Dear colleagues: This is an old question - from time to time, one of us comes to this and tries to give a (provisional) answer and we engage in a dialogue on that. I normally refer to this Why-question as a matter of the "foundations of OST" (not sure if it is a good translations for the Portuguese "fundamentos" - the fundamental reasons why something works the way it works)
In this days, having as a focal point the Portuguese Public Administration transformation, and the role that OST and OST based e-forums can have on it, I got back to the why-question. (It's interesting that a new "focus" normally implies that one is obliged to review a lot of mental models previously accepted and try to change them (or not) and/or inter-relate them in a different way). So let me recall the evolution of my thoughts about the problem during these last few years. My account is probably useless to many of you. And a repetition for others. Sorry about that... First, when I joined this list, some years ago, I understood "the reasons why OST works" as: (1) a matter of experience and tales of success and (2) on a more theoretical level "the principles and law" (P&L). Later, reading the Guide, the P&L was somehow relegated to a corner and in the front of the scene were other things - the circle, the breath, the market place, the bulletin board, enough diversity, passion and responsibility, the "preparation" for the event (definition of a broad theme, inviting all interested parties, etc - not to speak that it was presented through a convincing "story telling"... Could these be the foundations of OST? Could the circle, market place, etc be more "fundamental" then the so-called "principles" themselves? Could it be that these "foundations” could suspend the "current meeting routines" that normally inhibit learning, as well as success in coping with the problems at hand, creating new conditions, more life nurturing, for the event? Please note that, in this sense, to open the space would mean to suspend, for the duration of the event (or for a longer time as in OSO), the current "closed rules" of many organizations. That is probably the reason I liked the Tiger... There was also the explanation of when OST works best (can someone direct me to the original version, please?): - High levels of Complexity - High levels of Diversity - High levels of Conflict (actual or potential) - A solution needed for yesterday But are those the conditions for OST to work best or are they the preconditions for OST to work at all? Indeed all this was closely related with chaos theory and complex adaptative systems. Later, reading "Expanding our Now" and specially "Spirit", the P&L were again in the foreground. But I hade already something different working in the background... Still later, Harrison summarized to us Kauffman's pre-conditions for self-organization as follows: 1) a relatively safe nutrient environment 2) high levels of diversity and the potential for complex inter-relationships 3) a drive for improvement (search for fitness) 4) sparse prior connections 5) edge of chaos. So the problem is: do our current ordinary organizations have those preconditions? I still think that the answer is no. The environment in our organizations (not to speak about our world) is neither safe, nor nutrient, the diversity is restricted by power relations, there are rigid connections, and one can question if there is any drive for real improvement... So I conclude that our organizations are much more closed than open, as well as our world - hence the need for opening the space. Of course, I know that I am now dealing with an organization that is more rigid than many others, but the majority of the organizations I know are, in a sense, "closed". And only a few are "learning organizations" (and mostly companies, for that matter). But even if you don't agree with that general statement, please accept that I am dealing with a quite rigid organization… Do you have any suggestions of how and why can OST be used to help to open such a rigid organization? Thanks Artur * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
