Harrison and all,
I had the opportunity to visit some companies lately that had the stirrings of self-organization. One of them, Sun Hydraulics, was among the 12 organizations featured in Frederic Laloux’s book: Reinventing Organizations. And as luck would have it, Doug Kirkpatrick of Morning Star (another Laloux company) was touring with me. The other companies I visited were not at the same level but in their heart and actions, I knew they were heading in the same direction. Though truly for all, it is the journey and not the destination that self-organization represents. I was in awe and truly could not get enough. It reminded me of those best moments in my own work career when shared pride, purpose, collaboration, camaraderie, high performance and aliveness bubbled over. Above all, I was struck by the wonderful “ordinary” people doing “extraordinary things”; leadership lurking everywhere, individuals taking and living their own space with others. In the joy of experiencing and reliving the intensity and vibrancy of what “work” can and should be like, I was struck and deeply saddened knowing how few organizations are operating this way. How much pain and how much “settling and giving up” there still is in the world of work today. I see and feel the contrast of the two: lifeless versus vibrant. And yet in the despair of knowing this, I sense a shift in consciousness, two realities colliding, as one world dies, another waits to be birthed. There is much “hanging on” in companies today with a grasping of the “illusion of safety” that our old system operated on, whilst many are now edging towards something that is exerting its pull, something new. Much has been written about the industrial model under which most companies still operate. A top-down hierarchy, command-control system with predictability and efficiency built in. The habits of this are embedded everywhere. Most of us know this operating system has been pushed to its limits and no longer serves. One can’t deny that much good came of it not the least of which we have been given more years in this wonderful life. Nor can one deny its excesses, which have caused much damage not the least of which to our human spirit on what matters most. The challenge is how to get from “here” to “there”. Letting go the old ways of doing things, acknowledging the futility of much that we are now doing, starting to operate from a whole new frame, almost from scratch if one considers the contrast between hierarchy and self-organization. This represents a ton of internal grief work and lots of trial and error. Does it require that our organizations hit bottom? Or perhaps in our souls, we know that we have already hit bottom and this will be enough to propel us forward. Harrison says: “The cure then would be to stop the wounding, at least until we could see how things might go. Of course, if the situation is really terminal, then by all means. Bring it on! That could be SCRUM, Facilitation, Last Rites, whatever…” And then later he says: “Before we do anything more, different, or otherwise – I sincerely believe we need to stop and appreciate what apparently happens very naturally, all by itself, with minimal or no assistance. And after that appreciative moment, we might think of a few things to do, but only a very few.” Harrison, in my heart of hearts, I believe this too. I believe in “less is more” even though I still struggle in living this way. My struggles will be no different than the struggles of others and indeed there is beauty in those struggles, in doing it wrong, in losing and finding our way. It is the essence and unfolding of life. And what I also know is what the “real deal” Open Space can do to snap us out of the command/control shackles, to shock us into awareness, a coming home to who we are buried there inside of us. The work ahead, I believe, is to continue to invite from the place of where people are, without shame or blame, because they cannot know what they do not know until they have experienced it. That power of less is more. Knowing that in the "less" lies the best in high performance, creativity, human connection and life. Therein lies the magic of Open Space. It gives us a taste of what could be. Suzanne Suzanne Daigle Open Space Facilitator NuFocus Strategic Group FL 941-359-8877 Cell: 203-722-2009 www.nufocusgroup.com [email protected] Twitter @Daiglesuz
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