Hi all-- Is not surprise another name for emergence, that is, self-organization? If so, it is pretty central to OS.
:- Doug. On Thu, 2010-05-06 at 17:44 +1000, Andrew Rixon wrote: > Dear All, > > > > Something I’ve been reflecting and writing on is Christopher > Alexander’s “A timeless way of building”... > > > > Here’s a little clip from it and the 5th we’re talking about... ;) > > > > “This hinges on a simple scientific proposition: the great complexity > of an organic system, which is essential to its life, cannot be > created from above directly; it can only be generated > indirectly.”-p162 > > > > Letting the system get to work, with all voices heard, all views > invited, all tangents relevant – the fifth principle of Open Space > emerges: “Be prepared to be surprised.” > > > > > > Warm regards, > > Andrew > > > > -- > Andrew Rixon PhD > Director > Babel Fish Group Pty Ltd > Skype: AndrewJRixon > Mobile: 0400 352 809 > Fax: (03) 8610 0162 > Email: and...@babelfishgroup.com > URL: http://www.babelfishgroup.com/ > > Don't miss the next "Celebrating Story: Bringing People and Work to > Life" conference. Oct 7th and 8th. > > > > From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of > Artur Silva > Sent: Wednesday, 5 May 2010 9:10 PM > To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Brian Bainbridge and the fifth principle > > > > > Chris (and all, in Melbourne and elsewhere) > > > > I understand and respect your desire to honor Brian, which I used to > call a friend, even if we have met only once. But one single face to > face meeting is enough to develop a solid friendship, especially when > one is prepared to be surprised... > > > > As you all know my relationship with the principles is not easy, and I > only can understand them as "what always happens" if one opens space - > or in what Harrison used to call an "InterActive Organization". > > > > Anyhow, for me, "Be Prepared..." is not something that always happens. > Is a king of recommendation to open oneself to the space being opened. > > > > My counter suggestion comes like this: OST has 1 Law (and a very > powerful one), 4 principles (if we have to accept that...) and one > recommendation (you may chose another name), that from now on can be > called "Brian's Recommendation". > > > > What do you all (in Melbourne and elsewhere) think about that? > > > > Regards from a sunny Lisbon - happy because I will soon met a lot of > friends in Berlin and unhappy as I will not have the possibility to > met some others that will not come this time > > > > Artur > > > > > > > --- On Mon, 5/3/10, Chris Corrigan <ch...@chriscorrigan.com> wrote: > > > From: Chris Corrigan <ch...@chriscorrigan.com> > Subject: [OSLIST] Brian Bainbridge and the fifth principle > To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu > Date: Monday, May 3, 2010, 9:49 PM > > Hello from Melbourne. I've just opened space at a conference here > with Viv McWaters, Geoff Brown, Anne Pattillo and Johnnie Moore. > We've got a two day, full on participatory conference on evaluation > with 179 people. 40 topics have gone up for our day and a half OS. > > It's sweet for me being here in Melbourne, which for me is the > spiritual home of Open Space in Australia (would you agree > Brendan? :-)). Of course for me that impression largely comes from > the fact that this was Father Brian Banibridge's home, and I regret > that I never made it here while he was alive, only able to meet him > over the years at various OSonOS gatherings or when he stopped by our > place on retreat or en route to elsewhere. > > Brian of course was such a stalwart member of our community...he and > Viv have hosted trainings in Australia for years and of course they > took the mantle of hosting OSonOS X in 2002 after Laurel Doersam and I > co-hosted it in Vancouver. It's such a pleasure to be here working > with Viv and our team in this place, with Brian's presence very much > in our mind. > > And so as way of honouring Brian in our own little way today we took > the unprecedented step of officially adding a fifth principle to the > Open Space canon. Of course the four principles are very important > and probably all we need, but Brian always posted a fifth one up when > he worked: Be Prepared to be Surprised. For years I have also made a > poster with that one on it and put it up in the room, but today in my > opening I elevated that most excellent phrase by making it the third > principle of five. It comes right after Whoever comes... and Whatever > happens... Be Prepared to be Surprised. And then When it starts... > and when it's over...lovely. > > It seems a perfectly natural place to put it, and, being here in > Melbourne, it seemed a perfectly natural act to just say out loud > "Open Space has 5 principles and one law..." Viv and I both got a > little shiver up our spine, our own little testimonial to a great > friend of our community of practice whose presence we miss dearly. > > So from now on it'll be five principles for me, and in reciting them I > always see in my own mind Harrison's call to simplicity, Anne > Stadler's call to take simplicity seriously (which helped Harrison get > the principles right - that IS the story, right?) and Brian's > mischievous imperative to be open to surprise. > > So as we prepare to gather here in Melbourne on May 11 for a little > OSonOS with 40 or so local OS-workers, and our community of friends > and colleagues gathers internationally in Berlin, Viv and I invite you > to officially adopt Brian's fifth principle not for sentimental > reasons, but just because it makes sense, and it lightens the > invitation in just the right way. > > It's all good. > > Chris > ---- > Chris Corrigan > ch...@chriscorrigan.com > http://www.chriscorrigan.com > > * > * > ========================================================== > 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 > > > * * ========================================================== > 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