Hi all! I´ ve liked very much having one of your 2 pages post, Harrison. So nice brain food for my train trip back home ;-)!
You know? Reading it took me straight to think about love and relationships. And I´ll let this idea go before reading the succession of comments to your text: much passion and commitment at the beginning, and a slow decline with time and increasing structures, unless we succeed to accept that each one of us are genuine love,... Maybe the least structure as possible applies also to a healthy love story or friendship? ...or something,... love eleder 2012/11/20 Harrison Owen <[email protected]> > 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 27th 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 <http://www.openspaceworld.com%20> **** > > www.ho-image.com <http://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 [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > >
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