Larry Peterson wrote:
I do think that “givens” are a myth, a social construction, at least at one level of consciousness. However, most of my clients have some substantial social constructions, including the “theme”, which gives shape, direction and boundaries to the self-organizing they want to accelerate or engage with OST. They also have some personal and organizational “karma” that will still be around after an OST event and will affect what is done with the resulting ideas and cultural changes. I find that some articulation of these ahead of time makes it more, not less, possible to move forward with what emerges during and after an OST event. I have found that it frees people up to know where the sponsors are.
I totally agree Larry. I have always thought of "givens" as really just a clear articulation of what we have to play with. If we understand these well , then it invites people to be really creative in finding a way around them. There is a real art to communicating these in a way that is inviting transformation rather than limiting engagement. For example, I have used before the example of the givens of human flight. It is a given that gravity and our body shape prevents us from flying. But understanding exactly what gravity is means that we can use our bodies to build a machine that will overcome these givens. I think "givens" are not about the span boundaries of impossibility, but funnels which invite us to deeper possibility. Chris * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
