system." As for "The Principles, etc" no need to organize a
>>>> thing. You would already "be there." And best of all you would be treating
>>>> the "students" like adult human beings which I would consider to be a real
>>>> plus. 
>>>> 
>>>> 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
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: [email protected]
>>>> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of douglas 
>>>> germann
>>>> Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2011 8:19 PM
>>>> To: oslist
>>>> Subject: [OSList] Designing an OS way
>>>> 
>>>> Friends--
>>>> 
>>>> An opportunity has been dropped in my lap, and I need your help to
>>>> noodle it through, please:
>>>> 
>>>> A local college created a program for beginning entrepreneurs. They now
>>>> have a dozen graduates of this continuing education program, and they
>>>> are doing follow-on sessions: once a month, from 9 to 10 am, local
>>>> experts present and consult with them. For those who pay the fee for
>>>> this continuing portion, this session is mandatory.
>>>> 
>>>> Now they want to do something at these monthly meetings which will
>>>> encourage them to consult and conspire with one another on the
>>>> challenges they are facing as they start their businesses. This is
>>>> voluntary.
>>>> 
>>>> The sessions would run from 10:30 am to 1:00 pm. Many people may have to
>>>> get back to work by 1:00 so may leave early.
>>>> 
>>>> They had a 3-hour OS session half way through their program before they
>>>> graduated, so most of them have had some experience with OS.
>>>> 
>>>> My sense of what they need is to be sounding boards for each other, to
>>>> engage one another in deep and meaningful conversation, to have some
>>>> bonding or cohesiveness time.
>>>> 
>>>> I would like to design some way that uses OS principles that becomes
>>>> their way of being together. They would like me to help some of them
>>>> learn how to do OST, and that might be part of it.
>>>> 
>>>> How would you design an OS way of life for these women for their once a
>>>> month meeting?
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks!
>>>> 
>>>>             :- Doug.
>>>> 
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