I’ve been thinking about us, or should I say OS….
It seems to be a truth of life that everything (us included) has a
beginning, middle and an end. The separation between beginning and end
can be quite various (longer or shorter), but one thing is for certain.
For every beginning, there is an end. Along the way it is inevitable
that people ask, how are they doing, and what next?
What is true for life in general seems to be true for organizations of
all sorts, including ours, by which I mean the Good Old OS Community.
Perhaps you never thought of the OS Community as an organization, and
certainly if you understand organization to be what might be called The
Standard Model (The Leader, Board of Directors, and all the Rest) the OS
Community doesn’t qualify. On the other hand, were you to look at what
OS Inc. has done, that assessment changes, I think. As a matter of fact
there are loads of Standard Model organizations that don’t even come
close to our accomplishments. First of all we have been around for 27
years with thousands of “members” all over the world. Each year “we”
produce global gatherings in multiple places, along with training
programs and consultations. And when it comes to the end product,
Opening Space, the numbers get a little mind boggling. Not bad at all –
just don’t look too closely at how it all gets done. J So how are we
doing? Well past the Beginning for sure, but what now, and where next?
Quite a while ago, I found myself thinking and writing a lot about the
natural life cycle of organizations (“Spirit: Transformation and
Development in Organizations” and “The Power of Spirit”). Beginnings,
middles and ends were pretty central to this – but there was more. All
about what seemed to be happening along the way, and what, if anything,
we might do about that.
To represent my understanding of the natural history of organizations, I
came up with a simple graph which, for lack of a better term, became
known as The Spirit Chart. Unfortunately we cannot do graphics here on
OSLIST, but the graph is simplicity itself, and so I am sure that you
can quickly draw it, or imagine it in your mind’s eye. The vertical axis
is titled “level” and the horizontal axis is “time.” On the chart, there
are two lines, one called “Spirit” and the other “Structure.” At Time 1
(the beginning) Spirit is high and Structure is low. Over time (moving
from left to right) the lines cross in the middle, and at the end --
Spirit is low, and Structure is high. And there you have it: Beginning,
Middle, and End.
As you might suspect, I did not gather masses of data in order to
construct my chart. Indeed I really can’t imagine precisely what that
data might be or how to gather it. All that said, common sense and
experience supports the story that the graph seeks to tell… All
organizations start out with High Spirit(s) – and virtually no
Structure. At the moment of creation it is all potential, a wonderful
idea, a gigantic WOW! The good news is that something is moving and
shaking. Excitement and optimism rule the day. But there is a price.
Orderly procedures simply do not exist, massive amounts of energy is
burned for minimal results, the Wheel is constantly re-invented.
But then things change. Rules and Structures are created to focus and
direct all that wonderful Spirit. Initially there is resistance from
some Free Spirited Folks, but the net result is positive and
beneficial. Work gets done, schedules are kept, product goes out the
door. And best of all there is plenty of Free Spirit around to
creatively explore new opportunities, new ways of doing business.
But over time, the lines cross. The Spirit Line and the Structure Line
intersect and then separate, with Structure rising and Spirit falling,
being constrained in smaller and smaller spaces by the overburden of
Structure. For a while nobody notices, for the organization is doing the
business in productive and orderly ways, and who could complain about
that? But there comes a time when the organization is defined and
imprisoned by its structure and rules. Spirit is in evidence mostly by
its absence – except in the stories and memories of how it “used to be.”
When you are out of Spirit, you are out of business. At least that is
the story.
But there could be a different ending. Were it somehow possible to
release the Spirit from its prison, renewal might happen. But for that
to occur, the prison walls must break. Or to put it in slightly
different terms, the confining structure must shatter so that the Spirit
may reform in new ways. This, I think, is an accurate, albeit
metaphorical picture of Transformation: Spirit breaking loose to take on
new form (trans-form).
So where are we? Clearly we have had our initial WOW! And although it is
certainly true that each time some new person joins our happy Tribe,
having just experienced the opening of space for some group of people –
that WOW is heard once more. It is also true that for a large (and
increasing) number of our band the experience is no longer a strange
one. We’ve been there before, and while it is always a delight, it
really becomes quite predictable. I would never say boring, but
predictable for sure. Sit in a circle, create a bulletin board, open a
market place, and the folks will go to work. Every time.
The curious thing is that 27 years into our adventure, our organization
is still as lively and spirit filled as it is – a status that just about
everybody recognizes in all of our common gatherings, as for example the
recent WOSONOS in London. In my own experience of organizational life,
this record is pretty remarkable. In every other organization I have
known, or been a part of, by the time it reached its 27^th year, an
awful lot of the original Spirit, enthusiasm, to say nothing of agility
and flexibility had disappeared. People talk about “mature
organizations” -- when they finally got beyond the “wild days in the
garage” (computer start-ups, for example) and settled down into a more
orderly mode of being. Think of Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, et al. Somehow
we seem to have escaped some of that, and how could that be?
I think part of the answer comes from the nature of our “product” and
what we do. The truth of the matter is that every time we think we have
it all figured out, and have “finally” arrived at the “right” way of
doing things – we are in for some surprises. It turns out that we really
didn’t know what we were talking about. Somehow, Open Space was/is so
much more than we ever thought, and what we do/did, so much less. What
starts out looking like just another approach to better meetings or
group technique subtly morphs into the story of the cosmos (self
organization). And we really don’t DO anything at all. We simply offer
an invitation, and then get out of the way.
To be sure, there has been a developmental process in our approach as we
have gone along, but it apparently moves in the diametrically opposite
direction from similar processes found with other approaches. Put it all
under the heading of “Thinking of one more thing NOT to do” and pretty
soon (well maybe someday) – we’ll end up with nothing. No approach at all!
Of course, there have been a few signs of approaching Middle Age. You
might call it hardening of the organizational arteries – conversations
about the “right” way to conduct an Open Space, usually accompanied by
an expanding list of critical details with attendant Do’s and Don’ts.
Fortunately we then receive a marvelous report (Sandy Gee, being the
latest) how just about everything was “wrong” – but surprisingly – it
all worked just perfectly.
To be sure I have heard some chatter about “guidelines” (Thomas H. J) –
but no proposal that we “get ourselves organized” – and certainly
nothing as forbidding as a governmental structure with appropriate
Boards and Bylaws! So we seem to be dodging the bullet, at least for the
moment. And it may be that we have some distance to go before the end. I
doubt, however, that our longevity will ever have anything to do with
what might be called The Standard Organizational Approach, usually
characterized as “institutionalization.” Indeed I more than suspect
that once again we will find success by going in the opposite direction.
Rather than building durable structures that might last for the ages
(none do … so far) – it will be a story of the constant shattering of
structures and procedures to release the Spirit in new and vital
directions. Transformation, I believe it is called.
But there will come an end, of that I have no doubt. But I hope that the
end of OS Inc might occur with hardly a ripple or note. Not unlike old
soldiers who never seem to die – they just fade away. OS Inc will become
quite invisible when it is clear to all that everything is Open Space.
Blending into the woodwork, as it were. Nothing new, Nothing special.
Just what is.
Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Dr.
Potomac, MD 20854
USA
189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)
Camden, Maine 20854
Phone 301-365-2093
(summer) 207-763-3261
www.openspaceworld.com <www.openspaceworld.com%20>
www.ho-image.com <www.ho-image.com%20> (Personal Website)
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
OSLIST Go
to:http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
_______________________________________________
OSList mailing list
To post send emails to OSList@lists.openspacetech.org
To unsubscribe send an email to oslist-le...@lists.openspacetech.org
To subscribe or manage your subscription click below:
http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org
