As Bob Dylan once said, "you say it fancy or you can say it plain". I think self-organization in the context of an "Open Space" is that people will do what matters to them all by themselves in a very organized way, without a lot or any traditional pre-planned or even spontaneous facilitator interventions. An organization can be two people.
>>> tim.sulli...@gems5.gov.bc.ca 11/15/01 11:55AM >>> The conundrum of the term "self-organizing" when thinking about organizations (which are social) is: What is the "self" of an organization or social phenomenon? That's one idea. Another is: I would say it is the radical difference between biological organisms and social organizations that must be considered for a truly explanatory, predictive theory to be developed; not the similarity between them. Kaufman's simulations of molecular based processes to model the arising of self-organizing systems (ie organisms) is useful, but does it capture all the characteristics of social systems? Again until we consider the radical differences between organisms and their eco-environments and social organizations and the meta-systems that constitute their environment, we will not have truly powerful understanding for organizational change and transformation. I suggest that because humans have the capacity for self-reflexive communication, and because social organizations exhibit that same capacity, reflexivity is an emergent property of social organizations, which manifests as the tendency for radical transformation. ( e.g Wilber's appropriation of the meme levels of Spiral Dynamics...evolving memes suggests dynamic evolution) Something we don't see in biological organisms. Organisms change structure (form) but the underlying organization is the same eg DNA-protein-cell membranes etc. Whereas social organizations not only exhibit different forms, they can exhibit radically differing states of awareness (meme-levels). Tim Sullivan -----Original Message----- From: Larry Peterson [mailto:la...@spiritedorg.com] Sent: Thursday November 15, 2001 10:48 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: Self-Organization???? I generally that Harrison has got it mostly right on this one. I think "self-organization" needs also to be put in context. I don't have time for a long or well thought out statement, but here are a few points: -Self-organization describes the natural, emergent processes of complex systems. And the conditions for it can be enhanced or not. Using Ken Wilbur (and Harrison's adaptation) it is a description of what happens in the lower right quadrant, what the collective exterior of all complex systems do. -Awareness of it is at the "interactive" level of organizational consciousness. It is the growing recognition that organizations are in fact organisms - living. Self-organization is part of what living things do. It is a useful metaphor for shifting up the spiral (dynamics) form "orange" consciousness (proactive) to a "good" green consciousness (interactive, connected) -The scientific phrase, "self-organizing" is still "flat land", it does not acknowledge the other quadrants. From a spiritual perspective, at other levels of awareness the self that self-organizes and the Self (and my self) are one. Larry Larry Peterson Associates in Transformation Toronto, ON, Canada 416.653.4829 <mailto:la...@spiritedorg.com> la...@spiritedorg.com <http://www.spiritedorg.com> www.spiritedorg.com * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
