Dear Harrison, The invitation to "The Imperial Society of Wave Riders!" is wonderful! I'll take this invitation to those who care about Imperial Society of TWC on this face of our water.
Appreciatively, S Spark Open Space Institute of Korea, Open Quest Squad 3rd Fl., Samkyung Bldg., 372-10, Seokyo-dong, Mapo-gu, 121-210, Seoul, Korea sp...@openspace.kr Phone: 82-2-353-6356 Mobile: 82-10-7247-0636 www.OPENSPACE.kr LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU Harrison- <http://www.openspaceworld.com/index.htm> http://www.openspaceworld.com/index.htm OS World in USA- <http://www.openspaceworld.org/> http://www.openspaceworld.org/ "High Play, High Learning"-> High Performance _____ From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Harrison Owen Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 10:26 PM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: [OSLIST] Opening space 24X7 --Wave Riders Unite! Several days ago I sent a note to what I thought was going to be a small group of friends, inviting thinking about opening space every day, what that might mean, and how to accomplish all that in specifics. In effect, I was taking off from my book "Wave Rider" which is my best shot on the subject to date -- with the expectation that there is much more "out there" in terms of ideas and actions. Along the way I did suggest that OST (as the meeting approach) might be getting in the way of the larger discussion. Even worse, I facetiously (jokingly) invited everybody to join "The Imperial Society of Wave Riders!" Well you can imagine the uproar this caused. Here I am suggesting that we eliminate OST and become imperialists! Not a good day -- but I do think the proposed discussion has merit. In fact from where I sit it may just be the most important discussion we could have. Given the state of the world (no need for detailed analysis) superior human performance achieved in a peaceful fashion seems like a very good idea. Or put another way how do we find the intelligence and energy to deal with the massive issues we face without killing each other? I believe that the 25 year Open Space experiment has clearly shown that superior performance in a peaceful manner can be achieved any time we open space. It may not be perfect, but it works better than just about anything else, and for sure it is a lot less work. The reason for all this is that we are not really doing anything. Rather, we are inviting the system (business, family, organization) to do what it can do all by itself. Self organize. We are just helping people to notice that -- and when they do magic seems to happen. Peace and high performance show up. If we are honest about it, I think we might realize that OST is in some real ways a fraud and a joke, at least it becomes all that if we take credit for the power and effect of the process, and the special way that we might "do" it. Rather like taking credit for the power and effect of gravity -- which will continue no matter what we do! Anyhow, I believe the community that gathers here online (and anybody else who cares to join us) is uniquely positioned to engage in this discussion not just at a theoretical level but at a very solid practical level. We have the shared experience of hundreds of thousands of Open Spaces. And we have something else -- the shared experience of life in our community. As the world might see it the "Open Space Community" is a pretty strange thing. It has no boundaries, no formal organization, leadership, or corporate status. Membership is pretty much whoever shows up -- and the party has been going on for 25 years. Odd but very effective. Indeed there are multiple formal organizations in the world who with might greater effort have accomplished substantially less. Think about it! Multiple Global and regional meetings. A world wide reach. More training programs than you can name. And absolutely nobody is in charge. There has never been a Business Plan, and if a budget exists it has never been found. Is it all just a gossamer dream, a fanciful delusion, or something much deeper and more important? I vote for the latter. I think this is a conversation that needs to happen, not to the exclusion of all others, but this is where my passion is. Anyhow I invite you to share and think about our common experience -- and let our experience be our guide. As a starting point we might just begin with invitation. What would happen if all our projects began with invitation as opposed to assignment? Harrison * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
