Howdy Harrison,
Thanks for describing the context of the Ralph Copleman story- I'm very
thankful for that info.
I notice that, lots of times here, there are references made to notable
OST episodes, and situations from times past...
...the "OST-mythos" as it were.
These mythical stories often have me wondering what I missed, and what I
might now be missing. (Being clueless as I am.)
I'm sure these story-fragment postings are not posted with intent to
exclude anyone, or to be discourteous, or unkind. More like: some good
old basic camaraderie is taking place between some old friends.
Still: Do these "inside-story-fragments" on OSLIST tend to evoke
feelings of exclusion in readers who were /not/ there at the time?
Not sure.
<CONFESSION>
As for me, personally, I sometimes find myself experiencing curiously
odd feelings of exclusion, when a told-fragment of an old OST-mythos
story lacks explicit context. So I can follow the story, you know? The
terms "outsider" or "clueless" or "not in the story" describe these
feelings fairly well. "Not invited?"
I sometimes wonder if some of the hundreds of /other/ members of OSLIST
ever feel this way...or if it is "just me."
</CONFESSION>
Daniel
On 10/4/15 2:59 PM, Harrison Owen via OSList wrote:
âEverything is moving.â .... Michael -- I remember that moment
very well. And Dan, Iâm not sure the context, etc, would help very
much. But just for the record the odd phrase popped out at one of the
International Symposia on Organization Transformation which happened
to be taking place at a small college south of Seattle. I have no idea
why Ralph said what he did, and Iâm not sure Ralph did either. But
then again a lot of marvelous stuff seems to burst out with no obvious
logic train. Indeed it may be that the lack of logic train enables the
thought?
Â
Whatever the genesis, the phrase wandered about my head for some time,
quite unattached, and it also happened that I was working my way
slowly through one of the masterpieces of 20^th century western
philosophy when a fuzzy connection began to form. The work was that of
Alfred North Whitehead, and the title: âProcess and Reality.â
Iâve been through the book probably 4-5 times, and I am frank to
confess that I donât think I really understand it. But then
again Iâve heard a number of people with much greater credentials,
tenure, etc â say the same thing. But I did get that it had
something to do with, âEverything is moving.â And the more I
thought and read, the more I felt that the good philosopher had made a
small mistake on his title. It shouldnât be âProcess /and/
Reality,â but rather âProcess *is* Reality.â
Â
Now, Anna Caroline we come to âstructure,â or perhaps I should say
the fallacy of Structure? Yes I know â weâve all been taught that
structure is the precursor, the âdeterminatorâ of everything. My
face looks as it does because of my bone structure. My life proceeds
the way it does because of my social structure. My business works as
it does because of the organizational structure. And of course,
meetings happen the way they do because of meeting structure, which
apparently is the prime domain of âfacilitators.â And even if
we hadnât been âtaughtâ all this, the primacy of structure would
appear to be blatantly obvious â as plain as the nose on your face.
Â
Unfortunately, it does seem to turn out that sometimes the blatantly
obvious is not necessarily so. For example just looking at things it
is pretty clear that the world is flat, or at the least bumpy flat.
And any fool can see that we are the center of it all â Sun, moon,
and stars whiz around us. But when we think about it, as we have been
doing for the last 500-600 years, the obvious isnât so obvious.
Â
It is reasonable to ask what would start to make us think
differently â to the point that we begin to question the obvious,
and even come to see things in a different way? Taking a leap, I will
suggest that it all begins with the perception of anomaly. Things
just donât make sense. Our eyes tell us one thing... but???? And
then we start making up stories to explain the apparently
unexplainable. We imagine different ways of looking at things so that
the nonsensical makes sense. Some of those stories get pretty strange,
but if they actually work â that is to say, help us to see in new
and useful ways â thatâs great!
Â
There is, of course, a proper term for the activity I have been
describing. It is called Theory Building. And for whatever it
is worth, âtheoryâ comes from the Greek â/theoreinâ/ â to
see. In a word, theories are ways of looking at things â likely
stories you might say.
Â
Now, at long last (too long?) we come to the odd story I was starting
to tell, to the effect that Structure is only a figment of our
imagination, a flash frame of a moment gone by. Interesting, and
helpful under some circumstances... but always partial and in a sense
illusory. Whatâs âreallyâ happening is all flow. Everything is
moving â Thatâs Ralphâs story, and I guess it is mine too.
Â
So how did I get to such a weird condition? It was all about
anomaly â more particularly, the anomaly of Open Space. Everything
that I had ever learned told me that it could not work. Unfortunately
it did (work) â and not just once, but every time, hundreds of
thousands of times. Something was definitely weird. It seemed to me
that I had to re-consider all those things I thought I had learned,
beginning with the basics... such things as Structure.
Â
Common sense would say that Open Space works because we somehow
created a structure that enabled it to work. Thatâs the way things
get done, or so I had been taught. But thatâs not the way things
happened in Open Space. Structure emerged along the way and only
momentarily. Worse yet it (structure) seemed to have little to do with
the obvious power, connections, creativity.... all of which created
structures, and passed them by. And actually it always seemed to me
that the âstructuresâ I âsawâ existed only because I wanted to
see them â or perhaps that I âshouldâ see them. But they were
only momentary wisps, figments â never to be mistaken for what was
really going on. Or so Iâve been thinking.
Â
Harrison
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
Â
*From:*OSList [mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org] *On
Behalf Of *Michael Herman via OSList
*Sent:* Saturday, October 03, 2015 6:31 PM
*To:* JL Walker; World wide Open Space Technology email list
*Subject:* Re: [OSList] The Tyranny of Structurelessness
Â
you remind me, harrison, of one morning news session years ago,
somewhere, probably OT... where ralph copleman walked to the center of
the circle and announced, all serious and mischievous at the same
time, "it's all moving!" Â
Â
then put the stick down and went back to his seat.Â
Â
--
Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
http://MichaelHerman.com
http://OpenSpaceWorld.org
Â
On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 1:47 PM, JL Walker via OSList
<oslist@lists.openspacetech.org
<mailto:oslist@lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:
I was thinking that maybe the antidote to the eventual tyranny of
structurelessness is to open space, again and again, until true
democracy can emerge.
Â
Juan Luis
Â
*De:*OSList [mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org
<mailto:oslist-boun...@lists.openspacetech.org>] *En nombre de *Rosa
Zubizarreta via OSList
*Enviado el:* sábado, 03 de octubre de 2015 12:19
*Para:* Daniel Mezick; World wide Open Space Technology email list
*Asunto:* Re: [OSList] The Tyranny of Structurelessness
Â
Hi Daniel,
Yes, this is a key piece... I see it as very similar in some ways to
what Ken Wilber wrote later,
about the "shadow side of the green meme". (Each meme has its own
shadow, as well as its own gift...)
So, I love "green". I love circles, I love non-hierarchy, etc.
And, part of the "shadow side of the green meme" is how ideologically
anti-structure it can become...
to the point where some people may not even agree that OST does, in
fact, offer a very simple and effective structure.
By way contrast, think of a situation where group of people (who don't
know about OST, and/or, who are having a power struggle around "which
process to use", and/or.... ) might easily spending a whole weekend
arguing /about /"how to self-organize ourselves"... with a great deal
more pain and frustration and a great deal less value.
whereas, instead, IF someone knows about OST, and, a clear invitation
has been extended, and, there is enough trust/suspension of disbelief
so that participants are willing to enter into that format,
then, we end up with a very simple and elegant structure that allows
people to self-organize beautifully....
at least that's how i see it! :-)
with all best wishes,
Rosa
Â
*/Rosa Zubizarreta/*
/Developing Participatory and Co-intelligent Leadership
Author of *From Conflict to Creative Collaboration*
<http://www.conflict2creativity.com>/
/For more resources and learning opportunities, visit
*www.DiaPraxis.com <http://www.DiaPraxis.com>*/
Â
On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 9:26 AM, Daniel Mezick via OSList
<oslist@lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
THE TYRANNY of STRUCTURELESSNESS
by Jo Freeman aka Joreen
I find this essay extremely interesting. I hope you do, too.
Here is a pertinent quote, from the essay:
".../the idea of "structurelessness" does not prevent the formation of
informal structures, only formal ones."
/
Circa 1970. Context: the women's movement. Quick summary of the main
points: from the essay...
* /During the years in which the women's liberation movement has
been taking shape, a great emphasis has been placed on what are
called leaderless, structureless groups as the main -- if not sole
-- organizational form of the movement. /
* /The idea of "structurelessness," however, has moved from a
healthy counter to those tendencies, to becoming a goddess in its
own right./
* /Contrary to what we would like to believe, there is no such thing
as a structureless group. /
* /This means that to strive for a structureless group is as useful,
and as deceptive, as to aim at an "objective" news story,
"value-free" social science, or a "free" economy. A "laissez
faire" group is about as realistic as a "laissez faire" society;
the idea becomes a smokescreen for the strong or the lucky to
establish unquestioned hegemony over others. /
* /This hegemony can be so easily established because the idea of
"structurelessness" does not prevent the formation of informal
structures, only formal ones. /
* /For everyone to have the opportunity to be involved in a given
group and to participate in its activities, the structure must be
explicit, not implicit. /
* /It is this informal structure, particularly in Unstructured
groups, which forms the basis for elites./
Just in case you have not yet encountered the full text of this essay,
here it is:
THE TYRANNY of STRUCTURELESSNESS
by Jo Freeman aka Joreen
http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm
Regards,
Daniel
http://www.OpenSpaceAgility.com/about
http://www.DanielMezick.com
203 915 7248 <tel:203%20915%207248>
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