Artur-- Your comments touched on some of the difficulties when someone (king, invading army, church hierarchy) try to impose transformation by "power over." I don't think that any of us (maybe the CEO of an organization, and I question that) can create an Open Space organization by the application of "power over."
What I can do with my clients is educate, influence, use methodology which allows them to experience a new way of being together, stick around and do some coaching if they are inclined to try for transformation. It seems to me that one of the important things for practitioners to do is to share our experience of what, if anything, seems useful in helping clients to move into a new paradigm. And I think I hear you asking for all of us to be more systematic about trying things (action research) and creating a body of information about what seems to work or not work. What I don't think I can do is to impose transformation, or control what happens inside the organization after an Open Space event or even a long series of such events. Transformation is always an "inside job," and probably the best I can do is light the fire and tend it for a bit. I also believe, romantic that I am, that giving people a new experience causes changes that may not be easy to observe or track. I'm sure that all of us have had the experience of someone coming to us to say how much a long-ago event, that we offered, had meant in their life. Some of these changes affect the organization, some may result in the individual leaving the organization, some have effects which are entirely internal to the individual. This is an aspect of transformation that is not readily charted and quantified. For me, it makes sense to do what I can, and I want to give the world a nudge in a new direction. But I may not ever know clearly what worked and what didn't. Joelle PS--You give us plenty to think about between holidays! * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
