dear Harrison Owen I am founding a company. There are few other co-founders with me. I had imagined to do an 3 day open space for the start-up, I was even thinking to go for a 5 day open space, but you challenge me to think deeper.
How can I base the company on the "Open Space - all the time" theme, and help other companies transform also to such a model? / Kári On 1 April 2014 21:45, Harrison Owen <[email protected]> wrote: > Rosa - You said: "my own experience echoes Peggy's and others: three > consecutive days at an Open Space event, certainly affected my own sense of > creative freedom/agency/self-authority)!" I think that experience is pretty > much universal, so I've heard. And the question arises... Why just three > days? What stands in the way of us being in that "space" 24X7? Not much, I > strongly suspect, save for our unwillingness, inability, fearfulness of > Doing it. All big obstacles for sure, but not insurmountable. Jump in - the > water is FINE. You have nothing to lose but your delusions... or something. > Then again.... > > > > 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.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: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rosa > Zubizarreta > Sent: Monday, March 31, 2014 9:36 PM > > > To: World wide Open Space Technology email list > Subject: Re: [OSList] Open Space and Authority > > > > Ok, plunging in here... deep waters! > > > > One thing I'm noticing, is how words "sound" different, within different > communities... > > > > some of the posts above, seem to assume that "authorization" is about the > "standard" world view... > > and sometimes, some parts of me resonate with that... it's a word that > initially felt very strange and "foreign" to me, > > not at all "organic"... > > > > and then, after some Tavi experiences, I've come to hear it in a much more > creative vein... > > as in, who is the "author" of this story that I am experiencing? Who is it, > who is really giving power to those, who I see as "powerful"? > > > > and so I've come to experience the whole notion of "authorship", within that > particular community, in a very creative way... > > > > yet still, the word at times has older echoes of "authoritarian", and > "authority", > > which don't resonate so well with these other, newer-to-me, usages... > > > > So, here is what I am hearing Dan say, and Harold clarifying further: > > Within an Open Space event , we are all equally invited to play (er, work... > same thing, in my book!) > > > > What I am hearing a few others say (I see no contradiction here): Just by > virtue of stepping into an OS event, this does not alter the internalized > external authority structure that people are bringing in with them (at least > not immediately! ;-) > > > > my own experience echoes Peggy's and others: three consecutive days at an > Open Space event, certainly affected my own sense of creative > freedom/agency/self-authorit)! > > > > thanks for the conversation, all... > > > > best wishes, > > > > Rosa > > > > > Rosa Zubizarreta > > Diapraxis: Facilitating Creative Collaboration > http://www.diapraxis.com > > > > Celebrating my new book, "From Conflict to Creative Collaboration: A user's > guide to Dynamic Facilitation" > > > > > > > > On Mon, Mar 31, 2014 at 5:39 PM, Harold Shinsato <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Dan, Peggy, Michael, David, Kári, Paul, > > Such a rich topic. > > I don't think Dan is "barking up the wrong tree at all". > > Perhaps this is just my own experience, sensitivity, and upbringing - but I > deeply resonate with the changing sense of authorization that happens in a > good Open Space conference, and actually in most circle based processes, > compared to the other more hierarchy based ones. And the spatial setup is > critical here. > > This was almost ridiculously confirmed in my experience of a Group Relations > (GR) conference. We started in a theater style - the hosts and > administration of our temporary institution - sitting like the judges and > jury of our assembly. They claimed we the assembly had no rules, but when > the group tried to rearrange the chairs in a circle, the leader > de-authorized the conversation. No one dared again challenge the chair > settings again. Also in my GR experience, there was another large group > process - where we sat in a double spiral. It was fascinating to see the > dynamic nature of authorization happening as people moved in and out of > greater and lesser levels of authority (as granted by the assembly). My own > experience of the OSList is we're more in a Spiral dynamic than in a circle. > Just my experience. Since we're not in visual contact, it's a little harder > to tell who is closer to the center as we speak/write on the OSList. But > it's not that hard to tell. > > A circle is inherently equalizing. Think of the Knights of the Round Table > here. Maybe it doesn't make everyone equally authorized - but it does give a > sense that we're all in it together, and that everyone matters, everyone > counts. It's certainly harder to hide in a circle - but where does a circle > start? Where does it end? > > Obviously, OST is a lot more subtle than just the circle, the bulletin board > that everyone is authorized to write on, the law of two feet, and the five > principles. There's so much more to say. I hope the group doesn't > deauthorize the importance of this topic. > > A couple more points. > > 1) Using GR vocabulary- I join with Paul Levy. I think Open Space is more > about "moral authority". To me that is about enabling self-authorization. > Maybe another possible term - intrinsic authorization. I love some of the > thinking of the Rights described in the American Declaration of > Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [people] > are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain > unalienable Rights." Authority comes from the Creator - or you could say - > it's already built in :-) > > 2) I love the safety theme around authority, and I also join with David and > Kári on that theme. This is all about the container. A good facilitator > helps establish and hold a strong container. It's hard for the container to > hold without a blessing from the kings and queens of the community - the > Sponsor. This container needs rules of play that equalize the authority to > "do work", which in an Open Space is to host and attend sessions, be a > bumble bee or a butterfly. It doesn't matter how great the title someone has > - once the container is set - it should be safe and without repercussions > for someone to take hold of the center of the circle and announce their > topic, not announce a topic, attend or not attend sessions. Those rules are > not usually in play for most meetings. For example, at a Board meeting most > people in an organization aren't even allowed to be there, let alone speak. > > Cheers, > Harold > > > > > > On 3/31/14 9:00 AM, Peggy Holman wrote: > > Dan, > > > > You ask great questions! > > > > My take: like most of life, authorization is more nuanced than your > statement below. > > > > Like you, I believe everyone has 100% equivalent authorization AND they also > carry the imprinting of habits, context, self-talk, existing relationships, > and more that influence how they show up. Some will experience themselves as > having 100% authorization, some will test that assumption, others will > observe and reserve judgment, and every other flavor in between. > > > > I have observed that with repeated use, people seem to experience an > increasing sense of self-authorization. More take responsibility for what > they love not just in Open Space but in life. > > > > I know of no practice that lays the groundwork better for increasing > self-authorization in social systems. > > > > from sunny (at last) Seattle, > > Peggy > > > > > > > > -- > Harold Shinsato > [email protected] > http://shinsato.com > twitter: @hajush > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > -- Kári Gunnarsson [email protected] gsm: +354 8645189 _______________________________________________ OSList mailing list To post send emails to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
