Hi Michael and Joe, Some years ago when the two of you attended our workshop that focused on the Conscious Open Space Organization, we had presented to you the discovery that all organizations are already Open Space Organizations and I remember the great discussions we had! In our work with Conscious Open Space Organizations over the last decade and a bit, we have assisted organizations in becoming conscious of themselves as Open Space Organizations, deciding whether or not they want to consciously operate as Open Space Organizations, which involves intentionally opening as much space as possible and maintaining sufficient form to keep it all together in a sustainable growthful way. The beginning point is that Spirit is always present and we simply need to get out of the way and open the space to work with Spirit. In Harrison's earlier writings about organizations, he gave us the progression of reactive-->responsive-->proactive-->interactive-->inspired. In those days he spoke of organizations needing to make the leap from proactive to interactive and I am assuming that this is what has inspired you to pull something together to figure out about the interactive organization. I think we can recognize that all the parts are in all organizations and they revert to reactive/responsive/proactive/interactive operating styles depending on the situation, but overall, they are all inspired and just haven't accessed this. If this were not true, then even a single OST meeting would not work. In an OST meeting, followed by reflection about what took place, all organizations see (maybe for the first time) what happens when space is opened and the inspired organization is visible, even if only for a moment.
I too offer you what I heard Harrison saying, that the organization is already 'there' but just don't realize their true situation. There are quite a number of people around the world now working to assist organizations to become Conscious Open Space Organizations and more COSO's than I am aware of. In the last week alone, I have received two e-mails about successful COSO's that I had absolutely no awareness of. Our next workshop that features the Conscious Open Space Organization is in Frankfurt, Germany April 13th-17th. There are others offered by other workshop leaders. Info is at http://www.openspacetechnology.com/cal_partner.html for workshops led by our partners. For anyone wishing more information about the Conscious Open Space Organization, one source is to go to http://www.openspacetechnology.com/articles_2.html I wish you joy, peace, God's grace and blessings, and that you prosper in all things, Birgitt -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Harrison Owen Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 10:04 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: The InterActive Organisation Michael -- this looks like a great adventure. Wish I could join you all in person. But failing that, here are some thoughts you might want to kick around. In my own practice, I find it useful to start from the position (at least in my own mind) that the client is already there, but just doesn't recognize their true situation. This start point makes a major difference in terms of how hard I have to work, and what needs to be done. If the client is "already there" there is no need for me (or us) to design an InterActive Organization, or even implement somebody else's design. Simultaneously, I can say to the client -- Look, this is not about doing something new and radical. It is really about being fully and intentionally what you already are. Enabling the client to achieve this awareness is all about engaging in a process of appreciative inquiry (small "a", small "I") or maybe formally "doing" AI??? So -- "Let's look at what works, and how it really works." The ensuing dialogue can go all over the place, but it usually covers the following sorts of stuff -- Starting with the organizational chart. Everybody knows of course that the organization is a steeply ranked hierarchy -- with all control clearly centered at the top, and in the hands of the Senior person (CEO, MD, Director) And we know that, because that is the picture we have in our minds or framed on the wall. And yet, if you push a little bit, it turns out that little if anything actually works the way the picture says it should. Good ideas come from all over the place, projects are initiated from the "Skunk works" that don't even show up on the Org Chart. Most of all, it turns out that if all command and control is actually held by that single, almighty MD/CEO, the organization is but a short step away from death by organizational hardening of the arteries. Come the next shift in the environment (large or small) -- the rigid face of things just cracks. The nasty secret is that real work, really gets done interactively -- despite our best efforts to the contrary. So it might seem that we are working much too hard to fix something that ain't broke. We simply have to get out of its way so that it can easily do what it does naturally. Or something ??? Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20845 Phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Pannwitz, Michael M Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 4:59 AM To: [email protected] Subject: The InterActive Organisation Dear colleagues, Hans Georg Wicke, Jo Toepfer and I are planning a three day international workshop (using os-technology) on "The InterActive Organisation" (also called the os-org). We are interested in -further developing our practical approaches, -the exchange among practitioners in this particular field -in discussing perspectives and strategies for our day-to-day practice on the road towards the InterActive/os-Organisation. If you are working in an organisation (private, public, not-for-profit, NGOs) that is moving towards the InterActive Organisation using os-technology in the process, contact us. Or if you are an os-practitioner specifically working in such processes, contact us. Interested? Want to be part of this? Send a note to Jo Toepfer [email protected] We will be in touch regarding further planning for the workshop. Also, please send us names/contacts of organisations and os-practitioners that are active in the field described above and who should participate in the workshop. Greetings from Berlin mmp * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.593 / Virus Database: 376 - Release Date: 2/20/2004 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.593 / Virus Database: 376 - Release Date: 2/20/2004 * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
