From: Wendy Farmer-O'Neil [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 2:00 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: A Quiet Time
Dear Harrison, It is exciting to be able to read an early draft--to see you capturing your ideas fast and dense. The image in my mind is of you standing in the middle of host of butterflies, trying to focus quickly and capture a description of each one before it melts back into the swirling whirl. It is also a great opportunity to think about the process of writing with my open space mind. I am thinking about how one of the great gifts of the process of revision is how it allows us to open up more space in our writing. Of how, once the initial flurry of putting ideas to page is over, we can return to each one and open it up, for ourselves and our readers, creating space for appreciation and integration. Here are some of the thoughts that reading your passage surfaced in my mind. This principle is an opportunity to invite the presence of each soul gathered--to invite them as fully as possible into the present moment. The present moment is where we exercise our power of choice. The past is created from our moment to moment choices in the present. The present is where our choices determine our orientation to what comes next--to the future. The present is where we can act. The present is the place of no fear--we fear what was and what might be--the present is the clear and open space of action. And as you mention, as we gain skill and our minds and senses become more subtle, we expand our experience of the present and we create more opportunities to act in an increasingly expansive relationship to time. Cheers, Wendy -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Harrison Owen Sent: March 2, 2006 8:10 AM To: [email protected] Subject: A Quiet Time Seems like things are a little quiet here in Spaceville, which doubtless means that folks are thinking and doing good things. For myself, I am deep into the process of writing another book - or as is usually the case, the book is writing me. I never thought it would be simple, and in fact I have resisted the urge for several years, but there comes a point where fools rush in where more intelligent folks would take a pass. My objective is simply to apply what we have been learning in the self-organizing open space to the larger, and I think seriously more important, realm of our daily lives in organizations of all sorts. At stake is the radical enhancement of human performance, in search of what my friend Peter Vaill has called High Performing Systems. Time will tell whether any of this pays off, but the journey itself has been more than a little interesting as it passes through some very familiar, but oddly unknown territory. You might get a flavor for this in the following reflection upon one of the Four Principles. Needless to say, thoughts and comments are most welcome. It is always good to have some companions when you are out there thrashing about. :-) ************************************************** Whatever Happens is the Only Thing that Could Have Obviously the grammar of this principle is somewhat tortured, but the intent is very straight forward. Do not worry about all the things that might have happened, could have happened, or should have happened - focus on this present moment because that is all there is right now. This is not to suggest that reflections on the past, and hopes for the future have no place or purpose, but the simple truth of the matter is that the past is over and the future hasn't happened yet. All we have is now. And perhaps more to the point, if our minds are filled with memories of the past, or dreams for the future, we are very likely to miss, or fail to fully appreciate, what is taking place right in front of our eyes. A clear focus on the present moment is critical for our lives as (and in) self-organizing systems, or as the people at the Santa Fe Institute would say, Complex Adaptive Systems. And the key word is "adaptive." In order to achieve the highest levels of performance (find the most effective degree of fitness with ourselves and our environment) it is essential to be in constant, conscious contact with the infinitely complex and changing world. The complexity theorists have taught us that, even within a nanosecond slice of time, the degree of complex interaction is absolutely mind-boggling. Of course, much of this passes well below our capacity to notice, which may appear fortunate for our peace of mind, however, it is also a liability. Even the smallest changes can represent the foretaste of emerging advantage or disaster. In the mythology of the chaos folks - this is the fabled butterfly flapping its wings. It turns out that full, conscious awareness of the present moment is no easy thing. Viewed as a rational project in which we might identify, track, analyze, and respond to the myriad elements of our existence, it is simply overwhelming and more than sufficient to fry to sharpest of minds and the most powerful computers. That said, it may also be noted that we possess a secret weapon; the process of self-organization itself. For 14 billion years, this process has negotiated mind-blowing chaos and confusion with the observable result that infinitely more complex and adaptive forms, animate and inanimate, have come into being. In their own time they have manifested fitness and demonstrated higher levels of performance - only to be replaced by subsequent forms as the process continues. Under the circumstances, discretion might dictate that we simply caste our fate upon the winds of self-organization. And in fact, that is our only option - however we might also learn to ride those winds in useful and productive ways. As I said previously, it is all about letting go, but not giving up. With patience, we may find our version of the surfer's Sweet Spot on the wave. And with practice we can ride that sweet spot with elegance - true High Performance. But it all begins with the present moment and the realization that whatever happens is the only thing that could have. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20854 Phone 301-365-2093 Skype hhowen Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website www.ho-image.com OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html> * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. 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