Hi Harrison, You wrote:
>> Since my time 10 years ago in South Africa, it has been clear to me that OS has enormous power for what we might call conflict resolution, but it is a resolution that does not eliminate conflict. If anything the conflict is magnified, but space is provided so that the conflict, and the energy it contains, may become a positive force. << For many years, now, in our conflict resolution practice we have observed that for us, "resolution" in "conflict resolution" is as much about increasing our ability to see and understand with questions as it is about achieving and packaging "answers." It occurs to me "conflict" is a loaded word, having different connotations in different cultures. For example, we have Bahai friends who see no benefits in the category "conflict." They talk about "conflict free conflict resolution," with heavy emphasis on our common humanity. This and other examples notwithstanding, we use the term "conflict resolution" frequently, and we like the common association of "conflict" with the Chinese Mandarin word "wei-ji," usually translated as "crisis" and embodying the characters for danger and opportunity. This is all by way of agreeing with you that we have a lot to learn about conflict resolution in and from Open Space and its ability to free energy as a positive force. >> All of this takes place without any carefully crafted process or procedure. In a most remarkable way, it seems to happen all by itself. Which leads me to the conclusion that the apparent magic has nothing to do with Open Space Technology, and everything to do with the power of self-organization. All we do in Open Space is to create the conditions under which a completely natural process can start or re-start. << I am very interested in questions associated with what are necessary and sufficient conditions for constructive OS process. I notice in this case that a relatively large expenditure of energy must have been required create and fill the Open Space vessel we read about in Rome, far from the pressure cooker of home.? De Lange on the learning-org list many times has observed the following "essentialities" that give form to what he considers are conditions of emergence in self-organizing complex systems: Wholeness (associativity-unity) Liveness (becoming-being) Fruitfulness (connect-beget) Sureness (identity-categoricity) Spareness (quantity-limit) Otherness (quality-variety) Openness (open-paradigm) I think Open Space has potential to deliver on these "essentialities" quite well. All best wishes, Dan * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
