Re: [OSList] Open Space Economics? Be Prepared to be Surprised!

Thu, 3 Oct 2013 13:18:47 -0700 (PDT) 

Dear Bui,
good fortune with your studies!
When thinking of Open Space, even Open Space Technology, I have never had the association of it being a group process. 


In my practice as os-facilitator the assumption that my work needs to 
focus on the expansion of time and space so that the forces of 
selforganisation can do their thing more freely  has influenced my role.



It appears to me that the unique characteristic (in German: 
Alleinstellungsmerkmal) of open space is the focus on selforganisation. 
This I have not seen or experienced in the various "group processes" and 
"organisation development approaches" in my 40 years of practice.



With the force of selforganisation is not meant, however, nor the same 
as lets say "self organizing teams", "self organizing processes", "self 
organized leadership", "self organizing structure and schedule in 
groups", etc.
All these four and more activities can be observed in groups, 
organisations and systems, even in the activities of children 
interacting on a playground (which I enjoy greatly, it being High Play 
and also very effective)... and often in open space gatherings.



But these are just a few of the things that the force of 
selforganisation can bring about. In other words, expanding time and 
space for the force of selforganisation (in groups, organisations or 
systems) does not wind up in "self-organizing" activity. This, that is 
my assumption, of how selforganisation ticks and it is not what I as 
facilitator am attached to. I am attached to the expansion of time and 
space for the force of selforganisation... and then be prepared to be 
surprised. Knowing quite well that I know nothing really where this 
force comes from, how it originated, what role it plays in group 
processes or all processes under the sun.



The force of selforganisation is neither benevolent nor malicious, good 
or bad, nor always at play in a visible way (especially in highly 
controlled situations, where it shrinks)... it is at work on the 
playground, in the flow of daily life in complex systems such as the 
city of Berlin, in the Mafia, at war, in peace initiatives, in the 
competition of political life, in street gangs, in the war on the Hill 
regarding health care....



When I as facilitator work and act under these assumptions, however 
skilled or blundering, elegant or clumsy, humorously or dead dry, 
passionately or matter of fact, much or almost all the stuff of what 
facilitators usually do is of no use. Any guessing, trying to figure 
out, suggesting certain approaches, analysing group dynamics... will and 
does narrow the space that the force or selforganisation needs to do its 
stuff in groups, organisations and systems. Its not easy for me, to 
accept that but I have observed that my work is less than effective and 
that humbly submitting to this assumption (not at all my main style) is 
the preferred alternative.



And, leaving human systems, as is often pointed out its no different, 
all interventions that aim at controlling certain activities fail (dams, 
weather forecasts, flood control, forest fire prevention, genetic 
manipulation of plants and other critters, nuclear power plants....)... 
and if there were no humans on this planet or other agents wanting to 
control, the forces of selforganisation would merrily do their thing... 
maybe winding up with folks like ourselves in a few billion years again.



When I ran into open space pretty late in my professional life at age 
56, I pretty soon and steadily got rid of the grand books and manuals I 
had collected and studied with thousands of "exercises" or 
"interventions" for every possible "group situation" or "OD situation" 
under the sun. And, much of the stuff lingers, my "skilled" eye for 
dynamics and interactions of all sorts keep re-apperaring all the time.



So when I work in the role of os-facilitator (and long before I start a 
particular facilitation) I do find it excruciateling challenging up to 
today, to stay get and stay in my role as characterized by stepping back 
to let the forces of selforganisation play out.


Greetings from Berlin
mmp

On 03.10.2013 19:59, Bui Petersen wrote:

Thanks Harrison,

I think that perhaps we are not equally gifted as OS facilitators. That
said, for us more "mortal" facilitators, not noticing some dynamic does
not necessarily mean that it isn't there. I think it for most of us, it
is important to know it is (or can be) there, whether we call it power
or something else. If  I end up doing research on group processes, OST
will likely be just be one of several to be compared.

Yes, there is an interested common belief that the world can be managed.
Much of the literature in my field (Organizational Behaviour) is about
"managing" people and finding the best way to control them (I'm
generalizing and simplifying here). I find it fascinating that in this
capitalist world, where the world supposedly is benefiting from an
"efficient market", management is still dominated by a belief based on
Taylorist and Fordist views of organization and production, something
that Stalin was an early adopter of. Why is it that when we don't want
to overly control society that we still want to overly control
organizations?

I said a few years because it will take me a while before I get past
mandatory course work and comprehensive exams. :)

Bui

On 02/10/2013 3:57 PM, Harrison Owen wrote:


Bui – I surely hope that we will be seeing you sooner than a few years
from now! And I have to say that nothing in my experience of multiple
Open Spaces, including many with lots of CEOs, matches what you seem
to be saying. To begin  with I have never seen an Open Space that
didn’t work at all three levels of “work” that I would consider
relevant. A) It works at a formal level – Folks sit in a circle,
create bulletin board, open a market place and go to work. B) It works
at a practical level – they actually get something done which they
deem to be significant. C) It works at a continuing level – which for
me means that at the minimum, even if they never do an Open Space
again, and even if they immediately revert to their hierarchical,
bureaucratic ways they always know that it could be better and
different. I have had CEOs (and other execs) ask me if they should
participate, fearing that their presence might be intimidating – To
which my standard response is that they should do whatever they feel
comfortable doing, but not to worry. I sometimes add that, presuming
they have some value to add, their participation would be a plus. That
usually causes a smile, and almost inevitably, active participation.

I confess I have heard tales of CEO’s who became so threatened that
they stood in the middle and essentially told everybody what to do. In
a word, they just shut off the lights. Perhaps my prejudices have
gotten the better of me, but that doesn’t sound like a failure of Open
Space, but rather a case of exceptionally bad manners and probably a
severe personality disorder.

Perhaps one of the reasons I have never encountered a situation such
as you describe is that I always insist on a conversation with the
Senior Folks as a condition of contract. My friend Lisa might call
this “pre-work,” but to me it has always been a relatively short
simple conversation in which we go over a few essentials. First, the
gathering will be voluntary (voluntary self selection).  Second, all
issues of concern to anybody in the gathering will be on the table
should they chose to put them there. If I detect any problem, that
would be pretty much the end of the conversation, and my participation
in their endeavor. Truth to tell in all my years I can only remember a
single occasion where we ran into a deal breaker. And for whatever it
is worth, that organization and those execs are now out of business. I
wonder why?

The whole question of Executive control is a fascinating one, and
should you pursue all this in your studies, you will have a rich
field. >From where I sit,  the notion that any executive could
exercise the sorts of control that many think they have, or perhaps
hope they do (after all somebody must be in charge!) is flawed to say
the least. They don’t have it, never did, and never will. The reason
is simple. Any organization, large or small, is so enmeshed with an
environment which is so fast moving, interconnected, random and
chaotic that we can’t even think at that level. And what we can’t
think, we surely can’t control. Mission Impossible.  Yes I know that
there is this hope and expectation, fostered by the multiple business
schools of the world that change can be managed, that the future can
be predicted, indeed created, that the Plan will triumph. Lots of luck.

Harrison

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)

Camden, Maine 04843

Phone 301-365-2093

(summer) 207-763-3261

www.openspaceworld.com <www.openspaceworld.com%20>

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*From:*[email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Bui
Petersen
*Sent:* Wednesday, October 02, 2013 11:23 AM
*To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list
*Subject:* Re: [OSList] Open Space Economics? Be Prepared to be Surprised!

Maybe "circumventing" is the wrong word. But for me the issue of power
is central. In order for OST to work, the "CEO" has to temporarily
give up some of her/his power (both procedural and positional).

I'm quite serious about this, and OST (and other group processes) may
become part of my academic research (I just started on an PhD in
Management). Maybe my contribution will be to help make the field of
Management become more open to self-organization. :)

Maybe you'll all hear back from me in a few years. :)

Bui

On 02/10/2013 1:04 AM, Michael Herman wrote:

    I can't ever remember "attempting to circumvent power dynamics,"
    Bui.  While it's quite common when people talk about sitting in a
    circle they say things like, "...the circle makes everyone equal."
     I always disagree.  The circle gives everyone equal access to all
    the others in the circle, the markers and paper and microphone at
    the center, and the bulletin board gives everyone the same access
    to all of the info that is generated.  It doesn't make them equal,
    the ceo has an entirely different set of skills, resources,
    experiences, concerns than the new intern.  But as a facilitator,
    I give everyone the same job:  learn and contribute as much as you
    can, from wherever you are, with whatever you have at your
    disposal.  serve the common purpose.

    none of this attempts or requires any circumventing.  i think ost
    works in spite of whatever the power structure might be, once
    people show up.  maybe the invitation tweaks the power structure
    -- but if the invite comes from the top, then it's the top giving
    power away -- hardly a circumvention, and certainly not the
    facilitator attempting.  if the invite bubbles up from somewhere
    below, then it's the lower ranks claiming power for themselves.
     so i think any shifting of power arises because invitation exists
    as an option, not because anything we do in the process of
    'opening space.'  i think ost is just one way of pointing out that
    invitation is possible and the ost story is pretty much the same
    in all kinds of different "power" distributions.

    or maybe i just don't understand.  what do you do to notice and
    recognize power imbalances?  and how have you seen this improve
    the ost experience for people?

    m



    --

    Michael Herman
    Michael Herman Associates
    312-280-7838 (mobile)

    http://MichaelHerman.com
    http://OpenSpaceWorld.org

    On Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 5:06 PM, Bui Petersen
    <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

    Michael, I guess we'll have to disagree. I see OST's temporal
    attempt at circumventing power dynamics (e.g through the the
    empowered of the the law of two feet) as one of the beauties of
    the process.

    One of the reasons that the liberal view of market economics is
    problematic is that it doesn't account for power imbalances. While
    you can't take away all structural power, I think the OST
    experience can be enhanced by at least some awareness and
    recognition of such powers.

    Bui



    On 30/09/2013 10:56 PM, Michael Herman wrote:

        i don't think ost is trying to "take away structural power,"
        bui -- not even temporarily.  i think it's more about
        acknowledging the distribution of knowledge and choice (power)
        that already exists.  the law of two feet isn't something
        special we enact at the start of an event, it's something we
        just notice and point out, for instance.

        m



        --

        Michael Herman
        Michael Herman Associates
        312-280-7838 <tel:312-280-7838> (mobile)

        http://MichaelHerman.com
        http://OpenSpaceWorld.org

        On Mon, Sep 30, 2013 at 10:21 AM, Bui Petersen
        <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

        Interesting discussion. When I have described OST, some people
        have been skeptical as it to them has has sounded to
        "neo-liberal" and not taking power balances enough into
        consideration. Obviously what the "structure" of OST is trying
        to do is to take away structural power temporarily. But some
        people are still skeptical about OST's potential to do this.
        My own take is that OST does not always fully succeed in this
        regard.

        Still it is very interesting theoretically. Both there is a
        lot of other (than economics) theoretical perspectives that
        better deal with power.

        Bui



        On 26/09/2013 5:33 PM, Michael Herman wrote:

            I share your concerns, Jeff, but found this piece to be
            mostly not about politics.  And where he comments on
            current views and policy, I was less bothered by what he
            was saying than by my tendency to agree in many cases. But
            mostly this is interesting and useful totally separate
            from his politics, I think.

            On Thursday, September 26, 2013, Jeff Aitken wrote:

            thanks Michael!

            It's unfortunate that I have a lingering dislike for Mr.
            Gilder, who was famous for awhile around 1981 when the
            Reagan administration rolled out its economic agenda, and
            his work was considered one of its intellectual pillars.

            Twas a long time ago, and no doubt the man remains a hard
            thinker and clear writer, perhaps with more heart than I
            experienced back then.

            With that caveat, I'll dig into this when I have a chance.
            Thanks for sharing.

            Jeff

            San Francisco

            On Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 12:25 PM, Michael Herman
            <[email protected]
            <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

            Here's a long one, friends… But maybe an important one.

            What follows is an excerpt from a markets newsletter I've
            read for maybe 10 years by a financial expert and
            best-selling author Named John Mauldin.  He describes and
            then shares an article by a guy named George Gilder, Who
            seems to have been writing "important" books for at least
            a few decades.



            --
            Michael Herman
            MichaelHerman.com
            (312) 280-7838 <tel:%28312%29%20280-7838>

            Sent from my iPhone



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